The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
It was a chilly spring morning when the Slaters came to visit, with a persistent drizzle that plastered Jo's hair to her forehead as her mother marched her back indoors. Jo fought the urge to roll her eyes while her mum kept going on and on about how disappointed she was, and how her hair and dress were a mess, and how they'd need to hurry if she was going to look presentable before the Slaters arrived. It was so really quite unfair. When her mum had told her the previous night that she wanted her around when the Slaters arrived so she could keep their son company, she'd hardly specified that she was expected to give her entire morning over to waiting around. And she didn't think even Jeremy would care what she looked like either (her mum's rejoinder when she verbalised that particular complaint: 'but I care, and you should too!').
She'd met Jeremy a few times before. The Slaters were long-time clients of her parents (of the boring kind, as far as Jo knew--just basic home security), and they seemed to move in overlapping social circles, for she'd seen him here and there when her parents took her to some of the soirées (Jo had recently seen this word in a book and had adopted it--it sounded sophisticated) they brought Jo along to. He seemed alright, if a little quiet. That didn't mean Jo wanted to be stuck baby-sitting him the entire morning.
Unfortunately for Jo's mother, they'd barely gotten through the dress change when her dad's voice came from the foyer. "Caroline, dear, come back down. They are here." And thus, Jo's mum had no choice but to grit her teeth and march Jo back down with wet, unruly hair. Jo did attempt, for her mum's sake, to comb it a bit with her fingers, but she didn't think she'd made much headway. She was very impressed by the way her mum had schooled her features to conceal her absolute exasperation into a pleasant, neutral expression by the time they’d reached the bottom of the stairs. That was a skill she'd very much like to learn.
The next few minutes passed in a flurry of greetings. Coats were taken, pleasantries were exchanged, until, eventually, the grown-ups retreated to her dad's study and her and Jeremy were left alone. Jo stood in silence for a few seconds, studying him.
"Slater," she finally said, by way of greeting. "So what do you wanna do?"
She'd met Jeremy a few times before. The Slaters were long-time clients of her parents (of the boring kind, as far as Jo knew--just basic home security), and they seemed to move in overlapping social circles, for she'd seen him here and there when her parents took her to some of the soirées (Jo had recently seen this word in a book and had adopted it--it sounded sophisticated) they brought Jo along to. He seemed alright, if a little quiet. That didn't mean Jo wanted to be stuck baby-sitting him the entire morning.
Unfortunately for Jo's mother, they'd barely gotten through the dress change when her dad's voice came from the foyer. "Caroline, dear, come back down. They are here." And thus, Jo's mum had no choice but to grit her teeth and march Jo back down with wet, unruly hair. Jo did attempt, for her mum's sake, to comb it a bit with her fingers, but she didn't think she'd made much headway. She was very impressed by the way her mum had schooled her features to conceal her absolute exasperation into a pleasant, neutral expression by the time they’d reached the bottom of the stairs. That was a skill she'd very much like to learn.
The next few minutes passed in a flurry of greetings. Coats were taken, pleasantries were exchanged, until, eventually, the grown-ups retreated to her dad's study and her and Jeremy were left alone. Jo stood in silence for a few seconds, studying him.
"Slater," she finally said, by way of greeting. "So what do you wanna do?"
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jeremy didn’t really like coming on business trips.
Business trips were for adults - not for kids. Business trips were for grown-ups to schmooze and mingle and all of those other words that only adults used for talking to other adults about something that was boring.
And yeah, this wasn’t exactly a BUSINESS trip - this was more of a social thing. But it was for somebody that his parents did business with, wasn’t it? So, a business trip it was.
Jeremy loved his father, which was why he didn’t want to go - he was a lot easier to love when he wasn’t dragging him over to other people’s houses in the middle of nowhere on a perfectly fine Saturday morning. He was SURE his mum would have let him stay home, if it hadn’t been so important to his father that he be there too, which he didn’t really understand cause it wasn’t like he added anything to the proceedings.
But Jeremy said his pleasantries and was the polite child that his mother had absolutely insisted he be, as everybody said hello, took coats, and then went off to do whatever it was that they were going to do. That was about all he could do, before the grown-ups left, leaving him with the girl, Josephine.
Jo was ok, Jeremy supposed. He hadn’t really paid her much attention, mostly because the times he saw her was mostly places he didn’t want to be. And when there, he was mostly reading because he hadn’t really wanted to go in the first place, and his father had said he could bring a book to quiet him. Today he hadn’t been allowed a book. He’d been choosing which one he wanted to bring, he’d been told they ABSOLUTELY had to leave now (so they could be fashionably early, he supposed) and despite whining that it really wasn’t fair, off they’d gone, leaving Jeremy empty-handed, and now, empty-minded which was even worse.
