“Airship sighted! Off the starboard bow!” shouted First Officer Heydrich.
Captain Otto von Von whipped out his own telescope and looked in the direction of the black speck on the horizon. “Identification?” he asked.
Dieter peered through his telescope. “Judging by the shape of its tail, it’s probably the Zion.”
“Very well, First Officer. We shall commence the pursuit.” Then the Captain yelled, “Lieutenant, set a new course: fifteen degrees to port. Increase engine output to fifteen hundred revolutions per minute!”
“Aye, aye, Sir!” the Lieutenant confirmed. He gave the wheel a spin, aiming the Valkyrie on its new course. Flying a kilometre over the African wilderness below, Captain Otto von Von’s zeppelin chased after its prey.
After a few short hours of pursuit, Dieter could see the gold six-pointed star on the Zion’s flank with his own unaided eyes.
“All hands to battle stations!” the Captain ordered. The cabin and the decks shuddered as the crew collected their weapons and hustled to their positions. Dieter already had his pistol in his holster, so he manned the machine gun in the front of the cabin.
“Approaching target! In range in ten seconds!” the Lieutenant at the wheel shouted.
Dieter loaded the swivel-mounted weapon and looked down the sights. The Zion grew larger and larger…
“FIRE!” the Captain commanded.
BamBamBamBamBamBamBamBam! Dieter’s machine gun roared. The stream of bullets slammed into the Jewish airship’s engines, setting them on fire. Dieter whooped in triumph.
Bullets of Israelite persuasion came back at the Valkyrie, but Dieter paid no notice. He kept firing and firing, sweeping the gas bag of the enemy airship“
BÜM!
There was a huge explosion, and all Dieter saw for the briefest of moments was the fireball in front of him. The machine gun was blasted off its mount and Dieter went with it. He somersaulted through the air and was falling, falling, falling…
A massive blow struck First Officer Dieter Heydrich in the chest, and startled, he opened his eyes.
“Dieter, Dieter, wake up!” Lena screamed, pounding her little fists on Dieter’s torso.
“Come on,” Hans said, “we’ve let you sleep in long enough. We can’t let you miss the fabulous eleventh of December!”
Dieter rubbed his eyes and yawned. Not satisfied with his progress, Hans grabbed Dieter and lifted him out of his bed.
“Hey-hey-hey! I’m awake! I’m awake! Put me down!”
Hans obliged and simply dropped his younger brother, who made an ungainly landing on the floor “ his left wrist absorbed much of the impact, and it throbbed painfully. He shook it and stretched his fingers a few times, and did his best to ignore the sting.
“Happy eleventh birthday, Dieter,” Lena said brightly. “Mutti’s baking a chocolate cake!”
His siblings left Dieter alone so he could change out of his pyjamas. Once properly dressed and presentable, he left the bedroom and headed downstairs. As he approached the dining room, his nose was assaulted by the strong whiff of cake aroma.
Apparently most of the rest of the family had already eaten their breakfasts (or perhaps had no appetites), since only Paul and Father were at the table. Dieter helped himself to some eggs, but didn’t eat much, since he wanted enough space in his stomach for the cake later in the day. He finished breakfast quickly and left the dining room for the sitting room. He tried reading Sky Captain Otto von Von and the Prisoner of Zion to occupy his mind, but he had no success. The wonderful prospect of imminent birthday cake and presents was far too distracting.
Then there was a rhythmic knock at the door, which he didn’t notice until the visitor knocked for a second time. Dieter put the book back on the shelf, walked over to entryway, and opened the door.
Framed outside the doorway was a tall, briefcase-equipped man wearing what looked something like a crimson bathrobe. He had an angular face with a straight nose; his eyes were a light hazel, and his black hair was combed straight back, making it look like his hair had been sculpted by hurricane-force winds.
“Hello there,” the stranger greeted kindly. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”
“Oh, no-no, not at all,” Dieter answered politely, though it was a complete and total lie.
“Oh good. I am Professor Theoderich Odoaker, the Deputy Rector of Durmstrang Institute. I’d like to talk to you and your parents about your potential place in our school.”
