Sunday, July 29, 2018
See introductory post here for explanations.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Dudley turned the burgers he was grilling over, more than ready for the day to be over. Sophie's brother and his family were over and, as usual, her sister-in-law was driving him mad. It started when she gave Tom that stupid religious book, that she expected Tom to be happy about. It wasn't that Dudley and Sophie weren't raising their kids to be good Christians, but there was no reason to get silly about it.
When he carried the burgers into the house, Sophie gave him "The Look"; she was going to tell them about Daphne. Dudley reminded himself that there had been more going on with Harry than he'd realized at the time, and gave her a smile. He suspected it was rather sickly.
"You will never guess what we've been going through this month," Sophie said as she passed a bowl of fruit salad to her sister-in-law, Denise. "Daphne got an offer to attend this school we'd never heard from. When everything was said and done, we found out she's a witch."
Steve frowned. "If you've never heard of the school, why would you believe them? I mean, magic isn't real, is it."
Sighing, Dudley said, "It is. And I'd heard of the school. My cousin, Harry, went there when he was Daphne's age. I just didn't expect any of my kids to be like him."
Denise squealed. "So, go on and show us, Daphne. Let's see some magic."
"Don't you dare!" Sophie said. Turning to Denise, she said, "Sorry, but Daphne's underage; she'd be breaking the law to do any magic."
"Doesn’t the Bible say 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'?" their oldest son, Arthur asked, grinning at Daphne.
To Dudley's pleasure, Rich started to stand to defend his little sister, but Denise beat him to it. "You behave yourself, young man," she said, staring at him until he'd ducked his head and muttered an apology. "That's the King James translation, anyway," she said to Daphne with a kind smile. "Gorgeous poetry, but as a translation it has a lot of problems. The word they translate as 'witch' really means something else. Poisoner, I think, or something else horrible. As long as you don't try poisoning anyone, you're fine. It's not like you're selling your soul to the Devil or anything." She suddenly frowned. "You're not, are you?"
As Daphne shook her head, wide-eyed, Steve said, "Sounds like it's genetic or something. Anyone else in your family, Dudley, other than Daphne and this cousin of yours?"
"His mother, my aunt Lily," Dudley said, "and her husband, of course."
"For the genetics, he wouldn't count," Steve said, looking thoughtful. "Probably a recessive. Hey," his face lit up, "that means one of ours might have it, too."
"Not Arthur," Daphne said primly. "You'd have heard already; they send out the letters when you're eleven."
When Dudley shuddered, Denise noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'm just remembering when Harry got his letter. Well, letters. I thought Dad was going mad there for a bit."
"What was the story behind that?" Sophie asked. "You never told us."
Dudley told them the story of Harry's letters and found that, now that he understood what was really happening, the story was actually pretty funny. By the time he got to the description of the giant knocking over the door, he was acting it out, to the giggles of his three and Steve and Denise's four boys.
When he was finished, Denise sniffed. "I'm sorry, Dudley, but it seems to me your mother needs to remember her parables." Dudley didn't pay enough attention to know what she was talking about; a fact Denise well knew. "The parables of the talents, of course. I'd have to look it up to get it just right, but basically it tells us that God expects to use the gifts he's given us, not just store them away for a rainy day. So, you pay attention in your classes, sweetheart, so you can use all your God-given gifts." Daphne proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon telling anyone who would hold still everything she'd already learned.
When they left, Dudley heard Denise tell Daphne, "I'll send you my copies of the Narnia books. They're good Christian books about magic; they should stand you in good stead."
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Dudley turned the burgers he was grilling over, more than ready for the day to be over. Sophie's brother and his family were over and, as usual, her sister-in-law was driving him mad. It started when she gave Tom that stupid religious book, that she expected Tom to be happy about. It wasn't that Dudley and Sophie weren't raising their kids to be good Christians, but there was no reason to get silly about it.
When he carried the burgers into the house, Sophie gave him "The Look"; she was going to tell them about Daphne. Dudley reminded himself that there had been more going on with Harry than he'd realized at the time, and gave her a smile. He suspected it was rather sickly.
"You will never guess what we've been going through this month," Sophie said as she passed a bowl of fruit salad to her sister-in-law, Denise. "Daphne got an offer to attend this school we'd never heard from. When everything was said and done, we found out she's a witch."
Steve frowned. "If you've never heard of the school, why would you believe them? I mean, magic isn't real, is it."
Sighing, Dudley said, "It is. And I'd heard of the school. My cousin, Harry, went there when he was Daphne's age. I just didn't expect any of my kids to be like him."
Denise squealed. "So, go on and show us, Daphne. Let's see some magic."
"Don't you dare!" Sophie said. Turning to Denise, she said, "Sorry, but Daphne's underage; she'd be breaking the law to do any magic."
"Doesn’t the Bible say 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'?" their oldest son, Arthur asked, grinning at Daphne.
To Dudley's pleasure, Rich started to stand to defend his little sister, but Denise beat him to it. "You behave yourself, young man," she said, staring at him until he'd ducked his head and muttered an apology. "That's the King James translation, anyway," she said to Daphne with a kind smile. "Gorgeous poetry, but as a translation it has a lot of problems. The word they translate as 'witch' really means something else. Poisoner, I think, or something else horrible. As long as you don't try poisoning anyone, you're fine. It's not like you're selling your soul to the Devil or anything." She suddenly frowned. "You're not, are you?"
As Daphne shook her head, wide-eyed, Steve said, "Sounds like it's genetic or something. Anyone else in your family, Dudley, other than Daphne and this cousin of yours?"
"His mother, my aunt Lily," Dudley said, "and her husband, of course."
"For the genetics, he wouldn't count," Steve said, looking thoughtful. "Probably a recessive. Hey," his face lit up, "that means one of ours might have it, too."
"Not Arthur," Daphne said primly. "You'd have heard already; they send out the letters when you're eleven."
When Dudley shuddered, Denise noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'm just remembering when Harry got his letter. Well, letters. I thought Dad was going mad there for a bit."
"What was the story behind that?" Sophie asked. "You never told us."
Dudley told them the story of Harry's letters and found that, now that he understood what was really happening, the story was actually pretty funny. By the time he got to the description of the giant knocking over the door, he was acting it out, to the giggles of his three and Steve and Denise's four boys.
When he was finished, Denise sniffed. "I'm sorry, Dudley, but it seems to me your mother needs to remember her parables." Dudley didn't pay enough attention to know what she was talking about; a fact Denise well knew. "The parables of the talents, of course. I'd have to look it up to get it just right, but basically it tells us that God expects to use the gifts he's given us, not just store them away for a rainy day. So, you pay attention in your classes, sweetheart, so you can use all your God-given gifts." Daphne proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon telling anyone who would hold still everything she'd already learned.
When they left, Dudley heard Denise tell Daphne, "I'll send you my copies of the Narnia books. They're good Christian books about magic; they should stand you in good stead."