Birds of a Feather
Chapter 19: The Muggle Mobile
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape from the Shrieking shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is usually updated first at fanfiction.net. See wolfwillow there.
Warning: Parts of this chapter were inspired by JKR's 'prequel'. Don't worry though, this is a lot different.
~~~~~
When they awoke and went downstairs the next afternoon, Mr Cohen informed them all that the school didn't have any smeech repellent on hand. "Ms Brewster, the potions teacher, can make some up, but it will take a couple of days. If you want some for tonight, one of you will have to go into the city and buy it. The teachers and I have to remain here because the students are returning today and we have to protect them."
Kat volunteered to go, and Severus, who was always interested in visiting potions shops and apothecaries, offered to accompany him. There would probably be all sorts of exotic things available in a place like New Orleans. His dark eyes glittered with anticipation.
They chose a pair of brooms from a storeroom, and as they prepared to depart, Mr Cohen tossed Kat a set of keys. "Take the Muggle Mobile when you get over there. Remember, we're not supposed to fly in the city. And try not to cause any major incidents this time, please," he said, winking at Kat.
"Who, me?" Kat said, beaming. "Wouldn't dream of it!"
Perhaps this is a mistake, Severus thought, but his curiosity got the better of him.
They cast disillusionment and cooling spells on themselves and flew off across the swamps. The trees below formed a soft sea of green, broken here and there by sparkling blue rivers and bayous. Eventually they came to the Mississippi River itself, a huge expanse of water carrying a parade of ships and fishing boats. They followed it toward the city until Kat pointed down and started to descend.
They landed at a rundown dock in a secluded backwater. A faded sign on a tin-roofed shack said 'Doctor Proctor's Boat Works'. A white-haired black man sat on the porch reading a newspaper in the shade. He looked like he was at least two hundred years old. So did the dog lying by his feet. The dog opened one eye, thumped its tail twice, and went back to sleep.
"Long time, no see, Kat," the man drawled. "How's the captain doin'?"
"Just fine, Doc," Kat replied.
"Well, tell 'im to stop by one of these days, 'fore I ferget what he looks like," the man said. Then he went back to his reading.
"Will do," Kat said. He motioned to Severus to follow him and walked over to a chain-link fence surrounding a large weed-choked lot. He unlocked the gate and led the way through the tall weeds, rusting cars, and wrecked boats to something covered by a large tarp. He levitated the tarp away to reveal a faded brown Buick station wagon underneath.
"Meet the Muggle Mobile," he said, opening the tailgate of the elderly looking vehicle and tossing his broom in.
Severus added his broom and got in on the passenger's side. He'd learned to drive one summer at Spinner's End, in an old Volkswagen that his dad had owned briefly, but that was long ago. It had been more than a decade since he'd set foot in a car.
"Better do up the seatbelt," Kat reminded him as he checked the gas gauge.
The Buick started easily and Kat drove down a rutted, unpaved trail through the woods. It led to a bumpy gravel road that led to a two-lane blacktop. Severus watched the forests, swamps and fields go by. There was almost no traffic, and he managed to enjoy the ride until they came to a large green sign announcing the on-ramp for the Interstate Highway.
"We should stay on the back roads," Severus said firmly, but it was too late. Kat had stomped on the accelerator pedal and the Buick shifted into its passing gear and roared up the ramp.
Severus gritted his teeth as Kat merged into the stream of traffic. They were on the wrong side of the road! Well, it was the right side for an America highway, he knew, but they drive on the left-hand side in the UK and it just felt so wrong. Gripping his wand tightly, he braced his right hand against the dashboard and hooked his left arm over the back of the seat. This car was a muggle car. There was nothing except the traction of four rubber tires to keep it on the road. That, and Kat's skill. They were doomed!
Kat cut to the left and flew past a big white boxy vehicle with a bicycle hanging on the back. An urchin waved from the side window. Severus was starting to feel car-sick. If he Apparated from the car now, would he still be moving at the same speed when he landed at his destination? If so, he'd probably be killed. He'd better not try it unless a crash was imminent. That could be soon, though.
