In Moonlight's Shadow

Chapter 19: Cross-Country Skiing

"Jack," Dad said, "We have to talk to you about the house."

I glanced up from the book I was reading. We were all sitting in Uncle Jack's living room after dinner. Mum and Dad were looking at Uncle Jack with serious faces. Uncle Jack put down the newspaper he was reading. This is it, I thought. They're going to decide whether or not to sell the house. I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to start crying. They couldn't sell the house.

"Go ahead," Uncle Jack leaned back in his chair.

"Well," Dad began, "We'd like your opinion on selling it. I'm honestly not sure if I should sell it or not. I mean, we obviously won't be living in it much longer. And if we do keep it, should we rent it out?"

Rent it out? I hadn't even thought of that. I wasn't sure if I'd rather have my parents rent it or just sell it. It would be even weirder to have someone living in my room if it was still technically mine. Couldn't my parents just not sell it and not rent it? Then we might move back someday.

Uncle Jack ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Oh, I don't know. It's strange to think about selling the place. We grew up there and so did Dad, and Grandpa, and generations before...."

Right, I thought, the house has been in our family for generations. We couldn't just sell it now.

"That's why I'm torn," Dad said.

"Do you ever think you'll move back?" Uncle Jack asked.

Dad thought for a moment, "Honestly, no. We certainly wouldn't move back until after Matt graduates, but even then I'm not sure. The way things are going down there, it won't be anyplace for him to live after he graduates. I can't see why we'd move back if the kids are up here. And if I have a job wherever we're moving to."

What about me? I might like to move back to Australia. Didn't that count for anything? Or were my parents just assuming that I wouldn't want to move back either? I was going to graduate in four years and maybe I'd want to find a job in Australia instead of wherever we move to. Although, I honestly couldn't see myself living that far away from my family. It would be too strange.

"It's the end of an era," Uncle Jack said quietly, "All of us moving out of Australia. It'll be odd to have that house belong to someone else."

"How do you feel about it, Jack?" Dad asked, "Because if you don't want us to sell it, we won't."

"I can't say I won't be sad if you sell it, but I just can't rationalize keeping it with no one living in it," Uncle Jack replied, "I certainly have no plans to move back to Australia."

"That's what I was thinking," Dad said, "No point in keeping a house that no one's living in."

"And the way you say the Ministry is heading down there, do we even want any remaining ties there anyway?"

"Exactly," Dad said. "But it's not like we won't be visiting. Julie's parents are still there."

"But their house is big enough for when we want to visit," Mom pointed out, "It's not like we'd be without a place to stay while we visit."

"Sounds like you want to sell it," Uncle Jack said.

"That's what we're leaning to," Dad said.

No! They can't sell it! I grew up there. Dad and Uncle Jack grew up there. How could they just decide to sell it when it was full of so many memories?

"Go for it, then," Uncle Jack told them.

"All right," Dad said, "I'll call a real estate agent when we get back. But there's also the issue of the furniture, paintings, and all the rest of the stuff in it."

The stuff? Wouldn't we take that with us?

"Obviously we'll take enough to furnish our new place," Dad continued, "But there's far too much for that. You're welcome to anything you want and we'll probably sell the rest."

"That makes sense," Uncle Jack agreed, "I'll fly down before you have the sale, maybe in a few weeks or so."

"Wait, you're selling our stuff?" I interrupted.

"Just the furniture we can't take with us," Mum assured me, "Not your stuff. Probably the guest bedroom furniture, the formal furniture, and a few of the portraits. Plus all that silver we had to put away, there's no point in keeping that."

I nodded. All right. I could deal with that, I guess. Just as long as they didn't sell anything I wanted. But now it was official, the house was being sold. In just a few months, I would never set foot in my house again. It didn't seem real.

I didn't want to listen to them talking about selling the house anymore, so I took my book and went up to the bedroom I was staying in. I sprawled out on the bed and tried to read, but I couldn't concentrate. Everything was moving so fast. I was sure that within a month or so, we'd know where we were moving. My remaining time in Australia was going by so fast. It seemed like just yesterday I was just finding out that we were moving. But that was really almost three months ago. Three months ago, Mum told me we'd probably move in six months. That meant half my time left in Australia was gone.

I got up from the bed and pulled up the shade on the window. The stars were visible despite the clouds that loomed on the horizon. I sat there watching for so long that I found all the constellations that were visible. One thing I loved about the stars was that they were always there. No matter where you were in the world, the stars were fixed points. Sure, they looked different from different places, but they were really the same. Of course, here in the Northern Hemisphere, the night sky was completely different. It was strange looking out at this different night sky. No matter where we decided to move, it would be in the Northern Hemisphere. I wouldn't get to look at the Southern night sky anymore. That was strange to think about.

******

Mum woke me up the next morning before I had gotten enough sleep. The last thing I wanted to do was get up out of my warm bed, but we had to go visit the Salem Witch Institute in Massachusetts. Our trip was now half over, with one more school to visit. I didn't think I'd like the Salem Witch Institute more than the Adirondack Academy of Magic, but it's not like that would stop Mum and Dad from making me go there. I was surprised how much I liked the Adirondack Academy of Magic and doubted any other school would grab my attention like that.

Nevertheless, after breakfast, we stood once again in front of Uncle Jack's fireplace, ready to floo to Massachusetts. Uncle Jack was going with us for this one, too. Although, he knew even less about the Salem Witch Institute than he did about the Adirondack Academy of Magic.

Dad told us that we were flooing to the Salem Restaurant and Pub. Not a very creative name, if you ask me. Dad flooed first and then Mum with Matt. Uncle Jack told me it was my turn after that. I took the powder and shouted the name of the pub into the fire.

Flooing from Uncle Jack's house to Salem was the longest distance floo I'd ever done. It was kind of strange because it took a bit longer than usual. I had time during the transit to contemplate where I was going.

I stepped out of the fireplace into a very large room with numerous tables and chairs. The tables were adorned with plastic tablecloths and half empty salt and pepper shakers. There was loud music playing in the background and a few waiters and waitresses standing around doing nothing. This was probably due to the fact that the place was dead empty. It did not have the homey feel of the Mooning Dragon.

Once Uncle Jack joined us, one of the bored looking waitresses took us to a table to wait for the headmaster to arrive. She gave us all glasses of water and I sipped at mine just to have something to do.

We sat at the table waiting for the headmaster for what seemed like forever. Dad kept looking at his watch and muttering under his breath. Uncle Jack pulled out a pack of Exploding Snap cards and was playing a game with Matt. Mum just looked around the restaurant with an disapproving glare.

Finally, the door to the restaurant opened and a very short man walked through. He looked around nervously before resting his eyes on my family. He walked over to us and I was able to look at him properly.

He was older than Roberts and was kind of hunched over. His few remaining hairs were grey. He had a nervous look about him and his left eye kept twitching. All in all he was a very odd looking man.

"Um, excuse me," the twitchy man said quietly, "Are you Walter Eckerton?"

"Yes," Dad replied, looking curiously at the man.

"Oh, good...I'm Martin Zane, headmaster of the Salem Witch Institute," the man replied.

Dad stood up, "Well, all right then. This is my brother, Jack, wife Julie, and my kids Amy and Matt."

The headmaster nodded, "Good, good. If you'll follow me, we can tour the school."

I got up and followed everyone out of the empty restaurant. This man did not strike me as the kind of person who would become headmaster of a school. In contrast to Roberts, Zane did not say much as he led us through the town and to the school. Mum seemed happy that it wasn't snowing, but there was a couple inches on the ground. Not nearly as much as in New York, though.

There weren't nearly as many trees around the Salem Witch Institute as there had been around the Adirondack Academy of Magic. In fact, the school was nestled right into the town. It was a large Victorian style mansion. Well, I was only using the term 'mansion' because I didn't know a word for a house larger than a mansion. This thing looked about the size of four or five mansions put together. It was almost like a castle, but it looked like a house.

We followed Zane through the wrought iron gates and up the path to the building. As far as I could tell, this place was all one building. Zane opened the door and we emerged into a foyer much like that of a house.

"Ok, then," Zane muttered, "Well, this is the school. Um, the dining hall is to the right, through that door." Zane pointed to a set of wooden doors.

"Can we see it?" Mum asked.

"Oh, sure," Zane hurried over to the left and pushed open the doors.

The dining hall reminded me of a dining room in someone's house, except with more tables. There were paintings on the walls and the tables had tablecloths covering them. Judging by the amount of tables and chairs, there were much less students in this school than the one in New York. I wasn't sure I liked that. The more students there were, the more likely chance I'd make a couple friends.

Zane then led us on a tour of the main floor of the school, which housed the library, his office, the other professors' offices, the nurse's office, and the common room. The common room looked much like an oversize living room, complete with mismatched couches, tables, and a crackling fire. And yes, there was only one common room. Apparently this school had so few students that they didn't have houses. That was strange, I thought. I wondered how they played Quidditch.

Next we went upstairs, where all the classrooms were. They were all on one floor, which was a bit odd, but would make it easier to find them. So far everything seemed very cramped, despite the fact that the house was easily five times the size of mine. I guess it was due to the large amount of people inside it.

After the classrooms, we toured the dormitories, which were more like regular bedrooms than dorm rooms. They were decorated with fancy pictures and draping. It seemed like the kind of place Cinda would like. I personally thought there was far too much pink in the girls wing. If we moved there, I would have to do some drastic changes to one of those rooms in order to live in it.

Zane informed us that the grounds to the school were far larger behind the house than in front of us. He led us to one of the back doors and then out into the grounds. He showed us the Herbology greenhouses and the Quidditch pitch. There were a good amount of trees back there in order to hide the greenhouses and pitch from the rest of the town.

"It's not very rural," Dad muttered to Mum as Zane led us back into the school.

"No, it's not," Mum said back, "I was kind of hoping for something more rural than this."

Good, I thought, they didn't seem to like the school. I certainly didn't like it. There wasn't nearly enough space and the dormitories were far too frilly. Plus, the headmaster gave me the creeps.

Despite my parents' misgivings about the place, we went with Zane back to his office. Zane's office was much smaller than Roberts's and didn't seem as cozy either. There wasn't a fireplace or nearly as many books. It was a bit frilly, though, with doilies on the tables and fragile looking pieces of china.

"So, uh, any questions about the school?" Zane asked once we had all sat down.

"What sort of protections are on it?" Dad asked, "I noticed it's awfully close to the Muggle town. Hell, it's in the Muggle town."

"Oh, er, the usual standard protections. Anti-Muggle charms and such."

"Did you think at all about where my son would transform if he attended here?"

"Well, perhaps we could build a shed of some sorts on the grounds...."

"A shed?" Dad glared at Zane.

"If that's not satisfactory, we could come up with something else," Zane said nervously.

"It's not satisfactory," Dad muttered, "But I am not convinced this is an acceptable school anyway, considering how cramped the grounds are. A shed may very well be all that would fit."

"I'm sure we could work something out," Zane replied.

A loud bang on the door caused me to jump and I turned to see a very large man storming into the room. He had dark hair cut close to his scalp and his face was etched in anger.

"I'm in a meeting, Valsey," Zane said without bothering to stand up, "What is it you need?"

"Two of the students have dueled, each causing enough damage to the other to send them to the nurse," the man named Valsey said sternly, "The same two who keep dueling each other. We need to send owls to their parents."

"Fine, but it will have to wait," Zane told him.

Valsey turned away from Zane and peered at all of us. His gaze was seemed to penetrate my mind and I turned away from him. I seriously hoped I wouldn't have to go to this school.

"Something important, Zane?" Valsey growled.

"Very," Zane replied, "Remember the potential students I told you about a few days ago? These two are them."

Valsey glared at us and then smirked, "Ah, yes, the werewolf."

"Yes, so the owls will have to wait."

"If you don't mind," Valsey began, "I'll stay for this."

"Um, well, it was kind of a private meeting-"

"A werewolf in this school affects everyone," Valsey snapped, "And you know my opinion on this."

"But it's not your decision to make," Zane replied.

Valsey muttered something incoherent and then conjured a chair, setting it down next to Matt's. Valsey sat down and sneered at Matt, causing him to jump off his chair and climb onto Mum's lap.

"Now where were we..." Zane said.

"Actually," Dad began, "I think we'll have to cut this short. It seems that not all your staff is supportive of this, so I don't think your school is the right match for us."

Thank Merlin, I thought. This place was getting worse and worse by the second. It may have been survivable if that Valsey bloke didn't teach there, but he did.

"Professor Valsey has no say in the matter," Zane said quickly.

"Nevertheless, I cannot send my son somewhere where the teachers dislike him being there. Plus, I really don't think you are equipped to deal with this."

Dad stood up, "It was nice to meet you, but I think we shall be leaving now. We'll see ourselves out."

I got up and followed Dad out of the room, along with the rest of my family. Luckily Zane didn't follow us. Instead he stayed in his office arguing with Valsey. We quickly returned to the parlor and left the school. I felt immediate relief when I stepped outside the gates of the place.

"I think we can cross that one off the list," Uncle Jack muttered.

"I'd say so," Dad agreed.

"Guess we don't have to spend the afternoon looking at houses here, then," Mum commented.

Good, I thought. I had had enough house hunting to last me a lifetime.

"Anyone want to go to the Mooning Dragon for lunch?" Uncle Jack asked.

My parents agreed, so we all walked quickly back to the restaurant we were at earlier. I think Mum was relieved that we weren't going to eat there. We went inside and hurried over to the fireplace. The waiters and waitresses didn't say anything as we left their restaurant. The place was a bit busier now that it was closer to lunchtime.

I was prepared for the long floo travel this time and it didn't bother me so much. I stepped out of the fireplace at the Mooning Dragon feeling a bit disoriented, but not nearly as much as I had been earlier in the morning.

Nat greeted us with enthusiasm once we had all flooed into her pub. We got a table and settled down into the homey atmosphere. Nat asked us how we had liked Salem and my dad just told her that it wasn't the right fit for us. She said she hoped we moved to New York. I was kind of hoping the same thing, if we had to move at all. I was still kind of holding out on my parents changing their minds, but if we had to move somewhere, I think I'd choose New York.

