10 o'clock in the morning

Some said that all press was good press, though and family and friends were begging him not to talk to them, to stop this silly notion. However, when you'd already been fined for flying your friend's car over Muggles[1] and had an increasing number of sympathisers who wanted their own cars in Britain to fly, it wasn't surprising that a few reporters wanted to talk to you. He was quite frankly, adoring the attention, and whenever anyone had said 'you can't' or 'you shouldn't' to him in his life, he'd always wanted to buck the trend.

Iris Nollett from the Daily Prophet had been invited to the Pepper household in Sandy, a quiet little market town in Bedfordshire surrounded by gently rolling fields, an hour or so for Muggle from London to the South. He had not been surprised to hear from them so soon after yesterday, when a flying car had been spotted over Bristol[2].

Mrs Pepper, Catherine, was at work, she was an accountant and thought this was all rather silly, though had told him that Muggles would rather like to be able to fly their cars to get out of all the traffic. His two younger daughters would be home from Hogwarts for a little while in a matter of hours.

The house was rather unassuming, similar to the neighbouring ones, and Muggle built, with a long back garden sheltered by a number of trees to enable safe apparition and the odd bit of juvenile broom flying.

At the back of the house, leading off a homely living room with walls covered in painted portraits of the family (some moved, others did not) was a bright, magically enlarged room which housed an artist's studio. For the British public, up until recently only knew Octavius Pepper, who painted magical portraits and advised their subjects in how to educate their portraits before their departures from life, to allow them to talk.

However, since he had made Edwin's car fly, the public knew him as Monty. Monty had been bought more than a drink or two by aurors for making Edwin Glass, Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes get held up before his fellow wizengamot. Level 2 was always at odds with Level 3. 

The name was important because Monty was somewhat well know in America for the flying car business, Blue Silver owing to a time turner accident[3]. The Pepper family business traditionally had been time turners, and Monty's brother, Francis worked in the Department of Mysteries with Monty's eldest, Theta, to make them.

Needless to say, it made for intriguing discussion and a considerable amount of confusion.

"I thought it might be nice to do things in here," Monty informed Iris politely, leading her into the bright studio that looked out onto the garden. A tea tray was set out on a table with curled legs. Several portraits were set about on easels or stacked against the walls on sheets. Some were covered, others were exposed and were either static and not quite finished, or complete and just blinking, not yet taught much by their subjects, waiting for further charms and to be delivered.

"This is the regular business, of course." He gestured to the portraits around them, and then gestured to a modest, yet comfortable armchair with a low back, which his clients would be offered, and settled across from it on his usual chair, feeling that he could probably capture a decent sketch of Iris during the interview if she stayed for long enough. His mouth twitched into a smile beneath his beard.

"Here, let me pour you some tea while you get settled. I'm sure you have plenty of questions."

1.	I Fixed Your Car
2.	Fool Me Once
3.	Those Anti-ageing creams don't work

When her editor had tossed the assignment on her lap yesterday, she thought it a bloody joke--April Fools' wasn't it? Edwin Glass--and his car--become a topic of considerable amount of interest, and the curly-haired wizard in front of her was responsible for it.

And Iris took hold of it with some trepidation.  Some assignments could make and break one's career, and she was determined not be stuck reporting parties and 'social events of the year'. Half a night was spent researching the wizard in the question. Nude portraits of Ministers aside, what did he have to do with flying cars in the first place? Wasn't that the purview of another--and far different-- Pepper?

Being a professional meant blending in with the neighborhood in the morning; the half-blooded witch dressed in slacks and casual jacket that wouldn't look too out of place in the Muggle-dominated neighborhood.  The house was charming--all very Muggle, not a whit of magic to be seen until deep inside the studio.

"You do have a charming home," she complimented. She needed to be on his good side, and her mother had instilled some manners in her. The studio was expected of him, even if the matter of hand was Glass' flying car. Mr. Pepper was a wizard of many interests.  "Thank you, I will take that tea. No sugar, if you please." She plopped on the chair, her posture alert. It wouldn't do to look too eager or tense. Her bag held everything--from parchment to her Verbatis quill along with miniscule amount of research on Pepper himself.