He looked down at the ground, mourning his misfortune, when she said his name - and that was it. Not really his name, his last name. ‘Slater’s my father’s name, call me Thomas’ is what his father might say, affably. He couldn’t say that exactly: Slater was indeed Jer’s father’s name, but if Jer’s father was Thomas, he supposed that Slater would have to be his grandfather’s name. Either way it was kind of a stupid thing to say, and he supposed that Slater was all of their name, so he might as well just be fine with it.
He gave the girl an uncertain look as if maybe she had forgotten their unspoken rule of just enjoying each other’s company, and just barely acknowledging each other’s existence. They definitely didn’t talk very often. He hadn’t really tried, she really hadn’t tried. It was a whole thing. He’d thought they’d had an understanding, but that had been apparently broken today. “What do I wanna do?” Jeremy asked, wondering if it was a trick question. He had a feeling if mum would glare daggers at him if he answered the truth, which was ‘go home’. “Well… I wanted to read, but I had to leave before I could get a book. Say, you don’t have any here I could borrow, do you?” he asked hopefully.
His mother would probably have said that was rude to a…well… He wasn’t sure really WHAT they were. Friends, maybe, if you could call the girl that he said ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to occasionally a friend. But Mum wasn’t here right now. He looked up again at the girl, taking her in as if for the first time.
“Nice hair,” he said, nodding in approval at the wild sight. “My mum would hate it if I came like that.”
Business trips were for adults - not for kids. Business trips were for grown-ups to schmooze and mingle and all of those other words that only adults used for talking to other adults about something that was boring.
And yeah, this wasn’t exactly a BUSINESS trip - this was more of a social thing. But it was for somebody that his parents did business with, wasn’t it? So, a business trip it was.
Jeremy loved his father, which was why he didn’t want to go - he was a lot easier to love when he wasn’t dragging him over to other people’s houses in the middle of nowhere on a perfectly fine Saturday morning. He was SURE his mum would have let him stay home, if it hadn’t been so important to his father that he be there too, which he didn’t really understand cause it wasn’t like he added anything to the proceedings.
But Jeremy said his pleasantries and was the polite child that his mother had absolutely insisted he be, as everybody said hello, took coats, and then went off to do whatever it was that they were going to do. That was about all he could do, before the grown-ups left, leaving him with the girl, Josephine.
Jo was ok, Jeremy supposed. He hadn’t really paid her much attention, mostly because the times he saw her was mostly places he didn’t want to be. And when there, he was mostly reading because he hadn’t really wanted to go in the first place, and his father had said he could bring a book to quiet him. Today he hadn’t been allowed a book. He’d been choosing which one he wanted to bring, he’d been told they ABSOLUTELY had to leave now (so they could be fashionably early, he supposed) and despite whining that it really wasn’t fair, off they’d gone, leaving Jeremy empty-handed, and now, empty-minded which was even worse.
He looked down at the ground, mourning his misfortune, when she said his name - and that was it. Not really his name, his last name. ‘Slater’s my father’s name, call me Thomas’ is what his father might say, affably. He couldn’t say that exactly: Slater was indeed Jer’s father’s name, but if Jer’s father was Thomas, he supposed that Slater would have to be his grandfather’s name. Either way it was kind of a stupid thing to say, and he supposed that Slater was all of their name, so he might as well just be fine with it.
He gave the girl an uncertain look as if maybe she had forgotten their unspoken rule of just enjoying each other’s company, and just barely acknowledging each other’s existence. They definitely didn’t talk very often. He hadn’t really tried, she really hadn’t tried. It was a whole thing. He’d thought they’d had an understanding, but that had been apparently broken today. “What do I wanna do?” Jeremy asked, wondering if it was a trick question. He had a feeling if mum would glare daggers at him if he answered the truth, which was ‘go home’. “Well… I wanted to read, but I had to leave before I could get a book. Say, you don’t have any here I could borrow, do you?” he asked hopefully.
His mother would probably have said that was rude to a…well… He wasn’t sure really WHAT they were. Friends, maybe, if you could call the girl that he said ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to occasionally a friend. But Mum wasn’t here right now. He looked up again at the girl, taking her in as if for the first time.
“Nice hair,” he said, nodding in approval at the wild sight. “My mum would hate it if I came like that.”
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jo raised an eyebrow at Jeremy’s answer. She should’ve expected it, really. She was fairly sure the boy was carrying a book with him whenever she saw him. And it wasn’t even an affectation, she had seen him read while the adults around them went about with their conversation. It was part of the reason Jo had never really tried talking to him. That, and she wanted to make sure she caught every word of the chatter going around them. She especially loved it when her parents launched into stories of their work back when they worked at Gringotts.
Well, going to find books suited her just fine. It essentially meant she could ditch him with his blessing. Her mother wouldn’t like it, of course, but this was an alibi she wouldn’t be able to poke any holes into. She would just be doing what Jeremy wanted, and what was more hospitable than that?
