"I can see my destination.  I'm guessing my destination can see me, as well," Anton pointed across the room to where a familiar blonde witch had plopped herself in her chair with the utter lack of commitment that suggested she didn't plan to linger long. 

She, however, wasn't the only one displaying the distinct look of someone just shy of frantic.  Everyone seemed to be scurrying with unfettered determination, not unlike a department store stocking crew on the Friday evening before Christmas.  Maybe March 9 was some important wizarding holiday that Anton was oblivious to - which was exactly why he'd stopped by. 

"She is the witch who is handling your case?" the tired looking old witch standing next to Anton asked.  Anton nodded without any reservation and opened his mouth to insist he could find the rest of the way on his own just fine, but the witch seemed determined to fulfill her job duties to the letter. 

"Ms. Fenneken, so sorry to disturb you.  Mrs. Dankworth from the front desk, escorting visitor Schäfer to follow up with you about Case Number ᛠᚨA374Δ."  Anton grinned and pointed to the shiny visitor badge on his coat pocket.  "Feel free to send a memo, if your visitor needs an escort out."

Anton was relieved he'd held onto the paperwork from that Christmas Eve when Fenneken had dragged him into the Ministry, thinking he was a squib.  It had been the perfect excuse to get him in the door and escorted straight to Tessa's desk.

"It seems very busy in here," Anton observed, glancing around.  "I would have made a proper appointment but, you know, I can't find this place's number on Bing.  Even Google's got nothing on you."  Of course, Anton hadn't actually Googled "Ministry of Magic" but, man, he couldn't remember ever having to ignore a bigger temptation. 

He offered the broadest, most charming and placating smile he could muster.  Google was supposed to be the place you went to seek answers to questions you shouldn't ask.

Normally, all three days and two nights of Capture Unit's full-moon watch flew by. But for the past three months -- January, February, and now March -- Tessa had noticed a distressing pattern in her assignments.

It had bothered her back in January, when she and Harris had gotten grounded in the Level Two map room[1] after the full moon ambush[2] the month before. But at least that had left her close to the action when the call had come about the safehouse.[3]  She couldn't even say that much of her assignment for the past two months, which had left her shivering and wet in fox form outside a lighthouse[4] on the Isle of Man for seemingly no reason.

Unsurprisingly, nothing interesting had happened at the lighthouse, and so Tessa had already been in a sour mood by the time she made it back to the Ministry late that afternoon. Seeing her fellow teammates trickle back in from their patrols made her feel worse. She hadn't joined the Capture Unit because she wanted to hide away on a desolate clifftop somewhere so that her boss didn't have to worry about her getting targeted by a mad hairy Scotsman. She'd joined because she wanted to help, and she hated feeling separated from her comrades during the most stressful time of their month.

"Reporting back to base, Commander!" Charlie Harris fired off a quick salute as he paused by her desk. 

Tessa tried to force herself to smile. Unlike her, Harris had been allowed to return to patrols a month ago, although she still couldn't imagine why he'd been trusted out in the world again and she hadn't.

"Welcome back aboard, Lieutenant," she returned. "How was your away mission?"

Harris shrugged.  "Quiet," he said. That was the usual response, since anything that didn't involve a werewolf was quiet by WCU standards. But he flashed her a slight smile, clearly trying to make amends. "A few of us were thinking of heading to The Sword and Chant once Bagnold lets us go.  Did you want to come along?"

Tessa hesitated. Normally, she'd be the first to say yes; she loved going out on the town and decompressing with her teammates after their long watch. But the thought of having to sit quietly again and listen to her friends share all the little stories and small adventures that came out of even a quiet patrol -- it was starting to sting.

"I don't know," she demurred, glancing at her desk. A card showing the enchanted image of a tropical beach sat temptingly there, palm trees swaying in an invisible breeze underneath sparkling letters that read You're Invited!. Every so often, the volcano in the background of the scene let out a puff of real glitter. "Gris's party is tomorrow, and I should really check in with her and Fauna to see if they need any help with the --"

"Ms. Fenneken --" an old witch's voice cut in.

Tessa's jaw dropped. It proceeded to drop lower and lower as she looked between the old welcome witch and the cheerful face of Anton Schäfer, who despite all odds had somehow come to stand in the middle of the Werewolf Capture Unit office, where he was currently beaming at her.