Dieter blinked and stood stunned for a second. He thought he had heard the last of that Durmstrang school a week earlier. It was the perfect practical joke “ it gave it’s victims false hope, then made them paranoid, and finished off the ordeal with a bad-tempered pecking owl that forced them to acknowledge how incredibly clever the whole thing was.
He never expected a real, live Theoderich Odoaker to materialise on his snow-strewn front doorstep. He didn’t expect this complete stranger to recognise him as the one of the six Heydrich children he sought, either.
“Sure, of course,” Dieter said, stumbling over his words slightly. “I-I’ll go get my father…”
Professor Odoaker waited patiently in the snow while Dieter ran back to the dining room. Vati was drinking his morning coffee and reading a newspaper (headlined, Sudetenland Embraces National Socialism! Over 97% of Votes for the NSDAP!) when Dieter told him who was at the door.
“WHAT? Who’s at the “ Scheiße!” His mug slipped, spilling coffee over the newspaper. “Sorry, but Paul, could you please clean this up “ I don’t have the time, and I need to attend to someone. Thanks!”
Without checking to see whether Paul agreed or not (though he had no real choice), Father strode across the house to the entryway. Professor Odoaker was still outside, curiously examining the National Socialist flag hanging from the little wall-mounted pole.
“Fascinating symbol,” he said, referring to the black swastika centred in the white disk. “A most ingenious and aesthetically pleasing display of rotational symmetry “ on four axes, no less!”
“Er…” Father mumbled, unsure of what to say in response. He settled for a salute and a “Heil Hitler.”
Odoaker imitated Father and returned the National Socialist salute. “Heil Hitler,” he said cheerfully, as if he had just discovered something new and exciting.
“Now, Herr Heydrich. Let us return to business and discuss the matter of your son Dieter’s education,” asserted the Professor, who nodded slightly in Dieter’s direction and smiled. “I’d like to speak to you wife too “ should we talk outside or someplace warmer?” he added as an afterthought.
“Well… she’s baking and a bit busy“”
“Oh, I am sorry. I appear to have arrived at an inopportune moment, Herr Heydrich, but unfortunately, my time is rather limited and this matter cannot wait.”
“Right…” hesitated Father. “Well, come inside. Please.”
“Thank you, sir,” Odoaker said. He wiped off the bottom of his boots on the doorstep and walked inside. “Do you want me to remove my shoes, or should I leave them on?”
Mutti would have insisted that they come off, but Father either forgot that or didn’t want to inconvenience the stranger. After all, he was (supposedly) a representative of important school, and one that had an interest in one of his children no less.
“Please, take a seat,” Father offered, to which the visitor obliged by sitting in the chair opposite of the sofa, and setting his briefcase on the coffee table. Before Father disappeared into the kitchen, he said, “Excuse me for a moment, I’ll be back in a minute…”
Dieter was on the sofa and left alone in the sitting room with Professor Odoaker. The Durmstrang Deputy Rector said nothing, and merely examined the room, looking at the potted plants and the pictures framed in the wall“
“WHAT?” Dieter heard his mother shout. “Can’t you see I’m busy…? What? Durmstrang…? All right, all right. Paul! Marie! Watch the cake! Keep it in the oven for another fifteen minutes, but not one more “ I don’t want you to spoil your brother’s birthday!”
A few moments later, Dieter’s parents emerged into the sitting room “ Mutti looked rather flustered. Professor Odoaker stood up from the chair and offered his hand to shake. The adults made their introductions and then took their seats.
“And I’m sorry about my bird, Sleipnir,” Odoaker added, having noticed the scars on Father’s index finger and knuckles. “He sometimes gets a little overexcited, but he’s never failed to deliver or receive any messages yet.”
The professor suddenly clapped his hands together, and he announced with a broad smile, “So, I assume you want to learn more about Durmstrang Institute?”
Dieter looked at both of his parents sitting to either side of him on the sofa. They looked just as stunned as he “ there was something indescribably strange about the visitor, and the red robe did nothing to help.
“Yes,” Father answered, and cleared his throat. “It’s all been very odd, and we’re quite confused. You see, an ow“”
Odoaker quickly waved his hand and interrupted, “Of course, I’d imagined you would be. I suspect you were expecting a carrier pigeon, rather than an owl.” He laughed at his strange joke, but Father just stared.