Admittedly, Jeremy’s comment about her hair did not exactly put her in a hospitable mood, and she considered telling him there were no books to be found in their house. Instead, she simply rolled her eyes again.
“Mum isn’t exactly thrilled,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure murder is frowned upon when you have visitors over. She might still kill me once you leave.”
She grinned and cocked her head to their left, in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on. We have plenty of books.”
She led him through the kitchen and out through the back door, into the grounds. The large, grassy area behind the main house was sloped irregularly and dotted with trees and bushes. A granite path led from the door to a small, squat building only a few yards away. The entire front of the building was taken up by two large windows, through which one could just see the cramped bookshelves that occupied the rest of the wall space, and the cushy chairs, dark wooden tables, and tall lamps that transformed the space into a cozy one for reading and work.
“The library,” she said. “It’s mostly books about magical theory and whatnot. But there are some old novels. It’s where my dad keeps his dad’s old books, too. He was a muggle. I bet you’ve never read muggle spy novels. He has a whole collection.” She could’ve, of course, taken him to her room, with its own bookshelf. But that bookshelf was mostly full of kids' books, and she thought this would be more impressive. Muggle books seemed a whole lot more exotic than old magical fairytales.
Well, going to find books suited her just fine. It essentially meant she could ditch him with his blessing. Her mother wouldn’t like it, of course, but this was an alibi she wouldn’t be able to poke any holes into. She would just be doing what Jeremy wanted, and what was more hospitable than that?
Admittedly, Jeremy’s comment about her hair did not exactly put her in a hospitable mood, and she considered telling him there were no books to be found in their house. Instead, she simply rolled her eyes again.
“Mum isn’t exactly thrilled,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure murder is frowned upon when you have visitors over. She might still kill me once you leave.”
She grinned and cocked her head to their left, in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on. We have plenty of books.”
She led him through the kitchen and out through the back door, into the grounds. The large, grassy area behind the main house was sloped irregularly and dotted with trees and bushes. A granite path led from the door to a small, squat building only a few yards away. The entire front of the building was taken up by two large windows, through which one could just see the cramped bookshelves that occupied the rest of the wall space, and the cushy chairs, dark wooden tables, and tall lamps that transformed the space into a cozy one for reading and work.
“The library,” she said. “It’s mostly books about magical theory and whatnot. But there are some old novels. It’s where my dad keeps his dad’s old books, too. He was a muggle. I bet you’ve never read muggle spy novels. He has a whole collection.” She could’ve, of course, taken him to her room, with its own bookshelf. But that bookshelf was mostly full of kids' books, and she thought this would be more impressive. Muggle books seemed a whole lot more exotic than old magical fairytales.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jeremy had to crack a smile when Jo said her mum might still kill her when he’d left. Jeramie’s mum of course would never ACTUALLY kill him, but she’d sure sound like she wanted to if he was talking to guests at his house or hosts at their house with his hair as crazy as Jo’s was. His mum was always chasing him with a comb to try to fix his hair which never seemed to want to behave in the morning. She made sure that by the time they got to places like this one, Jeremy’s hair was as well behaved as Jeremy was. Which was, well, PRETTY well behaved, all things considered.
Luckily, Jo had books, so this day wasn’t going to go completely to waste. Confusingly, Jo took him outside. Did she bury her books in the backyard or something? Jeremy had to wonder if he was being tricked or something, or if Jo had already forgotten where she said she was going to take him, or, worse, she thought a ‘book’ was a type of tree. But, to Jeremy’s surprise, Jo wasn’t confused at all.
“Your library’s outside,” Jeremy said, eyebrows raising. He had never heard of anything like that. How rich WAS Jo’s family? You HAD to be rich if even your library has its own house.
By the time they actually went into the library, Jeremy thought he was in heaven. His own room had a collection of books, and his family had a small library in the study, but even though his mum and dad tried, that room didn’t feel nearly as warm and inviting as this one did. Maybe just being in its own building made it that much cozier, and that much cooler. Jeremy thought he could lose himself in here, just sitting around and reading for hours, and probably forgetting to ever come out. Why didn’t she or her family lead with this one? (‘Hi welcome to our house, let me take your coat, would you like to see our library? It’s amazing’)
Jeramie’s eyes scanned the many book spines, taking it all in. The library seemed organized by section, and he had to admit that he DID want to see the muggle section. “My grandad was a muggle. He died a long time ago though…And I don’t think he read a lot, cause he didn’t give his books to me,” Jeremy was a bit disappointed to find out that Jo’s grandad seemed much cooler than his grandad.
“A muggle spy novel? So they have spies too?” Jeremy asked. He knew there were wizard spies, and he’d read books about them, he just didn’t know muggles had them. “Being a muggle spy must be a lot harder, since you can’t use magic or polyjuice potions or anything…or…well I guess that might make it easier too, since they can’t use magic to catch you.” Jeremy liked reading all kinds of books, fiction or nonfiction, but the idea to read things he’d never read before was especially enticing. “...What other types of books are in here?” he asked, unable to help but admit that Jo had his interest now.
