Brooklyn and the Boy Who Lived

The London Clan's Surprise Message

In a small shop in London called Into the Mystic, resided two gargoyles of the London Clan named Una and Leo, who owned the place.

They had been another gargoyle clan who had lived in London for quite a while, even during the battle of World War II. Their rookery was in a mansion-like building, called the Knight's Spur.

At the moment though, Leo and Una were currently in their shop. Leo was standing guard near the entrance, while Una sat at her table, pondering, and maybe worrying too.

A year ago, Goliath had sent them an urgent message, saying that Puck had been up to his mischief again, using a strange new spell that apparently took away a gargoyle's transforming abilities, leaving them in their flesh and blood form, on his Second in Command, Brooklyn, and sent him who knows where. To the Manhattan Clan, he had just disappeared without any way to contact him.

Oh, Brooklyn, I hope you are safe wherever you are, and can soon return home! Una thought silently to herself, shutting her eyes. Leo's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Are you alright, Una?"

"Huh? Yeah. I was just thinking about somebody," Una said in a soft voice. Leo gave a sigh.

"It's Brooklyn, isn't it? I know you're worried about him, so am I, but he isn't in our clan, Una. And we don't even have a lead on where he could be! What's the point of trying to find somebody when we can't find a location on him?

Una's eyes flashed. "We should worry about every gargoyle, Leo! Not just our clan! He was Goliath's second in command, next to be leader! How can you think that way?! This is just like when we lost Griff that time!"

Leo's eyes narrowed, for her mentioning that seemed to have set him off a little. "Una, he may be gone for a long time, or even forever! Goliath and the others couldn't call him at all, and they lost their only way of getting him back with Demona stealing Puck and making him send her to where Brooklyn is, for she is now gone, too."

Una felt angry at Leo for this. "You don't know! If Griff were still here and not on his adventure with King Arthur, he would've been optimistic about this, saying that some kind of sign will appear and—!"

As soon as the unicorn gargoyle spoke this, however, she was disturbed by a pecking on the shop window. The two of them turned, and to their surprise, at the appearance of an unlikely creature, a magnificent looking barn owl, carrying an envelope of thick yellow parchment.

Leo stared, shocked at an owl just showing up at their window. Una got up, however, and made her way to the window and gazed into the owl's eyes. They stared into hers, and for some reason, something just seemed different, familiar about this owl. It wasn't like any of the wild ones; it was too intelligent, and seemed to know something, or someone.

She opened the window, letting the bird in, that landed on her shoulder, still holding the envelope in its beak.

"Where did that owl come from?" Leo asked in confusion, pointing with his talon. Una shrugged, shaking her head, as she took the letter from it. She gazed down at the envelope's green address:

London Clan

Into the Mystic shop, London

She raised her brow. Okay, that's a scarily specific address right there, she thought. Who did they know that sent letters by owl? Una took a breath, opened it.

Her face paled when she read it. She immediately knew that it was Brooklyn who wrote it! Her hands shook. "L-Leo, you need to read this!" She gasped in a choked voice. Leo took it from her, and once he read it, he just stared. But how could Brooklyn be alive, and had been living in plain sight for the last three years?

"Una, t-this is just, but-but how?" He exclaimed in a stuttering voice almost as bad as Una's.

The unicorn gargoyle couldn't really answer. "All that matters, Leo, is that Brooklyn's alive, with some new friends, it looks like, and that Demona joined a dark wizard to take over the wizarding world and destroy this magic school that has accepted him, and he must've somehow survived without his stone sleep."

"But what's all this about Brooklyn forming a brother bond with this human child, Harry Potter? It's ridiculous!" Leo shouted with suspicion in his tone, pacing back and forth. Una folded her arms.

"Don't you remember that human woman, Elisa with Goliath? She and him clearly had something going for one another, and it must've happened again. We also have Demona working with this new dark wizard who wants to kill both Brooklyn and this child! We have to help them! Think of it as returning Goliath a favor of bringing Griff back to us that time ago!"

The lion gargoyle still didn't look convinced. He wasn't sure about going all out to helping a school that was a castle that taught magic to humans. But still... he gazed down at the letter once more and saw how desperate Brooklyn's writing was.

Brooklyn must really see something in this Harry Potter kid to become bond brothers with, and to not want to return home yet to defend this castle. How have we never heard of this Hogwarts? He thought, rubbing his temples, and giving out a sigh. He guessed it couldn't hurt, and perhaps it would do him good to repay the kindness Goliath gave to them by helping his second in command protect the youngsters of this place. He himself couldn't stand to see children hurt, whether they be human or gargoyle.

"I suppose this is worth checking to see if it's legit. But Number 12, Grimmauld Place? Where is that, exactly?"

Una paced, until her eyes lit up. "I spotted a group of old buildings two streets from here. Perhaps this Dumbledore person and this group, the Order of the Phoenix could be there waiting for us. The building might use some kind of shielding magic to stay undercover. We might know them when we see them, anyway."

Knowing that this somewhat made sense, Leo nodded, and Una quickly pulled out a small piece of parchment, to write to Goliath, to tell him that Brooklyn was alive and had been on a mission to protect a castle in Scotland near London against Demona and Voldemort. Then, using a spell that she so often used to send messages, the letter instantly disappeared in a flash. She hoped that it would get through to them!

"So, shall we try to find this Grimmauld Place?" Leo asked, extending his arm to Una, who nodded, taking hold. The barn owl made to sit on her shoulder to leave with them as the gargoyle couple made their way to the door, ready for whatever crazy adventure came to them with Brooklyn. As they were about to leave, the door opened, revealing two familiar people, Griff and King Arthur!

Earlier that evening:

A small boat came into the docks of London from a mysterious fog bank, holding two people, a gargoyle and a human man. The gargoyle, who had the look of a griffin, tilted his head, confused when the buildings of London suddenly appeared, for they had been on a quest of their own ever since he had become Arthur's knight. This gargoyle's name was Griff, formerly of the London Clan.

"Hey, mate, any ideas on why we've returned to London?" Griff asked his friend, the legendary King Arthur, who shrugged in confusion.

"I don't know, Griff. Perhaps there's a reason Avalon called us from our quest. Maybe somebody needs our help here."

Griff remembered his old clan at Into the Mystic, and he gave a smile. "I have an idea, perhaps we can drop in on my old friends, for old times' sake. Maybe whatever's going on, they might know!"

Arthur looked pleased. He would be glad for another opportunity to see Griff's old clan again, even if that meant putting off his quest for Merlin. Whatever was going on just might be quite urgent to call them here.

"Sure, let's dock and surprise our comrades," Arthur replied in a cheerful tone, as he guided their boat to the dock. Little did they know that a whirlwind of adventure was about to be sprung in their direction, in a strange magical world that even King Arthur himself had no idea existed!