Her face flushed bright red.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Charlie Harris looking equally confused.

"What are you doing here!" she hissed at Anton through clenched teeth.  Oh, no no no no. The welcome witch was already departing, leaving her stuck with a Muggle in the middle of the Capture Unit office. "You aren't supposed to be here!"

1.	January 10, 2012 - Away Mission
2.	December 11, 2011 - Cold Moon
3.	January 10, 2012 - The Ruin of Many a Good Wolf
4.	January 24, 2012 - Wolves of Winter

As the whispered footsteps of the welcome witch faded quickly as she shuffled back towards the lifts, leaving Anton to grin broadly at Tessa.  And, at the dramatic flash of color that was quickly spreading over Tessa's face.  A dramatic flash of color that, despite Anton's best wishes, really couldn't be misconstrued as an optimistic blush.   

For a brief moment, doubt flickered across Anton's thoughts.  Maybe this had been a mistake.  He wasn't a complete idiot; he knew he was coloring outside the metaphorical lines by coming here. 

But, alternatives were limited and he did have an important and legitimate reason to be here. 

"I needed to follow up on the incident from Christmas," he insisted, pointing back towards the lift.  That had been sincere.  Mostly.  He hadn't completely conned his way into the no-muggles-allowed Ministry of Magic.  Mostly.  He actually did need help from someone in the wizarding world; it wasn't just an excuse to cross paths with Tessa. Mostly.

That certainly was part of it. 

"I know that.  But, how else am I supposed to reach out if I need help?  I'm serious - there isn't exactly a muggle-friendly service line and you didn't give me your number.  So - when there are no conventional methods to ask for help, you get stuck resorting to the unconventional."  He didn't sneak in, after all. 

He also wasn't blind.  He could see things were some kind of crazy in Tessa's workplace and maybe dropping by unannounced hadn't been the best option.  "I really actually do need your help.  I can acknowledge this might not be the best timing so, if you can't spare a few minutes now, can I contact you some other way?"

Anton cast a pointed glance towards a nearby chair but didn't presume to take a seat.  Not without invitation.  Then, for good measure, it occurred to him that he should add on: "but if it really is a trouble, I can just go and leave you alone.  Just ... if you know where a muggle can get help with this stuff, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction."

Tessa's face turned brighter and brighter red as Anton didn't stop talking. He spoke so quickly in his faintly accented English that the details seemed to swim together. Following up on Christmas...needed help...no conventional methods... The excuses were coming so fast and furious that she could barely make sense of them all.

She'd been so thrown off by Anton that for the past ten seconds, she'd almost forgotten that Charlie Harris was still there. When her teammate cleared his throat, it startled her almost enough to make her jump out of her chair.

"Wait a minute," he cut in, looking between Tessa and the Muggle. "You got in here, and you're a --?"

Oh no no no no. Tessa felt as if her head was going to explode. There was no way that she was going to be able to deal with Charlie Harris and Anton Schäfer in this very overwhelming moment.

She jumped to her feet and grabbed for Anton's arm, digging her nails in deep.  "Come on," she hissed in his ear, as she practically dragged him away from her desk.

It occurred to her very quickly that her options for where to bring him were limited. She was already getting stares from all of the other Capture Unit members, who looked mostly exhausted from their three days of patrols but were certainly sharp enough to realize that something was wrong. There were other meeting rooms on Level Four, but there was no way of telling which of them were occupied, and yanking Anton down the bustling Werewolf Wing hallways didn't seem like a very good idea right now.

That left only one option. Before she could think twice about it, Tessa yanked hard on Anton's arm and pulled him through an open doorway and into the small office reserved for the Head of the Werewolf Capture Unit.

The office was only a little larger than a moderately-sized broom closet. It was home to a wooden desk, a bookshelf, an extra wooden chair, and a fireplace that looked as if it hadn't been used in years. There were none of the personal touches or individual adornments that one might expect from someone's usual working space. Even so, it was neat and orderly, with only a few cardboard boxes stacked in a corner to hint at its recent history as a storage closet.

Tessa let the door slam shut behind them and turned to face him. She still hadn't let go of her death grip on Anton's arm.

"What are you doing!" she demanded at him again. Her face was still flushed, and her eyes were starting to sting, but at least she could shout at him properly in here. "You can't just walk in here, Anton! Do you even care about how much trouble you're going to get me in!?"