After the initial description of Salem to Nat, nobody mentioned the visit again. I was happy about this because I just wanted to forget about the creepy headmaster and intimidating professor we had met there.

Once we were done with lunch, we all went back to Uncle Jack's house. I played in the snow for a bit with Dad, Uncle Jack, and Matt. Mum stayed inside and tidied up Uncle Jack's house. He insisted she didn't have to do it, but Mum wanted to. She can never be in a messy place too long.

Dad still wasn't ready to decide to move to New York. He wanted to know all the professors' feelings about Matt attending their school and he wanted to see if any of the other schools had contacted us. Uncle Jack was acting like Dad was all ready to move there and was even giving him the name of the bloke who built his house. Dad had decided that if we moved to New York, we'd build our own house. I was happy about this, as I had hated each and every house Josephina Hawkings had shown us the other day.

The rest of our visit to New York went by fast. With the school touring and house hunting behind us, our remaining day was devoted to fun. Uncle Jack decided to take us cross-country skiing, which was quite the adventure since none of us had ever done it before. I was decent at it, but certainly wouldn't be winning any awards.

"I just don't see the point, Jack," Mum sighed as she got up from the snowy ground for what must have been the tenth time.

Uncle Jack skied gracefully over to her, "Once you get the hang of it, it's a very fast means of transportation."

"Aw, Jule, you'll get it eventually," Dad grinned at her. Dad was incredibly good at cross-country skiing for a beginner.

"Walking's faster at this point," Mum replied.

"We're almost back to the lodge," Dad told her.

"Yeah, Mum. And it's not that bad," I said. I kind of liked cross-country skiing. Especially when we got to go down the steep parts of the trail.

"Sometime I'm taking you downhill skiing, Amy," Uncle Jack grinned.

"I wish we could go tomorrow," I said. The next day we were flying back to Australia.

"I want to downhill ski, too," Matt announced. He tried to ski over to where Uncle Jack was, but promptly fell over. So far, he was skiing more like Mum than Dad or Uncle Jack.

"Sure," Uncle Jack smiled as he helped Matt up.

"Are you all right?" Mum asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Matt assured her. She had asked him if he was ok every time he fell over and it was getting a bit annoying. It's not like he could really hurt himself anyway, with the amount of winter clothing he was wearing.

"If you move here," Uncle Jack began, "We can go skiing all the time."

Mum groaned, "Maybe we should move to a warm climate. I ought to send an owl to the school in Florida."

Uncle Jack made a good point. So far I loved winter in New York and wouldn't mind being around for its entire duration. I shook my head. What was up with me? Was I actually warming up to the idea of moving? It was probably because I had been in New York for the past couple days. Once we got back to Australia I was sure I wouldn't want to move.

Both Mum and Matt fell over a few more times before we reached the lodge. Mum was getting fed up with it, but Matt was still happy. We returned our skis and set off to Apparate in the middle of the forest.

Dinner was relaxing and Uncle Jack made spiedies again. My parents talked more about the move. I read more of my book after dinner, while half-listening to my parents discuss house building. Matt fell asleep early on the couch next to me, probably half out of exhaustion from cross-country skiing and half because the full moon was a couple days away. After I'd read a couple chapters of my book, I went upstairs to watch the stars. It was my last chance to see the Northern night sky for a while and I didn't want to waste any of it. I didn't even want to go to bed, but eventually I was forced to pull down the shade and attempt to get some sleep. I really didn't see the point in sleeping since we would be on the plane all the next day.

Chapter 20: Failed Inspection

"We'll owl you soon, Jack," Dad said at the airport the following day.

We were in the terminal waiting area and our flight had just been called to board. Uncle Jack had gone with us to the airport. To get there, we had flooed to the same dodgy pub we had used earlier in the week. The place was just as creepy as it had been before, and I would be happy if I never set foot in it again.

"Sounds good," Uncle Jack replied and clapped Dad on the shoulder, "Good luck with the decision about the move. I'll let you know when I'm going to fly down there once you tell me when you're planning on selling the furniture."

"Goodbye, Jack," Mum smiled, "And thanks so much for all your help this week."

"No problem, Julie," Uncle Jack grinned and gave her a hug, "Maybe next time you'll have a bit more success on the skis."

Mum looked as if she never wanted to see a pair of skis again, let alone use them, but she nodded anyway.

"Bye, Amy," Uncle Jack said as he gave me a big bear hug, "I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Uncle Jack," I smiled and hugged him back.

Uncle Jack turned to Matt and picked him up, "Bye, Matt. I'll see you very soon, all right?"

Matt nodded, "I want you to come with us."

"I wish I could," Uncle Jack smiled, "But I have to work next week."

"Then I want to stay here," Matt said and clamped his arms around Uncle Jack's neck.

"Aw, you can't stay here," Uncle Jack replied, "You've got to go keep your dad, mum, and Amy company. They'd be awfully lonely without you."

"They'd survive," Matt said, "Or we could just all stay here."

Well, now it was obvious where Matt wanted to move.

"Sorry, kid," Uncle Jack sighed, "But you've got to stay in Australia for now. But I'll visit you very soon."

Matt nodded and Uncle Jack set him back on the ground. He waved as we joined the queue of passengers waiting to get onto the plane.

Our seats on the return flight were in the same general area as those on the flight to New York. Matt and I sat behind Mum and Dad. I was a bit less nervous about this flight, but still clamped my eyes shut during the take-off. I was glad I had eaten brekkie hours ago before the flight, as opposed to at the airport.

Once we were in the air, I took out my book and read it until I finished it. That used up a couple hours of the flight, but there were still hours upon hours to go. Flights to and from New York were probably the most boring things I have dealt with in my life. Well, not including all the parties I have been forced to attend with my grandparents.

Speaking of parties, I had nearly forgotten about the one Cinda was going to be throwing for us before we moved. She probably had already booked the caterers and thought about the decorating scheme. That, as well as my dress. I sighed to myself at the thought of wearing another hideous dress. Cinda was probably going to try and rope me into party planning in a couple days when I spent the full moon at her house. Dad hadn't really mentioned much about this full moon and when I was going to Richard and Cinda's. I guess he was preoccupied with the trip to New York. But the full moon was on Monday and it was now Saturday. Plus, with the time changes and everything, I was pretty sure it would be Monday when we arrived back in Australia. I hoped my parents wouldn't make me go straight to Richard and Cinda's from the airport. I wanted to at least go home and send an owl to Olivia about the trip.

The plane trip back to Australia passed the same way as the trip to New York. I fell asleep on and off, ate parts of the meals they served, and read an entire book. My parents whispered to each other, but as far as I could tell it was only about the legalities of selling the house and setting up an 'estate sale' for selling the furniture. Not really something I wanted to listen to.

Eventually, my parents stopped talking and drifted off to sleep. Matt had been asleep for the past few hours. He hadn't been nearly as annoying on this plane ride than the other one. He hadn't sang '99 Bottles of Butterbeer On the Wall' at all and had slept most of the trip so far. Probably because the full moon was so near.

I looked up from my potions book disguised as a novel and glanced around at all the passengers. Most of them were asleep like the rest of my family was. We had had a layover in Los Angeles hours ago and now it was getting dark outside. I had slept a few hours prior to the layover and wasn't feeling very tired at the moment. I was just enjoying the quiet and the surprisingly smooth flight.

Night fell and we were still flying over the Pacific Ocean. I wasn't sure when we were supposed to land in Australia, but the flight had been delayed a few hours. I always wondered why Muggles didn't just schedule their flights to be a few hours later because they always got delayed.

Matt rolled over in his sleep and started mumbling. I closed my book and turned to look at him. He wasn't saying anything that made sense. I watched him for a few more minutes, unsure about whether or not to wake him. Then the mumbling turned into whimpering and then he started crying.

The lady sitting across the aisle from us peeked her face out from behind her laptop and glanced at us, before returning to her work. I shrugged at her and turned back to my brother, whose crying was getting progressively louder.

"Mum," I reached over to my parents' seats and poked Mum on the shoulder, "Mum!" I shouted a bit louder.

"What is it?" Mum yawned and turned around.

"He's having one of those nightmares again," I told her, pointing to Matt.

Mum wordlessly got up out of her seat and motioned for me to switch with her. I got up and went to Mum's seat, but turned around so I could see what was happening.

"Matt, honey, wake up," Mum said softly as she pulled my brother onto her lap.

"N-no...make it s-stop...I d-don't want to!" Matt cried in his sleep.

"Shhh..." Mum soothed, "C'mon, it's just a dream. Wake up now...."

By now the lady with the laptop was staring again, as was the man next to her. I glared at them, but they didn't stop watching.

Matt rubbed his eyes and looked from Mum to me with a disoriented look on his face.

"It's ok, honey, you just had a nightmare," Mum said quietly.

Matt nodded and then winced. "Mum, my h-head r-really hurts."

"We'll be home soon," Mum assured him and hugged him closer to her.

"B-but it really hurts," Matt cried.

"Oh, honey, I can't do anything now," Mum sighed and then lowered her voice. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I assumed she was telling him she didn't have any potions with her.

"Mum, it's g-getting worse," Matt wailed after a few minutes. "M-make it s-stop!"

"I'm sorry, honey, I can't," Mum whispered, "Try and go back to sleep."

"Wha-what's going on?" Dad woke up suddenly and looked at me curiously.

"Matt's got a headache," I told him and pointed behind us.

Dad turned around in his seat and started whispering to Mum. Matt kept crying and was now attracting the attention of the two people sitting behind him. They were an elderly couple and had looks of concern on their faces.

A flight attendant walked down the aisle and stopped at our seats. "Is he ok?" she asked.

"He'll be fine," Mum replied.

"I've got some Tylenol, if you need any," the lady with the laptop announced.

"That's ok. Thanks anyway," Mum told her. Muggle medicines had absolutely no affect whatsoever on the headaches Matt got prior to the full moon.

"Are you sure?" the lady asked.

"Yes," Mum replied. "He just needs to go back to sleep."

The lady looked skeptical, but she finally went back to typing on her computer. Although she did glance up at us every once in a while. The man next to her went back to his book and the elderly couple started talking to each other.

"He's got a fever," Mum whispered to Dad.

"I thought we'd be back before it started," Dad replied. "Must have miscalculated with the time changes. I guess it's the equivalent of Sunday night now, or even early Monday morning. Damn."

"We're never traveling this close to it again," Mum said quietly. "Any idea how much longer?"

Dad glanced at his watch, "Maybe another hour."

Mum sighed, "He needs the potions."

"I know," Dad said, "We'll just have to make do with what we've got."

"Which is nothing," Mum snapped.

"Excuse me," Dad turned to another flight attendant who was walking by, "Have you got any ice, a towel, and a bottle of water?"

"Yes, of course," the flight attendant glanced at Matt and then hurried to the back of the plane.

She returned minutes later with a couple towels, two bottles of water, and a bucket of ice. Dad got up from his seat, took the ice and water, and then sat down next to Mum. He dumped a handful of ice into the towel, tied it up, and pressed it to Matt's head.

"We'll have to do this the hard way," Dad muttered, "Hold that to his head."

Mum nodded and took the towel from Dad. "Is this going to work?"

"I hope so," Dad said and opened up one of the water bottles. "Matt, you've got to drink this."

Matt opened his eyes, "Will it make my head stop hurting?"

"That's what we're hoping," Dad sighed and put the bottle to Matt's lips.

The ice and water must have helped because Matt started quieting down a few minutes later. I could tell his head still hurt because he was still wincing every so often, but at least he wasn't crying anymore.

Mum and Dad spent the remainder of the flight trying to keep his fever down. Laptop Lady asked if they wanted any Tylenol again and Mum declined. She told the lady he was allergic to it, which got her to stop asking.

The flight attendants let us get off the plane first, since Matt was sick. We hurried off the plane and went as fast as we could through baggage claim and the security check.

"Are Richard and Cinda picking us up?" I asked after we'd finally finished all the security stuff.

"No," Mum replied, "They couldn't get us since it's so late. We're going to have to Apparate."

The closest Apparition Center happened to be a couple blocks from the airport. We tried to get there as fast as we could, but it was hard with so much luggage. Dad couldn't carry any luggage since he was carrying Matt, so Mum and I were handling four suitcases and four carry-on bags.

By the time we made it to the Apparition Center, Matt had started crying again and the old wizard running the Center eyed us warily as we entered. Dad nodded to him and motioned for Mum to hand him some of the luggage. He grabbed the handles of a couple suitcases and turned on the spot. Mum wrapped me in a hug and then we did the same with the rest of the luggage.

******

Mum and I Apparated into the kitchen and I immediately dropped the two carry-on bags I was carrying. Mum let go of the handles of the three suitcases she had and turned to Dad and Matt.

Dad was already rummaging around in the potion cabinet with Matt still crying in his arms.

There was a loud crack and I jumped and turned around. Ellie was standing near the table, looking nervous.

"Hey, Ellie!" I smiled.

"Welcome back, Amy," Ellie said quickly and then ran over to Dad, "Master, Ellie has to tell you something."

"What is it?" Dad asked without looking away from the cabinet.

"Someone is flooing into the house this evening. He is coming a few times, sir. He is saying he needs to speak with Master, but Ellie is telling him that Master is not here. He is not liking this and is even hitting Ellie once, sir. He is saying he will be flooing all night until he talks to you."

Dad froze and turned to look at Ellie. "He hit you?"

Ellie nodded, "He is, sir."

"Are you ok?" I asked, walking over to Ellie. Who was this bloke and why was he in our house? What did he think he was doing hitting Ellie like that? And why did he want to talk to Dad?

Ellie nodded, "Ellie is fine now."

"Who was he, Ellie?" Dad asked quietly.

"He is not telling Ellie his name, sir."

Dad glanced up at Mum with a worried look on his face. Mum's face had gone white and she looked even more worried than Dad.

A loud clunk came from the living room and I recognized it as the sound of somebody flooing into the house. I looked up at my parents and didn't move an inch. My heart was pounding as I watched the rest of my family. Nobody else was moving, either. The only sound that could be heard from us was Matt's crying.

I heard the thundering of feet on the hardwood floor and a minute later, a man appeared in the doorway. He was shorter than Dad and rather skinny. His hair was brown and untidy, with a dirty look to it. His gaunt face had a smirk on it and his eyes were very sinister. Despite the difference of appearance, he reminded me of Professor Valsey from Salem. I automatically took a step back and didn't look at him directly.