~~~~~
Fawkes was bored. His wizard had slept until early afternoon and then flown off on a broom. Well, he might as well explore the school a bit. The new term was about to start and the students were returning. Albus had always discouraged him from fraternizing with students, but this wasn't Hogwarts and Albus wasn't here, so why not? He flew out the window.
Circling above the courtyard, Fawkes saw two girls sitting by the fountain, watching a big spider. Both had totally tasteless plumage, one in very loud shades of green and the other in bright purple, magenta and black. Even Albus wouldn't have sported those colors! Not in those combinations, anyway. And they were wearing makeup, too; dark purple lipstick and heavy black eyeliner. What was the matter with fledglings these days, anyway? He landed beside them.
"Ack! Don't you dare eat Alvin!" the one in green said, scooping up the tarantula.
Fawkes puffed out his neck feathers and scowled at them. What did they take him for? An insectivore?! Really!
"Look, you've hurt his feelings," the purple one said. She turned to Fawkes. "Nice birdie," she said, and offered him an orange, finger-like thing. He sniffed it. It was some kind of processed cheese snack. Yuk! It was almost as disgusting as the tarantula. No wonder Albus had encouraged him to avoid students!
~~~~~
"Oh, I'll turn up the AC," Kat said, noticing the sweat on his companion's brow. By some miracle, they had survived. Kat had managed to get off the Interstate without harming anything except Severus' nerves.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" Severus snapped.
They drove through an abandoned-looking industrial district and Kat pulled up in front of a nondescript warehouse. He waved his wand out the window, the rusty garage door opened to admit them, and they drove in. As expected, the place was larger on the inside than it looked from the outside. It housed a number of strange-looking vehicles including an odd carriage, as well as a few ordinary cars and an old Ford pickup.
"We can park here," Kat announced as the door closed behind them. "Rue Magique is through the back."
And indeed it was. Kat opened the back door to reveal a narrow street flanked by ancient buildings done in the French Creole style. It was bustling with witches and wizards in all manner of colorful robes. Lively music floated down from open windows, and people lounged on high, covered porches with ornate wrought-iron railings.
"This place is quite a crossroads," Kat said, leading the way through the crowd. They passed two tall African wizards wearing feathered cloaks, and a shaman in a faded serape. A group of witches was chatting in an incomprehensible French dialect, and an old woman was selling candles and gris-gris from a makeshift stall. A few of the men standing around on one corner looked like old-time Caribbean pirates, which maybe they were.
It wasn't far to their goal: Antoine's Apothecary, Purveyor of Fine Potions and Supplies, the sign said. Severus opened the door and breathed deeply, savoring the exotic smells. They were perfume to him. How he missed potion-making! He longed to brew again.
While Kat waited in line at the counter, Severus headed down the nearest aisle, inspecting the wares. The first section was devoted to minerals. There were jars of moonstone, sardonyx, bloodstone and orpiment. A hand-written sign said to ask at the counter for precious metals and rare earths. Then he came to the dried herbs: stinging nettles, henbane, poison ivy and carnivorous plants; the material looked superb. Severus was running his fingers lovingly through a bin of datura pods when Kat interrupted him. He hadn't even come to the pickled items yet.
"I've got it," Kat said. Come on, it's getting late. Angie and Vic will be waiting. We've got to get that monster before it gets anyone else."
Severus looked back wistfully at a large display of cauldrons and then allowed himself to be dragged away.
~~~~~
"I'll just take my broom and fly back," Severus had said when they left Rue Magique. "I want to get some air." There, who says I can't be diplomatic? he thought smugly.
"We're not supposed to do that," Kat complained. "It's against the rules. Muggles might see us, even though they usually don't believe it when they do. That's why the school has the Muggle Mobile. And I drive really well. Most American witches and wizards drive a lot. We're not isolationists like you Brits, you know," he added.
"Let me put it this way," Severus said, letting his diplomacy slip a notch. "Either we stay off that Interstate on the way back, or I fly."
"The back roads will take too long," Kat argued. "We have to get back to searching the swamps. It will be dark soon."
"I'll get my broom," Severus threatened.
