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Level Nine of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (located under Northumberland Avenue east of Trafalgar Square) in the City of Westminster, London, Tuesday 18 June 1996, after supper…
"This is it…it's through here…"
"Harry!"
Harry Potter paused on hearing his best female friend call out, and then he gazed on her. "What is it, Hermione?" he asked before noting the shocked look on her face. He then turned to gaze where Hermione Granger and the others who had come with them from Hogwarts — Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood — were now staring at.
One look made the Boy-Who-Lived blink in curiosity.
"Hello, Big Brother."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"'Big Brother?!'" all of Harry's friends chorused as they stared at the leader of their party, and then they turned back to look at the woman who had spoken those words.
Said woman was about Harry's age, with rusty red hair that reminded the Boy-Who-Lived of the many pictures of his mother in the photo album Rubeus Hagrid had given him years before. Her eyes were the same vibrant green as Harry's…and even more, she wore reading glasses over her eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be a white-and-red robe-type uniform of Oriental design; Harry remembered seeing pictures of some sort of priestess who worked in a temple in Japan in a library book he read once while he had attended primary school. There was no sign of a wand anywhere on her.
Before Harry could demand to know what was going on, said girl then turned and walked quickly towards him, her lacquered wood sandals clattering loudly on the hard stone of the floor of the Hall of Prophecy. Her smile grew ever so bigger as she approached Harry…and then, before anyone could say a word, she flung her arms around him and swamped him with a hug that matched that of any motherly embrace Molly Weasley ever gave him. A second later, a powerful aura of magic enveloped them both for a moment, that making Harry's companions from Hogwarts back away a bit…as Luna's silver-blue eyes went very wide in shocked disbelief. "Oh, my…Helga's Blessing…"
The Weasley siblings and Neville turned to stare wide-eyed at their Ravenclaw friend. "Luna…that's just a LEGEND!" Ginny hissed out.
"It is no story, Ginevra-san."
Everyone perked on hearing that cold voice with its lilting accent, and then they turned as a woman dressed like the girl now hugging Harry — Ginny and Hermione were quick to note he was now hugging her back, their eyes filling with tears — appeared, though the newcomer was much older and clearly Oriental by descent. The one odd thing about this woman was her eyes: They were twin pools of pure black, even in the sclera around the barely-noticeable pupils and irises. She appeared to be a woman in her early thirties. On seeing her up close, Ron, Ginny and Neville paled in mortal terror as they took fearful steps away from the newcomer. Luna, however, had bowed her head politely. "Good evening, Tsukuyomi-sama," she said, using the Japanese honorifics even if she spoke English. She then gazed on the girl hugging Harry. "Is she really Harry's sister?"
"Yes, she is, Luna-chan," the woman born over a century before as Yomigawa Tsukiko — known more commonly by her style name "Tsukuyomi-no-Tsukushi" in the Orient and the "Dark Lady Tsukuyomi" or the "Dark Lady of the Orient" in Europe — answered as she smiled in amusement at the daughter of the owner of the Quibbler; they had met five years before when Xenophilius Lovegood went to Japan to do a forty-fifth anniversary interview with the woman who almost destroyed the old International Confederation of Wizards by herself and helped usher in the International Conference of Magical Communities as the world-wide meeting house for Terran magicals. "Saved — as you just surmised — by the curse Helga Hufflepuff put on the land long ago to preserve the spirits of unborn and newly-born children whose parents were killed (such as Rose-chan's mother) or permanently incapacitated (as Neville-kun's parents were)…then restored to life by means even I find hard to understand." She gazed on Harry as he turned to look at her. "For that, do forgive me, Harry-kun. By the time I realized Rose-chan's connection to your parents — and thus, to you — I had taken her on as my apprentice. Given your oh-so-delightful problems with Tom Riddle, I felt it was wise to allow Rose-chan the chance to train in peace and not deal with the staleblood fools who would gladly destroy all that your parents sacrificed themselves to try to save years ago."
Harry nodded. "I know…Rose just told me everything…"
Hermione gaped. "How?"
"It's called 'telepathy,' Hermione-san," Tsukiko explained.
The normal-born from Sussex blinked. "Don't you mean Legilimency?"