Then it was the Durmstrang professor’s turn to clear his throat. He looked slightly bothered by Dieter and his parents’ behaviour.
And the feeling was mutual.
“Do you need something to drink, Professor Odoaker?” Mutti offered. “We have water, coffee, tea“”
“No, no. I’m quite fine,” Odoaker said, regaining his posture. “I am going to tell you about our institution, and if you have any questions, any at all, please do not hesitate to ask.”
He waited expectantly for Dieter’s parents to nod in confirmation before continuing, “Durmstrang is a boarding school founded by Count Sven Thorsten Ulrich von Durmstrang in the year 1135. It is a castle built in the mountains “ beautiful scenery. Anyway, Count Durmstrang founded his school to teach promising students who exhibited powerful and unique abilities, which your son Dieter possesses.”
Powerful and unique abilities? There’s something odd about the wording, there, Dieter thought.
Mutti must have been thinking the exact same thing. She cleared her throat (there seemed to be a lot of that going on that morning) and asked, “Er… what are these ‘unique abilities’ that Dieter has?”
Professor Odoaker took a deep breath. With total and utter seriousness, he said, “Magic. The full name of our school is Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning. Dieter is a wizard, and he can do magic.”
There was a stunned silence in the sitting room. The only noise heard was some heavy breathing and Marie’s panicked query about the location of the oven mittens coming from the kitchen…
Dieter’s mind was racing. Magic? Me, a wizard? Absolutely ridiculous “ that’s impossible. Magic doesn’t exist. This isn’t the Middle Ages! There isn’t anything that can’t be explained with logic or science.
Aha! thought another voice in his head, and Dieter had no idea where it came from. So, how would you explain Herr Strichleiter’s invisible house with the self-repairing windows? Very odd if you ask me…
Dieter was shaken out of those disturbing thoughts by his father’s chuckles, which grew to a crescendo of laughter.
“A-a wizard? Magic? I knew this whole thing was a joke!” Father’s face was red, but more out of embarrassment than out of anger. “I can’t believe we took you this seriously “ we should have just left you outside! Congratulations, Professor. Congratulations. You’ve just made complete fools of us…”
Father finished his diatribe with a sarcastic applause, and shook his head sadly. “Please, leave. Just go. We’ve wasted enough of our time on you already “ let us celebrate Dieter’s birthday without your interference.”
Odoaker’s face was red too. Unsteadily, he said, “I a-assure you that I am definitely not joking. Magic is real. And I can prove it.”
Father stood up. “No,” he declared. “We’re not in any mood to see any magic tricks “ if we wanted a magician to perform, we would have hired one. Since we didn’t, please just go and leave us alone.”
The Durmstrang professor got up from his seat, but his expression was suddenly serious. “Now, Herr Heydrich, please think of what you are doing. Think about your son. He has the opportunity to have a free education at the best magical institution in Europe! At least have the patience to hear what I have to say.”
Dieter’s father prepared a strong retort, but Dieter shouted, “DAD!”
Vati seemed to have forgotten that Dieter was in the sitting room with him “ sometimes, his old war instincts were very strong, shutting off the rest of the world to concentrate solely on the target in front of him.
“Yes?” he asked, slightly stunned.
Dieter sighed “ he didn’t like to disagree with his father. “I’m curious. I’d like to hear more about Durmstrang, and if magic does exist, I think that might answer some questions.”
“Thank you, Master Heydrich,” Professor Odoaker said, relieved. “May I?”
Herr Heydrich slowly nodded, and both men retook their respective seats. “Now, I will prove to you that what I say is true “ magic exists, and it is very real.”
Father snorted, Mutti was silent and expressionless, but Dieter sat up straighter on the sofa. As much as his sensible mind thought otherwise, he wanted to be proven wrong.
Professor Odoaker reached into his robes and pulled out something long, thin, and wooden. Dieter suddenly realised what the stick Herr Strichleiter had held in his face a month earlier was.