The man's smirk turned into a grin when he saw Dad and he walked forward to him. "Eckerton," the man said, "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Lubar," Dad growled. "You know perfectly well that I've been on holiday."

Lubar, I thought, where had I heard that name before? I wracked my brain and then it hit me. Lubar, Ralph Lubar, the man from the article! He was the Head of the Werewolf Control Unit. The man who seemed to hate werewolves with every fiber of his being and wanted the strictest laws possible regarding them. And that was just what I had gotten from what he said in the article. No doubt he was worse in real life.

"I was wondering about that," Lubar sneered, "Awfully bad timing for a holiday, isn't it? Busiest time of the month for my department...."

"You also knew I'd be back before the full moon for obvious reasons," Dad replied.

"You're barely back in time," Lubar muttered.

"Full moon's not for nearly 18 hours," Dad said.

"Still, there's been a lot of preparation work that you've missed," Lubar said, stepping closer to Dad, "Minister wasn't too happy you were gone...."

"I don't need the Minister's approval to take holiday time," Dad seethed, "I have plenty of time stored up and can use it whenever I desire."

"Seems odd you've got so much time stored up when you take three days off every month," Lubar hissed.

"You know why I take those days off, Lubar, as does the Minister. They do not count as holiday time."

Lubar's eyes flitted to Matt, who was still in Dad's arms. He smirked again. "You're right, I do know that. Makes me wonder why you're taking holiday so close to the full moon."

"When I go on holiday is not your concern."

"Where did you go, Eckerton?"

"To visit my brother in New York, not that that is any of your business either."

"Fishy," Lubar muttered, "You're up to something, Eckerton."

"Why are you here, Lubar?" Dad asked, "Why floo over here every hour and terrorize and abuse my house elf while you're at it? She doesn't have to take orders from you. I could press charges, you know."

"But you won't," Lubar grinned sinisterly, "Oh, I know you won't...."

"Maybe not, but tell me what you're doing here. I'm here now, so what do you want?"

"Things have changed while you were on holiday, Eckerton."

"What do you mean?" Dad frowned.

"Ah, yes, things have changed indeed..." Lubar once again looked at Matt.

Dad noticed this and turned to Mum. "Why don't you give him his potions and put him to bed? Unfortunately, I've got work to deal with."

Mum nodded and took Matt from his arms. He was still crying and Mum tried to soothe him. She took the potions out of the cabinet and headed upstairs quickly.

None of the adults seemed to notice that I was still in the room and I wasn't going to call their attention to myself. Whatever was going on with Dad and Lubar was important, and I intended to find out what it was. Dad seemed to dislike Lubar more than anyone else I had ever seen. The two of them had obviously rowed before. I got the feeling that Lubar knew something Dad would not agree with.

"Now tell me what's going on, Lubar," Dad demanded.

"Laws have been passed, Eckerton," Lubar grinned, "Laws that you would have rejected. You've been overruled and the Minister has signed his approval."

Dad's face paled, "What laws?" he asked quietly.

"Well, all places of transformation have got to be inspected and pass inspection by a Werewolf Control Unit employee. If it doesn't pass, the werewolf using it has to transform in a Ministry approved center with other werewolves. The centers were constructed a few days ago."

"All right, fine," Dad muttered, "That one was going to pass soon anyway. But why in the name of Merlin are you here?"

If it was possible, Lubar grinned even wider. "For your inspection of course. The law states that all places of transformation have to pass inspection. All of them. That includes whatever one your son uses."

All the remaining color drained from Dad's face. "Lubar, you don't actually think I am incapable of providing a suitable place for my son to transform, do you?"

"I wouldn't know," Lubar replied, "I have never seen it."

Dad's face turned from fear to anger within a few seconds. "I know protection spells and charms that other wizards have never heard of. My son's place of transformation is probably the safest one in Australia," he growled, "I can do the inspection myself, thank you."

"Ah, but the law specifically states a Werewolf Control Unit employee."

"Which I was before I was promoted to Head of the entire Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!" Dad shouted, "I do not need you here, barging in here in the dead of night, to inspect my house!"

"If you had been here yesterday when I was doing other inspections, I would not have had to arrive during the night!" Lubar yelled back.

"I was on holiday!" Dad replied, "Now get out of my house!"

"Not before I complete the inspection," Lubar said, "The Minister himself wanted someone other than yourself to do your own inspection. It would have been a conflict of interest, don't you think?" Lubar pulled out a piece of parchment and tossed it to Dad. "Letter from the Minister, himself."

Dad grabbed the letter and quickly scanned it. He set it down and sighed. "Fine," he muttered, "But be quick about it."

"Excellent," Lubar sneered and pulled a clipboard out of his robes, along with his wand. "Show me the way."

Dad sighed and led Lubar out of the kitchen. I watched them leave and listened to their footsteps growing fainter and fainter. I couldn't hear Mum anywhere, so I figured she must still be with Matt. What I wanted to do was follow Dad into the basement. I was really curious about this whole 'inspection' thing. Plus, surely Dad and this Lubar bloke would be talking more about what was going on at work.

I walked over to the door and hesitated before opening it and glancing into the corridor. There was nobody there and Dad had left the basement door open. Perfect. I'd be able to sneak down there without them hearing. I tip-toed down the corridor and over to the basement. Dad had turned on the lights and the entire stairway was illuminated.

I went quickly down the stairs and into the large basement. Our basement was finished and there were a bunch of rooms in it. Most of them were used for storage and the others were empty. Nobody really spent much time down there. There wasn't any need when we had such a large amount of space upstairs.

I followed the sound of Dad and Lubar's voices through the maze of storage rooms and to the far end of the basement. Matt's transformation place was a large room without any windows. There wasn't any furniture in it, but the walls and floor were padded. Yes, I have a padded room in my house. When I was little, I kind of always wanted one, but not under these circumstances. Plus, it's not like Mum would let me play in it anyway. In fact, I hadn't been in it since Dad set it up.

Dad and Lubar were both inside the room. Dad looked tense and angry and Lubar was still wearing his sneer. I crouched down outside the door and tried to breath as quietly as possible.

Lubar was waving his wand around the room and writing things down on his clipboard.

"What sort of things are you looking for?" Dad asked.

"Spells, charms, weaknesses in the walls, windows," Lubar muttered.

"Ah," Dad replied, "Makes sense."

"Indeed it does," Lubar said.

"Have most places passed inspection?"

Lubar glanced up from his clipboard. "Most have not," he answered. "In fact, pretty much all of them haven't. There will be plenty of werewolves transforming in the Ministry approved centers this evening."

"And how do you propose to make them go?" Dad asked, "Last I checked, it was difficult to force people to go someplace they do not want to go."

"Well," Lubar grinned, "The werewolves are required to give their names to the wizard running the center. If someone who's on the list doesn't show up, well, we get to pay them a visit the next morning. And that won't be pleasant for them."

The more I listened to what this man said, the more I hated him. He was downright creepy. He wasn't elaborating on what was going to happen either. Although I got the sense it was probably technically illegal.

"You have to stay within the law, Lubar," Dad growled.

"Laws are changing," Lubar stepped closer to Dad. "And it is obvious to me that you have not read all the fine print of this one."

Dad looked at Lubar curiously. "What do you mean? And nobody has given me the fine print of the law. I just returned home a half hour ago."

"But of course," Lubar laughed and pulled a piece of parchment off his clipboard, "Read it for yourself."

Dad glared at Lubar and snatched the parchment out of his hands. I watched as Dad carefully read it. I wished I could read it. I doubted that Dad would ever let me read it, though. I'd be lucky if he explained the gist of it to me.

Dad looked up a few minutes later and he was wearing a look of shock, fear, and anger all at the same time. "What is the meaning of this?" he seethed.

"Why, it's what the Minister has approved," Lubar laughed, "So, you must know now that this room will not pass inspection."

I stared at Dad and Lubar, not being able to move a muscle. I could hardly breath. What did he mean, the room didn't pass inspection? How could the safe room, created by the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures not pass inspection? Did this mean that Matt was going to have to transform at one of those Ministry places?

"This law is unfair, Lubar!" Dad shouted, "This room is the safest place in the country for a werewolf to transform! No wizard in the country would be able to create a safe room within these regulations!"

"I find it very reasonable," Lubar replied, "It's not like you're violating a lot of the requirements...."

"Not violating a lot?" Dad yelled, "According to this, the entire room is a violation! According to this, all safe places must be their own contained building! Any room within a building is a violation! Is everyone just supposed to create a shed or something that's impenetrable?"

"That's the general idea," Lubar sneered, "That or transform at the Ministry center."

Dad's face turned ghostly white. "No. I will not allow it."

"You haven't got a choice, Eckerton!" Lubar laughed.

I was finding it increasingly creepy that this bloke was getting a laugh out of all the trouble he was making werewolves go through. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that Dad was violating the new law.

"Why even put that part in?" Dad asked, "Why should that matter?"

"You of all people should know why it matters," Lubar said quietly.

Dad stared at Lubar. "Why?"

"Your wife, your daughter. What if he got loose? He'd be in the house with them."

"He won't get loose," Dad growled, "The spells are too strong."

"No spell is foolproof," Lubar replied.

"Which is why my daughter stays with her grandparents every full moon," Dad told him, "Not that it's your business."

"And what about your wife?"

"My wife is perfectly capable of protecting herself," Dad said, "She knows the spells she'd need if Matt ever got out. Not that that would happen."

"You must not really believe there is no chance of that, if you send your daughter away," Lubar smirked, "But that is not relevant to the issue at hand. The point is, that your safe room does not meet Ministry standards. Therefore your son will be required to transform at the Ministry center."

Dad's face paled again. "That will not be happening," he growled.

"I believe it will," Lubar sneered, "Or you and your son will face the consequences."

"Oh, really?" Dad replied, "Did you forget who's head of the entire department?"

"Not at all," Lubar said, "But just because you're head, doesn't make you above the law."

"I'm well aware of that," Dad said, "But it would be inappropriate for my son to be in one of those centers."

"What makes you think that?" Lubar asked, taking a step towards Dad.

"He's only eight years old," Dad answered, "Do you honestly think I'd leave him in a room filled with adults he does not know?"

"He'll be a wolf!" Lubar shouted, "What does it matter?"

"What does it matter?" Dad roared, "What does it matter? He'll be the smallest wolf of the bunch! They'll rip him apart!"

"Then I suggest you get a safe room that adheres to the Ministry standards," Lubar replied.

"That is not possible before the full moon," Dad seethed, "You can yell and scream all you want, but my son will not be at your Ministry center this evening. He'll be here. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, believe me, there is," Lubar grinned.

"Fine. Do what you'd like. But I believe you have completed your inspection. Now get out of my house," Dad growled.

I quickly ran back through the basement and up to the main floor. I was into the living room before they even made it to the stairs. They appeared in the living room a few minutes later, neither of them saying a word. Dad glared at Lubar as Lubar threw some floo powder into the fireplace.

Lubar turned around as he stepped into the floo. "This doesn't end here, Eckerton." And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

Chapter 21: Revealed

I didn't move a muscle as I watched Dad pace around the room. He had a pained look on his face and it hadn't regained much color. He also didn't seem to notice that I was there.

Mum came down a few minutes later with a concerned look on her face. Dad stopped pacing when he saw her and motioned for her to sit down.

"He's gone?" Mum asked as she took a seat on the couch.

Dad nodded. "Yeah. Is Matt asleep?"

"Yes," Mum replied, "Took a little while for the potions to kick in, but when they did he went right to sleep."

"Good," Dad said.

"What did he want?" Mum asked quietly.

Dad sighed and turned to Mum, not saying anything for a few moments. "The Minister signed one of the laws while we were gone. Well, he may have signed a few but we really didn't talk much about any others."

"Which one?"

"The one about the Ministry approved transformation centers," Dad told her, "Lubar stopped by to inspect the basement."

"What?" Mum raised her eyebrow, "Why couldn't you just do the inspection?"

"Conflict of interest, Lubar said, but I'm sure the underlying reason was to lord the new law over me, and the general pleasure of being the one to tell me I've failed the inspection-"

"What?!" Mum shouted, "He failed you!? But that's impossible! If our basement couldn't pass, no place could!"

"That's what I told him," Dad said, "I believe that was the general idea of the inspection part of the law. Make it so difficult that nobody would be able to pass, and every werewolf in the country would be required to transform at one of these centers."

"But why didn't the basement pass?" Mum asked.

"All places of transformation must be self contained buildings. No safe rooms maybe inside other buildings," Dad replied, "Absolutely ridiculous."

"What is the reasoning behind that?" Mum asked.

"There isn't any, really," Dad muttered, "Lubar says it's to protect people, but it's really just to make things more difficult."

"What does this mean? For us," Mum asked quietly, staring at the floor.

"There's not enough time to create a safe room outside of the house," Dad replied, "According to the law, Matt must transform in one of the centers."

Mum's jaw dropped and she turned as white as Dad. "No way. Absolutely not. I will not have it! I cannot let my son be in a room full of strangers! Strange adults! That is the most irresponsible idea I have ever heard in my life! You have to fight this, Walter. I will not allow it."

"It can't be fought," Dad said, "The Minister has signed it. Even if I brought it up with the Wizengamot as an unjust law, there's not enough time to get it rescinded. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the Wizengamot is sympathetic with the Minister's ideas..."

Mum stood up. "I don't care! I won't take my son to one of those places, I just won't!"

"Neither will I," Dad agreed, "We'll just break the law. Lubar says there will be consequences, but I don't care. He can do whatever he likes, but Matt will not be at one of those places this evening."

Mum sat down. "All right. I can handle that. But what are the consequences?"

"I didn't ask," Dad said darkly, "But I am sure they will not be pleasant."

"We've got to get out of here," Mum said.

"I know, Jule," Dad agreed, "We'll be gone soon enough."

"I'm not really sure I want to think about what's going to happen in the mean time, though."

"We have to face it, though, Julie. The fact is, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be working at the Ministry."

******

I went up to my room as soon as Mum and Dad left for the kitchen. They never noticed that I was in the room. Well, either that or they didn't really care that I was in the room.

