Harry Potter in Arcadia

It was 10:00 in the morning and Harry was bored. He had already gone out for breakfast and walked around for a bit. He got back to his motel and noticed there was a note on the door: Message in the office.

He went to the office and saw that he had received a call from Rabbi Polanski. He got went to the payphone and called the number.

"Polanski Residence."

"Hello, is this Rabbi Polanski?"

"This is he."

"This is Harry Planter. I got your message."

"Ah. Good. My daughter says that you wished to help at the synagogue while you are in town. The scene was finally released by the police department and now we are waiting for an inspection to make certain that the remaining shell is safe before we begin to try to move forward. I will have a better idea then as to what exactly we need."

"When will that be?"

"Mr. Girardi graciously helped to expedite it. The county will inspect tomorrow and then I have a survey team that will be ready to begin work the day after to see what needs to be done."

"Wow. I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Luckily, one of the members of our community has a cousin who will do the initial work at cost."

"Well, it's good to have a community. Can I be there tomorrow when the inspection happens? I'd like to get an idea."

"Sure. It's scheduled for 11:00 in the morning. You know where it is?"

"Yeah. I was there with Joan and her mum the night of the fire. I carried your scroll so the Firefighter could get back to work."

There was a pause. "Ah, yes! I remember you. My thanks for your help that night."

"No problem."

Harry finished the conversation and hung up. He decided he'd walk around and find other institutions. He could have been more scientific about it, but he wasn't on a schedule.

He did cast notice-me-now charms on himself – he really didn't want to attract attention. He found several protestant churches that were not open – it wasn't one of the days they provided services. He cast at several wards on the buildings. It wasn't as good as warding with a ward stone, but they would hold for at least a year the way he did them.

When he found churches that were open or that had people, he made an effort to actually go inside and try to locate stone portions of the buildings that were set into the ground – these would allow wards that would last longer.

As he did this, Harry reflected that Americans seemed to like their churches – there were a lot of them.

By the mid-evening, he was tired. He ate at the diner again and made his way back to his room. He wanted to take a nap before completing the step he had envisioned after talking to Rabbi Polanski.

It was 4:00 in the morning. Once again, he was under notice-me-not charms – he didn't want to alarm the neighborhood. They already had vandalism occur and probably didn't need to see a strange man.

He carefully made his way into the shell of the building. He cast a lumos to look.

The stone was blackened and the walls were half covered. The plaster had been cracked by the heat and large sections had fallen off showing the layer below. The fire had created a lot of damage – and the water used to put the fire out created a bit of a mess.

It would be a task of Herculean proportions to rebuild – but it wasn't impossible.

The first thing that Harry did was look over the walls and cast a few diagnostic charms. He found that the heat had created cracks in certain parts of the shell – the stone had cracked under the weight it held. THAT wouldn't pass an inspection.

So, Harry first cast reparo charms. He was able to repair quite a number of small incursions this way. There were some larger cracks which didn't seem to want to be repaired this way.

He cast a summoning charm to retrieve material from the piles littered about. He stuffed this into the larger cracks – and then cast Duro charms. Where there were inconsistencies in color, he cast color changing charms to make them match the surrounding stone. Because these charms had to effectively last for years, he put a lot of power into them.

He carefully inspected and could not find the seams. He cast the diagnostic charms again, and the stone showed no damage. He grinned in satisfaction.

He cast a spell. It was close to 5:30. He cast more security spells – he didn't want to be disturbed by neighbors or curious passersby. He'd remove them as soon as he was done.

He continued this way until he had repaired the shell as much as he could. To be certain there were places where there were missing blocks, but for the most part the shell looked to be completely intact.

He made his way to the exposed foundation. It appeared to be solid stone in some parts and poured concrete in others. It was obvious that there had been another structure already in place which was added onto, or at least the foundation was.

Harry scribed runes very similar to what he had put in the church and then charmed them. This time, he DID fall down in the end: The Custodian wasn't here to catch him. He had been casting for over three hours and he was feeling it.

He took a few long breaths and got his strength back.