Luckily, Jo had books, so this day wasn’t going to go completely to waste. Confusingly, Jo took him outside. Did she bury her books in the backyard or something? Jeremy had to wonder if he was being tricked or something, or if Jo had already forgotten where she said she was going to take him, or, worse, she thought a ‘book’ was a type of tree. But, to Jeremy’s surprise, Jo wasn’t confused at all.
“Your library’s outside,” Jeremy said, eyebrows raising. He had never heard of anything like that. How rich WAS Jo’s family? You HAD to be rich if even your library has its own house.
By the time they actually went into the library, Jeremy thought he was in heaven. His own room had a collection of books, and his family had a small library in the study, but even though his mum and dad tried, that room didn’t feel nearly as warm and inviting as this one did. Maybe just being in its own building made it that much cozier, and that much cooler. Jeremy thought he could lose himself in here, just sitting around and reading for hours, and probably forgetting to ever come out. Why didn’t she or her family lead with this one? (‘Hi welcome to our house, let me take your coat, would you like to see our library? It’s amazing’)
Jeramie’s eyes scanned the many book spines, taking it all in. The library seemed organized by section, and he had to admit that he DID want to see the muggle section. “My grandad was a muggle. He died a long time ago though…And I don’t think he read a lot, cause he didn’t give his books to me,” Jeremy was a bit disappointed to find out that Jo’s grandad seemed much cooler than his grandad.
“A muggle spy novel? So they have spies too?” Jeremy asked. He knew there were wizard spies, and he’d read books about them, he just didn’t know muggles had them. “Being a muggle spy must be a lot harder, since you can’t use magic or polyjuice potions or anything…or…well I guess that might make it easier too, since they can’t use magic to catch you.” Jeremy liked reading all kinds of books, fiction or nonfiction, but the idea to read things he’d never read before was especially enticing. “...What other types of books are in here?” he asked, unable to help but admit that Jo had his interest now.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jo couldn’t help herself. A large grin broke out on her face at Jeremy’s astonished reaction. She was glad she hadn’t taken him upstairs. As she let him in, she leaned against the door and watched as he took the whole collection in. She didn’t know if she’d ever met someone who liked books so much, except maybe her dad. She liked books well enough, but not enough that it’d be the first thing she’d ask for when visiting someone else’s house. She was still quite familiar with the contents of the family library.
In fact, having skimmed the entire collection of spy novels her dad had inherited from her grandfather, and even read a couple cover to cover (some of which she was, under no circumstances, supposed to read), Jo felt like she was extremely qualified to weigh in on the question of whether muggle spycraft was harder than wizarding spycraft.
“I think it has to be harder as a wizard. You have to be prepared for a lot more. Though I suppose if a muggle spy went up against a wizard spy, that would be the hardest, because they wouldn’t even know what they were dealing with. Although I guess the wizard would have to understand muggle gadgets, and my dad says lots of wizards don’t bother. That they underestimate muggles. So maybe the muggle would have a chance. Someone should write a book about that. It would make a good story.” She pointedly did not address what Jeremy had said about his grandfather. Largely because she wasn’t entirely sure what to say. She remembered when her own grandfather had died, how people at the funeral had tried to hug her and tell her they were sorry, and stuff like that. It had felt the opposite of helpful, especially since most of them were near strangers. Which was exactly what she was to Jeremy.
She was a little relieved when Jeremy moved on to ask about the books. “Well, like I said. Most of it is magical theory and spellbooks.” She gestured to the bookshelves on the left. “Those are the largest two sections and they’re mostly books about runes and arithmancy. My parents use them all the time, for work.” Jo had attempted to read a number of volumes in that section, trying to understand the details of the magic her parents used, but a lot of it was way over her head. “Then there’s charms, defensive magic. The small bookcase there has books on potions and I think household charms.” She scrunched up her face. She didn’t think her parents ever touched any of the books in that section. “The one next to it is mostly alchemical theory. I think those are my granda’s–the other one. He lives with us. He was an unspeakable, so I’m not sure why he has them because he can’t tell me about his work. Then the ones on the right are fiction, and history. Both have some muggle books from my dad’s dad’s collection. There’s also some journals and autobiographies from famous wizards.”
She walked up to the leftmost bookshelf and plucked out a battered copy of Spellman’s Syllabary. “I think you could probably learn everything you’d need to become a magical spy if you read all these.” And one day, she would.
In fact, having skimmed the entire collection of spy novels her dad had inherited from her grandfather, and even read a couple cover to cover (some of which she was, under no circumstances, supposed to read), Jo felt like she was extremely qualified to weigh in on the question of whether muggle spycraft was harder than wizarding spycraft.