A tired, annoyed sigh escaped the older woman. "Europeans…!" the legendary freedom fighter hissed out in disgust, which made the Weasley siblings and Neville wince…though Luna clearly was not bothered by the vile tone in Tsukiko's voice. "Always looking for stupid ways to make simple things convoluted and unnecessarily difficult…"
As Hermione gazed in curiosity at the older woman, Rose then pulled away from Harry as she looked at him; both were about the same height. They stared into the other sibling's deep green orbs for a moment, and then they both giggled. That soon turned into warm laughter as they embraced each other again. As Luna sniffed back her tears at this wonderful moment — while it did strike her as wrong that Harry had not been told about his once-lost sister, she could understand the Lady Tsukuyomi's reasoning given the considerable interest many people in Britain had in the Boy-Who-Lived…especially when it came to one pesky Dark Lord and his silly followers — the others exchanged concerned looks before Hermione took a deep breath. "Um…much that I'm happy that Harry now has true family with him, we did come here to locate Sirius Black and make sure You-Know-Who hasn't hurt him…"
"Sirius-dono is not here at this time, Hermione-san," Tsukiko stated. "No doubt thanks to Severus-dono's rather improper training methods when it came to defending one's mind from intrusion, Voldemort tricked Harry-kun into coming here."
Hermione gasped as her eyes went wide. "Something in Row Ninety-seven…"
"Well, let's go find Row Ninety-seven," Tsukiko then bade with a nod of her head.
She, Harry and Rose — the younger Potter sibling having wrapped an arm around her brother's — walked towards the door to the Hall. Reaching the end of the row to their left, they looked to see a placard with the number 53 there. A glance to their right showed the next tall shelf full of orbs to be marked with 52. "This way!" Harry said as he pointed away from Row 52, then he jogged off, holding Rose's hand.
As the others went after them, Tsukiko paused as well-honed magical and ki senses picked up on a small group of people having just entered the Department of Mysteries. Quickly noting the warped protean charm on their left lower arms that indicated each was branded with the Dark Mark, the Dark Lady of the Orient could only smirk.
Let the games begin…and Britain finally fall, she mused to herself…
Wizards and Avalonians II:
Lost Relatives
by Fred Herriot
A side story to Phoenix From the Ashes
Proofreading done by Rose1948, Rashaan Butler and Rorschach's Blot
Based on Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Ikkitōsen, created by Shiozaki Yūji; and Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko.
Including characters and references from Mahō Sensei Negima, created by Akamatsu Ken; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, written by Seth Grahame-Smith; and Highlander, created by Gregory Widen.
Phoenix From the Ashes was derived from the fanfic The Bet: Crippled, written by Gregg Sharp. This story also contains characters and situations from the fanfic series Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot; and the Icemaidens series, created by Fred Herriot.
WRITER'S INTRODUCTION
This story is set after the events in the first Wizards and Avalonians story, The Man-Who-Won and the Ladies from Avalon. The flashbacks, of course, depict a variation of the events of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and its aftermath, as shown in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Crawley in West Sussex (three kilometres south of London Gatwick Airport), a hidden home in Cophall Wood off Charlwood Road, Tuesday 13 July 2010, just after dawn…
It was the smell of English breakfast tea that woke Hermione Granger up.
Groaning, the normal-born Special Adviser on Normal Affairs to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement groaned as she pulled herself up from her bed, stretching herself for a moment before standing up. A soft pop! then heralded the arrival of a very beautiful raven-haired house elf dressed properly in the uniform of a maid serving the Noble House of Carter of Ifield. "Good morning, Miss 'Mione," Tappy said with a curtsy to her mistress. "Breakfast is being prepared at this time."
"Thanks, Tappy," Hermione said as she plodded off to the bathroom.
As she took a chance to take a long and invigorating shower, the normal-born of the Golden Trio of Hogwarts could only smile as she allowed the hot water to wake her up. Despite the many problems rebuilding wizarding society in Britain had presented to Harry Potter and his classmates after they graduated from Hogwarts in 1998, the lives of those who had been at the forefront of one of the greatest social revolutions in magical history had not suffered any major problems save for what had happened to Harry's would-be wives. That came mostly thanks to the unspoken alliance Harry forged with the goblins of Gringotts, punctuated by the Boy-Who-Lived's return of the Sword of Gryffindor to Chief Director Ragnok in a public ceremony on the steps of the Diagon Alley branch of the international mercantile bank just after sixth year ended in 1997. That symbolic act of acknowledging goblin law and tradition when it came to objects their smiths had created had won the instant support of Gringotts…even if the pureblood traditionalists — including those who did not support Voldemort at the time — had howled in outrage at the turning over of a Founder's Artifact to the goblins. Still, doing that had ensured the Second Purification War would end quite quickly and without interference from Gringotts; in a private conversation some years later, Harry's estate manager Griphook confessed to Hermione that if he had been close to the Sword, he would have stolen it back by whatever means possible as a way of delivering a public slap to the face of all those wizards who had spat on and sneered at goblin beliefs over the centuries.