Once I was in my bedroom and the door was shut behind me, I wrote a carefully worded letter to Olivia. I told her all about visiting New York, including the school and house hunting. I also told her about Salem and the creepy headmaster and scary professor. I wanted to tell her about what was going on with Dad's job, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it without giving away my brother's secret.

Despite the fact that it was nearly three o'clock in the morning, I wasn't tired at all. Instead of tossing and turning in my bed, I dragged a blanket out to my balcony and watched the stars.

As I watched them, I thought about what I had heard only a few minutes ago. From what I could understand, this Lubar bloke was out to get Dad. I had no idea why, but he clearly wanted to hurt him in some way. Probably by hurting Matt, which I thought was awfully cruel. Why did this bloke hate Dad so much? The feud between the two of them seemed to be much deeper than just what had gone on in the basement. There was obviously something that transpired between the two of them that Dad had never mentioned.

I wasn't really surprised at this. Dad had never elaborated much about what went on at work. I'm pretty sure that was because a lot of his work was kind of depressing. I wondered if he had ever told Mum about Lubar and whatever row the two of them had had before.

Was Dad really going to lose his job over this? What would happen if he broke the law? He obviously was going to break it, of course, but what exactly would happen? I hoped he wouldn't get sent to jail, but I kind of doubted he would ever willingly go. Plus, it would probably look bad if Magical Law Enforcement arrested the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Although I didn't really sound like Lubar cared about whether it looked bad or not.

Would it even be a bad thing if Dad lost his job? I wasn't too sure. He would obviously have to quit it within a couple months anyway. I was far more concerned about what kind of punishment Lubar was talking about. Was it punishment that went through the Ministry? A fine or something? Or was he talking about something that would be off record that he himself would execute? I wasn't sure, but I thought that Magical Law Enforcement usually handled punishment. Therefore I was kind of thinking that Lubar would be doing something that was off the record. To be honest, the idea of that scared me. Based on what I'd heard and seen just then, there wasn't really anything that Lubar wouldn't do.

I wasn't really aware of falling asleep on the balcony, but the next thing I knew, someone was prodding me and telling me to wake up. I opened my eyes and I squinted in the bright sunlight.

"Wha-what is it?" I yawned.

"You've got to get up," Mum said, "It's nearly four in the afternoon."

I sat up and met Mum's gaze. She looked awfully worried, even more so than usual.

"I'm taking you to Richard and Cinda's soon," Mum said, "Be downstairs in fifteen minutes."

"Where's Dad?" I asked, dragging my blanket back into the room. Dad was always the one to take me to my grandparents' house on full moons.

"At work," Mum sighed, "I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"You're leaving Matt alone?" I asked. I was shocked. Mum never left Matt alone, even when it wasn't the full moon.

Mum got a pained look on her face and I could see a few tears in her eyes. "I don't have a choice. I don't want to. But it will only be a couple minutes and Ellie's here...."

I nodded and she left the room. I wasn't any happier about being shuttled to Richard and Cinda's this month than any other, but I decided I'd better just hold my tongue. This month was even more stressful than usual and I wasn't sure what Mum would do if I started refusing to go to Richard and Cinda's.

Mum was waiting for me in the kitchen ten minutes later.

"How's Matt?" I asked as I walked over to her. His door had been shut when I walked by.

"He's sleeping. Ellie's in his room right now," Mum replied, her face still etched with worry. "Come on, we've got to do this quickly."

I wordlessly stepped over to her and she wrapped me in a hug. With a crack, we Disapparated and a moment later, we were in Richard and Cinda's living room.

Richard and Cinda were not in the room when we arrived. Mum said goodbye quickly and Disapparated before either of my grandparents made an appearance.

Cinda walked into the room a minute later and looked around curiously. "Hi, Amy. Where's your father?"

"At work. Mum took me, but she had to leave as soon as she could since she left Matt alone with Ellie."

"Ah," Cinda replied, "Well, dinner will be ready in about an hour and a half. You're welcome to ask Kenzie to dine with us. But first you must tell me all about your trip!"

I forced a smile onto my face and sat down with Cinda on the couch. I told her all about the trip, down to the last detail. She seemed very interested in the whole thing.

"Oh, I've got to tell you about the party!" Cinda exclaimed after I'd finished telling her about the trip, "I've got the plans pretty much set and the invitations sent out!

I groaned to myself. "Cinda, honestly, I don't think a party is the best idea," I said, thinking of the stress that my parents were now under. A party might put them over the edge.

"Nonsense. A party is what they need. The two of them are always so tense. They ought to loosen up. Parties are the best way to do that," Cinda smiled, "Anyway, I've got it scheduled for Saturday, April sixth. That ought to be enough time for your brother to recover."

Yes, that was plenty of time, but who knew what would be going on with the Ministry and Dad's job then.

"Cinda, I'm begging you," I pleaded, "Cancel the party."

"Oh, don't worry," Cinda said, "You'll have fun. Kenzie's family has already RSVP'd and said they'll come."

Well, that was a plus, but I still didn't want a party. And I knew my parents wouldn't. But, I knew this was a lost cause. There was no way Cinda would ever cancel a party.

"Fine," I muttered, "I'm going to call Kenzie."

Kenzie came over as soon as I called her. She immediately wanted to know how the trip to New York was, and I told her as much as I could without giving away the magic parts. She still couldn't believe that we were actually going to move. Then I told her that my parents were going to sell the house and much of what was in it.

"Really?" Kenzie stared at me open-mouthed, "But I thought you said that house has been in your family for generations!"

"It has," I told her, "But my dad talked to my uncle and they both agreed the best thing to do was to sell it. Neither of them think they're ever coming back here, so it would just sit empty."

"Never?" Kenzie whispered, "There's no chance of you moving back?"

"Not one," I replied, thinking of what was going on at the Ministry.

"Wow," Kenzie said, "I guess maybe I thought you'd come back, you know, after a few years or something."

"I don't think we will."

"But why are they selling the furniture and stuff?" Kenzie asked, "Won't you need that in your next house?"

"Not all of it," I replied, "The next house is going to be much smaller."

Kenzie laughed, "You serious? You won't be living in a mansion? You'll be in a normal house?"

"Yeah," I couldn't help but grin. It was kind of a strange idea, since I couldn't really remember ever living in a normal sized house. "My parents didn't see the need to purchase a mansion wherever we move."

"Any idea when you're leaving?" Kenzie asked after she'd stopped laughing.

"Not really," I said, "I mean, my parents like New York, but I think they want to visit some other schools first. So probably a couple months or so."

"Well, that's good," Kenzie said, "We'll get to see each other a couple more times. Plus there's your grandparents' party."

"Don't remind me," I groaned, "My parents are going to be so upset about that. I don't even want to know what they're going to say to Cinda when they find out about it."

"Your parents really hate parties, don't they?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I can't blame them. Everyone who goes to my grandparents' parties are too stuck up for my liking."

"Agreed," Kenzie replied, "But I'll be at this one."

"Which will make it better for me, but my parents are still going to hate it."

Kenzie stayed at my grandparents' house until late into the evening, when her mum called her home. I stayed up late again since I had slept until four in the afternoon. Who knew when I would actually get back on a normal sleeping schedule.

I paced around my awful bedroom wondering about what was going on at my house. I wished more than ever that I was allowed to stay there over the full moon. Would Lubar wait until morning to hunt down my dad? Or would he show up as soon as Matt didn't appear at the Ministry center? Or maybe he would just find Dad at work the next day. I wondered if Lubar would have the nerve to start something with Dad while the two of them were at work. I tended to think he would, and it worried me that the Minister sided with Lubar. I mean, the chances were pretty high that the Minister would just ignore whatever Lubar did to Dad the next day. The only chance of Lubar getting in trouble would be if Magical Law Enforcement got involved. I wasn't really sure Dad would alert them to anything anyway, since he was breaking the law anyway. I wished I knew what the punishment for breaking this law would be. All the uncertainty was driving me mad.

It was obvious the next morning that Mum and Dad hadn't told Richard and Cinda about the new law and everything that was going on as a result of it. The two of them seemed blissfully ignorant when I sleepily made my way downstairs for brekkie. Cinda was talking to Richard about all the party plans and Richard was nodding his head as he drank his coffee.

"Good morning, darling!" Cinda grinned as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really," I said flatly. Of course I hadn't. I didn't get tired until about two in the morning, and then I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about Dad. Not to mention the fact that I don't usually get much sleep during full moons anyway.

"Well, is there anything special you'd like to do today?" Cinda asked, "I've got to go into Sydney to pick up some party supplies. Want to come?"

"Not really. But I would like to go home," I said as I sat down to eat my cereal.

Cinda gave me a strange look. "But Amy, you know you can't go home yet."

I nodded. I never asked my grandparents' to go home the morning after full moons. There wasn't any point, really, since Mum wouldn't let me. But this month was different.

"I want to at least ask if I can go home now," I mumbled.

Cinda put down her mug and looked at me. She took my chin in her hand and turned my head to face her. I glanced up and saw that there was actually concern in her eyes. Usually Cinda just focused on what she wanted and what was going on with herself and didn't pay much attention to others. I was a bit surprised that she seemed genuinely concerned.

"Amy," she said quietly, "What's going on?"

I put down my spoon and turned away from her. I could feel the tears starting to spring up in my eyes and I didn't want her to see. Mum and Dad hadn't told my grandparents' about what went on after we got home from New York, and they hadn't told me whether I should tell them or not. I had no idea what they wanted me to do.

"Can I just talk to Mum?" I asked. Come to think of it, could I even talk to Mum? We didn't have a phone at home and I didn't have an owl here. Nor was my grandparents' fireplace connected to the floo network.

"Can you talk to me?" Cinda asked, "Maybe I can help."

"You can't," I replied, still not looking at her. Richard was looking at me strangely, but he didn't say anything.

"Why?" Cinda asked, "Tell me what's going on."

I shook my head and the tears started to fall out of my eyes. I didn't want to tell Richard and Cinda about Dad's job. Well, I kind of wanted to, but I wasn't sure if my parents would want me to.

"Does this have to do with your brother?" Cinda asked.

I nodded my head reluctantly, but didn't elaborate.

"What is it?" Cinda asked, "Did your parents think something would happen last night?"

Cinda gently turned my head to face her again when I didn't respond after a few moments. I didn't meet her gaze and just stared down at the table.

"Amy," Cinda said gently, "If something horrible happened, your mother would have told us as soon as possible. It's ten o'clock in the morning. If something happened, she would have told us by now."

I nodded, but this didn't ease my fears. It wasn't my brother I was worried about. It was Dad and what was going to happen when he went to work. I was worried about what Lubar would do. The creepy bloke couldn't do a thing to Matt with Mum and Dad protecting him, but I was worried about what he would do to Dad.

"I-I just want to talk to Mum," I said again. "Do you know if there's anyway I can?"

Cinda sighed. "Your mother does have a mobile phone for emergencies. She didn't want you to know about it because she didn't want you calling and demanding to go home. I have no idea what you're so worried about, but I will give her a call."

I nodded and Cinda got up from the table. She picked up the phone and punched a few numbers into it. Someone answered a few moments later. Cinda talked in a hushed voice and I couldn't make out what she was saying. A few minutes later, she wordlessly handed me the phone.

I took it and ran out of the kitchen and into the drawing room, shutting the door behind me.

"Mum?" I whispered into the phone.

"Amy, what on earth is wrong?" Mum asked in a tense voice.

"I just want to know that everything is ok, you know, with Dad and that bloke he was arguing with."

Mum paused for a moment before answering. "Everything is fine for now. Dad's at work and I haven't heard anything."

"Mum," I said quietly, "I-I want to come home now. Please can I? I can't take it not knowing what's going on."

Mum sighed. "Amy, I'm kind of busy right now. Your brother," Mum paused, "Well, it wasn't one of the better nights. I think it had to do with the time zone changes and loosing a day when we flew back home."

I nodded and then remembered that she couldn't exactly see me. "All right," I croaked, "Well, just, call or come and tell me if anything bad happens or something."

"I will, Amy," Mum replied, "I'd better go. I love you and I'll see you soon."

"Love you, too, Mum," I said and turned off the phone.

Cinda was waiting for me when I returned to the kitchen. I didn't meet her gaze as I put the phone back.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. Well, Matt had a bad night. Mum thinks it's because of the time zone changes, but she's not sure."

"He'll bounce back," Cinda replied, "He always does. Now, I'm taking you with me to Sydney to buy party supplies."

"But-"

"No buts. You're coming and that's that," Cinda said adamantly. "Now go get dressed. We're leaving in a half hour."

I groaned and trudged up to my room. I knew there was no getting out of it. Cinda was trying to distract me from what was going on at home. I threw on an old t-shirt and pair of jeans that I knew Cinda wouldn't want me to wear.

Cinda dragged me from store to store the entire morning. I didn't say much during the entire trip, but Cinda kept up a running commentary about the party. Then she took me out for sushi, despite my telling her I didn't want to. The idea of eating raw fish grosses me out. I got plain vegetable sushi, which was ok, but I wouldn't be itching to have it again. The afternoon was spent shopping as well. The only good part about it was that Cinda didn't make me get a new dress.

I was completely knackered by the time we got home and all I wanted to do was go to bed. I was forcing myself to at least stay awake until nine o'clock, though, to try and get used to my usual time zone. Cinda had picked up take-out pasta on our way home and we ate that for dinner. Cinda told Richard about our day, but I kept quiet the entire meal. My mind was still reeling about Dad's job and his row with Lubar. Cinda's distraction shopping trip hadn't worked in the slightest.

After dinner I went into the living room and tried to get lost in a new book, but even that wasn't having its usual effect. This stay at Richard and Cinda's was going to drag on forever, I just knew it. The words blurred on the pages as I let my mind wander to what was going on at home. I glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly seven o'clock. Dad probably wasn't home yet.

A loud crack startled me out of my thoughts and I dropped my book in surprise as I saw Mum standing in the middle of the room. Her hair was disheveled and there were dark circles under her eyes. That was about the only color on her pale face. She looked more tense and worried than I had ever seen before, which was saying something.

"Amy." Mum's voice sounded strained and almost like she was trying to hold back tears. "You're coming home now. Get your stuff quickly. I haven't got time to explain right now."

