By the Sword
(Chapter One)
By BookwormDragon

Disclaimer: Neither the Highlander or Harry Potter Universes nor any of the Characters in these Universes belong to me. No profit is made from this story on my part. No copyright infringement is intended.

Duncan looked at the letter and package on his desk with distaste. He knew who the sender was, of course, but he had no idea why she would be writing them or sending any sort of package. She knew that any gifts from her would be unwanted and unwelcome, and he doubted that she was inclined to send such things anyway.

Frankly, there were times when he still had to fight the temptation to go back to that horrid little house and put his sword to good use. In another time and place, or if she were not a woman, he probably would have done so. Even during the times of his own childhood, to treat your own kin in such a manner was strongly frowned upon. In modern times, to treat any child so was abhorrent, and even more so if they were your kin.

His first inclination was to throw the letter and package on the fire and be done with it. But, no matter how much he might wish to pretend otherwise, she was blood-related to his son. That made her kin, and unlike her, he knew how kin should be treated. That didn’t prevent him from wishing that it was still acceptable to beat a woman, though. If any woman deserved it, it was she, and four hundred years ago he would have been well within his rights to deliver it. Well, alright, in all honesty his Honor would have prevented it even then, for she was much weaker than he and would have been under his protection as kin. But he could still dream…

With a sigh, he reached for the letter and used a small dagger turned letter-opener to slit the envelope. If the woman was trying to back out of their bargain or use her connection to Harry for some selfish purpose, he would not hesitate to make her regret it. Adam would most likely have some very good ideas on how to most effectively torment her. He had once been called Death, after all, and had spent millennia learning everything possible about the human psyche.

He would open the package after he had a better idea of what it might contain.

Mr. MacLeod,

Rest assured, I have no intention of reneging on our bargain. My nephew is safer and happier where he is. Should he return to my care, I have no doubt that history would repeat itself. For some reason, the mere sight of him fills me and my immediate family with hatred and disgust. I have my suspicions as to the cause of this, which will become self evident later in this letter.

However, you were quite correct in your last statement to me: there is no possible excuse for my actions. They were beyond indecent by any measure. Time and distance have allowed me to accept the truth of your words. So be it. I do not seek your forgiveness, for it is not you whom I have sinned against. I do not seek Harry’s forgiveness either, for it would be monstrous of me to request such a thing after my treatment of him. Let the past be, as I intend to do. I expect that punishment for my behavior will be visited upon me in good time, for I deserve it.

My purpose in writing this letter is to share some information which I believe you will find very important. As I was preparing to celebrate my son’s eleventh birthday, I realized that Harry’s eleventh birthday will also be taking place soon. I know that They have ways of finding Their own, no matter what is done to prevent it. In honor of my sister’s memory, I believe it only fair that you have some warning, so that you may do what you can to protect him.

Tell me, have you ever noticed that strange things seem to happen around Harry? Dishes rattle and break when he is upset? Items he desires always seem to be within his reach, no matter how carefully you lock them away? People who upset or threaten him seem to have strange things happening to them, such as having their hair suddenly change colors, or their clothes shrunk, or they end up somewhere else with no memory of moving? Small injuries which he gains in daily play heal with abnormal speed?

If Harry has inherited his parents’ powers, you have probably noticed all of these things and more. You are not hallucinating or suffering a mental illness. There is a rational, if distasteful, explanation for these strange occurrences. Harry is different, just as my sister and her husband were different.

Magic is real. Magic exists. I do not speak of the visual trickery that stage magicians practice. I mean real Magic. Spells and charms and potions. Turning objects into animals and back again. Compelling people to act in specific ways, even against their own wishes. Removing a memory from a person’s mind and replacing it with another. Harming and killing with nothing more than a few words and the wave of a wand. All of these things and more exist as surely as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. And those of us without Magic are helpless against it.

Muggles, They call us. Little more than animals, in Their minds. Unimportant, primitive, powerless. Our pain and suffering is less than Theirs, to Their way of thinking. Our dreams and desires are insignificant, our wishes are of no concern. Their name for us speaks for itself, and I shall not lower myself to use it.

Remember this when They speak to you. No matter what Their words say, if you are Normal, if you do not have Magic, you are not a person to Them. Remember this.

Harry, however, Harry will be important to Them. Harry has Magic, Harry is like Them. They will try to take him from you. They will poison his mind against you, teach him that you are less than a person. Oh, They will cover it with pretty words, speaking of things such as learning and control. But Their real purpose will be to distance him from anything that might keep him in our world. They will wish to anchor him firmly in Their own world, and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that. They will speak to him of Hogwarts, lure him away from you with promises of wonder and magic.

Hogwarts is a boarding school. A school for teaching Magic and indoctrinating children into Their way of life. Parents are not encouraged to visit, and Normal parents are not welcome at all. In fact, the place is surrounded with special magics to drive our kind away. They have the ability to allow our children to return to us each night while still attending an institution in the middle of nowhere, no matter how distant they may be from it. And yet, they do not. No day students are accepted at Hogwarts, only boarders. Consider why this might be.