There, but with the grace of God, go I, Hermione mused as she shampooed her hair. Because of the alliance with the goblins, Harry and his friends had been able to cash in big time with their family fortunes after the war with Voldemort was done. Unlike the Ministry of Magic — until yesterday — because of the Defunct Lords Act of 1957 that forbade the normal-born descendants of Wizengamot lords from claiming their seats in the legislative body of Her Majesty's magical government, Gringotts was willing to ensure people like Hermione Granger (styled The Right Honourable The Baroness Hermione of Ifield in the normal world) could claim what was rightfully theirs. And while the Carter fortune was quite small in comparison to the joint Potter/Black fortune that Harry had inherited, it was still impressive. And growing bigger thanks to Griphook's keen nose for new economic opportunities. "Invest smartly, Master of My Vaults," Hermione ritually declared when she had been formally given control of her maternal family vaults in 1997. "I trust you to do what is necessary to shower us with gold."
And speaking of which…
"Your Ladyship?! Are you there?!"
"Just a moment!" Hermione called out before stepping out of the shower and using some wandless magic to dry herself off before slipping on her bathrobe.
Walking into the living room a moment later, she bowed politely to Griphook; her vault manager had her permission to walk into her home at any time she was here. "Master of My Vaults, may you defeat all before you and be showered with gold."
Griphook bowed his head in return. "Your Ladyship, may your magic be strong so you can strike down all your enemies," he returned to her ritually before he smirked, showing his pointed teeth. "A little early for you, Hermione?" he asked with a wink.
She laughed as she waved him to a chair. "Not really, Griphook. So how was the reaction to yesterday's vote?"
He cackled as she sat down across from him. Tappy then popped in with a cup of goblin tea, a spicy and nearly-poisonous concoction that was a morning delicacy to people like Griphook. As he smiled his thanks at the common courtesy shown to him by Hermione's elf, the normal-born special adviser could only shake his head before she nodded thanks as her elf handed her a cup of breakfast tea. Amazing what simple acts of respect can do for people, she mused to herself. Tsukiko-sensei was right all along. If wizards and witches in Europe would have stopped being so 'primate-centric' and 'blood-centric' all those years ago, dark lords would be just characters in novels like the ones that moron Lockhart tried to pass off for defence books in second year!
"It gave all the directors quite a good laugh at their afternoon meeting," Griphook stated. "No questionable actions by any of Mister Malfoy's friends…" — he sneered on saying that name; unlike people such as Hermione and Harry, Griphook NEVER addressed the leaders of "dark" families like the Malfoys of Avebury by the title "Lord" or its several normal cognates — "…that we took note of. Unofficially, of course," he added with another wink, which made Hermione laugh. Gringotts was quite strict when it came to privacy issues. Though he was technically breaking the various clauses of several goblin-wizard treaties by telling Hermione about what her enemies might say within Gringotts' walls, given the standard "staleblood" attitudes when it came to goblins, the people whose parents fought for Voldemort were always treated with the barest level of common courtesy. "There is one small problem, though."
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
He nodded. "While she hasn't come to Gringotts, she still has access to her family vault. And the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff." A smirk then crossed his face. "Pity the late Master Riddle never fully realized what he was potentially creating when he sought to remain forever immortal."
"Not even the immortals who fight in the Game are truly immortal; chop off the head and it's all over. Nor are people like Freiherr von Taserich…as Master Hosan demonstrated when he allowed himself to die so that Major General Raeburn could succeed him as Grandmaster of his martial arts school," she noted before sipping her tea. "Lucky thing Tsukiko-sensei taught Harry how to use a soulsword to sever the links between Riddle and his horcruxes." A smirk crossed her face. "If that wasn't done, the Cup would have given Riddle yet another chance to come back…"
He nodded. "Which no one wants." A sigh then escaped him. "Still…"
"Cassiopeia?"
Another nod from the goblin banker. "Yes. By our laws, the Lady Cassiopeia would be the proper Viscountess of Barnet given her father's death at the Battle of Hogwarts. Her Avalonian body was created by the late Master Steven Holmes from the DNA of Lady Bellatrix and her husband, thus making her the blood-heir even if she was born by means which would not be considered proper by wizarding law. However, with the Magical Royal Proclamation concerning the Avalonians coming into play, there's simply nothing the Wizengamot can do to deny the Lady Cassiopeia her basic rights if questions about that ever came up. Furthermore, she was given both life and magic thanks to the Curse of Helga Hufflepuff — which is what ultimately saved her soul when she was still-born after her mother was imprisoned in Azkaban in 1981 — so she is magical and would inherit under the traditional laws of inheritance. And while the removal of the Defunct Lords Act did give her a better chance of taking up her family seat in the Wizengamot…"
"She's a graduate of Meridiana. The Treaty of Ynys Môn — and all the laws that stem from that treaty between Hogwarts and Meridiana — get in the way. With it there, she can't lay any sort of legal claim to anything owned by her parents. Which includes the contents of whatever is in the Lestrange family vault; if you tried to defy that, it's a clear violation of the Treaty of 1779 between the Ministry and Gringotts."