Anton flashed the man at Tessa's desk the charmingest of charming smiles.  "It's a figure of speech, mate," he offered vaguely.  Under the circumstances, it felt like a better response than an ill-timed question about modern day Jim Crow laws. 

It seemed an applicable question but he wasn't actively trying to make things worse for Tessa.  Even if it was becoming clear he was achieving that without trying.  As was made evident by the sudden vice grip on his arm and the hurried ushering towards the door. 

She was throwing him out.  Wait, no.  She was throwing him in a closet.  A confusing mixed signal but better than...

Wait, no.  It was an office. 

But Anton barely had a chance to peek around for any crazy wizardy office paraphernalia when Tessa loosened her inhibitions (but not her grip).  Willing to acknowledge her frustrations were valid, Anton actively kept his own frustrations in check.

One day, he needed to thank Sasha for the years of practice in conflict resolution. 

He took a deep breath when he had the opportunity to speak and lifted his free hand in a placating gesture.  "My intention wasn't to get you in trouble and I'm happy to explain to whoever I need to that you had no part in me coming here today," he offered.  "However, while I may not have an intrinsic right to be here, my little brother does.  He's supposed to be starting at Hogtarts in the fall.  But, seeing as how he's 10, he can't come here on his own so I am here as his representative."

He gently set his free hand on top of the one that was slowly cutting off circulation to his thumb.  "Like I said, if there's a better source of help, I welcome you to point me in that direct.  Alright?"

Once her panic from the incident on Christmas Eve had subsided, Tessa had felt much more friendly towards the blond Muggle boy that she'd dragged along to the Ministry. After all, it hadn't been Anton's fault that he'd had a run-in with a vampire. Even if Muggles weren't supposed to go mucking about in Diagon Alley, he'd hopefully learned his lesson and would be better behaved in the future.

But this today -- coming back to the Ministry when he knew that he shouldn't, asking for her by name and actually talking his way into her office -- this felt different. The Werewolf Capture Unit was generally fairly laid-back towards its Muggle-born members, and Bagnold had drilled it into them that protecting Muggles from werewolves was just as important as protecting wixes. But even that being said, there were still pureblood members of their team. Bagnold himself was one, and he clearly wasn't comfortable with Muggle culture, as evidenced by his ongoing responses to Harris's sci fi and fantasy obsession.

Despite everything, Anton wasn't apologizing. Instead, he was talking about his little brother. If Tessa hadn't known about his friendship with Schlagenweit, the nerdy kid who'd been a few years behind her at school and was now working on Level Nine, she might have been a little understanding. But clearly Anton knew that there were other ways to communicate with wixes. And he'd not only had the nerve to show up here, but he'd done it on the very tail end of the full moon.

Anton reached up to touch her hand, and Tessa quickly jerked it back, scowling at him.

"You aren't his representative," she snapped back at him, exasperated.  "You can't just come here, Anton!" She waved her hands: at the office, at the Ministry, at everything. "You'll make it worse for Micah! You could get hurt! The last time a Muggle tried to cross over into magical spaces, they harassed her and harassed her until someone finally poisoned her and poisoned the Squib who gave her a job! The Aurors had to get involved and everything!!"

"You aren't his representative."

"Yes, I am," Anton countered, his tone losing a touch of his usual, casual cordiality.  As Micha's older brother, Anton was undoubtedly his representative and lifelong protector.  A difference in magic status wasn't going to change that. 

But, as Tessa yanked her hand away, it became clear he'd come to the wrong place.  It was the same, fear-mongering negativity everywhere he turned.  He flinched, slightly, when Tessa spoke of a muggle that had been poisoned.  "I suspect I know who you're speaking of."  He wasn't the first bloke to have had a significant crush on his best friend's older sister.  There was no shortage of tragedy around Sasha - which was only contributing to the current problem. 

"But, a mate of mine got mugged on a class trip to Prague.  A guy got stabbed in Camden the night before last.  Those don't mean I hide at home because someone else's story's is destined to become my own."

Anton took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils, running the fingers of both hands through his hair.  It would do no one any good to add his own frustration to the situation, though.  After all, this wasn't about him - it was about Micha.

More calmly, he pushed himself up to sit on the desk behind him.  "What I'm hearing you ... and Sasha ... and practically everyone else say is this world is so horribly dangerous so I shouldn't step a toe into it.  But, we should just toss my 10 year old brother into it on his own." 