“This is my wand,” the strange ‘wizard’ explained “ but the earlier awkwardness was gone and he adopted a stronger, more businesslike tone. “It is twelve and three quarter inches of semi-flexible oak, nine sixteenths of an inch at the base and tapering to three eighths at the tip. A long, narrow portion of the centre is hollowed out, and contains a griffin feather as its core. Would you like me to demonstrate?”
“Of course. Try me “ let’s see how gullible I am,” Father challenged.
“Very well,” Odoaker agreed. He lightly flicked his wand in the direction of the kitchen and muttered something under his breath. “Now, Frau Heydrich, would you mind calling your children from the kitchen?”
She had no idea what that was supposed to accomplish, but complied anyway. “Paul! Marie! Lena! How’s the cake? Could you come here please?”
Nothing happened. She waited for a few moments before calling a second time, then a third time.
“Could they have gone outside?” Mutti suggested. Father’s thoughts were much more pessimistic: “What have you done to them?”
“Nothing more than sound blocking charm to ensure the privacy of this conversation “ a highly useful spell. You can try calling them as much as you want, but for as long as the spell lasts, nobody outside of this room will be able to hear us.”
Fully knowing that Dieter’s parents (or at least his father) were not convinced, Professor Odoaker declared that he would perform more obvious and spectacular magic.
“So, Herr Heydrich. Tell me, what do you want me to do?”
“Pardon?”
“You want to see some magic? Then what magic do you want to see?”
A fiendish grin appeared on Vati’s face. “All right. I want you to wave your wand and make me a rich man and promote me to town Arbeitsleiter.”
Odoaker was not amused. “No. There are some things I cannot and will not do, and that is one of them. How about I tickle you instead?”
“WHAT?” Father objected.
“Rictusempra,” the Professor said in a loud, clear voice.
There was a jet of silver light, and Father was overwhelmed by an outburst of high-pitched giggling. Dieter’s eyes were open in alarm “ he had never seen his father laugh like that before.
“Ha ha he ha p-please-ha st-stop ha tha-at!”
Odoaker lifted the spell and told the exhausted Herr Heydrich, “Do you need any more convincing? I could, say, light the table on fire, but that would make a mess of things.”
“But how do I know it wasn’t my wife tickling me when I wasn’t looking?” Vati wheezed, still giggling. “Show me everything you can.”
“Yeah! I’d like to see a lot of magic,” Dieter said enthusiastically. This was starting to be very exciting. I’m a wizard? His mind was just beginning to wrap itself around that curious concept.
Professor Odoaker seemed to be enjoying himself. He made the coffee table walk around the sitting room, turned a vase into a real, live penguin, and even lit his own hair on fire, but both he and his hair came out completely unscathed. It was an impressive yet totally bizarre spectacle.
“I’m starting to wonder whether my coffee has been tampered with,” Vati joked when the tricks were over, but he was smiling. “So… does this mean there is a God, too?”
“That… is a matter of personal preference, but the existence of magic is not debatable. I can perform it and your son can perform it, and that is why we would like to teach him to harness his magical potential at Durmstrang Institute.”
“But Professor Odoaker,” Mutti said, “how do you know Dieter is a wizard? We’ve never seen him do anything unusual or out of the ordinary… in the magical sense.”
“We have ways of tracking magical births, but Dieter is a wizard, even if it is not immediately apparent. You see, all witches and wizards have magical energy inside of them, but under most circumstances, it cannot be harnessed and directed without the help of one of these…” He showed them his oak wand, and continued:
“Young magical children have been known to perform acts of wandless magic, but only when under great stress or in perilous situations “ it is the same for adults. So, unless Dieter has been living a highly dangerous young life, he has most likely never displayed obvious magic that would attract attention, like blowing things up.”
Blowing things up? Wow! Dieter thought excitedly.
“However, many Muggle-born children“”
“Wait, ‘Muggle?’ What’s that?” Father interrupted.
“I’m sorry, I should have explained earlier. ‘Muggle’ is a word that wizards refer to non-magical persons. But as I was saying, that with Muggle-born children completely ignorant of the existence of magic, it is not uncommon to perform minor magic without realising it, or only by passing it off as some strange accident. Now, Master Heydrich, with that in mind, could you think of anything you might have done with the aid of magic?”