"As is true for all the others that wonderful fellow helped restore to life in the 1980s," he finished. "A pity he passed away forgetting his true origins."
"Well, according to Ambassador Holmes, her adopted father always saw himself more as Terran and English than Niphentaxian and whatever 'church' he was a part of before he was assigned to be an observer on Earth in the 1970s," she mused. "At least that Noukiite priest that was with the Imperial Marine battalion that came to Britain in February to clear out whatever other Niphentaxians were in the country properly blessed his grave."
He nodded. "A noble race, the Noukiites are. The Xiàolíng did us all great favours by cultivating such allies after she was given her life back at the fulfillment of the Promise of Bunka Go-nen." He then smirked. "Then again, given her brother's prowess in bed and his relationship with that one warrior who visited Tomobiki…"
"She Who Speaks to Dragons," she noted. "Don't recall her proper name, though. Luna would know." A smirk crossed her face…and then Hermione hummed as something came to her. "Griphook…"
"We also are concerned about a possible attack on the Xiàolíng and her family," Griphook affirmed with a nod. "Much that such would be suicidal given the Earth Angel's presence, Mister Malfoy and his friends may become that desperate…"
She nodded. "Which means…"
A shark-like grin crossed his face. "Indeed."
Both gazed at each other, and then they returned to their tea…
Level One of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, an hour later…
"Good morning, everyone!"
Kingsley Shacklebolt and Percy Weasley perked on hearing that very cheerful voice, and then they turned to watch as Hermione walked in, a smile on her face. On seeing that grin, both the Minister and the Senior Undersecretary winced. It was that smile, the one that indicated that the female member of the Golden Trio was planning something that would cause a lot of headaches…even if it was ultimately for a good cause.
Also present in the office at the time were several other department heads and senior subordinates. Chief Unspeakable Ian Boot — Terry Boot's father — was there from the Department of Mysteries, accompanied by Chief of Research Planning Daphne Greengrass. Director Lì Xīshèn — Lì Sǔ's father — was there for the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was accompanied by the British Ambassador to the International Conference of Magical Communities — and Neville's paternal grandmother — the Dowager Lady Augusta Longbottom of Holdenhurst. And from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, there were Harry Potter and Arthur Weasley, accompanied by Chief Auror Elaine Savage and Chief of Magical Secrecy Control Arnold Peasegood.
"'Morning," the others called back.
Except Harry.
He was asleep.
Hermione paused as she gazed on her best friend, and then she looked at Arthur. The chief of the Department of Non-Magical Artifact Abuse chuckled. "I'm afraid that his wives and his consort are simply tiring the poor man out, Hermione."
Her cheeks then reddened. "Oh…!"
"I never realized Avalonians could be so energetic when it comes to affairs of the bedroom," Sǔ's father mused as others laughed. Lì Xīshèn was the son of a Chinese magical who fled the mainland to Hong Kong in the wake of the rise of the People's Republic in 1949, then moved to Britain afterwards. He was the first wizard of Chinese descent to graduate from Hogwarts, having passed his NEWTs with flying colours in 1970 from Ravenclaw. Joining the DIMC right afterwards, he — thanks to pureblood prejudices against "foreign-born" wizards working for the Ministry of Magic, especially if they were Orientals — would not be confirmed as its director until six years ago, in the last round of votes Harry had been able to participate in before his promotion to the head of the DMLE. "Curious that Mandy, Pansy and Dora have not formed a bond-mating."
"From what I understand about the marei'cha process, it's similar — though a lot more flexible — than what happens when people become soul-bonded. Ginny's bonding to her new wife shows that pretty well," Daphne then mused. "Even if Mandy, Pansy and Dora do see Harry as their future surei'cha by Sagussan cultural standards, there might be feelings of competition between them when it concerns him. Traditionally in Sagussan society, marei'cha always must agree to all things when it comes to seeking out a surei'cha to co-parent future children." She then gazed sympathetically at the sleeping Harry. "I only just hope that Harry will survive the ordeal."
"What if I told you, Daph, I have a potential solution to the problem?"
Eyes locked on Hermione. "Oh, Merlin! What have you got in mind now?" Kingsley asked.
That smile came back. "Renegotiate the Treaty of Ynys Môn."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"Merlin, Hermione! You don't do things by half, do you?!" Ian demanded.
"Listen to you, Mister 'I Married a Weretiger!'" Arthur then teased.