Sure.  That was reasoning any over protective parent would accept. 

"Problem is, oddly my mum's not buying that story.  I want to help my brother get excited about all of this so he'll stand up for himself and tell mum he doesn't want to stay in muggle school.  I don't know how to do that safely and ... I don't know where to go."

Anton wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Tessa could feel her face getting hotter and hotter as he went on about how he was his brother's representative and how the danger he faced here wasn't any different from a normal Muggle mugging. It was the same unconcerned attitude that had made her so angry back in December: when the German teenager had acted as if nearly getting attacked by a vampire during a new moon was a novel delight rather than a terrifying near-tragedy.

It also didn't take into account the fact that by coming here, he was putting her at risk. What if she got fired? Working for the Werewolf Capture Unit wasn't necessarily how she envisioned spending the rest of her life, but she liked being part of the team. It drove her mad when she couldn't be out on patrol with her teammates. She didn't want to get grounded again -- or worse -- because Anton was determined to draw attention to the fact that she'd made one little mistake and dragged him to the Ministry in the first place.

"Except it is dangerous, Anton!" she exploded at him, throwing her hands up.  "Do you think your brother's the only Muggleborn wizard who's ever been born?" That was the other infuriating thing about this; the German boy acting as if the magical world didn't have processes in place to deal with this very event. "You need to just let the process work, not push your way into it! And if your brother still doesn't want to attend Hogwarts after all that, then maybe your mother's right!"

She was so angry -- on the verge of hexing him too, so that he could see what a witch's wraith was like -- that it wasn't until she stopped to take a breath so she could keep shouting that Tessa realized that the room outside the little office had gone completely quiet. Suddenly wide-eyed, she froze.

As her gaze shot over to the wooden door, it began to open.

It had been a mentally exhausting full moon, but not a physical or dangerous one. Sometimes, the quietest watches were the hardest to get through. There was no outlet for his nervous energy when he spent most of his time stuck in an office, having to moderate his temper around sanctimonious Aurors who seemed to think that if he adventured out on even the shortest jaunt, he was going to go intentionally try to start a war with a dark wizard or something equally ridiculous.

Once he and Bellingham had finished up on Two, they'd checked in with Ballentyne, who had only just dragged herself into the office after her own transformation. Then, finally, still in their silver mail and leather from the long monthly watch, they'd made their way back to the Capture Unit office. Now that the full moon had officially set, it was time to release the troops and send the kids home.

The vibe in the Capture Unit office was strange enough that Kurby noticed it as soon as he stepped inside, despite his general sense of exhaustion. The uncomfortable buzzing died down as he and Bellingham entered. Frowning, he paused, silently counting the bodies present.

"Where's Fenneken?" he asked after a beat.

There was an awkward shifting of positions.

Finally, Harris -- who couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life -- spoke up.

"She's...in your office?" the young man ventured in a very small voice.

Kurby stared at him for a long moment, his expression impassive.  Finally, without saying a word, he raised his eyebrows.

Harris squirmed. He did not seem happy about having designated himself as spokesman for the group, but he also couldn't contend with the growing silence.

"Some-kid-came-to-see-her," he said at last, all in a hurry. "He might have been a, err, Muggle -- or Muggle-born? It was something about an old case. Anyway, she dragged him in there to talk!"  He gulped hard, and then added quickly, "They're probably done now!"

Kurby kept the kid pinned with a look for a moment longer, just to drive the point home. Then, silently, he strode across the hushed room to the Capture Unit Head's office, pulled it open, and stepped inside, letting it shut behind him.

Sure enough, standing in front of his desk was Tessa Fenneken, her face bright red and looking as if she were ready to either explode or hex someone to death. In front of her was a tall blond kid he'd never seen before, who looked as if he might be around the same age as Moira or Fig.

Eyebrows raised, the werewolf hunter crossed his arms against his chest and waited, regarding them both silently.

"I know it's dangerous," he conceded, being careful to keep his own tone steady against Tessa's blooming explosion.  "The whole world is dangerous."

He had barged in.  He was the one who'd shown up unannounced and (so it seemed) risked getting Tessa in trouble.  That, of course, hadn't been his intent and he knew meeting her in her frustration wouldn't be productive.  If what she was saying was true - and he had no reason to doubt her - then it was the system he was frustrated with.  Not her. 

