Duel Enrollment

Protective Snake

Last Time:

'Perhaps a ride on my back will clear your mind, little hatchling.' Gloria offered, soon after Brian and Harry were riding on the back of the large intimidating crocodile upstream and enjoying the very different environment Australia has compared to the UK ...

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"Which clothes do you want?" Brian asked the little boy gently. After the child shyly pointed to the clothes he wanted the headmaster dressed his son in the clothes, which were blue overalls, a red t-shirt and little red tennis shoes. "Now there's nothing to be afraid of ... we're just going for an hour or so depending on how long the tests take."

Green eyes looked up at him pleadingly without glasses to obscure them, "Can I take Mickey with me?"

Brian smiled and nodded, "Of course you can, but there's still time. We don't have to be at Gringotts until after lunch so there's no rush."

"Ok ... can we ... can we play animals until then?" The boy asked shyly.

"Of course." Brian pulled out the chest of figurines all of which came to life and began moving near the boy or to each other. "Now what is .. this one?" Brian asked and pointed to the figure of a unicorn.

"Unicorn." The little boy's eyes glittered happily as they continued the game for a few hours. After learning several new animals they heard the floo from the living room flare to life.

"It's alright, it's only Aster." Brian said as he felt the little boy jump in fear at the sudden noise. "Let's go say hi." The headmaster smiled as his son eagerly put his figures away and grabbed Mickey. It was one meal away before he and his son go to get the adoption potion.

Aster came into the kitchen with a big smile and saw Harry with Mickey in Brian's arms, "Not much longer now. Are you excited, Harry?"

The shy child cuddled into Mickey as he nodded, "Yes, but I'm not Harry now." He said softly.

The white haired healer beamed as Harry was set down so Brian could cook, "Really? What name did you pick sweetheart?"

"Julian River White." The green eyes glittered with happiness and for the first time looked Aster in the eyes before quickly hiding his face shyly. Brian smiled at his son's actions. Little by little Julian was coming out of his shell.

"Awww it's perfect, Julian. How did you pick your middle name?" Aster asked as she took a seat at the table near Julian, but not too close since the little boy still seemed shy around her.

"Gloria helped me decide." Julian answered softly.

"You saw Gloria ..." Aster said more to Brian who set out some of his mini homemade pizzas. She liked Gloria, but the crocodile isn't someone you have meet without advanced warning even for full grown adults who claim to be tough.

Brian chuckled, but there was a subtle hint of fear in his tone as the eyes of the overprotective healer looked at him, "Julian got along really well with Gloria." The headmaster set a couple pizzas on Julian's plate. "Eat what you can- oh! How about you take this first along with your medicines."

The little boy pouted as he was handed a potion. It was the nice potion that made him calm down, but it still tasted bad. Despite the taste Julian drank each one and happily ate the little pizzas as Mickey sat on the seat next to him with a wagging tail. After the three had a nice lunch they got ready to go.

"All set Julian- whoops! One sec!" Brian exclaimed in amusement as he got a napkin and wiped away a smudge of sauce from the boy's cheek. "Ok, now we're ready." He said he scooped Julian and Mickey up into his arms. As Brian followed Aster to the living room where the fireplace was Julian made the tiniest sound of worry. "It's ok, Julian. Floo travel just looks scary. Close your eyes and you'll understand." Brian smiled as his son buried his face into his chest without any hesitation. The headmaster and the healer stood in the fireplace. Aster grabbed some floo powder since Brian's arms were full with Julian ...