Dieter thought for a moment. “Well, in snowball fights, I’m very good at avoiding getting hit. I’ve also completely escaped injury in some situations where my friends didn’t “ there was one time when me and my friends were riding bicycles on a path and one of us hit a big rock and caused everyone to crash. Karl broke his arm, and even the bicycle I was riding was bent out of shape, but I didn’t even suffer a scratch!”
The Durmstrang Professor nodded pensively. “Of course. Witches and wizards usually have better reflexes than Muggles, and are usually luckier “ yes, Luck is a form of magic. It is a very mysterious and elusive force, but it does exist. Now, I’m going to prove that you too can perform magic. Would you mind standing, Master Heydrich?”
Dieter stood, unsure of what was going to happen. He was even more confused when Professor Odoaker handed him his wand. It felt strangely warm in his hand, but then Dieter reminded himself that Odoaker had been holding it and it was just residual heat.
“What do you want me to do? I don’t know any spells,” he said.
“You don’t need to. Just hold that wand tightly.”
On that enigmatic note, Professor Odoaker delivered a kick to Dieter’s shin.
“OW!” he shouted in pain, but from the wand in his right hand shot a jet of angry red sparks. Distracted totally from the pain in his leg, he exclaimed, “Wow! Did you see that?”
Mutti nodded fervently.
Odoaker asked for his wand back, and Dieter handed it over carefully. His mind was racing, unable to believe what he had just done. Magic… I just did magic!
There was a thoughtful silence, but then Father asked, “This is all incredibly extraordinary, Professor Odoaker… but what is the point?”
“Pardon?”
“What is the purpose of learning magic? What use is it to be able to shoot red sparks, or turn vases into penguins? It is all very interesting, but how will that prepare Dieter for adulthood? How would it help him get a job? How will it help him serve his country? That’s what I’m asking.”
“An excellent question, Herr Heydrich. But I think I must ask you a question in return: why is it that you have never known about magic until today?”
Father didn’t have any answer. “Er…” he mumbled.
Professor Odoaker explained, “You see, International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was signed in 1689, and for the last two hundred forty-nine years since, witches and wizards throughout the world have been living in hiding, in a sort of parallel society totally invisible to Muggle eyes. Wizards have their own currencies, laws, their own kinds of jobs… just imagine that hidden out of sight there is a thriving and functioning community who live completely normal lives, but just with magic.
Now, most witches and wizards consider magic completely normal, because their parents were just like them. Your son here is a relatively uncommon but by no means unheard of case, in which he was born to non-magical parents, making him Muggle-born. But, with the proper training, he can be just as skilled a wizard as anyone else. He could become a magical Healer, or a wizarding banker, or even a dragon keeper “ the possibilities are endless.”
“Dragons?” Dieter asked, awed. He knew Paul would like that.
“Yes, of course. We have dragons, griffins, unicorns… these creatures are known to Muggles only in myths and stories, but they do exist, just hidden from view. But as I was saying, the wizarding world is just as complex and diverse as the Muggle one, and all the magic your son will learn have practical applications.”
When nobody spoke for a moment, he added, “Do you need to discuss this among yourselves before making a decision?”
Vati looked at his son and said, “Well Dieter, this is your future we’re talking about. Would you like to learn magic at Durmstrang?”
It didn’t take long to make up his mind; he remembered the fountain of red sparks he had created only minutes before and wondered what else he could learn to do. With little hesitation, he decided, “Yes.”
Professor Odoaker smiled.
“But remember, Dieter, Durmstrang is a boarding school, right?” Mutti said, and the Professor nodded. “You’ll be spending a long time from home, and you wouldn’t see any of us or your friends for months at a time. Is that what you want to do?”
Dieter hadn’t thought of that. He had been so excited of the possibility of learning magic that he hadn’t considered the fact that he would be doing so alone - no Hans to tease him, or Paul or Marie to help with homework, or friends to talk to in class. He would be a complete stranger among other strangers… but if they were going to be just as lost and confused as he, how bad could it be?
“Yes,” Dieter resolved. “And it would be a good opportunity to make new friends.”
Vati nodded approvingly. “I suppose that settles it.”
“And you say that Durmstrang is free?” asked Mutti.