Thus it came to pass that the two of them were driving along an old blacktop on the outskirts of the city when darkness fell. "We have to fill her up before we drop her off," Kat said, turning into a brightly lit but seedy-looking plaza. He parked by a gas pump. "Come on, we've got to pay inside first."
Kat had turned off the motor and was about to get out when they heard shouting and swearing. They looked across the plaza and saw three young men trying to force a fourth into the trunk of a black coupe.
"Drug gangs! I hate those guys!" Kat said and leaped out of the car. Severus threw his door open and tried to do likewise but he'd forgotten to release his seatbelt. He swore.
"Reducto!" Kat shouted, aiming for one of their tires, but he was too far away and his curse failed. The kidnappers slammed the trunk shut with their victim inside.
Kat tried again, "Impedimenta!" but again his spell was ineffective. The kidnappers jumped into the coupe, the tires screeched, and they roared off down the road.
Swearing, Kat got back into the Muggle Mobile, started it, and took off in pursuit. Severus, who had finally managed to get his seatbelt unfastened, promptly fastened it again. "This is a muggle matter," he said angrily. "We should leave it to them."
"If we do, that guy in the trunk will be gator chow before morning," Kat stated. He was determined to play the hero.
What a stupid bloody Gryffindor wannabe! Severus thought, fuming. We should have taken the Interstate.
~~~~~
Officers Hernandez and Marzello were pulled over behind some bushes when the coupe flew by. They were feeling sorry for themselves. Patrolling the back roads was pretty boring. They might catch a speeder or two, at best. Really, they ought to be in the heart of the city where the real action was, but this year they were assigned to the outskirts.
"What was that?" Hernandez asked. "Some kind of black coupe?"
Then the Muggle Mobile roared past.
"Being chased by two bozos in a Buick, it would appear," Marzello observed.
"Here, hold my coffee," Hernandez said as he hit the lights and pulled out.
~~~~~
"Oops! Muggle cops!" Kat said when he heard the siren whooping. He glanced in the mirror and saw the flashing red and blue lights in the distance behind them.
"Lovely," Severus said dryly.
On top of that, the coupe was getting farther and farther ahead of them. The Buick didn't handle nearly as well on curves and corners. Kat increased their speed anyway, and Severus could feel his heart rate increase along with it.
Suddenly the coupe's brake lights flashed and it made a sharp right-hand turn across a narrow bridge.
"This calls for desperate measures!" Kat cried. "Hang on! Sometimes this doesn't work too well."
Severus cringed in anticipation.
Kat reached down and punched what looked like a cigarette lighter. The Buick started to tremble, and then it rose straight up into the air, nose first, like a hooked sailfish. Kat hauled on the wheel and the vehicle flopped over in its side in the air. Then it started to fall earthward like a homesick refrigerator.
Severus' stomach tried to escape through his throat. I'll have to Apparate before we hit the ground! he thought desperately. Perhaps if he Apparated into the air beside the Buick, he could start flying and save himself. But what about Kat? He could take Kat side-along, but could he fly with a second person? Why, oh why, hadn't they just stayed at the school and put up with the smeeches?
~~~~~
"I didn't know you could do that in a Buick," Officer Hernandez said calmly as the Muggle Mobile soared into the air in front of them.
"Me neither," said Officer Marzello. "Must be one of those UFO's again. Clever of them, disguising themselves as a Buick this time."
~~~~~
Severus didn't have to Apparate. Kat drew his wand, muttered some sort of spell, and smacked the dashboard three times. Then he kicked a lever on the floor and turned the wheel sharply. Miraculously, the Buick righted itself, stabilized, and went into a smooth glide.
They sailed across the creek and followed the road until they caught up with the coupe. Kat brought them down smoothly, landing right behind the kidnappers. The sudden appearance of the Buick must have startled the driver because he accelerated so fast he lost control when he hit a deep pothole. The coupe bounced and skidded into the ditch where it came to a stop in the mud.
The Buick halted on the road beside the coupe, still floating about six inches above the asphalt.
"You didn't tell me this thing was capable of flight," Severus complained. Kat's flying had unnerved him even more than Kat's driving.
"We're only supposed to do it in emergencies," Kat said. "The flying enchantment doesn't always work very well."