Laughter filled the room as Ian blushed. Terry's father was a peer of the Marauders, Lily Evans and Severus Snape; he graduated as a Ravenclaw with top NEWTs in 1978 and was sucked into the Unspeakables afterwards. A half-year later, he was saved from a roving pack of werewolves led by Fenrir Greyback by Michelle Peakes, a normal woman who had been cursed to be a weretiger when she was a child in India while her parents were serving as missionaries. Given Michelle's frightful strength when transformed — and given that she had taken the weretiger version of the Wolfsbane potion that night; such had been created by Padma and Parvati Patil's mother Aditi years before the family had migrated to Britain — she killed most of Fenrir's pack and saved Ian's life. The young Unspeakable — who had pretty much been a fence-sitter concerning the First Purification War until that moment — swore a magical Life Debt to Michelle and they married shortly afterwards. It was thanks to Ian that the Patils were able to be accepted in mainstream British society; it was Padma's and Parvati's father Adakitta who had financed Damocles Belby's development of Wolfsbane potion for werewolves some years later.
"Why renegotiate that treaty, Hermione?" Kingsley asked.
She smirked. "You know about Rose Potter, don't you?"
A chuckle escaped the minister. "'Mione…Percy, Arthur and I were there, remember?!"
More laughter filled the room…
Level Nine of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic, Tuesday 18 June 1996, after supper…
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
Harry and Rose blinked in confusion, and then they turned to look.
"Good evening, minna-dono," Yomigawa Tsukiko then greeted with her normal cold voice.
Gargled breaths and croaks of mind-numbing horror escaped the crew of fourteen Death Eaters currently standing about three metres away from the visiting students from Hogwarts, the Dark Lady of the Orient and her current apprentice. As Harry's friends looked, they would be able to swear on their magic that those they could see like Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were now as white as ghosts on realizing their mission to the Ministry of Magic had just taken a potential turn for the worse.
Even if their leader was rated a "dark lord" — thus was a spiritual equal to Yomigawa Tsukiko — the causes she and Tom Riddle fought for were worlds apart. Voldemort wanted the purebloods to rule supreme over all magicals in Britain…and eventually, the whole world. Tsukuyomi had fought for — and, with the help of the Americans, succeeded in — the total destruction of European wand wizarding hegemony over magical practices worldwide. Thus, in effect — to people such as Lucius and Bellatrix — this nigh-ageless Japanese woman was Albus Dumbledore taken to the worst extreme possible.
Still, it could be salvaged…
Lucius bowed immediately to the elderly Japanese witch. "Lady Tsukuyomi. On behalf of our liege lord, Lord Voldemort, I welcome you to the United Kingdom."
An amused smile crossed her face. "Lucius-dono, you are as courteous as always." The smile then faded as she coldly added, "Especially when you confront true strength. Witness this well, young ones," she then bade Harry and his companions. "Were I not here, this staleblood inbred fool would be in his full arrogance, knowing his master's plan to trap you within this hall had succeeded and that he could obtain the prophecy orb now in Harry-kun's hands."
Luna smiled as she noted the Death Eaters quaking in anger at being called "stalebloods" and "inbred." "Yet, with your presence, Tsukuyomi-sama, they know that if they do anything that displeases you, you could literally kill them with but a thought!"
"Quite correct, Luna-chan," Tsukiko said as she smiled in delight at the daughter of the owner of the Quibbler. "Now, is it because of this prophecy orb that you risk the wrath of your ministry by coming here this evening?" she asked Lucius.
A shaky nod was made in answer to that question. "Yes, My Lady. That prophecy is something my master desires."
Tsukiko hummed. "I see." She gazed on Harry. "Have you heard this, Harry-kun?"
The Boy-Who-Lived shook his head. "No, Sensei. This is the first I've heard about this."
Ron, Ginny and Neville all gasped; if Harry was calling this woman "sensei," it could lead to a disaster for the whole of wizarding Britain. All Tsukiko had to do was offer an apprenticeship to be tutored by her to Harry Potter…and the Boy-Who-Lived could walk out of Hogwarts once and for all time. Despite European attitudes towards the Dark Lady of the Orient, she was the first person to be rated Magistra Maximus by ICMC standards and was known to be a stern but thorough teacher of magic. To become her apprentice would give Harry a chance to do anything in almost any country on Earth.
That would be the ultimate slap in the face to wand magicals in Britain…though deep in his heart, Neville realized Harry had more than enough reasons to simply walk away from it all given how the Ministry and the press had treated him since the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle in their second year. And that didn't begin to mention the fact that Harry now had a sister — one saved by an ancient magical curse that, according to legend, had been created by Helga Hufflepuff to protect the souls of unborn children whose parents were killed by dark magicals; as to HOW Rose Potter had been given new life, Neville just couldn't begin to guess! — that was now the Lady Tsukuyomi's current apprentice.
"I see," Tsukiko trilled out before she shook her head. "Albus, you idiot…!" As the Death Eaters gaped in shock at her, she then held up her hands in a Why me? gesture. "So blinded by your own hubris and public image…you fool…!" She then sighed. "Rose," she bade her apprentice. "Show your brother the prophecy."