Be looked around. The sun had come up and was showing through holes through the roof that were created by the fire. It was obvious that some work had been done – the walls were too clean.

Harry carefully pulverized some ash and then banished it toward the walls. He applied a light sticking charm – it would last a few hours but if someone physically tried to remove ash it would come off.

When the walls looked sufficiently undisturbed, he took one more careful look. Satisfied, he removed the security charms – except the notice-me-not charm he had on himself – and then made his way out.

It was close to 11:00 when Harry reappeared at the burned-out building. The rabbi was there as was a county truck. The man from the county was getting a few items out to help him. Another man was carefully opening the place up to make sure it was safe before they began.

The man with the equipment finally walked over. "Due to safety concerns, you can't come in until we certify it as safe. We can give you an idea of what direction it will go when we're done. Give us about an hour."

The rabbi nodded. After the man walked away Rabbi Polonski turned to Harry. "I guess we'll be standing around for a while. I really expected there to be more for me to do."

Harry shrugged. "Governments the world over have their own way of doing things. I can stand around and wait if you have anything that is immediately urgent. I'm really not doing anything right now." He reached out his hand. "Harry Planter, as I mentioned over the phone."

The Rabbi took his hand. "Saul Polonski." He paused and then asked. "What's your story, anyway?"

The two moved to a bench that was near the building but wasn't in the taped off zone. "I'm just a former cop who had a few too many bad experiences. So, I started Traveling around and helping out here and there. You know, increase the good? I try to be something of like a trouble-shooter. Help people with unsolvable problems so they can get on with their lives."

Saul thought about that for a moment. "Interesting." He paused for a moment. "So helping out with the synagogue is a chance to do good. Can I ask a personal question?"

"Sure."

"What faith do you follow?"

Harry smiled. "Father Ken asked me that too when I was helping to clean up his church. I don't follow a particular faith. I know God is there – I just think that everyone has their own path to relate to him. The little jobs I do are my path."

Rabbi Polonsky considered that. "It's certainly not a bad path. I personally find my own path in my study and the teaching of the Torah. The questions, the struggle, the mystery: Understanding where my people come from and what God has created. These are the things that allow me to relate to God."

Harry volunteered, "Most clerics find their purpose in teaching."

Saul smiled. "Cleric. A good term. It comes from the Greek for 'that which is assigned.' A Rabbi – or a priest or an Imam – could be said to be assigned the task of studying God and passing their acquired understanding to those that they teach."

Harry shrugged. "That sounds like the most idealized version of the job title."

Saul continued, "My training cries out that I should be trying to guide you into proper study. But my heart says that your path is correct for you. But let me ask: Wouldn't it be clearer if you studied the paths of others? How they found their connection to God?"

For the next fifty minutes, the two discussed religion and philosophy extensively. Rabbi Polonsky felt that it was the most enlightening hour he had spent in the understanding of God since he had left the rabbinical seminary. Harry gained a greater understanding of the religious mind.

Finally, the two inspectors joined them. Rabbi Polonsky stood to hear the verdict. Harry joined him.

"Well, Rabbi, I have to say your luck runs good and bad. The interior is completely destroyed. The whole inner structure will have to be rebuilt. But the shell is shockingly sound. For some reason, there is almost no structural loss. You'll have to have proper bracing put up to hold the walls apart when the main joists are replaced, but you won't need to tear it down before it's rebuilt."

There were a few papers that had to be signed and delivered. But all in all, it was a good result.

Harry and Saul went to look inside. Harry pointed out, "Well, the first step will be cleaning up the detrius – getting all the remnants taken out and the walls cleaned."

The Rabbi considered that. "I will have to talk to Jonah's cousin."

Harry was curious. "Have you gotten any donations yet to help rebuild?"

Saul considered the man asking and decided it wouldn't hurt to be straightforward. "Yes. We have far to go, but many of the community have pledged support or have already provided funds."

Harry led Saul around the side to the back. "Well, the first step will be to get one of those premade sheds from a DIU store. A sturdy one that can be locked. We can put that back here. That's where you'll have to keep the tools. And then order a skip or two so that people will have a place to put the material."