It wasn't right.  It wasn't an inequality he was willing to accept for Micha.  But, she clearly wasn't interested in helping and he wasn't going to compel her, if that was the case.  Anton noticed her glance towards the door but, not being well versed in the usual tone of the office, he was oblivious to the silence that had caught her attention.

"That's not a valid reason for Micha to be denied the world he belongs to, though.  He shouldn't have to be 'processed' in like some immigrant.  He should be able to find where he fits in on his own terms.  But, if you don't want to help, then I'll find-" 

Even he didn't miss when the door ominously opened.  Or, more importantly, close behind a young-looking and hard-etched man, leaving three of them in the room.  The man had that undeniable air of authority and lack of patience.  It was time to fall on the proverbial sword.

"I came to ask for Tessa's help without invitation.  She neither knew about nor played any part in my coming here and she certainly didn't beat around the bush about me being out of my place.  I was just about to seek help elsewhere." 

The door opened and Bagnold stepped inside, plunging Tessa into something close to her worst nightmare. She stared at her supervisor, eyes wide and flabbergasted, with absolutely no idea of what she could say to make this any less horrifying than it seemed.

But Anton, per usual, wasted absolutely no time in speaking up. The Muggle teenager immediately threw himself in front of the hex, taking responsibility for his intrusion, insisting that she didn't know anything about it, and proclaiming that he was about to leave. Heat started rising in Tessa's face as she shot a look at him. He wasn't supposed to make her feel guilty about getting mad at him! He never should have come in here in the first place!

Bagnold stared at the blond teenager for a long moment. Then, still silent, he shifted his gaze to her.

In that moment, Tessa was very, very tempted to just go full fox.

But running away from her problems wasn't going to do any good, especially when the door was closed anyway and she'd have to face her boss the next morning no matter what happened.  It took a couple of tries to get her voice to work again, but Tessa finally managed to clear her throat.

"He's the --" Don't say Muggle; don't say Muggle.  She quickly averted course. "--one," she managed, swallowing, "from Christmas Eve.  Who was attacked by the vampire."  She'd told Bagnold about that, about how she'd caught his undead 'friend' from the December full moon attacking a Muggle in an alley. Tessa had glossed over how she'd accidentally brought Anton to the Ministry afterwards, but she suspected that everyone in the room could put two and two together.

"He just didn't know how to get ahold of me," she finished, very quickly. "He's leaving soon, I swear."

Bagnold regarded her silently for one, two, several beats.  Tessa could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Finally, her supervisor pointed his wand at his desk.  A stack of parchment lifted into the air and floated over to him; the werewolf hunter caught it easily, tucking the stack under his arm.

"I don't want to spend the next six hours fillin' out paperwork for Three," he informed her flatly. "Ten minutes. Then get him out of here."

Without another look at Anton, he turned to leave. As the door clicked shut behind him, Tessa let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding.

Letting out a moan of relief, she slumped back against the desk, throwing her hands over her face as if removing Anton from immediate view would let her block this whole entire unbelievable turn of events out of her life today.

The Adult's gaze shifted from him to Tessa without a word with no indication of whether a lack of reaction was good or bad.  Anton lifted a hand and slid anxious, fidgeting fingers through his hair, giving it a fresh dose of mussing as he respected the non-verbal signal to be quiet. 

"He's the --"

Labels.  Why did it always seem to come down to labels?  Anglo-German.  Bisexual.  Rich kid.  University student.  A distinct assortment of privilege and easily concealed, subtle non-conformity.  As much as he earnestly tried to approach the world with social and cultural awareness,  none of his labels ever saddled him with the status of 'outsider' or true 'alien.'  Not until now, at least.  It was a disquiet feeling and, for the first time, he could appreciate how the first response to such a feeling wavered between defensiveness against and dismissal of those who held the power. 

When this was said and done, he had to find a way to safely turn this into a term paper.  Privileged Youth First Experiences Disadvantage in the World of Magic.  Just, omit the magic, somehow. 

Anton's gaze shifted from Tessa back to The Adult.  It was more of a gesture than an attack, he suppressed the urge to say.  Now wasn’t the time to launch into a discussion about past trauma and the sociological implications of different tactics of dealing with it.  Pretending there wasn’t any risk in the first place was his personal tactic of choice, thank you very much. 

