The HMS Oracle was not prepared to host a twelve-year-old witch like Lavender. She was actually the only female on board. They were the Royal Navy, however, and they adapted. Seaman Hood had even managed to alter someone's blue number 1 dress uniform to fit her. He told her that it had been damaged and it was his pleasure to be able to tailor it to her.
Her Uncle Charlie called it cute. He had his full uniform kit available. She had to ask Seaman Hood what her uncle's rank was, being unfamiliar with the insignia. All he would tell her was that he outranked Jamie. So Seaman Hood had to whisper to her that he was Captain Brown, and actually outranking the C.O., but it was not proper to call him such on board, as there was only one Captain on a ship.
It was whispered in the mess that it was a shame that Brown didn't have his own ship, given that he was apparently the sole survivor of an infamous training class. Lavender had never heard anything about a submariner's career portion of her uncle's service.
"Stand by to begin underway replenishment," the announcement came over the boat's intercom. "Miss Brown, report to the bridge. Miss Brown, report to the bridge."
Lavender put aside the book she'd been reading, noting the page number. It would not do to bend the corner of Seaman Smythe's copy of The Hunt for Red October. She swiftly made her way to the bridge. On arrival, she stopped just inside the Bridge. "Miss Brown reporting as ordered, sir!"
"Chief Petty Officer Martin, escort Captain Brown and Miss Brown to the top," the lieutenant in command said. "I believe that they have a meeting there."
Lavender followed the CPO and her uncle, to emerge on the top of the submarine, the slightly salty smell of the Med filling her nose once again. There was not a single spire of land within view, the only ship in view was stern on to the Oracle, and Lavender could only read the number "A110."
Her attention was directed however to a rather unexpected presence on top of the Oracle. It looked like someone had dropped a cube on to the deck, and its four sides were open, revealing a woman who looked a bit like Professor McGonagall sitting at what appeared to be a oak desk. There were two chairs in front of the desk.
"Double oh eight, Miss Brown, have a seat," the woman said, in a voice that Lavender could swear was exactly like McGonagall's.
Lavender took the right seat. Not for the first time she cursed where the seams were on the uniform, and her lack of underwear.
"I have more details on your mission," the woman said. "But first, we need to give you a code name, Miss Brown. You will pardon my whimsy, and jab at my aunt, but from this point on, you are Agent Nine and Three Quarters. You may call me M."
"Yes, ma'am," Lavender replied.
"Your mission is to confirm that the shade of the Dark Lord, often called You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, has resided in the Albanian park known as Llogora. The Oracle will be transporting you to the coast of Albania, where you will disembark to the coastal village of Dhermi, by the same method as your arrival. The Oracle shall wait off the coast for your return.
"Transportation has been arranged for you in the village. You will then scout out the park, looking for the magical residue of his possessions. It is believed that your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor may not be the first person that he possessed. Should you find the actual shade, you shall alert the Service as soon as practical. It is important that all contacts with the residue be plotted and logged. A diary shall be provided for this purpose by Q.
"Double Oh Eight, are you familiar with the Himariote dialect?"
There was barely a pause between M and Lavender's uncle, "A medieval Greek dialect, with some borrowed words from Tosk Albanian, I believe. Since we're landing in Dhermi, I believe that means I need to use the soft 's' instead of the progressively harder sounds in Palasa and Himare."
"Correct. How is your Greek, Nine and Three Quarters?"
"Passable," Lavender replied. "I have to use it to talk to my Great Aunt Anastasia."
"Aunt Anastasia taught me," Uncle Charlie said. "I'll run her through a refresher."
"Very good," M replied. "I shall expect you for debriefing in three weeks. Q should meet up with the Oracle next week. Don't screw this up, Charlie Brown."
"Where is Lucy anyway?"
"I believe my administrative assistant is getting your niece a change of underwear ... several changes."
It was traditional as part of the engagement rituals of Parvati's family for the women of the groom's family to visit the bride at her parent's home. The girl who Parviz had chosen didn't have a family, or at least not a family in England.
Her name was Kaamilee, and Parvati thought she was unbelievably beautiful. Parvati certainly couldn't stack herself up against her brother's intended. She'd known that from the moment the door to the rented rooms had been opened by the five foot eight inch tall slender woman. Her dark hair cascaded like flowing pitch, so dark that it seemed to absorb every light. Her face seemed to glow with happiness, and her deep brown eyes to twinkle with hidden mischief.
Kaamilee wore a light blue and pink sari, of plain cotton, not especially rich, and certainly not matching the quality of the gold and blue silk of Parvati's mother, or the pink and orange that Parvati and her twin had chosen. That didn't matter, though. Kaamilee could have worn sack cloth, and she would have still outshone everyone.
Kaamilee's sixteenth birthday was actually the next day, which is why the female half of the Patil household had chosen the day to make the visit. Parviz had plans for her birthday, that were apparently not to be spoiled.