“I think it has to be harder as a wizard. You have to be prepared for a lot more. Though I suppose if a muggle spy went up against a wizard spy, that would be the hardest, because they wouldn’t even know what they were dealing with. Although I guess the wizard would have to understand muggle gadgets, and my dad says lots of wizards don’t bother. That they underestimate muggles. So maybe the muggle would have a chance. Someone should write a book about that. It would make a good story.” She pointedly did not address what Jeremy had said about his grandfather. Largely because she wasn’t entirely sure what to say. She remembered when her own grandfather had died, how people at the funeral had tried to hug her and tell her they were sorry, and stuff like that. It had felt the opposite of helpful, especially since most of them were near strangers. Which was exactly what she was to Jeremy.
She was a little relieved when Jeremy moved on to ask about the books. “Well, like I said. Most of it is magical theory and spellbooks.” She gestured to the bookshelves on the left. “Those are the largest two sections and they’re mostly books about runes and arithmancy. My parents use them all the time, for work.” Jo had attempted to read a number of volumes in that section, trying to understand the details of the magic her parents used, but a lot of it was way over her head. “Then there’s charms, defensive magic. The small bookcase there has books on potions and I think household charms.” She scrunched up her face. She didn’t think her parents ever touched any of the books in that section. “The one next to it is mostly alchemical theory. I think those are my granda’s–the other one. He lives with us. He was an unspeakable, so I’m not sure why he has them because he can’t tell me about his work. Then the ones on the right are fiction, and history. Both have some muggle books from my dad’s dad’s collection. There’s also some journals and autobiographies from famous wizards.”
She walked up to the leftmost bookshelf and plucked out a battered copy of Spellman’s Syllabary. “I think you could probably learn everything you’d need to become a magical spy if you read all these.” And one day, she would.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jeramie considered what Jo said about muggle spies and wizard spies. She had a point about wizard spies having to deal with a lot more. Sure they had a lot of tricks at their disposal too that a muggle could never, but it didn’t mean a whole lot if you got caught. Not getting caught seemed to be Spy Goal #1, and the other goals were so far down if you fail at the first one that they probably weren’t even worth listing. "Well, I GUESS that’s true. Muggles have it easy. Hard to be a regular spy, when there’s legilimens and stuff to worry about. I sometimes think my mum is one of those. She always knows when somebody’s up to something” Jeremy’s mother of course insisted that she was not a legilimens. She had pointed out that those instincts came from raising his older sister, which felt IMMENSELY unfair to Jeremy.
Jeremy didn’t know if he’d ever like to WRITE books one day (books seemed a whole lot less fun when you couldn’t read them, and any book you were writing you’d already know by heart from the start, not to mention everything that was gonna happen) but if he did, he supposed a muggle spy vs a wizard spy would be an interesting story. He didn’t really know why the muggle and the wizard would both be spying on each other, or how they’d end up together if they did, since he didn’t think spies were usually spying on OTHER spies (weren’t the spies supposed to be in the ENEMY territory, so where would they find another spy?) but if you could sort that out it might get interesting. Muggles might like it too, if the muggle was going to win. Jeremy thought that you could probably make a killing writing magical stories for muggles, and pretending it was all made up. But Jeremy was shaken from his thoughts about spies vs spies when Jo mentioned some of the books in her library. There was a lot of information about the wonders the library held (and her granda being an Unspeakable? Jeremy was gonna HAVE to circle back to that one). But what caught his attention even more was…
“Ooh, books about runes?” Jeremy asked, perking up a bit. “I’d like to read about those. My mum and dad don’t really let me have those. They’re afraid that I’m gonna try to draw them and blow something up or something.” Which he absolutely WOULD have, of course, but still. To his delight, the book that she took from the shelf was just one of those. He recognized it right away from the cover - his sister had had it in her room back when she took Ancient Runes at Hogwarts. He’d never actually gotten to look inside. It seemed that Jo took from it something much different than he did however.
“Why would anyone WANT to be a spy?” Jeremy asked, wrinkling his nose. He knew there were good reasons of course, like for the good of the country and all that, but it really seemed an unfortunate fate. He came closer to try to get a glimpse at the weathered book she held.
Jeremy didn’t know if he’d ever like to WRITE books one day (books seemed a whole lot less fun when you couldn’t read them, and any book you were writing you’d already know by heart from the start, not to mention everything that was gonna happen) but if he did, he supposed a muggle spy vs a wizard spy would be an interesting story. He didn’t really know why the muggle and the wizard would both be spying on each other, or how they’d end up together if they did, since he didn’t think spies were usually spying on OTHER spies (weren’t the spies supposed to be in the ENEMY territory, so where would they find another spy?) but if you could sort that out it might get interesting. Muggles might like it too, if the muggle was going to win. Jeremy thought that you could probably make a killing writing magical stories for muggles, and pretending it was all made up. But Jeremy was shaken from his thoughts about spies vs spies when Jo mentioned some of the books in her library. There was a lot of information about the wonders the library held (and her granda being an Unspeakable? Jeremy was gonna HAVE to circle back to that one). But what caught his attention even more was…
“Ooh, books about runes?” Jeremy asked, perking up a bit. “I’d like to read about those. My mum and dad don’t really let me have those. They’re afraid that I’m gonna try to draw them and blow something up or something.” Which he absolutely WOULD have, of course, but still. To his delight, the book that she took from the shelf was just one of those. He recognized it right away from the cover - his sister had had it in her room back when she took Ancient Runes at Hogwarts. He’d never actually gotten to look inside. It seemed that Jo took from it something much different than he did however.