But, again, this wasn’t about him.  He’d legitimately come looking for help for his brother and it was clear there was no help to be had for the likes of them in this place. 

"Ten minutes.”

”It shouldn’t even take that,” he offered in defeat as the door closed behind The Adult.  “Look, just call or message or whatever the witch at the front desk.  I’ll sit in the corner with my hands folded until she gets here and …”  His voice trailed off and he shrugged, at a loss for what to do next.  His mum was terrified about all of this.  Sasha only seemed to fuel her fear.  And, Micha was caught in the middle of all of it. 

“But, I’m really sorry.  I won’t bug you, again.”

There were many things that Tessa would have liked to do in this moment, but having an actual conversation with Anton when he'd risked so much with getting her in trouble in front of her teammates was not one of them. Unfortunately, the blond teenager was still there when she lowered her hands.

"That won't --" Tessa broke off, unhappy about having to explain the intricacies of Muggle-Magic relations.

Anton still didn't seem to get it, even if he was more apologetic now. Summoning the Ministry's Welcome Wix still didn't solve the problem of him being here, and bringing another employee back in made it more likely that someone outside the Werewolf Capture Unit would realize that there was a Muggle in the Ministry because of her. The risk of Level Three realizing that Anton wandering around was probably much higher if she just threw him back to the proverbial wolves.

Besides, the damage was likely under control for the moment. For all of the complaints that she and her teammates might sometimes vent about Bagnold (always off-site and well out of his hearing just to be safe), the Capture Unit Head wasn't duplicitous. If he hadn't bitten her head off immediately, then he'd probably decided to let this fly under the radar -- like he had for the illegal vampire who'd joined their December hunt and then gone around attacking people, or the werewolf girl that everyone knew he'd tried to let off the hook, or the centaur that had been tagging along recently on trainings. As long as this didn't turn into a bigger issue, she probably wasn't going to get in trouble.

Tessa tossed her hair back over her shoulder, finally risking a look back directly at Anton. Even if all she'd done was curl up in fox form and stare at a lighthouse for the past three days, the long patrol hours had still left her feeling drained.

"No, he told me to show you out," she said tiredly, crossing her arms.  Part of her hoped that she wouldn't regret this. "What's your question, Anton?"

"That won't --"

Anton leaned in, lifting his hands slightly as he hoped Tessa would complete the sentence.  That won't ... what?  Work?  Jive.  Be necessary?  Satisfy the Adult? 

It was becoming increasingly clear that there was some holy, intricate and all important set of rules.  Yet, there was no Welcome To the Wizarding World Orientation assembly.  No little pamphlet that directs newbies to some Visitor Center.  No website with an introductory video.  Just, some innate expectation that the Schäfers know all this by default.  Or, as Sasha - and now Tessa - keep putting it, just ignore it exists until you toss your beloved family member into the fray when a complete stranger comes to take them away.

Anton's chest deflated as Tessa crossed her arms but bit back a sharp retort.  No.  He had to keep reminding himself that he didn't need to add to the frustration.  He was here to get a question answered and, finally, he had an opportunity to ask it. 

"I want to take my brother to Diagon Alley so he can get excited about all of this.  How can I do it, safely?"  He was really hoping there was some Fodor's Guide to Diagon Alley that someone could loan him.  Again, pamphlet!  This world needed more of those hotel lobby displays with lots and lots of pamphlets. 

That was...it?

Tessa blinked at him, the exhaustion in her expression quickly giving way to warring annoyance and bewilderment. That was what Anton wanted?  That was why he'd barged into the Ministry the day after a full moon, talked his way into the Werewolf Capture Unit office, and risked getting her fired? Because he wanted to take his little brother shopping in Diagon Alley?

It was baffling. She was also completely perplexed as to why he had to ask her this. Anton was obviously good mates with Sasha Schlagenweit (sorry, Snow), and he seemed to be friendly with Fauna Blake and Figaro Sellaphix, too. Any of them seemed like perfectly good options to accompany Anton and Micah to Diagon. It wasn't as if he were asking to take his little brother on a tour of a werewolf cave or something.

"Can't you...just ask Schlagenweit?" she asked uncertainly, hesitation creeping into her voice. "I mean, Diagon's pretty safe, as long as you go there during the day. When Micah gets his Hogwarts letter, I think someone from Hogwarts will come to explain how to do it."