But Hogwarts is more than a school. It is a cleverly disguised trap, designed to prevent our children from returning to our world. It teaches them Magic, prepares them for a life in Their world, and cripples them in our own world. No Normal courses are taught there. No Math, no Science, no English, no Literature, no History. Our children are taught to look down on the Normal world and its accomplishments. Clever little animals, apeing their betters as best they can without Magic, they are taught to think of us. Only those with Magic have accomplished anything meaningful, they are told. A graduate from Hogwarts, no matter how intelligent, would have a difficult time surviving in our world. They have no proper education beyond the age of eleven, and would have difficulty obtaining even the most menial of jobs.

But the Hogwarts trap is even more cunning than that. For, you see, even in Their world, our children are not truly welcome. Too close to the animals, you know. They want our children to work in Their businesses, buy Their goods, fill Their menial jobs, pay Their crippling taxes, marry Their lower classes and have magical babies to strengthen Their population. But our children must never forget their place, must never seek to rise above their station. They are not welcome in positions of power. High-placed positions in Their government are not open to them. The most they may aspire to in the way of government offices are menial, low-level positions such as clerks and secretaries. Business ownership is difficult, if not impossible for them. Ownership of Magical Land is actually forbidden for the Normal-born, or Mudbloods, as they are called by many. Their system of Government denies the Normal-born a voice in the very government that oppresses them. No vote, no influence.

They do not tell our children this, of course. They speak only of Magic and its wonders. By the time the Normal-born child realizes that they have freely stepped into a cage, it is too late to escape. Oh, occasionally a Normal-born is allowed a larger cage than the rest, as my sister was. She married into the minor nobility of Their world, and was successfully pursuing a prestigious career at the time of her death. But she was the exception, not the rule. And I have no doubt that, if she had lived, They would have eventually found a way to put her in her place and keep her there.

In death, she saved Them, accomplishing something that no one else had ever done, but even that was not enough to overcome the stigma of her so-called dirty blood. Instead, They hail her infant son as a Hero first, and remember her only as an afterthought. I ask you, what could an infant have done against a murdering madman? For that insult to her memory, I will never forgive Them.

There is no point in trying to hide from Them. They are relentless. They will find you, even if They must hunt you to the ends of the Earth. They have the power. They have kept Their entire society hidden from us for many generations, lest we animals learn of Their powers and demand to be treated as equals. The same power that allows Them to hide from us allows Them to track our children down with ease. I suppose we should be grateful that They do not merely steal them from us while we sleep – it is well within Their means to do so.

Every Normal-born child will receive a letter on their eleventh birthday, inviting them to come to Hogwarts. It will come in a plain envelope addressed directly to the child. It will appear on the day of their birth even if it falls on a day with no mail delivery. The invitation will set up an appointment to speak with the parents to explain the basics of Magic and convince them to allow their children to attend, but that is all window-dressing. Acceptance is assumed. Do not expect an invitation to tour the school or examine the academic records, however. As I stated earlier, They have protections designed specifically to repel Normal people. Do not be surprised if you find yourself agreeing to allow Harry to attend, no matter how firmly you were set against it. They have ways to convince you that it was all your own idea. Harry is not, strictly speaking, a Normal-born. Both of his parents were Magical (They call Themselves Wizards and Witches), and his father’s social class as well as his own fame may be enough to wipe away the stigma of his mother’s blood. I cannot say for certain. But because Harry is not technically Normal-born, the enrollment process may be different for him. I can only speak of my own experiences with my sister.

Regardless, you should be prepared. Perhaps you can think of some way to thwart Them. To this end, I have included all of the materials that my family and sister received concerning the Magical world. Keep in mind that these materials are over two decades out of date and are also biased to make the Magical world seem appealing to us and our children. They should be enough to get you started, however.

I have also included a list of topics which you should research given the opportunity. Harry is very famous in Their world for not dying, and you should learn his history in order to understand his position in Their world. Finally, I have included some suggestions on how to pass, at least temporarily, as one of Them. If you manage to gain access to some of Their private areas, it is best to look like one of Them, as They are at the most barely tolerant of us, considering us nothing more than a necessary evil. If you can fool Them into believing that you are one of Them, you may be able to gain knowledge that you would otherwise be barred from. Due to Harry’s fame and the fact that his appearance and identifying features are well-known to Them, you should take care not to expose him to Them unless you wish to draw Their attention.

As a final note, I must inform you that all of us who are allowed to retain knowledge of the Magical world are magically (and often unwillingly) bound to tell no one outside of our own families of the existence of Magic or the Magical World. The consequences of attempting to do otherwise are horrible and include becoming a deaf-mute, going mad, and even death. As my nephew’s legal father, however, I am sure that you agree that I must acknowledge you as family. Distasteful as it is to both of us, I must consider you to be my brother. If you do not believe this as well, you will most likely not even be able to read this letter.

To aid in your understanding of the laws of Their world, I have included several papers which my sister wrote during her time among Them. One of these, written for her senior project, explains what types of Familial relationships are recognized in Their world and how to create them. Some of Their customs may seem primitive and backward to you, brother, but please remember that They have the power to enforce Their will, and that They have no respect for the laws of our world, or for common decency. I suggest that you do whatever is necessary to strengthen your ties to your son in Their eyes. Even They can be bound by tradition and custom, if approached properly.