"I noticed," Severus said as he cast Impedimenta out the window and brought down a fleeing kidnapper. He used Tarantallegra on the other two, just for the fun of it, and popped the trunk with Alohomora.
A young teenager climbed out. "I don't wanna go ta yer stinkin' school, ya stinkin' jerks," he snarled. "It's not my fault my stupid parents moved here."
"We have ta haze ya," one of the kidnappers said as he struggled to bring his flailing legs under control. "It's traditional!"
"My dad's gonna kill me," another moaned. "He's gonna kill me. He'll never let me use the car again!"
It was a high school hazing? Severus rolled his eyes. Bullies weren't limited to Spinner's End and Hogwarts. It was good that they'd broken it up.
"We'd better go," Kat said, hitting the gas as the cop car pulled up behind them.
~~~~~
The victim watched angrily as Marzello herded the three confused kidnappers into the back of the cruiser. Severus had released his spells as the Buick fled the scene.
"I'm gettin' kind of tired of those UFO's," Hernandez said as the Buick's tail lights disappeared into the night sky.
"Yeah, me too," Marzello said.
~~~~~
"I suppose ya didn't gas her up," Proctor said as they pulled up in front of the shack. The lights were on inside and they could hear a radio playing.
"Well, no, actually we didn't have time," Kat said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Doesn't surprise me," the old man said. "Should I be expectin' th' po-leece?"
Kat grinned. "No, we lost 'em."
"Well, I'll put the coffee on, just in case, and I'll take care of the car. You boys run along back to the school now, 'fore ya cause any more trouble. Yer supposed to be protectin' th' kids."
~~~~~
After Kat and Severus departed, the old man levitated the Buick back into the storage yard, and with a flick of his wand he replaced its tarp and made it vanish from sight. He was one of the most powerful wizards in North America, though only a few people knew it.
"I don't know about young people today," he said to the dog. "Come on, let's go back and get ready for the nice officers. I do enjoy their visits. Hope I don't have to Obliviate 'em this time."
The dog woofed and wagged his tail happily.
------------------------
To be continued ...
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape from the Shrieking shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is usually updated first at fanfiction.net. See wolfwillow there.
Warning: Parts of this chapter were inspired by JKR's 'prequel'. Don't worry though, this is a lot different.
~~~~~
When they awoke and went downstairs the next afternoon, Mr Cohen informed them all that the school didn't have any smeech repellent on hand. "Ms Brewster, the potions teacher, can make some up, but it will take a couple of days. If you want some for tonight, one of you will have to go into the city and buy it. The teachers and I have to remain here because the students are returning today and we have to protect them."
Kat volunteered to go, and Severus, who was always interested in visiting potions shops and apothecaries, offered to accompany him. There would probably be all sorts of exotic things available in a place like New Orleans. His dark eyes glittered with anticipation.
They chose a pair of brooms from a storeroom, and as they prepared to depart, Mr Cohen tossed Kat a set of keys. "Take the Muggle Mobile when you get over there. Remember, we're not supposed to fly in the city. And try not to cause any major incidents this time, please," he said, winking at Kat.
"Who, me?" Kat said, beaming. "Wouldn't dream of it!"
Perhaps this is a mistake, Severus thought, but his curiosity got the better of him.
They cast disillusionment and cooling spells on themselves and flew off across the swamps. The trees below formed a soft sea of green, broken here and there by sparkling blue rivers and bayous. Eventually they came to the Mississippi River itself, a huge expanse of water carrying a parade of ships and fishing boats. They followed it toward the city until Kat pointed down and started to descend.
They landed at a rundown dock in a secluded backwater. A faded sign on a tin-roofed shack said 'Doctor Proctor's Boat Works'. A white-haired black man sat on the porch reading a newspaper in the shade. He looked like he was at least two hundred years old. So did the dog lying by his feet. The dog opened one eye, thumped its tail twice, and went back to sleep.
"Long time, no see, Kat," the man drawled. "How's the captain doin'?"
"Just fine, Doc," Kat replied.
"Well, tell 'im to stop by one of these days, 'fore I ferget what he looks like," the man said. Then he went back to his reading.