I stared at her and then jumped up, running all the way to my room. What was going on? Did something happen to Dad? I was thinking up the worst possible scenarios as I threw all my stuff into my bag and ran from my room. Did he and Lubar duel each other? Or did Lubar do something sneaky and underhanded?

"Mum!" Mum shouted as I ran back into the room, "Dad! I'm taking Amy home now!"

Cinda ran into the room a few moments later, with Richard close behind. Both of them wore looks of confusion.

"What's going on?" Cinda asked. "Is Matt ok?"

"Yes, he's fine, for now," Mum replied, "I really haven't got time to explain anything. I'll talk to you soon, I promise."

"Julie," Richard began, "What's wrong? I've never seen you look this worried. What's happened?"

"I really can't talk about it right now," Mum's voice cracked, "We've got to get back home. I'll contact you soon."

"But, Julie-"

"Dad, listen to me, I can't talk right now," Mum pleaded, "I will tell you soon, I promise you that."

Richard sighed and then nodded. Cinda was still staring curiously at Mum. I muttered goodbyes to both of them and then went over to Mum to Apparate.

We Apparated directly into the kitchen and once we were there, Mum immediately released me and started crying. I dropped my bag and went over to the table, where she had collapsed onto one of the chairs.

"Mum," I said, "What's happened?"

Mum cried for another minute before wiping her eyes and looking at me. "L-Lubar," she began, "Has announced to-to the entire c-country that your brother is a werewolf."

Chapter 22: Suspended

I stared open mouthed at Mum for a few seconds. I had thought that the names of underage werewolves were protected by the law and they wouldn't be released until the werewolf in question became of age.

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping Mum would actually answer my questions, "How? When?"

"This afternoon," Mum said, her voice still wobbly, "He was angry that Dad wouldn't allow Matt to go to the approved Ministry center. Dad lodged a complaint about the law with the Wizengamot. Apparently Lubar 'let it slip' that Matt was a werewolf while he was getting a cup of coffee. The information quickly made its rounds and now the entire Ministry knows, as opposed to just the Werewolf Control Unit."

"But, but, isn't that illegal for him to do that?"

"Technically, yes," Mum growled, "But seeing as nobody will actually say who they received the information from, the only proof is Dad's testimony. Which of course will not hold up in court since he is biased."

"What's going to happen now?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not entirely sure," Mum replied, "But this is not going to be easy. Amy, I'm explaining all about this now, because within the next few days we are surely to be on the receiving end of many owls from the general public. Not to mention the newspaper articles."

I nodded. "Where's Dad?"

"Upstairs with your brother," Mum answered, "Which reminds me, I don't want you to go in his room for the rest of the night. He needs to rest."

"Ok," I mumbled, "I think I'll go to bed."

I walked slowly up to my room. I paused outside Matt's door, which was open. Dad was sitting on a chair next to his bed and absentmindedly messing with Matt's hair while staring off into space. He didn't notice as I walked quietly by. Matt was sound asleep.

As soon as I'd changed into my pajamas, I went out onto the balcony. I stared up into the sky and thought about what was going to happen now that the entirety of wizarding Australia knew that my brother was a werewolf. There were reasons why Mum and Dad never told anyone. Reasons why I was forbidden to mention it to anyone at school. As much as I hated not being able to be truthful with my friends, I knew the reasons behind it.

My parents tried to make our lives as normal as they could, and part of that was keeping Matt's condition a secret. People would not only look at him differently if the knew, but they'd look at our entire family differently. Of course, the effects of it on me were minuscule compared to what it would be like for Matt. Because we had been so secretive about it, nobody looked at him differently as we walked around amongst wizards, nobody shunned him, nobody refused to let their children play with him, nobody looked at him with fear. All that would change now. Before they just saw a small, quiet boy. Now they would look at him and only see the raging monster he became on one night out of twenty-eight. It was really quite unfair.

The second reason why my parents kept it a secret was Dad's job. The implications of the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures having a werewolf son could be disastrous. Any bit of pro-werewolf legislation that he tried to pass would be seen as him trying to make life easier for his son. People would consider him incredibly biased.

Dad had been the Head of the Werewolf Control Unit when Matt got bitten. He was promoted to Head of the entire magical creatures department just six months afterwards. Dad had always been sympathetic towards werewolves, even before Matt was bitten, and many people were against his promotion. But, there wasn't anything they could do about it. Now, there would be grounds for him to be fired.

And all because of some stupid law. A stupid law that required an eight year old boy to be alone in a large building filled with adults. What kind of idiots would pass such a law? The idiots who believe werewolves to be less than human. I was sure that was how Lubar had rationalized the entire thing.

My mind was racing about what was going to happen. Mum had mentioned us getting nasty letters by owl. I decided I just wouldn't read any. They'd go straight to the bin. Despite all that I had on my mind, I fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion only a few hours after I had gone up to my room.

I woke up the next morning with an awful ache in my back and crick in my neck. I groggily opened my eyes and glanced around. I remembered that I had fallen asleep on the balcony, without any pillows or blankets.

I groaned and got up, remembering the past night's events. I changed quickly and then went downstairs to find a potion for my aching back. The kitchen was deserted when I went downstairs. There were signs of life, though. Empty bowls in the sink, and the newspaper lying on the table.

I grabbed the paper as soon as I'd taken a potion to ease the ache in my back. I waited a few moments before looking at it, though. Did I really want to read the article that I knew would be there? Of course I did. Curiosity always got me in the end. I took a deep breath, looked down at the page, and prepared myself for the worst. There it was, right on the front page.

'HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE CONTROL AND
REGULATION OF MAGICAL CREATURES'S SON IS A WEREWOLF'

Well, nobody will every be able to say that
Walter Eckerton doesn't bring his work home
with him. Yesterday, an unknown Ministry
employee leaked the information that Walter
Eckerton's 8-year-old son is a werewolf.
No one is sure who leaked the information,
and it is widely known that the names of
underage werewolves are normally kept secret
until they become of age. This is why Walter
Eckerton's son has been kept under wraps for
so long. (continued on page 4D)'

I hurriedly turned to page 4D and began to read the rest of the lengthy article.

'Long since known as a supporter of werewolf
rights, Walter Eckerton has been Head of the
Department for the Regulation and Control of
Magical Creatures for nearly two years.
Before that, he was Head of the Werewolf
Control Unit, and worked in that department
prior to becoming the Head.

Wizards and witches alike are now positive
that most of Eckerton's pro-werewolf laws
are due to his son's condition, despite the
fact that Eckerton was known for his sympathy
prior to the attack on his son.

Details about the attack, that occurred just
over two years ago, are slowly coming to light.
Matthew Eckerton, 8, was attacked at a Muggle
campground between Christmas and NewYears in
2010. He was five years old at the time. We
have not yet been informed of the attacker's
identity.

There have been murmurings throughout the
Ministry since yesterday afternoon about
whether or not Eckerton will keep his job.
Many people have shared that they do not feel
that Eckerton is able to do his job properly
with a werewolf for a son. A few are horrified
that he was even selected for the position in
the first place.'

I set the paper down and glared at it. How could they write that? Just because Lubar had outed that Matt was a werewolf at work yesterday didn't give the paper the right to write an entire article on it. Wasn't that law about keeping the names of underage werewolves secret supposed to prevent this type of article? And why should Matt's being a werewolf get Dad fired? He had done a plenty good job for the past two years, so why should he get fired now?

I turned back to the front page to check if there were any other articles that I ought to read. Dad had said the werewolf attacks were increasing, so there may have been one this month as well. Sure enough, there was a very small article about a man who was attacked. I imagined that article would have been the front page article of Lubar hadn't have announced that Matt was a werewolf.

Below the article about Dad was yet another article about him. I quickly started reading it.

MINISTRY EMPLOYEE BREAKS WEREWOLF CONTROL LAW

'Less than twenty-four hours before the
announcement that Walter Eckerton's
son is a werewolf, the man knowingly broke
the newest law regarding werewolf control.

The law, known as Werewolf Control Law 56,
requires all places of transformation pass
an inspection by an employee of the Werewolf
Control Unit. The law was signed by the
Minister five days ago. If a place of
transformation fails inspection, the werewolf
in question is required to transform at a
Ministry approved facility. (Werewolves
using the Wolfsbane potion are exempt,
providing that they can give the Werewolf
Control Unit the proper documentation).

Eckerton has long since been sympathetic
towards werewolves and rejected this law
only a few short weeks ago. His department
overruled his rejection and presented the
law to the Minister, who immediately approved
it. Eckerton was mysteriously absent from
work while that took place. Ralph Lubar,
Head of the Werewolf Control Unit says,
'We're not really sure where Eckerton
went. I mean, he said he was going to
visit his brother in the States, but who
knows? He's been awfully secretive lately.'

Wherever Eckerton was, he was not at work
to voice his disapproval of the law. In
fact, Eckerton had no knowledge that the
law had passed until Lubar showed up to
do his inspection on Monday.

To the shock of many people, Eckerton
failed his inspection. 'His safe room was
in his basement,' Lubar told us, 'It had
proper spells around it, but under the new
law, all safe rooms must be self contained
buildings, not a room in another building or
home. It's for the safety of everyone.'

Eckerton was told his son would have to
transform at one of the Ministry centers, but
he flat out refused to comply. Evening came,
and Eckerton's son never showed up at any of
the centers.

What can be said when the Head of the Department
for the Regulation and Control of Magical
Creatures doesn't follow the laws set by his
department? Eckerton is still employed by the
Australian Ministry, but is facing charges for
breaking this law.'

I swallowed hard as I set the paper back down on the table. Dad was facing charges. Was he going to go to jail? I shook the thought from my head and turned away from the paper. I didn't care if there were any other articles in it about Dad. I didn't want to read them. They were painting Dad in such a horrible light.

The house remained quiet for much of the day. I didn't see Mum until the early afternoon, when she emerged from Matt's room. Apparently she had been in there the entire morning. I asked her how he was doing and she said he was better, but definitely not back to normal. She told me not to bother him and I certainly wasn't going to argue. Mum still looked extremely stressed out and knackered. I asked her about the articles and she told me it was only the beginning.

"What about the charges?" I asked quietly as she and Ellie prepared dinner.

Mum put down her wand and met my gaze. "What about them?"

"Well, what's going to happen? Is Dad going to have to go to jail?"

"I don't think so," Mum replied, "But I'm sure there will be a hearing. I'm not entirely sure of the details."

I nodded and didn't ask anything else. Dinner was very quiet and subdued, especially since it was only Mum, Ellie, and I who were eating. I didn't even bother to ask when Dad was coming home. Who knew what was going on at the Ministry that day.

Mum went back to Matt's room after we'd finished eating and I went up to mine. I immediately noticed Olivia's owl sitting on my desk as I entered the room. She had probably seen the paper that morning. I hoped she wasn't too mad at me for never telling her about Matt.

I took the letter from the owl, gave her some treats, and sat down on my bed to read it.

Dear Amy,

I'm not even sure what to say, honestly.
I was thoroughly shocked when I read the
paper this morning. The whole school saw
it, too. They all looked to me for answers
since I'm friends with you, but I had no
answers for them.

Part of me is angry at you for not telling
me, but I know it wasn't really your decision
not to tell me. But, really, how could you
keep that from me? Is this the real reason
why your parents wouldn't let me go to your
house? Were they afraid that I'd find out
and tell everyone I knew? I wouldn't have,
Amy, I really wouldn't have. Is this why
your parents are so protective of your
brother? Probably.

Is this also why your parents had that row
with Killigan? I kind of think the two are
connected. Why in the name of Merlin would
your parents pull you out of school and move
across the world just because of an argument?
The argument was about your brother. Was it
because Killigan wouldn't let him go to
school with us? Is that why you're moving so
far away? So your brother can go to school?

I got your letter about New York. The school
there sounds nice. Let me know if you go to
visit any others. Write back really soon. I
want to know what's going on.

Your friend,
Olivia

I set down Olivia's letter and stared out the window. At least it didn't seem like Olivia was too angry with me. It honestly wouldn't have surprised me if she totally flipped out, in letter form of course. This was a secret I'd been keeping from her for over two years. Ever since Matt had become a werewolf in the first place. I still remember when I went back to school after it had happened. I was still upset about it, but I couldn't tell Olivia. She asked me about it for weeks, but I never told her what was wrong. Eventually she just gave up and forgot about it.

I sighed and went to my desk. I pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a pot of ink. I was going to tell Olivia the entire story now. She knew Matt was a werewolf now, so what could the harm be? I wanted her to understand the whole thing. I was sick of lying to her. And most of all, I wanted to tell someone about it. I had never once talked to anyone about Matt being a werewolf, outside of my family.

Dear Olivia,

First, I'm really sorry for not telling you
about my brother. My parents made me promise
never to tell anyone about it. Remember back
in the beginning of second year when I was so
upset and wouldn't tell you why? Matt got bit
over the summer before that year.

I continued and told Olivia all about the camping trip and how Matt got attacked there. I told her about how the Wolfsbane potion wouldn't work for him and how Mum and Dad made me stay with my grandparents every full moon. I told her everything I could possibly think of.

Next I told her everything about the move and the issues going on at Dad's work. My letter was practically two feet long by the time I'd finished it. I stuffed it in an envelope and sent it off with Olivia's owl, who had conveniently stuck around while I wrote it.

I stepped out onto the balcony and watched the owl fly away. Somehow I felt much better after writing that letter. I was still incredibly worried about what was going to happen, but I also felt sort of calm. It was a bit strange.

I decided to go downstairs and see if Dad was home yet. I went into the living room and found both him and Mum sitting in silence on the couch. They both looked tense.

"Hey, Dad," I said as I walked into the room.

"Oh, hi, Amy," Dad replied tiredly.

"Um, how was work?" I asked tentatively.

Mum and Dad glanced at each other before Dad replied. "I've been suspended without pay."

I stared at him in shock as I sat down on a nearby chair. "What does that mean?" I asked quietly.

"Technically, I'm not fired, yet," Dad said flatly, "I won't be working for the next week, until the hearing. Hearing's a week from today. Then they'll decide if I'm fired or not."