Rose nodded. "Hai, Sensei!" She then held her hands up as if she was surrendering before she moved to cross her lower arms in an "X" formation before whispering, "Eien no Ai Ani-sama…"
"Oh, Merlin, no…!"
"Mater Scientia, Minerva! Ad Se Me Alliciat…"
"What?!" Lucius demanded as he glared at Rodolphus Lestrange.
"REVELIO PROPHETIA!"
"SHE'S BEEN TRAINED AT MERIDIANA…!" Bellatrix's husband cried out…
…before a gigantic burst of pure magical power exploded from Rose's body to encompass both her and Harry in a ball of pure white light.
"HARRY!" Hermione screamed out as everyone save Tsukiko ducked away from that blinding explosion of raw magical power, squeezing their eyes shut…
…and then the light faded.
Silence then fell as people gazed in the direction of the Potter siblings. "What happened…?" Neville then demanded. "Harry…?"
"The bindings are gone…"
Eyes locked on Luna, who had a lost look on her face. "Luna!" Ginny gasped.
"Oh, Merlin! She's a Seer!" Rodolphus' brother Rabastan croaked out.
People quickly silenced themselves as the young Ravenclaw mumbled, "Innocence is forever lost…truth is now known…the Chosen One is loyal no more…Helga's Gift saved them all…the Children of the Two Phoenixes come…" And with that, Luna then jolted before a confused look crossed her face. "Hello! Oh, my! What are we doing in the Hall of Prophecy?" she then asked.
Ginny and Ron moaned…before they tensed on hearing Harry clear his throat. As they turned to watch, the Boy-Who-Lived walked over to hold out the prophecy orb to Lucius Malfoy. "Please convey this to Lord Voldemort with my compliments."
Everyone from Hogwarts save Luna gaped in shock. "HARRY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ron screamed out. "YOU'RE ACTUALLY GIVING YOU-KNOW-WHO THE PROPHE-…UURRRK!"
THAT came from the incensed look on Harry's face as he glared at his best friend. "Ron, you're a genius at chess and quidditch…but there are times that you are simply CLUELESS about everything else!" he snarled out as his green eyes flashed with the radiance of the Killing Curse that had been used on him years before by Voldemort…in answer to the prophecy whose recording was now in his hand. "Put it together! The Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Triwizard Tournament…not to mention Tom coming to kill me when I was a baby! Doesn't that say something?!"
"In other words…it's either You-Know-Who or Harry!" Hermione stated.
Ron blinked…and then he moaned. "Right…"
Harry smiled…and then he placed the prophecy orb in Lucius' hand. "There you go," he said. "Now, since you probably also came here to try to kill me or capture me to take me to your master, what say we step out into the main hall here and have a good old fashioned wand duel to see if that happens? Sound okay to you?"
The Death Eaters jolted, surprised on hearing that flippant tone in the voice of the Boy-Who-Lived, and then Bellatrix sneered. "And what makes you think, little Potty, that we're going to behave ourselves?! The Dark Lord wants you…!"
"Rose. Torture them," Harry coldly bade.
A lethal smile crossed his sister's face. "Can I kill them, Big Brother?" Rose then asked with a pout.
"You can kill them once Tom gets here," Harry stated.
"Oh, okay! POTENTIO MUTIPLO MORSMORDRE CRUCIO!"
And all the Death Eaters screamed in agony…
"Harry already has a proxy for his family vote; it's his wife," Elaine Savage noted.
"True…but there are several of Tsukiko-sensei's other apprentices who could be allowed to fill their family seats, Elaine," Hermione stated, ignoring the shivers from many of the people present on her saying that name. "If necessary, Raven Malfoy can take Draco's place as regent for Scorpius if he does something stupid; the old laws wouldn't allow Astoria to serve as regent because she is currently Daphne's heir to the Greengrass family seat in the Wizengamot. Atop that, there's Sally-Anne Perks' wife Libera Meretrice, Vince Crabbe's sister Charlotte, Greg Goyle's sister Ariel…and the biggest prize of all: Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter Cassiopeia."
Hearing that, the others hummed. The younger Vincent Crabbe had been the only one of Hogwarts' Class of 1991 to die before final graduation in 1998; he was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts nearly a year earlier thanks to an accident with Fiendfyre that immolated the Room of Requirement…and destroyed one of Voldemort's horcruxes stored there, the Diadem of Ravenclaw. Because of that, the Most Noble House of Crabbe of Saxmundham was cut down to the elder Vincent Crabbe and his long-suffering wife Helena. Thanks to his crimes as a Death Eater, the then-Lord Crabbe was imprisoned in Azkaban for the rest of his life and his family seat declared defunct…even though his still-born daughter had been saved by the Curse of Hufflepuff and given new life as Charlotte Crabbe. A graduate of Meridiana who had taken classes alongside Nekane Springfield, the niece of the Thousand Master himself, Charlotte — like Rose — apprenticed under Yomigawa Tsukiko and currently lived with her mother at their home near the North Sea coast of Suffolk. These days, she helped manage her family fortune; Charlotte herself could not inherit direct control over the family vault in Gringotts thanks to the Treaty of Ynys Môn and the laws stemming from it that blocked Meridiana students or alumni from having anything to do with anything under the control or influence of the Ministry of Magic or any Hogwarts student or alumni. To help earn her own personal income, Charlotte secretly worked as a home tutor for normal-born young wizards, witches and magi before they would go to Hogwarts or Meridiana with the approval of both Headmistress Minerva McGonagall and the current Magus of the Meridiana Magic Academy, Master Afon Tryweryn.