“Why would anyone WANT to be a spy?” Jeremy asked, wrinkling his nose. He knew there were good reasons of course, like for the good of the country and all that, but it really seemed an unfortunate fate. He came closer to try to get a glimpse at the weathered book she held.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jo’s eyes widened in alarm at the thought of Jeremy’s mum being a legilimens. The thought of parents who could perform legilimency on their children was truly terrifying. Thank Merlin that was a skill her mum had never tried to learn, because Jo had no doubts she would’ve eventually mastered it, no matter how hard, and then Jo’s life would’ve been thoroughly ruined. Not that she was against legilimency as a concept, but if anyone was going to go around poking into people’s minds, she’d much rather it be her doing the poking, thankyouverymuch.
As a matter of fact, she was quite in favour of poking around as a general rule, which was why, when Jeremy started complaining about how his parents hadn’t let him experiment with runes for fear that he’d blow something up, she handed him the syllabary and started scanning the shelf for any other tomes that looked interesting. Before she could settle on anything though, Jeremy decided to make himself look like an absolute plonker. She turned around to stare at him, scoffing her disbelief at Jeremy’s question
“Why wouldn’t anyone want to be a spy?” She scoffed her disbelief at Jeremy’s question. “You get to travel all over the world and learn secrets nobody else knows, and you need to be clever always so you’re not found out, and you get to use all sorts of interesting magic. I think it’d be wicked.” She stopped short of declaring her intention of growing up to become one. Not because she was embarrassed or worried about what Jeremy might think, but because the first rule of being a spy was you didn’t tell other people you were one. Instead, she glanced back to the bookshelf.
“We could try drawing some,” she said, as her gaze fell on a title that purported to let you use runes to control temperature, and she smiled. Maybe that would blow something up? Though perhaps she should not be aiming to do so. If they didn’t die, her mother would surely come and finish the job. Her dad might even get in on the murder for something like that. But surely there was something more basic they could try that wouldn’t blow anything up. “No one’s here to tell us no. And we’re smart, I bet we could figure something out that wouldn’t explode.” At least, she knew she was, and Jeremy loved books, so he probably was too.
As a matter of fact, she was quite in favour of poking around as a general rule, which was why, when Jeremy started complaining about how his parents hadn’t let him experiment with runes for fear that he’d blow something up, she handed him the syllabary and started scanning the shelf for any other tomes that looked interesting. Before she could settle on anything though, Jeremy decided to make himself look like an absolute plonker. She turned around to stare at him, scoffing her disbelief at Jeremy’s question
“Why wouldn’t anyone want to be a spy?” She scoffed her disbelief at Jeremy’s question. “You get to travel all over the world and learn secrets nobody else knows, and you need to be clever always so you’re not found out, and you get to use all sorts of interesting magic. I think it’d be wicked.” She stopped short of declaring her intention of growing up to become one. Not because she was embarrassed or worried about what Jeremy might think, but because the first rule of being a spy was you didn’t tell other people you were one. Instead, she glanced back to the bookshelf.
“We could try drawing some,” she said, as her gaze fell on a title that purported to let you use runes to control temperature, and she smiled. Maybe that would blow something up? Though perhaps she should not be aiming to do so. If they didn’t die, her mother would surely come and finish the job. Her dad might even get in on the murder for something like that. But surely there was something more basic they could try that wouldn’t blow anything up. “No one’s here to tell us no. And we’re smart, I bet we could figure something out that wouldn’t explode.” At least, she knew she was, and Jeremy loved books, so he probably was too.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
Jeremy had known Jo for all of thirty minutes (well, longer than that, if you counted all the standing around in the same room they had done) and it didn’t surprise him for one second that she loved the idea of learning people’s secrets. He didn’t understand what was so great about the rest of it though - having to be really clever to not get caught sounded like the opposite of fun to him. He raised his eyebrows at her, and considered telling her all of the reasons it was BAD to be a spy (most of them ended up with ‘and then somebody figures out who you are, and then you die’), but anyway all that wasn’t very important, because just then Jo made a suggestion that Jeremy wasn’t expecting, though perhaps he should have, because his own brain wanted to make the same suggestion but stopped just short of daring.