"So, you might not get fired?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fired. The Minister's got the Wizengamot in his pocket. This is just a formality."

"But we're moving anyway," I pointed out.

"I know," Dad said, "But if I'm fired here, it'll make it harder to get a job elsewhere."

Dad didn't elaborate on what else went on at work that day, but judging by his hardened expression, it wasn't anything good. I went back up to my room a short while later and read my book until I fell asleep.

******

Despite the fact that Dad didn't go to work the next day, I hardly saw him. He and Mum went back to their routine of spending hours at a time in Dad's study. I still had no idea what they did in there. Every once in a while one of them would come out and go up to Matt's room, but they never told me what they were doing. Matt still hadn't completely recovered from the full moon and was spending the day in bed again.

I spent the day brewing potions and thinking about everything that was going on. I couldn't believe that Dad was actually going to get fired just because Matt was a werewolf. It didn't seem fair at all.

Right before dinner, Mum and Dad finally emerged from Dad's study. Mum told me she was going to Apparate to Richard and Cinda's to tell them about what was going on. Dad and I waited silently in the living room for her to return. I got the impression that Dad didn't really feel like talking.

Mum appeared with a crack about a half hour later and she sat down on the couch next to Dad.

"What do they think?" Dad asked.

"They don't really quite understand," Mum replied, "Which makes sense since they're Muggles. But they can see why we're so stressed out."

Dad nodded, but didn't say anything.

"But they think it's awful that you might get fired over this," Mum said, "They don't see how you could get fired just because Matt's a werewolf."

"Technically, I won't be fired because of that," Dad muttered, "On the record, I'll be fired for breaking the bloody law that they passed while we were gone."

"Right," Mum sighed.

"But everyone knows the real reason is because Matt's a werewolf," Dad said.

Neither Mum nor Dad said anything after that. The two of them just stared off into space and I turned back to my book. None of us moved or talked much until we heard Matt come in a half hour later.

Both Mum and Dad looked up quickly when he came in. Then they shared one of those parental looks that drove me mad. Although I was pretty sure I knew what this one meant. They hadn't told Matt about any of this yet.

Matt walked into the room and I saw that this month he had his arm in a sling, and there was a partially healed deep gash on his forehead. He went over to Mum and climbed into her lap.

"Hi, honey, how are you?" Mum asked gently.

"Hungry," Matt replied.

"Well, that's a good sign," Mum gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But before we eat, Dad and I have to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Matt said.

This was it. They were going to tell him about everything that had happened the past few days. I kept my eyes on my book, but I didn't actually read it. Instead I listened to everything they said.

"Remember when Dad and I told you that we can't tell anyone about what happens once a month?" Mum asked quietly. Matt nodded. "Well, some people Dad works with have always known and they had to promise never to tell anyone." Mum turned to look at Dad.

"Do you remember the man who came to the house the night we got back from New York?" Dad asked.

"No," Matt replied.

"Right," Dad said, "You were kind of asleep then. Anyway, that man kind of told everybody what happens once a month?"

Matt stared at Dad and then turned back to Mum. "But, but, you said that if people know about that, then they might not be nice to me," his voice wobbled.

Mum glanced at Dad and sighed. "Yes, I did tell you that. And, it's true. People might not be nice to you now that they know."

"But why?" Matt's voice cracked.

"It's just the way things are," Mum said and I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. "I know it's not fair."

"Why'd that man tell everyone?" Matt cried. "You said they all promised not to tell."

"Because he was mad at me," Dad answered quietly.

"Why?"

"When that man came to the house that night, he came to tell me about a new law that passed while we were visiting Uncle Jack. Because of that law, you were supposed to go to a special place to turn into the wolf. With other people who turn into wolves, too."

Matt's eyes got big and he stared at Dad in shock. "But I don't want to do that! I want to stay here and go to the basement. Don't make me go somewhere else!" He threw his arms around Mum and started crying into her shirt.

"We'll never make you go there," Mum soothed, "Never. You'll stay here to turn into the wolf. Don't worry."

"B-but D-Dad said I h-had to."

"I chose not to obey that law, Matt," Dad said quietly, "I couldn't make you go to that place. And I never will."

"But it's the l-law," Matt wailed, "W-won't you g-go to j-jail now?"

"No, not jail," Dad said, "I have to go to a hearing."

"Wh-what will they d-do at th-that?"

"Decide what my punishment will be," Dad replied, "But it will not be jail time. It will most likely be a fine. And I might lose my job."

Matt picked his head up and stared at Dad. "You'll g-get f-fired. B-because of m-me?"

Dad pulled Matt onto his own lap and looked him in they eye. "No. Not because of you. Never think that this is your fault. It's the Ministry's fault. They're passing laws that are outrageous. This was my decision not to follow an unjust law. None of it is your fault."

Matt nodded and continued sobbing. He buried his head in Dad's shoulder and Dad hugged him for a while. Mum rubbed Matt's back as tears streamed down her face. I watched and couldn't help but feel like I was intruding on something.

Chapter 23: Fired and Fined

The next week passed quickly and my parents got more stressed out as the day of Dad's hearing loomed closer. The two of them spent an increasingly large amount of time in Dad's study, leaving Matt and I to do as we pleased. I spent most of my time brewing potions or wandering around in the forest. Mum seemed to have forgotten about my 'home schooling', which was fine by me.

Apparently at some point during the week, Cinda told Mum that she wanted us to go over to her house for dinner on Friday night. I had to turn away from Mum when she told us this, because I knew the real reason was for the party. I was torn about whether to tell my parents about the party or not. Eventually I decided not to, since if I told them, Cinda would get mad at me. But if I didn't say anything and pretended to not have known about the party, nobody would get mad at me.

Olivia owled me back a few days after I explained about what had happened. She said she wasn't mad at me and I was relieved. Olivia's letter was the only nice letter any of us had received the past few days. Mum had been right about the amount of owls that she thought we'd get. The few days following the article in the paper, we must have gotten at least 100 letters. And all of them were incredibly rude or downright mean. I didn't personally receive any, as most of them were for Dad or Matt. But my parents didn't let Matt read any of them. They wouldn't even let me read any, but I did read a few that I intercepted before Mum or Dad could spot the owl.

The day before Dad's hearing was probably the tensest day I had experienced since the few days following the night Matt got attacked. Neither of my parents spoke at brekkie and they went to Dad's study immediately following.

I dumped my empty bowl and cup in the sink and decided to go read in the living room. I was on my way there when I saw an owl flying towards the house. Not another one, I groaned. I sighed and opened the window for the owl.

The letter it had in its beak was very large. I took it and the owl left immediately. It was addressed to my entire family. I tore open the envelope and out fell a magazine. That was it. There was no note or anything to tell me who it was from. Just the magazine.

I turned it over and gasped when I saw the cover. It was the latest edition of 'Aussie Magik' and there on the cover was a huge picture of my family and I. The picture had to have been at least two years old. My brother and I looked much younger, but my parents looked about the same. Well, they did look calmer and less worried if you looked close enough.

Aussie Magik is a magazine that reports on the current happenings of all the celebrity witches and wizards of Australia. My family appeared in it occasionally years ago, before Matt got bitten, but they hadn't printed an article on us in ages. The last one was shortly after Matt got bitten and it basically talked about how we had stopped appearing at public events and such. The reasoning they gave was that my parents decided to raise Matt and I away from any sort of fame.

Across the picture, right under the title of the magazine was the title of the article. 'Scandal at the Ministry: What Really Happened to the Eckerton Family.' I groaned out loud as I read it. This certainly wouldn't be good.

"What's that?" Matt asked.

I jumped, having forgotten he was still in the room. I turned to face him and hid the magazine behind my back. "Er, nothing," I replied, not wanting him to read it. "I'm going up to my room. Don't follow me."

I ran from the room, leaving Matt standing confused next to the table. Despite my misgivings about the article, I still wanted to read it. I just didn't want my brother to read it. I was sure it wouldn't paint him in a good light.

Once I had the door shut behind me, I laid down on my bed and opened the magazine. I quickly flipped past the advertisements for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, the latest broomstick, and a fancy robe shop somewhere in Sydney. Past the articles about witches who had divorced their husbands and remarried just weeks later. Past the article about the witch who just gave birth to quadruplets. That one would have probably been the front page article if it weren't for this whole mess with the Ministry, I thought.

Right after the article about the quadruplets was the article about my family. There was a two-page photo that was different than the one on the front cover. It happened to be our family portrait from three years ago. I was dressed in lavender robes and my hair was actually down and curled. I still remembered the fuss Mum made over my hair that day. I was eleven then and had wanted to wear my hair in its usual ponytail, but Mum wasn't going to allow it. Matt stood next to me in navy blue robes. Dad's robes matched his and Mum's robes matched mine. I still had those robes in my closet.

I flipped the page and took a deep breath as I began to read the article.

The Eckerton Family had it all. Fame, money, and
the mansion on the hill. They were at every
event in the Wizarding World, and a few in the
Muggle world as well. What happened two years
ago when they just seemed to fall off the face of
the earth? We were told that Walter and Julietta
Eckerton wanted to raise their children away from
the fame and fortune, but we recently found out
that that's not exactly what happened.

Walter Eckerton was born to Conan and Nancy Eckerton,
the then owners of the Eckerton manor and everything
that went with it. Walter was their first son and has
a brother four years his junior, Jacob, who lives in
New York State. When Walter was attending The Australian
School of Sorcery, he fell in love with a shy Muggle-
born, Julietta Bailey. Julietta was born to Richard
and Lacinda Bailey, who happen to have their own
fortune in the Muggle world. One could say that it was
a story for fairy tales.

The fairy tale was set to continue when Walter proposed
to Julietta and the two of them were married. The two
decided to start a family a few years later, and that was
where trouble began. The Eckertons had problems getting
pregnant. They tried for years to conceive, but had no
luck.

When Walter was 35 and Julietta was 34, Julietta finally
became pregnant. The couple was thrilled and life was good.
Amy Marie Eckerton was born on October 27, 1998. Walter
and Julietta enjoyed a few years of joy before their
lives took a turn for the worse. Conan and Nancy
Eckerton were killed in a fiery car accident three and
a half years after Amy was born. Walter and Julietta
were both devastated and wizarding Australia was shocked.

The will was read and Walter had inherited the mansion,
along with a good part of the fortune. Jacob inherited
the rest. Walter moved into the mansion with his family
shortly there after.

The Eckertons had wanted multiple children and had been
trying to have a second child ever since Amy was two,
but it once again proved difficult. Both parents were
beginning to think they would never have another child,
due to their increasing age. However, luck was once
again on their side, and three years after the devastating
loss of Conan and Nancy, Julietta was pregnant once again.

They were not without worry, though. Julietta was 40 when
she became pregnant and the pregnancy was full of
complications. Julietta gave birth to a son, Matthew Conan,
on February 6, 2005, two months before the baby was actually
due. The baby was premature and had to stay at the hospital
for a month and a half, but after that month and a half, he
was fine. It seemed like things were once again looking
up for this family.

Life continued for the Eckerton family, and although
they did not have anymore children, they were happy. Amy
began attending The Australian School of Sorcery in 2010.

Then, in early 2011, the Eckerton family suddenly stopped
wanting to be in the public's eye. They stopped attending
events and seemed to retreat from life. We were told that
Walter and Julietta wanted to begin to raise their children
differently than they both had been raised. Away from fame.
Away from reporters and fancy dinners and such.

The wizarding world believed this. They believed it for
two years. During those years, Walter was promoted to
Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of
Magical Creatures, from his former position of Head of the
Werewolf Control Unit.

And that is where this fairy tale story of Walter and
Julietta Eckerton takes a drastic turn for the worse. In
late December of 2010, the Eckerton family decided to go
camping like Muggles. During one of the nights while they
were camping, a werewolf came upon the camp.

The werewolf attacked Matthew, who was only five at the time.
Walter was able to save his son and help capture the werewolf,
who currently resides in prison. But life for the Eckertons
had changed forever. The Head of the Werewolf Control Unit's
son was now a werewolf.

Life as the Eckerton family knew it was over, and the wizarding
public was fed the lie about Walter and Julietta wanting to
raise their children away from the media. In reality, they
retreated in order to keep the fact that Matthew was a
werewolf a secret.

This worked well for just over two years. The Eckerton family
was no longer in the spotlight and slowly but surely the rest
of us thought less and less about them. Despite the lack of
publicity, the Eckertons by no means became less influential
in the world. Walter Eckerton furthered his career even more
when he became the Head of the Department for the Regulation
and Control of Magical Creatures in July of 2011, a mere six
months after his son became a werewolf.

That's right, Walter Eckerton became Head of the entire
department even though his own son is a werewolf. That bit
of information was kept secret as Eckerton was promoted.
Eckerton was promoted to the position by the former Minister,
Zachary Afton, when the former Head and current Minister,
Vincent Gabishi, quit to devote more attention to his
campaign. Afton, more commonly known as 'The Minister who
twiddled his thumbs all day', was widely known as an advocate
for half-breeds, including werewolves. Eckerton shares those
views, so naturally, Afton appointed him to the position.

Gabishi, currently known as 'The Minister who passed more
legislation in one week than Afton passed during his entire
term', has drastically different views than both Eckerton and
Afton. He advocates stricter laws and harsher penalties for
those who break the laws. Gabishi's views are shared by a
majority of those who work in the Werewolf Control Unit,
including the Head of said department, Ralph Lubar.

It is this that brings us to the most recent scandal. The
most recent law that was passed, Werewolf Control Law 56,
was passed and signed by the Minister shortly before the
most recent full moon. Eckerton rejected this law weeks ago,
but the decision was overruled by his department. The
Minister signed it while Eckerton was mysteriously away
on holiday. The Eckertons returned from holiday the day
of the full moon, to find that their son's safe room had
to be inspected by a Werewolf Control Unit official.

The strict law requires all safe rooms to have certain
spells and charms put on them, as well as have them be free
standing buildings, not rooms in buildings that house people.
Eckerton failed his inspection, as his son's safe room is
inside of his house.

According to the law, Eckerton was required to bring his son,
who for reasons unknown at this time is not on Wolfsbane, to
a Ministry created safe house that houses many werewolves
during the full moon. Eckerton refused and never showed up
with his son.