"A skip?"

"Yeah. One of those metal boxes that they use on construction sites to carry off refuse?"

"Ah! A dumpster!"

Harry chuckled. "Yeah. A dumpster."

Saul considered that. "I will start there."

Harry left Saul to do his thing.

Not being on a predetermined schedule and not being in a universe based on his own, not wanting to intrude too heavily into the lives of teenagers, and not having easy transportation around, Harry didn't know what to do with himself.

He made his way to the 24-hour diner near his motel. He sat down. The waitress came over. "Tea please."

The older woman said, "Certainly, Sugar." She handed over a menu and went to bring his drink. He glanced through it.

The waitress set his tea down, and then a miniature carafe. "And a little bit of milk, right Harry?"

Harry was surprised and looked up. "Yes. Thanks. How are you?"

The woman smiled in amusement. "I abide. How are you?"

Harry blushed a little bit. "Sorry. You just tend to catch me off guard."

The woman hadn't lost Her smile. "But it's nice to be asked from time to time. You look pensive today."

Harry sighed and then sipped his tea. "I'm not used to waiting around much. I do my thing and then get sent on. In my world, no one is taken aback when things happen fast – force of personality is greatly respected." He smiled bitterly. "A part of the sheep mentality. Here though … here my attempts at forcing action would appear intrusive and rude. And although I'm not opposed to being perceived as rude if necessary, it would reflect badly on those who have championed my participation."

He sighed again. "There are no quick fixes. It's not as if I can magic up tools and materials. So, what do I do when I'm NOT involved?"

"Well, what do you WANT to do?"

He considered that. "What I want to do is to get the people necessary together and start work. The building's current state is a wound – and it's a wound that can be healed if attention is placed on it." He shrugged. "I just want to DO something."

"Well. Then DO something. The kids are out of school. I'm certain that their time can't be taken completely by whatever they're doing. Grace is rebellious – but she sees how the fire has distracted the synagogue and her father. Don't be so afraid of running roughshod that you don't act. Maybe they could use that little push."

It was 1:00 on Sunday. The big cleanup was scheduled to start. Harry was with Joan and her friends, waiting for Grace to give them directions.

Grace looked at Harry. "I don't now why I let you talk me into being the team leader. It's not like I know what I'm doing."

Harry just smirked. "You father's synagogue, your family is running things. Your father is over there directing his volunteers – I'm certain he's not a contractor either."

Grace looked at all of the faces looking at her. "Fine." She looked around and then smirked. "Friedman. You and Figlioa are in charge of refreshments. Make sure that everyone is hydrated – we don't need people passing out on us. Girardi mine (talking to her boyfriend), you can help separate the scrap. Other Girardi and I will scoop. Rove and Planter will transport." She turned toward Harry. "Good enough?"

Harry shrugged. "You may want to switch people out when they get tired. Have the scoopers change over to the refreshment detail for example."

Grace considered it. "Good idea." She looked around. "Okay, Hop to!"

The girls made their way inside, followed by Adam and Harry. They immediately moved to the large pile at the front of the synagogue.

The day before, when the surveyor and the architect had arrived to begin making plans, they – as well as Rabbi Polinksi – were surprised to find that somehow all of the damaged plaster and lathe had been removed from the walls and put in a big pile next to the door. Instead of hours and hours of laborious work to take it down, now it was a matter of scooping it up and taking it out.

Saul had commented on it to Harry, looking at him with a peculiar expression, but Harry just shrugged and expressed his cheer at hearing about it. Saul would still look at Harry oddly from time to time.

Harry and Adam were soon wheeling their first loads while Joan and Grace rested. Harry had privately been impressed. By separating out the two functions – loading and unloading – Grace had allowed for each person to rest between jobs rather than trying to continuously work. It would allow them to work longer.

Harry and Adam had to wait for a large piece of debris to be moved through the door. Harry had nodded to one of the men carrying it – he recognized him as one of the people who had helped rebuild the booths at the church.

Apparently Harry's request of Father Ken to solicit volunteers after Sunday services had borne fruit.