"Will do," Kat said. He motioned to Severus to follow him and walked over to a chain-link fence surrounding a large weed-choked lot. He unlocked the gate and led the way through the tall weeds, rusting cars, and wrecked boats to something covered by a large tarp. He levitated the tarp away to reveal a faded brown Buick station wagon underneath.
"Meet the Muggle Mobile," he said, opening the tailgate of the elderly looking vehicle and tossing his broom in.
Severus added his broom and got in on the passenger's side. He'd learned to drive one summer at Spinner's End, in an old Volkswagen that his dad had owned briefly, but that was long ago. It had been more than a decade since he'd set foot in a car.
"Better do up the seatbelt," Kat reminded him as he checked the gas gauge.
The Buick started easily and Kat drove down a rutted, unpaved trail through the woods. It led to a bumpy gravel road that led to a two-lane blacktop. Severus watched the forests, swamps and fields go by. There was almost no traffic, and he managed to enjoy the ride until they came to a large green sign announcing the on-ramp for the Interstate Highway.
"We should stay on the back roads," Severus said firmly, but it was too late. Kat had stomped on the accelerator pedal and the Buick shifted into its passing gear and roared up the ramp.
Severus gritted his teeth as Kat merged into the stream of traffic. They were on the wrong side of the road! Well, it was the right side for an America highway, he knew, but they drive on the left-hand side in the UK and it just felt so wrong. Gripping his wand tightly, he braced his right hand against the dashboard and hooked his left arm over the back of the seat. This car was a muggle car. There was nothing except the traction of four rubber tires to keep it on the road. That, and Kat's skill. They were doomed!
Kat cut to the left and flew past a big white boxy vehicle with a bicycle hanging on the back. An urchin waved from the side window. Severus was starting to feel car-sick. If he Apparated from the car now, would he still be moving at the same speed when he landed at his destination? If so, he'd probably be killed. He'd better not try it unless a crash was imminent. That could be soon, though.
~~~~~
Fawkes was bored. His wizard had slept until early afternoon and then flown off on a broom. Well, he might as well explore the school a bit. The new term was about to start and the students were returning. Albus had always discouraged him from fraternizing with students, but this wasn't Hogwarts and Albus wasn't here, so why not? He flew out the window.
Circling above the courtyard, Fawkes saw two girls sitting by the fountain, watching a big spider. Both had totally tasteless plumage, one in very loud shades of green and the other in bright purple, magenta and black. Even Albus wouldn't have sported those colors! Not in those combinations, anyway. And they were wearing makeup, too; dark purple lipstick and heavy black eyeliner. What was the matter with fledglings these days, anyway? He landed beside them.
"Ack! Don't you dare eat Alvin!" the one in green said, scooping up the tarantula.
Fawkes puffed out his neck feathers and scowled at them. What did they take him for? An insectivore?! Really!
"Look, you've hurt his feelings," the purple one said. She turned to Fawkes. "Nice birdie," she said, and offered him an orange, finger-like thing. He sniffed it. It was some kind of processed cheese snack. Yuk! It was almost as disgusting as the tarantula. No wonder Albus had encouraged him to avoid students!
~~~~~
"Oh, I'll turn up the AC," Kat said, noticing the sweat on his companion's brow. By some miracle, they had survived. Kat had managed to get off the Interstate without harming anything except Severus' nerves.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" Severus snapped.
They drove through an abandoned-looking industrial district and Kat pulled up in front of a nondescript warehouse. He waved his wand out the window, the rusty garage door opened to admit them, and they drove in. As expected, the place was larger on the inside than it looked from the outside. It housed a number of strange-looking vehicles including an odd carriage, as well as a few ordinary cars and an old Ford pickup.
"We can park here," Kat announced as the door closed behind them. "Rue Magique is through the back."
And indeed it was. Kat opened the back door to reveal a narrow street flanked by ancient buildings done in the French Creole style. It was bustling with witches and wizards in all manner of colorful robes. Lively music floated down from open windows, and people lounged on high, covered porches with ornate wrought-iron railings.