The Eckertons kept their secret safe for over two years. The
only people to know about their son were those who worked in
the Werewolf Control Unit. It is illegal to reveal the names
of underage werewolves. Despite this, somebody leaked the
information the day after the full moon, and it was front page
news the following day.

What will happen to the Eckertons now? How could one of
Wizarding Australia's most prominent families be facing a
Ministry hearing and possible punishment? Eckerton is not
only facing a punishment for breaking the law, but it is also
highly possible that he will lose his job. Then what? It is
rumored that the Eckertons are considering leaving the country.
An unnamed source has told us that Amy didn't return to school
this past January. One witch who preferred not to have her
name mentioned in this article swore she heard that the Eckertons
are going to integrate themselves into Muggle society.

Whatever the Eckertons decide to do, we will be following up on
this story. If anyone has inside information, please owl it
immediately.

I tossed the magazine onto my bed as soon as I'd finished reading the article. I glared at it, almost wishing I could set it on fire with my mind. What did they think they were doing, publishing that article? The thing practically told my family's life story, complete with a bit about my parents getting married.

It was the kind of sob story gossipy old witches lived for. The happy wealthy family facing tragedy and then a scandal. At least it hadn't mentioned too many horrible things about werewolves. But now the entirety of wizarding Australia was going to know when and where Matt got attacked. My parents tried so hard to hush that up and now everyone would know.

My parents were going to want to see this article, I thought. I picked it up and left my room. I really had no idea where my parents were, but they had to make an appearance at some point. I mean, they had to eat eventually.

Mum and Dad did emerge from Dad's study around lunch time, although neither of them looked like they wanted to read an article in Aussie Magik that was about themselves. Nevertheless, I slapped it down on the counter in front of Mum as she prepared sandwiches.

Mum took one glance at the front cover, gasped, and dropped the fork she had in her hand on the floor. Dad immediately went over to her and looked over her shoulder at the magazine. He picked it up and flipped to the page that the article was on. I stood silently behind them as they read.

"Where did you get this?" Mum asked once she was done reading. I couldn't see her face, but she talked with no emotion whatsoever, so I imagine her face looked like stone.

"An owl brought it. No note or anything with it. Just addressed to the whole family," I said quietly.

Mum nodded and Dad tossed the magazine into the bin. "Did your brother see this?" he asked.

"No."

"Good," Dad replied.

"Could've been worse," Mum whispered.

Dad nodded and went to sit at the table. Mum and I followed suit once she had finished making the sandwiches. Matt and Ellie joined us a minute later and we ate in silence.

The whole rest of the day was spent in silence as well. I worked on potions by myself for the whole afternoon and then I joined my family for another tense, quiet meal. Matt was really the only one who ate much. The rest of us were far too nervous about Dad's hearing the next morning. I pushed my food around on my plate for a while before excusing myself and going up to my room to stargaze and read the rest of the night.

******

Dad left for his hearing early the next morning. I was eating brekkie as he left and Matt wasn't even awake yet. His expression was emotionless and his face set in stone. He barely said a word, except a short goodbye to Mum and I. We wished him luck and then he flooed to the Ministry.

I had no idea what time he would return and didn't bother to ask Mum. She was tense and snappy the entire morning. She yelled at me for the smallest things, like leaving my book on the couch or not putting my dirty dishes in the sink. I didn't say a word back, because I knew she was just worried about Dad. I was, too. Mum was even short with Matt and snapped at him for spilling his milk. She rarely ever yells at him and certainly not for spilling milk. He started crying at this and Mum quickly apologized.

After that I just retreated to my room for the rest of the morning. It's always best to just stay out of Mum's way when she's stressed. I only returned to the main floor when I got hungry a few hours later.

Mum, Matt, and Ellie were already eating soup in the kitchen when I got there. I sat down wordlessly and started eating mine. The tension was so thick in the room that even Matt wasn't saying anything.

I was just finishing up my soup when I heard the familiar sound of someone flooing into the house. Mum and I looked up at each other and quickly got up from the table, with Matt and Ellie following.

Mum made it into the living room first and I followed only a second later. I saw Dad standing perfectly still with a large box in his arms. His face was hard and his eyes cold. I had rarely ever seen Dad with such an expression on his face. I would not want to be on the other end of his wand at that moment.

I stopped when I was just inside the doorway, but Mum went over to Dad and put her arms around him. He shook his head and sat the box down on the floor. Then he sat down on the couch and Mum sat next to him. I remained standing where I was, with Matt and Ellie just behind me.

"What happened?" Mum asked softly.

"Fired," Dad muttered, not looking at Mum.

"It's all right," Mum replied, "We figured it was coming."

"I know," Dad said.

"But what about the hearing?"

Dad glanced over to Matt and I and then continued staring at the floor. He must have decided that it was all right for the two of us to hear about it, since he didn't tell us to leave the room.

"Entire Wizengamot," Dad began, "Minister, too. They talked for about a half hour about the law and the charges. Then the Minister called in the witnesses, including Ralph Lubar. The git. Nobody mentioned that it was him who announced to the entire Ministry that Matt's a werewolf. In fact, that was never mentioned at all.

"Then, I gave my defense. After that, they deliberated for quite a while, although I'm not sure what they talked about. It was pretty obvious that they were all against me. The Minister read the verdict with a smirk and then informed me that I was fired. Told me to go and clean out my office. Went to do that and had to squeeze through a sea of reporters. Told them nothing. Cleaned out my office and left. Went to go have a drink and then came back here."

"We'll get through this, you know," Mum said quietly, "What happened today sounds awful and I've lost all respect for our Ministry, but we will get through this. We still have our family."

"I know, Jule," Dad sighed and hugged Mum, "I know."

"What was the verdict?" Mum asked after a few minutes.

"Guilty, of course," Dad said.

"I meant the punishment," Mum replied.

"Oh, right. Fine. They won't jail me. That would make them look bad. Jailing a prominent Ministry employee. Hefty fine, though. 1,000 Galleons."

Mum let go of Dad and stared at him. "1,000? That's ridiculous. What do they think they're going to spend that on?"

"Probably Gabishi's next campaign," Dad said bitterly.

"That's awful," Mum said, "They should donate it to a charity or something."

"They really should," Dad agreed, "I'd vote for the Lycanthropy Awareness Fund."

"That would be excellent," Mum said.

"But it would never happen."

"Of course not."

"Well, at least we're getting out of here," Dad said, "I never thought I'd be this eager to get out of this country."

"Me either," Mum agreed.

"To be honest," Dad began, "I'm kind of surprised we kept this a secret this long. I mean, considering my job and everything. I knew there was a possibility of this when I accepted the promotion."

"Don't blame yourself for what's happened," Mum said, "Never would have happened if that law wasn't passed."

"I know," Dad sighed.

"And we'd be moving even if you weren't fired. We decided to move months ago when Matt wasn't accepted to the school."

"I guess that's true."

"Right. So let's just move on. We'll concentrate on finding a new school and go from there. I'd like to visit at least one more place if that's all right."

"That's fine. I kind of would like to do the same."

"Good," Mum said, "There's some soup in the kitchen if you'd like some."

I took that as my cue to leave and went back up to my room. The hearing sounded absolutely awful. I couldn't believe that Dad was actually fired. It just seemed so strange. I never would have guessed that he would ever be fired from any job he ever had. I just hoped he'd be able to find a job wherever we moved.

Mum and Dad seemed much less tense when I went down for dinner. I guess they had come to terms with what had happened and were trying to put it behind them. I wanted to do the same, but it was hard. The two of them wanted to leave Australia, so it was easy to just look forward to moving. I still didn't want to move.

"Amy," Mum smiled at me as I sat down next to Matt. "We just got another letter. We'll be visiting Scotland shortly."

"That's great," I smiled back, although I wasn't too happy about visiting Scotland. If we had to move anywhere, I wanted it to be New York, not Scotland.

"Yes, we got a letter from the Headmaster of Hogwarts," Dad explained.

I spat out the milk I had been drinking. "H-Hogwarts?"

"Yes, that's the name," Dad smirked.

"Bit of an odd name," I coughed. That had to be the funniest name I had ever heard of for a school. Who would name a school Hogwarts?

"Well, no matter what it's called, the Headmaster would like us to visit," Mum said.

"When?" I asked.

"We're going to Cinda and Richard's for dinner tomorrow, so not immediately," Mum began.

Cinda's party. I had completely forgotten about that. I guess she wouldn't be making me purchase another fancy dress. Of course, since it was a surprise party, I probably wouldn't be getting dressed up for it anyway.

"So we were thinking middle of next week," Mum continued, "If we can get plane tickets on such short notice. If we wait much more than that, we'll have to do it after the next full moon. I don't want to run into the same problem we had when we went to New York."

I nodded. Great, more plane trips. Hopefully this would be the last trip, though. It seemed like my parents wanted to move soon, so I doubted we would visit anymore schools after this. Unless of course Britain had more than one wizarding school.

"Are we just visiting this Hogwarts place?" I giggled as I said the name.

"Yes, just that one," Mum told me, "Britain only has one wizarding school. The closest school to Hogwarts is in France and none of us speak French, so we didn't even bother to owl them."

"Ok, so a short trip?"

"Right. Only four days or so," Dad said.

"Where are we staying?" I asked, since we had no relatives in Scotland.

"I suppose I'll have to book a room someplace near the school," Dad said, "Hadn't really given that much thought yet. I know there are a couple places in the nearby village. Jack and I have traveled there before."

I took that to mean they had searched for the Hallows near there. That was pretty much the reason for all of Dad and Uncle Jack's traveling when they were younger.

The remainder of dinner was more lively than meals had been in over a week at my house. My parents told Matt and I what they knew about Scotland and Dad shared stories from when he traveled there years ago. I was actually beginning to look forward to visiting Scotland, but I still didn't want to move there.

Chapter 24: Keeping Up Appearances

I tried to avoid my parents the next day because I was afraid I'd let slip that Cinda was planning a surprise party instead of a dinner with just them. I spent the whole day brewing potions and reading, which wasn't out of the ordinary for me, so my parents didn't suspect a thing.

I was excited about seeing Kenzie at the party. I hadn't seen her at all the past full moon, since I wound up coming home relatively early. This party would hopefully be more fun than the New Year's one, since Kenzie would be there. I was a bit nervous about it because I knew my parents wouldn't react well, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

We Apparated directly into Richard and Cinda's living room around six o'clock. The house was surprisingly quiet; I couldn't hear any signs of a party. Of course, since Cinda decided to 'surprise' us, she probably purposefully emptied out the living room for us to Apparate into.

Mum and Dad were planning on telling Richard and Cinda about Dad getting fired that night at dinner. I wasn't really sure how that was going to go. Plus, my parents would tell them about going to Scotland, which Dad had managed to schedule for the following Tuesday. I had a feeling that this would be the last school we'd visit. Mum and Dad seemed especially eager to get out of Australia now that Dad was out of work. They'd probably make a decision after visiting Scotland.

"Julie, darling!" Cinda burst into the room in a cocktail dress and threw her arms around Mum.

"Hi, Mum," Mum half-smiled at her.

"How are you doing?" Cinda asked.

"Could be better," Mum sighed.

"Well, I know just the thing to cheer you all up," Cinda grinned and I cringed. Luckily nobody saw me. "Just follow me upstairs!" Cinda told us.

Mum turned to look at Dad and they both shrugged. Matt followed Cinda eagerly, and my parents followed him. I reluctantly followed them, not really wanting to go.

The house remained eerily quiet as we ascended the stairs to the ballroom. Cinda seemed to get more and more excited as we went, which I took as a bad sign. Cinda stopped as soon as we reached the doors to the ballroom.

"Mum, what is it?" Mum asked questioningly.

"Just something I planned to lift your spirits," Cinda flashed a smile and opened the doors.

"Surprise!" The ballroom was packed and every person shouted as we entered. I froze and stared at everyone with my mouth open. I shouldn't really have been that surprised, since Cinda doesn't know the meaning of 'a small get together'.

I turned to the rest of my family. Mum was staring at everyone, her mouth gaping. Dad had a pained look on his face and was shaking his head. Matt was looking around eagerly, his eyes resting on the table of desserts.

"Mother. What. Did. You. Do." Mum snapped out of her shock and turned to glare at Cinda.

"I threw you a going away party!" Cinda shouted excitedly.

"Ever occur to you that that's exactly what we didn't want?" Mum snapped, "We came here today with more bad news and I expected us to be able to tell you and Dad alone. Find Dad and meet Walter and I downstairs. Now."

Cinda looked taken aback, but she immediately strode over to Richard, who was already eating and motioned him over. Mum and Dad had already turned and left the room. I would have loved to follow them downstairs and listened to Mum yell at Cinda, but at that moment, someone came up from behind me and put their hands over my face.

"Ahh!" I shrieked.

"Guess who?"

"Kenzie," I relaxed as I heard her voice. She dropped her hands and I turned to look at her.

"Hey, what's new?" Kenzie grinned at me, "This is some party. Your mum doesn't look too happy, though."

"She's not," I muttered, "She hates these parties. Plus, something bad happened yesterday, so she's kind of worried about that, too."

"Really? What?" Kenzie immediately looked concerned.

I looked around to check if anyone was paying attention to me and luckily they weren't. "Dad got fired," I whispered.

"What?!"

"Yeah, he did."

"From his top-secret Ministry job?" Kenzie asked.

I nodded, "Don't spread it around."

"I won't, but you're moving anyway, so why does it matter?"

"It'll make it harder for him to get a job wherever we move," I explained. "But I really don't want to talk about it."

"Ok. Let's go get something to eat."

I followed Kenzie to the nearest food table and people stopped to talk to me along the way. I went through the usual smile and nod routine with all of Cinda's friends who I barely knew. Kenzie and I found a deserted table near the back of the room and we sat down to eat.

"So, know where you're moving yet?" Kenzie asked as she stared eating a mini-quiche.

"Nope," I replied, "But we're visiting one in Scotland this week."

"Scotland? Cool," Kenzie said, "Maybe I could visit you there."

I shrugged. Depended on how 'wizardy' our new house looked. "Maybe."

"Amy!" I looked up to see Vivien standing behind me, along with Jared, Breanne, Alicia, Cassie, and Damien.

