Seamus: Incardinatization Again
Altar servers did not have to get permission to work in multiple dioceses unlike priests. As a boarding school student, he’d expected to work in multiple ones, having first been trained to work as one in his home parish of Saint Columcille’s in the Archdiocese of Armagh, and then having gone to Hogwarts which was in the Diocese of Aberdeen. Somewhat amusingly the Hufflepuff ghost had twice been an administrator of the Prefecture Apostolic of Scotland, as a ghost didn’t fear prosecution for conducting a papist Mass. He’d served at the altar of the Friary Parish in Crawley in the Diocese of Brentwood as well.
His latest diocese, metropolitan at that, he’d never expected to visit, much less end up arriving with his own Archbishop, Cahal Cardinal Daly, to it was Cardiff. He’d met Archbishop Ward, or as he’d been told to address him, Father John, shortly after their landing. It was a rarefied group that took the Vauxhall Astra Estate, only made rarer when another Cardinal with brilliant white hair joined them outside town. Somehow Seamus had ended up in the back seat with the Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith or as it used to be known, the Office of the Holy Inquisition. And it was an inquisition.
So far he’d been quizzed on the ten commandments, the seven sacraments, and now the five precepts. Somehow he’d stumbled through them. “Cahal, give my compliments to this boy’s pastor,” the Prefect said. “He is a fine example of a good Catholic.”
“I shall, Joseph,” his Archbishop replied. “Do we expect any other priests to join us at Saint Clementine’s?”
“Father Edward of the Friary Parish in the Diocese of Brentwood, who is bringing Mister Potter,” the Prefect said. “I’m not sure if Bishop McMahon will be with him. Father Clement of Saint Edward the Confessor’s Chapel at Hogwarts in the Diocese of Aberdeen will be there. I shall be greatly amused when he discovers that he’s finally in a church with three Bishops. I have a papal message for him. John, please try to stay on the road. We’re not running late.”
“Sorry, I almost missed that last turn,” the Archbishop of Newport said. “Welcome to Godric’s Hollow, brothers.”
Just a minute later the Astra came to stop in front of a parish church that looked a lot like Saint Columcille’s except for being a bit taller and being in the center of town. There was another car pulled up as well, with what looked like Hermione from the behind bent over into the car. Seamus recognized Father Edward from Crawley greeting another priest, probably the new pastor of the church. Harry stood over by what at first appeared to be a war memorial, but as Seamus stepped out of the car, changed into a statue of baby Harry being held by his mother in his father’s embrace.
He decided that greeting his classmate could wait. Instead he addressed the white haired Cardinal, “Your Eminence, how can I assist?”
The Prefect replied, “put on your alb, making sure nothing shows out from under it. Take off your shoes as soon as you get into the church. You’ll need to make as little as possible noise during the exorcism. Now, would that be Potter looking at the war memorial?”
“Yes, Eminence,” Seamus replied, as he reached in for the bag that contained his robes. They were long enough to cover his jeans, but he wasn’t quite sure if the collar was smaller than that of his t-shirt.
“Mister Potter, please come over here so I may explain the instances of the Exorcism of your scar,” the Prefect said. Harry turned around and took a few steps closer to the rear of the Astra. “I understand you were baptized in this parish, but have not taken further sacraments?”
“No sir,” Harry said. “I talked with Father Edward about it before my son’s baptism, and we agreed that there isn’t enough time in the summer, so I’m going to talk to the Hufflepuff ghost, I don’t know his name, about it.”
“Father Clement, also known as the Fat Friar, I believe,” the Prefect said. “After your exorcism, you may wish to attend his Consecration Mass, assuming he doesn’t escape again.”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Seamus said, noticing that the Fat Friar had just arrived.
“For this exorcism, Mister Potter, you will be first be washed in Holy Water, before being dressed in a white robe and placed before the altar, at which time we will begin the actual exorcism,” the Prefect said. “You may during the process experience greater possession by the partial spirit currently inside your scar. Fortunately with the protections that your mother has imbued in your body by her sacrifice, with the additional protections and process that you will be undergoing, such possessions should be relatively short and overcome with the exercise of your own will.
“Acolyte Seamus, please escort Mister Potter to the Baptismal Font and assist Father Edward in preparing him”