"This place is quite a crossroads," Kat said, leading the way through the crowd. They passed two tall African wizards wearing feathered cloaks, and a shaman in a faded serape. A group of witches was chatting in an incomprehensible French dialect, and an old woman was selling candles and gris-gris from a makeshift stall. A few of the men standing around on one corner looked like old-time Caribbean pirates, which maybe they were.
It wasn't far to their goal: Antoine's Apothecary, Purveyor of Fine Potions and Supplies, the sign said. Severus opened the door and breathed deeply, savoring the exotic smells. They were perfume to him. How he missed potion-making! He longed to brew again.
While Kat waited in line at the counter, Severus headed down the nearest aisle, inspecting the wares. The first section was devoted to minerals. There were jars of moonstone, sardonyx, bloodstone and orpiment. A hand-written sign said to ask at the counter for precious metals and rare earths. Then he came to the dried herbs: stinging nettles, henbane, poison ivy and carnivorous plants; the material looked superb. Severus was running his fingers lovingly through a bin of datura pods when Kat interrupted him. He hadn't even come to the pickled items yet.
"I've got it," Kat said. Come on, it's getting late. Angie and Vic will be waiting. We've got to get that monster before it gets anyone else."
Severus looked back wistfully at a large display of cauldrons and then allowed himself to be dragged away.
~~~~~
"I'll just take my broom and fly back," Severus had said when they left Rue Magique. "I want to get some air." There, who says I can't be diplomatic? he thought smugly.
"We're not supposed to do that," Kat complained. "It's against the rules. Muggles might see us, even though they usually don't believe it when they do. That's why the school has the Muggle Mobile. And I drive really well. Most American witches and wizards drive a lot. We're not isolationists like you Brits, you know," he added.
"Let me put it this way," Severus said, letting his diplomacy slip a notch. "Either we stay off that Interstate on the way back, or I fly."
"The back roads will take too long," Kat argued. "We have to get back to searching the swamps. It will be dark soon."
"I'll get my broom," Severus threatened.
Thus it came to pass that the two of them were driving along an old blacktop on the outskirts of the city when darkness fell. "We have to fill her up before we drop her off," Kat said, turning into a brightly lit but seedy-looking plaza. He parked by a gas pump. "Come on, we've got to pay inside first."
Kat had turned off the motor and was about to get out when they heard shouting and swearing. They looked across the plaza and saw three young men trying to force a fourth into the trunk of a black coupe.
"Drug gangs! I hate those guys!" Kat said and leaped out of the car. Severus threw his door open and tried to do likewise but he'd forgotten to release his seatbelt. He swore.
"Reducto!" Kat shouted, aiming for one of their tires, but he was too far away and his curse failed. The kidnappers slammed the trunk shut with their victim inside.
Kat tried again, "Impedimenta!" but again his spell was ineffective. The kidnappers jumped into the coupe, the tires screeched, and they roared off down the road.
Swearing, Kat got back into the Muggle Mobile, started it, and took off in pursuit. Severus, who had finally managed to get his seatbelt unfastened, promptly fastened it again. "This is a muggle matter," he said angrily. "We should leave it to them."
"If we do, that guy in the trunk will be gator chow before morning," Kat stated. He was determined to play the hero.
What a stupid bloody Gryffindor wannabe! Severus thought, fuming. We should have taken the Interstate.
~~~~~
Officers Hernandez and Marzello were pulled over behind some bushes when the coupe flew by. They were feeling sorry for themselves. Patrolling the back roads was pretty boring. They might catch a speeder or two, at best. Really, they ought to be in the heart of the city where the real action was, but this year they were assigned to the outskirts.
"What was that?" Hernandez asked. "Some kind of black coupe?"
Then the Muggle Mobile roared past.
"Being chased by two bozos in a Buick, it would appear," Marzello observed.
"Here, hold my coffee," Hernandez said as he hit the lights and pulled out.
~~~~~
"Oops! Muggle cops!" Kat said when he heard the siren whooping. He glanced in the mirror and saw the flashing red and blue lights in the distance behind them.
"Lovely," Severus said dryly.
