A carriage sits in the middle of a field near to the red flag that Matthew first saw. A large cage was being loaded in the back containing the Hidebehind. A smaller bird cage containing the small colony of Glumbumble could be seen also being loaded.
“Thanks for the tainted honey, that'll come in handy.” Matthew says, looking at a clear glass container holding what looks like a light purple honey. “Oh, before I was attacked I wanted to surprise you and see where you wanted to go to dinner.”
Ada quickly goes to Matthew and grabs his arm. “Well, my parents are cooking tonight so if you want we can grab a bite there.”
“By parents you mean your mom? You know I hate your dad's cooking.”
Ada giggles softly and kisses Matthew's cheek. “Yes I'm talking about my mom's cooking or I wouldn't have even brought it up.”
They both disapparate and appear in front of a large, but quaint house. Ada walks in with Matthew in tow when Ada comes to an abrupt stop. In one of the guest seats is a man she has never seen before. Before Ada can draw her wand, Matthew speaks up. “Joe, it's good to see you.” He then looks at Ada with a slightly puzzled look. “I didn't know your family was acquainted with any of the Aurors.”
“I'm not, not sure about my family though.” She says, everyone now looking their way.
An older gentleman with short gray hair stands up and gestures for them to come sit down. “Why don't ya come in and sit. Your mother didn't spend all day cooking this food for nothin'.”
Both Ada and Matthew come into the house, shutting the door behind them. The table in the dining room sat seven people around it with two empty chairs near Joe. On one side sat four boys packed in, obviously not how they usually sat. On the other was Joe sitting by himself. one end of the table had two chairs and the other end was pushed against a wall. Only one of the two chairs were in use by Jackson, the father. As Matthew sits down next to Joe, he happily looks at him and asks, “So how do you like the new wand?”
Joe pulls it out and shows it off. “It's beautifully crafted with an exceptional balance. It also has a Runespoor core, which if I'm correct you got from your lovely girlfriend here.”
“Don't go making that boy's ego about those damn wands any bigger than it already is. He's heard all those praises 6 times over from this family alone.” An older woman's voice comes from the kitchen as they sit there. At that same moment the last dish is brought out by a beautiful older lady. Her hair was still black with just a few streaks of gray in them.
Well Mrs. Durham, sometimes a compliment needs to go back to the chef in order for them to continue doing what they love.” Joe nods his head towards Matthew and puts his new wand away. “Speaking of, this food smells fantastic. Are you sure it's alright for me to stay for dinner? I was only stopping by to ask Ada some quick questions.”
“Definitely hun. No need to rush.” Rose says putting the food on the table. “You can ask the questions here if it isn't a private matter with the Aurors.”
Joe shakes his head and smiles towards Ada. “I just wanted to talk about where you procured the Runespoor core for my wand at. It is not a very common core.”
Ada was sitting beside Matthew and gleefully sat facing Joe to talk about her craft. “We caught that specimen in Ghana. Usually they stay in Burkina Faso, but a baby escaped and traveled all the way down.” Matthew smirked at his girlfriend's giddy nature when she talked like this. “The mother decided to ignore all sensibilities and go after the baby and caused a huge breach in the Statute. We decided it would be easier to capture the young and then deal with the mother.”
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Joe takes this moment to ask a question. “Wait, don't Runespoors not take care of their young? Why was she so attached?'
“We don't know. Something was off about this one. She kept a close eye on her clutch and then acted like an actual parent, taking care of the young hatchlings. It was very odd behavior. What's even more odd is that she still had all three heads, which all helped in doing all the tasks.”
Ada sighed, but then looked at Joe as the rest of the family, Matthew included, were eating. “We got your core after hitting it with a simple Stupefy spell. Even though we hit only one head, all three looked dazed. Then the two heads attacked the third immediately. I was able to take the fangs from the beast and sold one, before giving the other to Matt.” She bumped Matthew's shoulder as he took a bite of the beef stew that he loved.
“Speaking of Matthew, I went to talk to some of my buddies at the local Aurors office and showed them the wand. They were impressed and said since it was me suggesting it, then they'll take a look at the budget and possibly buy a test batch.” Joe says after finishing the small portion on his plate.
Matthew stops eating and looks over at Joe. Everyone else also looked slightly shocked. The first to speak was Ada's dad Jackson. “I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but Matthew is like a son to me and I don't want to see him hurt. How did you manage that? We have a great standing with the local office and they've turned us down every time.”
Joe has his usual smile plastered across his face. “I pulled a few favors that were owed to me. Simple as that.” The four boys shrug and go back to eating, but Jackson kept his eye on Joe. Joe notices this and starts eating and chatting again, pretending he doesn't notice the tension now in the air.
After dinner Joe looks towards Mr. and Mrs. Durham. “The meal was extremely delicious, but unfortunately I'm going to have to head home. I work early tomorrow and I'm already off schedule as it is.”
Mrs. Durham nods and looks around. “Well, everyone say bye. Don't be rude.” She then looks to her right directly at her husband.
Mr. Durham smiled and looked over at Joe. “Thanks for coming on over, it was fun getting to chat with an Auror again, it's been quite a while.” After that the four older boys also say goodbye, before picking up all of the empty dishes and taking them to the kitchen.
Matthew stands up. “I'll show you out.” As Joe stands up he can see Ada waving at him with her mouth full, still eating a very packed plate. Joe laughs and waves back before following Matthew out. As they stood next to each other it became obvious how much their heights differ. Matthew stood at a whopping six foot 10 inches, while Joe stood at five foot nine inches.
“They said that they'll be there sometime during this coming weekend, so make sure you're actually there for their visit.” Joe says walking a few feet from the doorway.
“Don't worry, other than today I'm usually always in my shop working. I will say thank you though..... and sorry. Pops got kind of defensive back there and I forgot to say it then.” Matthew stays at the door as they talk to each other.
Joe smiles warmly. “The fact that you call him 'Pops' tells me everything. You also don't have to thank me. You gave me a free wand that would've otherwise cost hundreds of Dragots. From this point forward it's up to you to convince them of your quality and character.” Joe takes another step he says, “First time I've used my family name to get something from my job, so make it count.”
Before Matthew could ask any questions, Joe disapparates from the spot. When he apparates in front of the Auror office Joe is surprised to see a figure leaning against the building smoking a no-maj cigarette. “Did you get his schooling information?” Joe asks as he walks over to the figure.
“Of course I did, it wasn't hard at all.” A gruff man in his late forties says after blowing out a current of smoke. He reaches into his trench coat and pulls out an envelope, handing it to Joe. “Big surprises are to come when you open that up. I have to go, new cases every moment, but let me know if you need more.” The man walks away and goes off into the darkness.