Luke, along with another man, was directing people toward different skips. One was for wood, a second for metals, a third for all other debris. Luke then helped separate out their wheelbarrows so that they could just dump the remainder in the third skip.

While Joan and Grace were next filling their barrows, Harry looked at what was happening. The off-duty police officers Will had promised were helping to erect scaffolding that would be used to install the bracing needed before the floor could be fully taken out and replaced. For the moment, the floors were covered by sheets of wood so that no one fell into any holes.

Helen was working with a group of people who were cleaning the walls with hoses, long brushes, and other equipment. The water was being directed out a hole in the back wall into the back via a temporary plastic trough along the wall.

He had also seen Kevin wheeling around and talking to people, planning on a story for the newspaper.

Harry grinned. His input the day before had been heeded well. Most of the initial cleanup could be finished in a day at this rate.

A man parked his car down the block, watching the activities taking place. Inside he was burning in anger. Instead of being disillusioned with God as he had planned, the people were working hard to repair the building. He had wanted to drive a bit closer to get a better look – but for some inexplicable reason felt too uncomfortable to do that.

He would have to take more steps.

As he turned his car around, he thought he caught the image of a familiar face in the rearview mirror – but the man had turned back toward the building too fast. Besides – it had been years and he didn't expect that person to be helping out with such activities.

Will sat at his desk the next morning. The weekend had been great. His family was healthy and the work they did for the synagogue was satisfying.

He may not believe in God personally, but the satisfaction he got from helping people was enormous.

Suddenly, Carlisle walked into his office. "Boss. There's been another attack." Will looked at Carlisle in shock. "Mosque on 12th was vandalized last night. I'm on my way now."

Will had a bad feeling about this.

A/N: The rest of this chapter isn't so light and cheerful. There is a bit of the darker side of man described below. For any followers of Islam – I apologize now if this is offensive. My attempts were to show the heinousness of the vandalism. Some things are beyond the pale and every culture is different.

He had been right. This was horrible.

Someone had taken different animals and slaughtered them at the entrance of the building. After they had bled out, someone had walked through the blood and across the mats that were set up around the room.

After fouling the mats with the blood of animals, the person had apparently walked BACK into the blood and then over to arch that was set up in near one side. The person had then used their blood-stained boots or shoes to kick it over.

He watched as his forensics people tried to methodically catalogue the scene – but it would take hours.

He walked back outside where Carlisle was trying to speak to a very obviously upset man. Carlisle quietly waited as the man tried to compose himself.

When Will arrived Carlisle quietly said, "The Imam for the mosque here found it this way this morning. Name is Abdul Raoof Raheem. Apparantly, the animal blood and the kicking made it much worse."

Before Will could respond the man interjected, "I took my name Abdul Raoof as an act of my service to Allah: Servant of the Most Compassionate. If I had known that this would be in my future I would have taken Ali Sacha! Noble Avenger! The House of Allah has been desecrated!"

Will tried to calm the man down. "I'm sorry for your loss – and for the insult. This is the latest in a string of vandalisms against houses of worship. A Catholic church was vandalized with all of the sanctified statuary destroyed and a Jewish synagogue was burned down. I believe that this is not an attack because you're Muslim. It's an attack because you ARE a servant of God. What does Islam mean?"

"It is Peace through the Surrender to the Will of Allah." He sighed. "I will pray for guidance and hope that through prayer that Allah may help me to find again my compassion."

He turned and gave a formal bow of thanks to Will. "I thank you for reminding me of my calling. I will pray help for you to bring to justice the vile man or men who committed this desecration. I will also pray for the People of the Book who have also been harmed by this man that they feel Allah's merciful light in these trying times." He stood and said, "I have work to do to inform and calm those who pray here."

Will turned to Carlisle. "We have to get whoever did this. This is a powder-keg waiting to erupt."

Ryan Hunter smirked as he watched his outfit from the night before burn. The "stolen" car from the night before had already been put where it would be easy to find – but he was certain to leave no physical evidence in it.

He would punish those who whispered false promises to gullible people. God may have created the world – but no one had to be a slave to such a callous planner.