“We could try drawing some,”
As Jeremy looked down at the rune book, a million reasons hit the boy’s lips about why this was a bad idea. He knew very well why it was a bad idea, because before it had been HER idea, it had been HIS idea, and HIS mum had given him a million reasons about why it was a bad idea. You could blow yourself up, you could blow somebody else up, you could turn your head into a starfish (Okay, his mum hadn’t said that one, she was mostly focused on the blowing up bit, but Jeremy’s mind could supply lots of other possibilities, and lots of other body parts that could turn into starfishes for that matter).
‘You KNOW better,’ is what his Mum would say. And the truth was that Jeremy DID know better. But that had never stopped him wanting to try it. And he felt just a little bit nervous looking down, because even though he knew better, there was this pulling inside him, like a monster swirling around in his heart or his brain or SOMEWHERE that REALLY wanted him to do it anyway. That said he could handle it. That whispered about all the cool things they could try, just like he’d always wanted. That most importantly, said nobody would ever know. This must have been what ‘knowing better’ felt like.
This was dangerous.
But what, was he going to admit he was scared? To JO? Who judging by her thoughts on spies, wasn’t afraid of anything even though she really ought to be. And plus, this didn’t even count as SCARED. He wasn’t worried about blowing himself up, he was worried about getting in trouble, which was TOTALLY different.
But Jo was right. He WAS smart, and he was happy somebody noticed. He was good at following instructions. He had once followed a recipe book and made pancakes for his family with only a LITTLE supervision and he hadn’t burned them one little bit. Even his sister had said they were good, and she never lied to protect his feelings, even when he wanted her to.
Probably, it was that blasted library-house. It was like they were somewhere far away from the grown-ups - in a separate world, where there was nothing but books and two kids with big ideas and total freedom. If they were in the REGULAR house, he’d probably never have done it. Here, it felt like they could get away with anything, and like the world was theirs to grab.
“Sure, that’s a good idea,” he said stiffly.
It wasn’t.
“We could try drawing some,”
As Jeremy looked down at the rune book, a million reasons hit the boy’s lips about why this was a bad idea. He knew very well why it was a bad idea, because before it had been HER idea, it had been HIS idea, and HIS mum had given him a million reasons about why it was a bad idea. You could blow yourself up, you could blow somebody else up, you could turn your head into a starfish (Okay, his mum hadn’t said that one, she was mostly focused on the blowing up bit, but Jeremy’s mind could supply lots of other possibilities, and lots of other body parts that could turn into starfishes for that matter).
‘You KNOW better,’ is what his Mum would say. And the truth was that Jeremy DID know better. But that had never stopped him wanting to try it. And he felt just a little bit nervous looking down, because even though he knew better, there was this pulling inside him, like a monster swirling around in his heart or his brain or SOMEWHERE that REALLY wanted him to do it anyway. That said he could handle it. That whispered about all the cool things they could try, just like he’d always wanted. That most importantly, said nobody would ever know. This must have been what ‘knowing better’ felt like.
This was dangerous.
But what, was he going to admit he was scared? To JO? Who judging by her thoughts on spies, wasn’t afraid of anything even though she really ought to be. And plus, this didn’t even count as SCARED. He wasn’t worried about blowing himself up, he was worried about getting in trouble, which was TOTALLY different.
But Jo was right. He WAS smart, and he was happy somebody noticed. He was good at following instructions. He had once followed a recipe book and made pancakes for his family with only a LITTLE supervision and he hadn’t burned them one little bit. Even his sister had said they were good, and she never lied to protect his feelings, even when he wanted her to.
Probably, it was that blasted library-house. It was like they were somewhere far away from the grown-ups - in a separate world, where there was nothing but books and two kids with big ideas and total freedom. If they were in the REGULAR house, he’d probably never have done it. Here, it felt like they could get away with anything, and like the world was theirs to grab.
“Sure, that’s a good idea,” he said stiffly.
It wasn’t.
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
It was hard not to notice that Jeremy’s assent was less than enthusiastic. Sure, his words were, but not his tone. And that was all Jo needed to seize on it.
“You’re not scared, are you?” A half-smile played on her lips as she continued her investigation of the available rune volumes.
“What would you like to try? We have ‘Runes for Home Protection’, ‘Protecting Yourself With Runic Charms’... lots of warding and protection here.” She raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t exactly unexpected, given what her parents did for a living, but she’d been hoping for something more flashy and exciting. And she knew enough about security and magic to know that if a protection spell was flashy, it was generally in a ‘maim the person trying to get at you or your property’ kind of way, which would pose some problems for testing whether their runic magic was working. Not to mention, the chances of it going wrong… She was reckless, but she wasn’t stupid (reader, she was).
“We probably should find something simpler. There’s ‘Runes for Fun and Profit: Ensure Durable Enchantments With These Tips.’” Not something she would’ve imagined either of her parents ever reading, but more promising. She cracked the book open and flipped over to the index. “Hmm, I don’t know. These are for luck and money. I dunno if we would be able to tell if they worked. Plus, it seems like they want you to carve them.” She glanced back at Jeremy, wrinkling her nose in distaste. She didn’t know about him, but she’d much rather stick to drawing. Much easier to hide the evidence.