On top of that, the coupe was getting farther and farther ahead of them. The Buick didn't handle nearly as well on curves and corners. Kat increased their speed anyway, and Severus could feel his heart rate increase along with it.
Suddenly the coupe's brake lights flashed and it made a sharp right-hand turn across a narrow bridge.
"This calls for desperate measures!" Kat cried. "Hang on! Sometimes this doesn't work too well."
Severus cringed in anticipation.
Kat reached down and punched what looked like a cigarette lighter. The Buick started to tremble, and then it rose straight up into the air, nose first, like a hooked sailfish. Kat hauled on the wheel and the vehicle flopped over in its side in the air. Then it started to fall earthward like a homesick refrigerator.
Severus' stomach tried to escape through his throat. I'll have to Apparate before we hit the ground! he thought desperately. Perhaps if he Apparated into the air beside the Buick, he could start flying and save himself. But what about Kat? He could take Kat side-along, but could he fly with a second person? Why, oh why, hadn't they just stayed at the school and put up with the smeeches?
~~~~~
"I didn't know you could do that in a Buick," Officer Hernandez said calmly as the Muggle Mobile soared into the air in front of them.
"Me neither," said Officer Marzello. "Must be one of those UFO's again. Clever of them, disguising themselves as a Buick this time."
~~~~~
Severus didn't have to Apparate. Kat drew his wand, muttered some sort of spell, and smacked the dashboard three times. Then he kicked a lever on the floor and turned the wheel sharply. Miraculously, the Buick righted itself, stabilized, and went into a smooth glide.
They sailed across the creek and followed the road until they caught up with the coupe. Kat brought them down smoothly, landing right behind the kidnappers. The sudden appearance of the Buick must have startled the driver because he accelerated so fast he lost control when he hit a deep pothole. The coupe bounced and skidded into the ditch where it came to a stop in the mud.
The Buick halted on the road beside the coupe, still floating about six inches above the asphalt.
"You didn't tell me this thing was capable of flight," Severus complained. Kat's flying had unnerved him even more than Kat's driving.
"We're only supposed to do it in emergencies," Kat said. "The flying enchantment doesn't always work very well."
"I noticed," Severus said as he cast Impedimenta out the window and brought down a fleeing kidnapper. He used Tarantallegra on the other two, just for the fun of it, and popped the trunk with Alohomora.
A young teenager climbed out. "I don't wanna go ta yer stinkin' school, ya stinkin' jerks," he snarled. "It's not my fault my stupid parents moved here."
"We have ta haze ya," one of the kidnappers said as he struggled to bring his flailing legs under control. "It's traditional!"
"My dad's gonna kill me," another moaned. "He's gonna kill me. He'll never let me use the car again!"
It was a high school hazing? Severus rolled his eyes. Bullies weren't limited to Spinner's End and Hogwarts. It was good that they'd broken it up.
"We'd better go," Kat said, hitting the gas as the cop car pulled up behind them.
~~~~~
The victim watched angrily as Marzello herded the three confused kidnappers into the back of the cruiser. Severus had released his spells as the Buick fled the scene.
"I'm gettin' kind of tired of those UFO's," Hernandez said as the Buick's tail lights disappeared into the night sky.
"Yeah, me too," Marzello said.
~~~~~
"I suppose ya didn't gas her up," Proctor said as they pulled up in front of the shack. The lights were on inside and they could hear a radio playing.
"Well, no, actually we didn't have time," Kat said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Doesn't surprise me," the old man said. "Should I be expectin' th' po-leece?"
Kat grinned. "No, we lost 'em."
"Well, I'll put the coffee on, just in case, and I'll take care of the car. You boys run along back to the school now, 'fore ya cause any more trouble. Yer supposed to be protectin' th' kids."
~~~~~
After Kat and Severus departed, the old man levitated the Buick back into the storage yard, and with a flick of his wand he replaced its tarp and made it vanish from sight. He was one of the most powerful wizards in North America, though only a few people knew it.
"I don't know about young people today," he said to the dog. "Come on, let's go back and get ready for the nice officers. I do enjoy their visits. Hope I don't have to Obliviate 'em this time."
The dog woofed and wagged his tail happily.
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To be continued ...