Greg Goyle currently served as the Viscount of Wolverhampton. Like Draco Malfoy, Greg escaped imprisonment after the Battle of Hogwarts because he had not been marked as a Death Eater by Voldemort, thus he could claim his family seat after his father had been sentenced to life in prison for treason against the Crown and the Ministry. A year after graduating, he married Hestia Carrow, a sister Slytherin from the Class of 1992 who was one of twin daughters of one of Voldemort's senior fighters, Amycus Carrow. Thanks to Harry killing Amycus and his sister Alecto during "Death Eater Season" in the summer of 1997, Hestia's twin sister Flora became the new Baroness of Norwich…and, out of sheer disgust for her father and aunt and their murderous ways, eventually married a normal-born Hufflepuff from the Class of 1994, Kevin Whitby. Hestia was persuaded by her stepmother Melia to marry Greg Goyle to form an alliance between the two families. And while she had trouble trying to influence her husband — Greg was still doggedly loyal to Draco as his father Lance had been to Lucius — Hestia had become close friends to Greg's once-lost sister Ariel, Charlotte's dorm-mate at Meridiana and another friend of Nekane Springfield's. These days, Ariel resided at the Goyle family home and effectively served as the family matriarch; their mother Philippa had passed away five years ago, shortly after Lance himself died in Azkaban. Despite all Draco's words concerning Ariel, there was nothing that could be done to force her from the Goyle home; before her death, Philippa made sure her son would properly accept his sister.
The Most Noble House of Meretrice of Wye — their ancestral keep was located in the village of Rhosan Green at the north end of the Forest of Dean — had produced nothing but squibs since the mid-1800s. Unlike Voldemort's maternal relatives, it wasn't because of extreme inbreeding; the true cause of the mass birth of squibs since that time remained a mystery to this very day. Because of that, their family seat in the Wizengamot was kept in recess until it was declared "defunct" in 1957. During the First Purification War, Voldemort himself had sensed that magical children would be born of several couples from Rhosan Green, then moved to demand that the parents swear fidelity to him and his cause. Said parents refused him; they knew of Voldemort's ancestry and refused to serve a half-blood bastard child. That caused them to be killed en masse…when Ceres Meretrice had been pregnant with QUINTUPLETS!
Fortunately for those poor children — not to mention the unborn children of other couples who lived in Rhosan Green — their spirits were preserved by the Curse of Hufflepuff long enough for a Niphentaxian observer on Earth to find them thanks to his adopted Avalonian daughter…and eventually were allowed to truly live six years after the First Purification War ended at Godric's Hollow. All had been classmates of Nekane's at Meridiana, though they had never taken lessons under the infamous Tsukuyomi. These days, the Meretrice sisters and their coven-mates from Rhosan Green all lived private lives…though the eldest of the quints, Libera, was soul-bonded to one of Harry's and Hermione's normal-born peers from Hogwarts, Sally-Anne Perks. It was because of that soul-bond that the blonde tomboyish Hufflepuff had been made to withdraw from school before OWLs had been held in the late spring of 1996 as — so it was said at the time by Dolores Umbridge — there could be no romantic liaisons between a Hogwarts student and a Meridiana student. Sally-Anne would eventually take her OWLs during the summer after her year-mates had written them…though, in the wake of her being made to resign from school, she elected to become the homemaker in hers and Libera's relationship. She also vowed to ensure no child raised by her and Libera would EVER attend Hogwarts.
As for Cassiopeia Lestrange and Raven Malfoy…
Level Nine of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic, Tuesday 18 June 1996, an hour before sunset…
"Hello, Mother."
Bellatrix gasped on hearing that quiet voice, and then she turned…
…before she found herself gazing wide-eyed on a woman who — save for the subtle differences in facial features and the lighter shade of hair that matched what her husband and brother-in-law had — could have been her twenty years ago!
"Wh-who…?"
"Morsmordre Crucio!"