"Oh, I never stop having questions, Mr. Pepper," she smiled, and something of her inner slyness peeked through. "The public --well, our readers mostly--are intrigued, but before we start, is there anything that is off the record?"

"Off the record, my dear?" Octavius asked with curiosity. "Now, I know better than to know that anything is truly off the record, Ms Nollet." He winked and that moustache twitched.

"No, nothing off the record, and should you ask a question that I cannot answer for fear of my dear wife's wrath, I'll let you know." He smiled, and poured tea, being sure not to add sugar.

"You have the most elegant eyes, my dear. So very wide to see the world - an advantage with your role, I would imagine. Sorry, do go on, you must have far more important people to be chasing for column inches than a silly old man and flying cars all over Bristol…"

He lifted the teacup and saucer over beside Iris in the armchair and sat back, eyes twinkling.

"I assume you're going to publish my name as Monty Pepper, aren't you? My portrait clients know me as Octavius, but if we're talking flying cars, it's Monty."

The mustachioed man was sharpish, and her lips twitched, trying to keep her own burgeoning smile in check. Like all rules, it was a dance she had to perform for nearly all interviews. This had potential. The easy manner of his acquiescence had her nearly salivating; she hid it borrowing into her bag to dig out her parchment and dictating quill keeping it ready.

"I'll hold you to that," she sealed the agreement, doubting the wizard was truly mild-mannered as he seemed.

The compliment was unexpected, and her darker -sided humor wondered what his wife would say about complimenting other women. "And mother said, I should smile more, "she dryly replied, accepting the cup and saucer.

The french wizarding fashion understood the importance of image and branding. Wizards and witches turned in their names for a refined and elegant version. Understandable, if Octavius Pepper did so too, but there was one bit she couldn't put her finger on. "Why Monty, though? Isn't there another Monty?  He might mind sharing the headline with you."

 

For a moment he had visions of Catherine, his dearest wife and a Muggle, enlisting his two younger daughters to relieve him of his wand in an attempt to keep him in line with the flying cars. But he felt deep down she rather enjoyed his antics. He was still the man she married - and he'd tried to make their car fly on their wedding day too, all those years ago.

"And mother said, I should smile more," Nollett told him, which induced a chuckle.

"Perhaps you never met someone who appealed to your sense of humour." He surmised, raising an eyebrow and shifting on his stool, letting the comment slide to allow for the interview, if that was how it would turn out to be, could progress.

"No I don't think he'd mind at all," Octavius replied, expression mischievous as he tugged on his beard. "You mean the famous wizard in America who makes the flying cars?" He asked the astute witch from the Daily Prophet, before hopping to his feet and rifling through some newspapers which on first glance appeared to just be nearby to catch paint drips and water stains from the floor.

He extended a newspaper to her, four or five pages inside the copy, but folded to the page and in half for easier grasping with one hand. It was from a newspaper published over in the American wizarding community, and had a moving photograph of a man leaning out of the window a car which was floating with a slight bob about four feet in the air. The paintwork was adorned with intricate, moving designs, though the colour was lost as the printed paper was black and white. A glance to the date listed it as September the previous year.

"The very man?" Octavius asked, presenting her with the paper, and then sitting back down, attempting to hold a similar pose to the one he'd held in the car back in September to see if she'd see.

"Do you see? Ms Nollett, I am the very same man." He gestured to his face, and then to the paper in her hand. "My name is Octavius Montgomery Pepper, so over here I am Octavius the portrait painter, and over there, I am Monty the man who owns Blue Silver, employing a team of talented witches and wizards who create magnificent masterpieces - flying cars for both the average wizard and his family, and those special, individual vehicles for the discerning wizard with deeper pockets."

He smiled, and raised his eyebrows.
"You don't believe me?"


And so the yarn began...!


End