“Of course,” replied Odoaker. “It is almost entirely paid for by the state “ this includes food, housing, teacher’s salaries, and other expenses. However, your equipment: textbooks, uniforms, and most importantly, your wand, will have to be purchased, but this is all a very small price to pay for seven years of free education. Now if you don’t have any more questions, we can move on to the unpleasant business of signing forms.”
Dieter’s parents agreed, and Professor Odoaker opened his briefcase with his wand. He pulled out a small stack of documents of the same thick parchment as the Durmstrang acceptance letter, and placed them on the coffee table.
“Herr, Frau, and Master Heydrich, please read this form carefully, then sign at the bottom. This is your statement permitting Durmstrang Institute of Magical Learning to educate young Master Heydrich…”
The forms went on and on; legal forms, financial forms, medical forms, and Dieter and his parents signed all of them. Once finished with the last one, Father pointed at the triangular symbol that appeared at the top of each parchment. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what exactly is this sign?”
“It’s the emblem of Das Zweite Zaubererreich,” Odoaker explained. “If you recognised it, then that means we have a serious problem with our Statute of Secrecy!”
“Wait, the Second Wizarding Reich?” Father asked. Those words sounded strange to him, and to Dieter too.
“Indeed. The first Reich collapsed in 1689, but I won’t bore you with a history lesson. However, you have to understand that things are different in the wizarding world “ we have our own separate and unique history, culture, and government. It’s impossible to explain in just one day, but I think it would be enlightening if I showed you.”
“Showed us? How?” Mutti asked.
Professor Odoaker put the signed documents back in his briefcase. He locked it with his wand, stood up from his chair, and answered, “By shopping for school supplies, of course. Are you ready?”
“What “ now? Couldn’t we do this on our own time? When does term start?”
“On the first of September next year. It is a Durmstrang tradition to admit students on their eleventh birthday.”
“That gives us almost a whole year!” Father argued.
Odoaker shook his head. “I’m sorry, but you cannot just buy wands and spell books anywhere. Even if I gave you precise directions to suitable wizarding settlements, you will have no way of reaching it, since both of you are Muggles and your son is an inexperienced wizard without a wand. If you want to get school supplies, you’ll have to be accompanied by me. And besides, I am here now. I’ve already interrupted one of your days; I don’t want to inconvenience you for a second time.”
“But… what about Dieter’s birthday?” Mutti stressed. “Couldn’t we do this on another day?”
“And I have to go to work in a half hour,” Father added, noticing the time. He had planned on celebrating Dieter’s birthday before he had to go to the meeting with the Gemeinschaftsleiter later that morning, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
“Mutti, I’m fine,” Dieter assured her. “This is all very exciting! And we can always have cake in the evening when we get back. I’d like to go. Can we, please?”
It was hard to refuse when Dieter was so obviously brimming with enthusiasm. Father sighed and said, “All right. I need to go to work “ I’ve never really liked shopping anyway. But Dear, you go with Dieter and Professor Odoaker to get school supplies.”
Not caring that the Durmstrang professor was there in the sitting room and watching, Dieter hugged Vati around the waist. “Thanks! I wish you could come with us.”
“Well, I’ve had enough excitement for today,” Vati chuckled half-heartedly to hide his disappointment, which Dieter fortunately didn’t catch. “First I learn that magic exists and you are a wizard, and then I sign your application to a magic school. That’s all I can take in one day…
Dieter threw a coat on and hastily his donned shoes, but the next ten minutes crawled by excruciatingly slowly. Dieter paced about the sitting room impatiently. His mind was bursting with anticipation, and he was itching to go to the wizarding market to get a wand. A MAGIC WAND. And there’ll be cake when I get back! When do we go?
Finally, his parents were ready “ Mutti in her best clothes for the magical excursion with Dieter and Professor Odoaker, and Father with his NSDAP armband for the meeting. He kissed her on the cheek. “Tell me everything when I get back. And have lots of fun, Dieter.”
Father patted him on the shoulder, smiled, and headed out the door with his briefcase.
“Are you ready to go?” Odoaker asked.
Dieter nodded vigorously, but Mutti a little less so.
“Then follow me.”