"Hey, Vivien," I gave her a forced smile.

"So, you're moving?" Vivien said as she sat down next to me. The rest of the crowd sat down as well.

"Yeah," I replied, and turned to Kenzie. "This is Vivien, Jared, Breanne, Alicia, Cassie, and Damien," I gestured to each of them.

"Hey," Kenzie waved.

"And this is Kenzie, she lives down the road," I told them.

"So why are you moving?" Vivien asked, "Hasn't your family lived here for, like, ever?"

"Uh, yeah," I muttered, "But my parents had a disagreement with the headmaster of my school, so they want me to switch schools."

"And you have to leave the country for that?" Breanne raised an eyebrow. Cinda must have told everyone that we were moving out of the country. "That's kind of stupid. My friend, Yolanda, got expelled from our school for bringing beer to the class picnic last year, and she just switched to a school only a half hour away or so."

"Er-" I began.

"I know! You can switch to our school!" Breanne announced.

I inwardly cringed. I don't think I'd go to their school even if I was a Squib. "Um, actually, I've got to switch to another school that's like the one I go to now."

"Ah, that weird school," Cassie said.

"Er, right. Anyway, there's only about one in each country."

"That's weird," Breanne replied, "So where are you going to move?"

"Not sure," I shrugged, "My parents are still looking. Either New York or Scotland."

"I love New York!" Breanne exclaimed, "Best city in the world. I can't believe you might live there. So unfair."

"Actually, New York State," I suppressed a laugh at the thought of us living in a city as busy as New York City.

"Oh," Breanne deflated, "Well that's boring. When are you leaving?"

"No idea," I told her, wishing I could just go somewhere with Kenzie and ignore the rest of the people at the table.

"Kenzie," a whiny voice said from behind us.

I turned around to see Kenzie's little sister, Morgan, standing with one hand on her hip and the other gripping Kenzie's other little sister, Maddie, by the arm. Maddie is only four and was holding a cupcake in her other hand. Her chubby face was covered in chocolate. I imagined her hair was as well, although it was hard to tell since her hair is dark brown.

"What?" Kenzie asked.

"Mum says you've got to watch Maddie," Morgan said, letting go of her sister. Morgan is twelve, although sometimes I think she acts sixteen. She wears make-up whenever she can get away with it and straightens her light brown hair pretty much everyday. Kenzie told me she asked for blonde highlights and her mother laughed.

"And why can't you do it?" Kenzie asked.

"Because I don't want to," Morgan smirked, "And Mum says you've got to do it. You're the oldest."

"Fine," Kenzie groaned. Morgan grinned and took off. I watched her and noticed that she was hanging out with Breanne's little sister. Figures. I imagine the two of them would get along very well. Breanne's little sister is very much like Breanne.

Breanne raised her eyebrow as Kenzie pulled Maddie onto her lap. "I guess we'll go get drinks now," Breanne gave her friends significant glances. I was guessing she didn't want to be around messy toddlers.

"See you in a little while," Vivien smiled as she got up with the rest of her friends.

"Let's go," I stood up as soon as they disappeared into the crowd.

"So those are the girls you hung out with at your grandma's New Year's Party?" Kenzie asked as she stood up with Maddie.

"Sure are," I groaned.

"They seem like a fun bunch," Kenzie laughed. "Morgan would fit right in."

"I'll have to thank Maddie for scaring them away," I said.

"She's good at that," Kenzie replied.

"Amy! Mrs. Dawe came over to us with a smile on her face. I grinned when I saw her. Kenzie's mum is tall and a bit on the chubby side, with curly brown hair that's about chin-length.

Mrs. Dawe was carrying Kenzie's little brother, Michael. Michael, at age two, is the youngest of the Dawe family. Kenzie's third little sister, Mari (short for Marianna), was following her mother. Mari is eight and a bit on the shy side. She looks like a younger version of Kenzie.

"Hi, Mrs. Dawe," I said as she reached us.

"How are you, dear?"

"All right," I said, "I mean, I don't want to move, but I don't have a choice."

"It's hard, I know," Mrs. Dawe replied, "But you'll be fine. And you're welcome to visit anytime you like."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"And how is your brother?" she asked.

"He's good," I told her, not really knowing what else to say.

"Glad to hear it. He certainly looks well tonight," Mrs. Dawe pointed to Matt, who was running around with a few other little kids. "Well, I think I'll go find your mother."

"Ok," I replied.

"Thanks for watching Maddie for me, Kenzie," Mrs. Dawe added.

"No problem," Kenzie sighed as her mother patted her on the arm.

"Let's go to my room," I suggested after Kenzie's mum left.

"Sure," Kenzie agreed.

I relaxed immediately when I had shut the door to my room behind us. I didn't really want to spend anymore time with Breanne and her friends that evening. I was sure they'd be getting drunk soon anyway.

"Think they'll find us in here?" Kenzie asked.

"Maybe. Depends if they want to find us," I told her, "Anyway, Maddie's still here, so chances are they'll just stay in the ballroom."

"So your parents didn't look too happy when they saw everyone here," Kenzie commented.

"They hate parties like this," I explained, "Well, they didn't used to mind them, but after Matt got sick they've become more private."

"That makes sense," Kenzie said.

"Cinda actually told Mum that she wanted us over for dinner tonight and we got here and there was the party."

"Did you know about it?"

"Yeah, Cinda wanted me to help plan it, but I told her no."

"Excellent," Kenzie grinned.

Kenzie and I spent the rest of the party in my room. We talked and played with Maddie. I found a few kid's games in my closet and Maddie loved them. Kenzie and I pretended not to know how to play, which cracked Maddie up. Then she proceeded to explain how to play. Kenzie and I let her win every game.

We were just finishing our fifth game of Candyland when someone knocked on the door.

"What?" I shouted.

"Everyone's leaving now, Amy," Cinda shouted back, "You've got to come say goodbye."

I groaned, "Want to come?"

"Sure, why not," Kenzie stood up, "Come on, Maddie."

The ballroom was indeed emptying when we got there. Plenty of the guests stopped to talk to me and I did the smile and nod thing again. I told them I'd keep in touch and update them about my life. Of course, in reality, I'd never see them again or talk to them. I wasn't too depressed about that, either.

"Amy!" Breanne shouted as she and her crowd exited the room, "You've got to email me! Here's my email!" She thrust a piece of paper into my hands. "It's got all of ours on it. Tell us how things at your new weird school go! And tell us where you move to, too."

"Er, sure," I gave her a forced smile, knowing I'd never 'email' her. I hadn't used email in my life.

Vivien gave me a huge hug and then looked at me. "Amy, stay in touch. I'll miss you."

"Miss you, too," I replied, almost truthfully. If I was going to miss any of them, it would be Vivien.

"Come on, you lot," Damien announced, "We've got to split. Party at Kevin's is going on."

"Right," Breanne replied, "So see you around, Amy. Or not, since you're moving and all."

"Yeah, bye," I said.

"Never going to talk to them again, right?" Kenzie whispered.

"Never," I laughed. "I might send Vivien a letter telling her where we are, but that's it."

Soon, the only ones left in the ballroom were my family and Kenzie's. Mr. and Mrs. Dawe were trying to round up all the kids, most of whom didn't want to leave. Kenzie and I were standing near Mum, who was glaring daggers at Cinda.

"Well, we'd better be going," Mrs. Dawe said once she and her husband had all of Kenzie's siblings following them.

"Thanks for coming," Mum said, "Really, I mean it. I could have done without everyone else."

"Well, of course we came. We're going to miss all of you. I actually want to have you all over for dinner before you leave. Just us. Let us know when you're going to leave and we'll set it up."

"That sounds great," Mum smiled, "I'll let you know soon."

I grinned at Kenzie. "That sounds ten times more fun than this party."

"Glad you think so, Amy," Mrs. Dawe said, "And we'll see you in a few weeks. Are you staying with your grandparents on a weekend this month?"

I thought to myself for a few seconds and remembered that the full moon would be on a Thursday that month. I sighed. I probably wouldn't get to see Kenzie much during this trip. "Yeah, on a Thursday, so I'll probably be going home on Saturday morning. There's always next month, though."

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Dawe smiled and then turned to Mum, "Take care, all of you. I hope Matt continues to get better."

"Thanks," Mum replied, "We'll see you soon."

"Bye, Kenzie," I gave my friend a hug, "See you in a few weeks."

"You, too," Kenzie smiled, and left the room with her family.

As soon as Kenzie's family left the room, Mum whirled around and stormed over to Cinda.

"Why did you do it, Mother!?" Mum demanded.

"Do what?" Cinda asked.

"The party!" Mum shouted, "You know perfectly well we do not like these things anymore! And for a good reason, too! Do you know how awkward it was for Walt and I today? I don't think you do. People I really haven't kept contact with were asking why we were moving. I couldn't tell them why! Walt and I had to make up elaborate stories as to what was going on so, number one, we could conceal that we're magical. And number two, to conceal that Matt is a werewolf! Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"Julietta, calm down. Do you honestly think I wouldn't give my own daughter a going away party?"

"Yes! If, for once in your life, you thought about someone else besides yourself, you wouldn't have!"

"I was thinking of you!" Cinda yelled, "That's why I threw the party!"

"No it's not! You threw the party to 'keep up appearances'. That's what you've always been concerned about. Ever since I was a kid, it's always been 'what will everyone think'. You can't ever do anything without thinking about what other people will think."

"When you live the way we do, appearances have to be kept up!" Cinda replied.

"I don't live the way you do, Mum! Walter and I don't do that anymore! That's why we don't attend these things anymore. We like privacy and not having other people butting into our lives. That's why we're moving, Mother! Our whole world down here knows about Matt now, and it's turned everything upside down. We can't live in peace anymore. We just wanted to start over without leaving with a bang. But you couldn't let us do that, Mother, you couldn't."

"I want what's best for you, Julie. You're just running away from your problems."

"Running away? Running away?" Mum shrieked, "Oh, Mother, you have no idea! No idea whatsoever!"

"Yes, you're running away. That's what I call it when someone just decides to move to an entirely different country and start a new life!"

"I call it trying to make a better life for my children!" Mum exclaimed.

Mum was practically shaking. I had never seen her this mad before. She seemed more angry than she had been when my necklace had burned Matt. I stood frozen, staring at the two of them argue. Dad and Richard had stopped their cleaning up and were watching intently, but not interfering. Matt had crept over to where I was standing and was hiding behind me, with his head sticking out to watch.

"Better life?" Cinda raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, better life! Do you comprehend that if we stayed here, Matt wouldn't be able to go to school? It's even worse now. You realize that now, a simple thing like going shopping would cause him to be ostracized? Now, he couldn't walk into a store without people whispering and leaving the store. They do that when I enter a store, Mum. Imagine what they'd do to him," Mum lowered her voice and I could see tears starting to stream down her face.

"And your solution is to run to a different country?" Cinda asked, "Why not make it better here? Change their opinions. And if you can't, just make the best. Send Matt to a Muggle school. Teach him magic at home. You don't need to leave your home, Julie."

"Mother, I no longer call this country my home," Mum said, "Anyplace that treats my son like this is not home to me. And we can't change it. One family can't change the country. Walter's been fired. He has no influence in the Ministry anymore. He was one of the few remaining people sympathetic to werewolves. All the laws that he'd prevented from passing will pass now. You must understand that, Mum. Things will get worse if we stay here."

"And things are better elsewhere?"

"Yes, at least in New York. And we're hoping in Scotland, too. We'll all have better lives there."

"For how long?" Cinda asked, "How long until the Ministries there are like the one here? Will you move again? When does it stop, Julie?"

"I don't know, Mum," Mum said, "But for now, we're leaving. I'm sorry if you're not happy about it, but that's life. And why are you telling me this now, anyway? Months ago, when we first told you we were moving, you were fine with it!"

"Fine with it?" Cinda looked shocked, "I would never be 'fine' with my daughter moving across the world! I merely thought that with time, you'd change your mind. You made a rash decision in anger, Julie."

"With time I'd change my mind?" Mum shouted, "Oh, you're completely wrong about that. Walter and I have become more and more happy with our decision as time passes. Things have gotten worse since we first made the decision, Mother. If we hadn't made it then, we'd have made it now. This is no place for us to live. I wish you'd understand that.

"You've never understood, though, have you? Sure, you've taken Amy on the full moons, and we really appreciate that, but you don't really understand. You have no idea what we've gone through, what we will go through. You have no idea how werewolves are seen in our world, no idea at all. I've tried to explain it to you and you just don't get it.

"You try and cover up your uneasiness with the whole thing, but I see through it, Mother. If there's one thing I've learned over the past two and a half years, it's when people are being sincere about what they say. You've told me it doesn't bother you, but it does. I know it does. I still remember your reaction when we first told you that Matt got bitten. You cringed and raised your eyebrows. I've seen that look on your face before, Mother. It's what you do when you hear or read about people who are less well off than you, who get into trouble. People who need help, but no one will give it to them."

I stared in shock at Cinda. I kind of knew she didn't feel comfortable with Matt being a werewolf, but Mum had never told me what her reaction was when she found out. I couldn't believe my own grandmother, Matt's own grandmother, would react like that. I glanced slightly at Matt. I was pretty sure Mum hadn't told him Cinda's reaction either. He looked scared and was now completely hiding behind me.

"What did you expect me to do, Julie?" Cinda exclaimed. "Be happy about it?"

"Of course not! I expected you to be a bit nervous at first, but to get used to it eventually! I understand that you're a Muggle and didn't even know about anything remotely magical until I was eleven, but I did not expect you to practically ignore your own grandson for something he can't control! If you'd just open your mind and try to let what I tell you sink in, you might understand the kind of situation we're in!"

"Fine," Cinda said shortly, "But I do not appreciate your attitude towards the party."

"I don't care. You knew we didn't want that party," Mum seethed, "And if you can't accept that, or the fact that we are moving, then maybe we ought to just leave."

Mum turned around, leaving Cinda with her mouth open but no words coming out. Mum motioned for us to follow her and we did wordlessly. We followed her down to the living room without talking at all. I could feel how tense she was as we Apparated back home. This wasn't good. She was so angry at Cinda. I had never seen her row with anyone like that before, especially not her own mother.