So, Parvati brought up the tail end of the procession into the small one bedroom apartment that Parviz had paid for his intended to live in until their marriage. It wasn't that big. Parviz didn't exactly have a lot of money, having just spent a year in service of Magical India. Parvati was glad she was born in Britain. So it was a single main room which included a very small kitchenette.
It had apparently come fully furnished, if quite shabbily. The sofa that Parvati sat on with her sister as she watched her mother present gifts to Kaamilee didn't have any holes in it yet, but it was just a matter of time.
After presenting the last gift, a rattle that had been presented to her before her marriage, a symbol of hopes for future children, Parvati's mum sat between her and her twin. "Now, I want the real story of how you met my son," Parvati's mum said. "I really don't believe that you were just paired with him for a dance at your all girls school. It certainly doesn't explain why I found the Kirti Chakra when I was laundering his uniform. He just told me that he got you because of it, and that's all. I don't they think give out young ladies as part of the stipend for it."
"Well ... I'm kind of still trying to get the full story, but he is right that he was paired with me for a dance, and that's how he met me," Kaamilee said from her seat in a worn Windsor chair. "I went to Himapata Jadugarani ki Akadami, or Academy of the Snow Sorceress, an all-girls magical school established under the British Rule in Saharanpur. Just to the north of the grounds is a Indian Magical Army fort, known as Fort Mountbatten, which protects India from the chaos of Kashmir, which no magical government has controlled successfully since Ranjit Jit Singh was expelled in 1816.
"It is not uncommon for the release of various magical creatures, or even an insane wizard to attack out of Kashmir. Many times they have come down towards Himpapata jadugarani, and we are grateful for the protection of the fort, so it is tradition for a spring dance with the young soldiers of the fort. Every girl in her fifth year or higher is put in the pot to be drawn as their escorts, unless we have a prior commitment. I, as daughter of the Headmaster, had none, and I got to dance with Parviz."
Padma interrupted, "Is our brother a good dancer?" It was an interruption that Parvati would have elbowed her sister for, if her mother hadn't been between them.
"Oh, the best," Kaamilee replied. "I could have danced with him all night, if he'd let me. Unfortunately, it seems that there was yet another Kashmir dark wizard out there, and he'd decided that the dance was a good time for him to start his attack on India. He started by releasing magical creatures on the school.
"There were a trio of manticores that hit the dance, first. They came right through the windows of the Great Hall. They weren't the only ones that hit the school, but they were the first. They took out the Headmaster first."
Parvati could already tell this wasn't a tale that her future sister-in-law found easy to tell, but she'd started it, and hadn't pushed off the question like Parviz had. The fact that the first victim was her father had to hurt. Parvati had never lost a member of her family that she was close to, and she was sure that she couldn't really understand how that felt, but she could see the effect on Kaamilee.
"The Headmaster tried to fight them off. He couldn't. Their poisoned tipped tail got him on the left shoulder, but he tried to fight on. I couldn't move. I just stood there as my father fought and died.
"Parviz didn't just stand there. He pushed me back into an alcove, and let loose a barrage of spells. He protected me, a girl he hadn't known until that night. He called out to his fellow soldiers, trying to bring order to the chaos. I saw my transfiguration professor, the head girl, and my best friend all fall to the manticores. Parviz somehow managed to protect me.
"From that alcove, he launched an attack, using of all things a spell that he said he learnt since he was a good Appleby fan. I heard it was supposed to launch a trio of arrows, but from Parviz it launched arrows so big that they were more like spears. He took out the first manticore anyone had in India in over a century.
"Seeing him take out the manticore let me recover my wits. I drew my own wand, and over his shoulder, I tried the same spell, a spell I'd never done before. It failed.
"In the middle of the fight, maintaining multiple spells and firing back, he corrected my pronunciation, and suggested I try something different, more suited for my wand."
Kaamilee looked down at her wand. "It's Japanese maple and dragon heart string. He told me to go with my strengths. So I did. I cast an entrails expelling curse, right at the next manticore. I did as he said, putting the most I could into the spell. It worked. The manticore turned inside out ... and exploded.
"I had put everything in it, and I slid down to the floor, exhausted. Parviz wasn't exhausted though. Parviz had studied the arts of war at the fort. He'd apparently lasted thirty minutes against a dueling champion named Flitwick during his seventh year. I tried to not hinder him, but I'm sure I did, as he erupted like lightning, not letting a single spell past or creature behind him.
"I'm not sure how long it took, but by midnight, the attack was over. The school was practically destroyed, not just by the manticores, but by other creatures and wizards. It won't open again for at least a couple years. Not a single staff member survived. The entire first year was killed. Only a dozen girls survived the dance.
"When Parviz reached down and pulled me in to his arms after the all clear was sounded, I was so happy to have survived. I kissed him and — I may have went a bit too far. I wouldn't let him leave me. Then when I found out that I was an orphan, he took charge. He did everything he could to help me. When my uncle suggested that I should be sent to a harem, he wouldn't let him. He actually punched my uncle, apologized, and proposed.
"The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to England."