“Maybe we can just try a simple rune off the syllabary first. My granda says you can set something on fire with just one, though I’m not sure which one. But if you can set something on fire, then you can probably do more stuff with them.” Her hand hovered back over the Syllabary, eager to flip through it to see if it contained any practical explanations. “Can I?”
“You’re not scared, are you?” A half-smile played on her lips as she continued her investigation of the available rune volumes.
“What would you like to try? We have ‘Runes for Home Protection’, ‘Protecting Yourself With Runic Charms’... lots of warding and protection here.” She raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t exactly unexpected, given what her parents did for a living, but she’d been hoping for something more flashy and exciting. And she knew enough about security and magic to know that if a protection spell was flashy, it was generally in a ‘maim the person trying to get at you or your property’ kind of way, which would pose some problems for testing whether their runic magic was working. Not to mention, the chances of it going wrong… She was reckless, but she wasn’t stupid (reader, she was).
“We probably should find something simpler. There’s ‘Runes for Fun and Profit: Ensure Durable Enchantments With These Tips.’” Not something she would’ve imagined either of her parents ever reading, but more promising. She cracked the book open and flipped over to the index. “Hmm, I don’t know. These are for luck and money. I dunno if we would be able to tell if they worked. Plus, it seems like they want you to carve them.” She glanced back at Jeremy, wrinkling her nose in distaste. She didn’t know about him, but she’d much rather stick to drawing. Much easier to hide the evidence.
“Maybe we can just try a simple rune off the syllabary first. My granda says you can set something on fire with just one, though I’m not sure which one. But if you can set something on fire, then you can probably do more stuff with them.” Her hand hovered back over the Syllabary, eager to flip through it to see if it contained any practical explanations. “Can I?”
The Adventure of the Runic Dilettantes
“What? I’m not scared!” Jeremy insisted, appalled at the thought. What, did she think he was some kind of baby or something? He wasn’t afraid, he was smart. That was totally different. He scowled a little at the look on her face, how dare she smile like that! He had only the briefest of moments to wonder if this was what that ‘peer pressure’ thing was like, because he was 100% sure in that moment that he was TOTALLY doing this. And he hoped that wasn’t peer pressure, because if it was, it worked very well.
“No, we can’t do a protection rune, cause the rune is what we’re probably gonna need protection from,” he said bluntly. It did seem like if anything went wrong, the rune was the biggest source of danger here. What else were they gonna get protected from, a stubbed toe? Her other ideas seemed better. Jeremy didn’t care much about profit, but fun was good, definitely. He handed over the syllabary, feeling a heartbeat quicken just a bit, and he wasn’t sure if he was nervous or excited or both. He wasn’t sure if it was awful or great.
“Yeah we probably shouldn’t do anything with fire, not around the books. If we DID make fire, it’d have to be something really small. You know, like a match,” Jeremy wasn’t really allowed to do anything with matches, but he wasn’t going to admit that to Jo, because it would only give more ammo to that whole ridiculous ‘scared’ thing.
“What else can you do with runes? Can you make something float or something?” Jeremy hated that he didn’t know what was possible and what wasn’t . He knew SO little about these, and it was awful. He was the one that was supposed to know things! His mum and dad had done him really wrong here, definitely.
“Oh, or maybe something that glows. That probably can’t hurt us.” he said, optimistically. “I heard lumos is one of the first spells that people learn. If that’s what you learn first with a wand, maybe it’s what you should learn first with a rune?”
“No, we can’t do a protection rune, cause the rune is what we’re probably gonna need protection from,” he said bluntly. It did seem like if anything went wrong, the rune was the biggest source of danger here. What else were they gonna get protected from, a stubbed toe? Her other ideas seemed better. Jeremy didn’t care much about profit, but fun was good, definitely. He handed over the syllabary, feeling a heartbeat quicken just a bit, and he wasn’t sure if he was nervous or excited or both. He wasn’t sure if it was awful or great.
“Yeah we probably shouldn’t do anything with fire, not around the books. If we DID make fire, it’d have to be something really small. You know, like a match,” Jeremy wasn’t really allowed to do anything with matches, but he wasn’t going to admit that to Jo, because it would only give more ammo to that whole ridiculous ‘scared’ thing.
“What else can you do with runes? Can you make something float or something?” Jeremy hated that he didn’t know what was possible and what wasn’t . He knew SO little about these, and it was awful. He was the one that was supposed to know things! His mum and dad had done him really wrong here, definitely.
“Oh, or maybe something that glows. That probably can’t hurt us.” he said, optimistically. “I heard lumos is one of the first spells that people learn. If that’s what you learn first with a wand, maybe it’s what you should learn first with a rune?”