Brother, I implore you to believe what I have written in this letter. Consider the evidence which I have included for your examination. Verify the truth of my words, but do not throw them away as a joke, I beg you. For my nephew’s sake, please. Learn from my mistakes. Protect him from Them as best you can. They are more of a threat to him than I ever was. My own sins against him were many and unforgivable, but they are nothing compared to what They will do to him and to your family. Truly, you have no cause to listen to me, but I hope that you will do so anyway, if for no other reason than our family ties.

I know you believe that I hate my nephew, but this is not so. He is all that remains of my beloved sister, and for this alone, I would love him. Despite my actions toward him, I do feel affection for him and I wish for him to be safe and happy. It is only when I am in his physical presence that I feel hatred for him. Because of this, I request that you make every effort to keep him as far away from me and my family as possible. I do not know who has cursed us so, nor do I understand their reasons for doing so, but I have no desire to fulfill their plans. Keep Harry safe, brother. Safe from us, and safe from Them.

Sincerely,
Your Sister,
Petunia Dursley nee’ Evans

Duncan dropped the letter on his desk and stared at it in shock. Whatever he had been expecting, this was most certainly not it. It sounded ridiculous, the senseless ravings of a madwoman. And yet…

And yet. Would not his claim of having lived for over four hundred years seem mad to those who were unaware of the existence of Immortals? He had seen many things in his centuries of life that others would call impossible. Methos had doubtlessly seen even more in his millennia of existence. Magic was something that they both believed in. He had believed in it when he was mortal and he had encountered it many times since becoming Immortal. Indeed, his very existence was probably the result of Magic. True, he had never thought that there was an entire society of people who practiced Magic in a commonplace and organized fashion, but was it really that far-fetched? No, it wasn’t.

Glancing up at the clock, he quickly gathered up the letter and package and locked them into his office safe. Locks may have been no real obstacle to his son, but parental disapproval was unsurprisingly very effective. Given his son’s past, they tried not to invoke it too often, but some things were important. Harry would not open the safe, even though he could.

Harry and Adam should be returning from their weekly trip to the zoo anytime now. After that, they were visiting the family of one of Harry’s young friends for dinner. The Grangers were a pleasant couple, and their young daughter, Hermione, was a good friend to Harry. Even at this young age, Harry despised bullies and was fiercely protective of his friends. His rescue of Hermione from her tormentors had cemented a friendship between them, despite their diverging interests. Hermione was something of a bookworm, and fiercely competitive as well. Harry, although very intelligent and eager to learn, found physical activity and hands-on learning much more attractive. The children’s friendship was an enigma to the adults around them, but it seemed to work nonetheless.

So, they would spend some time in pleasant company, encourage Harry’s fledgling social efforts, and then return home with an exhausted child. After Harry was safely asleep, there would be plenty of time to discuss this new development with Adam and decide how they were going to handle it.

One thing was for sure. They would take his son from him over his dead body. Given his nature, that might be more difficult than they would expect. And it didn’t even take into account what might happen if Death decided to ride again. If they should try to steal Harry from them, these Wizards wouldn’t know what hit them.

Author’s Notes: This is a WIP that just struck me today and will be updated irregularly. I do intend to continue it as the muse inspires, but I’m also working on several other projects.

Do I really think that Duncan has or would beat a woman? Absolutely, given the proper reason and context. I’m not necessarily making a moral judgment here. The time that Duncan grew up in was vastly different from our own, and social mores reflected that. However, as an Immortal, Duncan has had to reinvent his moral code many, many times. He may keep a few key concepts, but the details are always changing. In modern times, he lives mostly as a modern man would. I see no evidence that he had ever beaten Tessa or any of the other modern women in his life, or that he believes that it would be right to do so. Even in the past, I expect that any reason would have to be a little more compelling than simply burning dinner. I am not saying that beating Petunia or any other woman would be a morally right action, and Duncan acknowledges that. Thoughts are not actions.

No, Duncan MacLeod is not Petunia’s actual blood-related brother, here. She’s basically trying to exploit a loop-hole in the Magic that binds her to secrecy. She calls him brother in the latter parts of the letter as a way of re-emphasizing their familial relationship. Basically, she’s saying to the Magic, “See? I’m not doing anything wrong.”

Petunia’s viewpoint of the Magical World is very biased toward her own prejudices. Nonetheless, she makes some very good points. However, this is not going to be a bash-the-wizarding-world story. We will see some more balanced views in later chapters.

Adam and Methos are used interchangeably, and refer to the same person in different contexts. Yes, Duncan and Adam(Methos) are in a relationship. No, their relationship is not the real focus of the story. Yes, they are raising Harry together.

No superswordsman!Harry here, sorry. And, despite the early friendship with Hermione, no ravenclaw!Harry, either.

More details of how Harry came to be adopted by Duncan and Adam, and why and how they are living together so publically in Britain will appear in forthcoming chapters.

Do I really even need to warn you that I hate Dumbledore? I do not intend to bash him past all reason, but this is not a nice, cuddly Dumbledore story.