Bellatrix screamed in agony as the burning sensation of the Cruciatus Curse ripped through her Dark Mark and assaulted every nerve in her body. As she collapsed to the tiled floor of the Death Chamber — where she had, minutes before, condemned her cousin Sirius Black to the Veil — the most skilled of Voldemort's followers tried desperately to hang onto her wand as this nightmarish image slowly advanced on her. Watching this from nearby, many of the Order of the Phoenix and the students from Hogwarts — including a stunned Harry Potter, now being comforted by Rose — were simply speechless at the sheer level of power and control Bellatrix's daughter showed in wandlessly torturing the older woman. After about a minute or so, Cassiopeia made a wave of her fingers to cancel the Cruciatus on her mother's Dark Mark before sighing. "This is how you can hurt them, Harry," she then calmly stated as she gazed on her friend's brother. "Don't bother with such a plain curse. Spice it up a bit!"
"Besides, it's totally legal under your laws," a voice from nearby declared.
Everyone looked over to the sultry platinum blonde woman — who looked EXACTLY like a female Draco Malfoy — now standing over her unconscious father. "What do you mean, Raven?" Hermione — who had just been saved by Draco's sister from a dark flame curse flung at her by Antonín Dolohóv with a handy shield charm — then asked.
Raven Malfoy's pale blue eyes then sparkled. "Watch, Mione-chan…
"Morsmordre Imperio!"
Lucius gargled as all conscious thought vanished from his mind, and then he slowly got to his feet. As people watched this, he took his wand and levelled it on Antonín. The raven-haired Slavic wizard — Antonín was descent from magical Russians who had fled to Britain in the wake of the October Revolution of 1917 — paled. "Lucius, no…!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
A blast of green light later, the man who had tried to kill Hermione minutes earlier collapsed dead onto the floor. As most of the Order of the Phoenix gaped in horror at the sight of one of the deadliest of Voldemort's fighters slain at the hand of his very own comrade, Raven snapped her fingers. Lucius jolted…and then paled as his memories caught up with him. "No…Antonín…!" he gasped before he tensed on hearing the sensual hiss! of a sword being drawn out of its scabbard. "No…!"
"Pity you have always been so short-sighted, Father," a voice that sounded so much like his wife's then declared. "If you had only accepted certain things, I wouldn't have to do this to you…!"
Lucius then screamed as the glowing blade of a katana punched through his body below his diaphragm. With a quick drawback, Raven yanked her sword out of her father's body, thus allowing him to collapse on the floor. "Lucius!" Lance Goyle screamed in horror before he levelled his wand at the silver-haired demon that had stabbed his friend. "CRUCIO!" he bellowed out as a bright red blast of energy zeroed in on Raven.
Seeing that, members of the Order moved to stun him unconscious…before they stopped to gaze in disbelief on seeing Raven Malfoy NOT affected by the torture curse now washing over her thanks to Greg Goyle's father. As the Death Eater trying to hurt her stopped — his eyes wide with disbelief on seeing that this hideous demon was not bothered by what he had tried to do to her — Raven smirked. "Ouch."
"Damn…!" Ron Weasley gasped.
Raven smiled at him. "You are a cute one, aren't you?" As the youngest Weasley son turned a deep shade of red, Draco's sister then glared at Lance. "My turn…
"Morsmordre Crucio!"
Lance wailed in pain as a very faint beam of light escaped Raven's hand to tear into his left arm…and then said beam was cut off by a large hunk of masonry. As Lance collapsed unconscious to the floor, Raven turned before she sighed. "Why?"
"That was not necessary, young lady."
The members of the Order breathed out in relief on seeing the former headmaster of Hogwarts step into the Death Chamber. "Professor Dumbledore!" Nymphadora Tonks called out. "Thank Merlin you're here! Tsukuyomi's here! These girls are…!"
"Calm yourself, Nymphadora. I can always sense it whenever she's close by," Albus Dumbledore stated before he sighed and looked around. "Tsukiko! I know you're here! Show yourself!"
He then tensed before turning…and then he sighed as he levelled the Elder Wand at the black-eyed woman standing at the doorway leading into the main hall of the Department of Mysteries. "Hello, Albus," Yomigawa Tsukiko stated as she stepped into the light, her voice dripping with scorn. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
He glared at her…
"Alright, then," Kingsley stated with a firm nod of his head. "Hermione, I want you and Daphne to team together to research all the laws stemming from the Treaty of Ynys Môn. If you can get a bill prepared, have it done by Monday coming up."
Hermione and Daphne exchanged looks, and then they nodded…
The London borough of Barnet, a hidden house near Mays Lane, an hour later…
"Renegotiate the Treaty of Ynys Môn? Why?"
Hermione sighed. "Because until a new treaty is in place, you can't get at your family vault in Gringotts. And we need to get to that vault before your mother gets a chance and finally learns of what exactly is inside that vault," she said before sipping from the cup of sencha Cassiopeia Lestrange had given her. "Besides, it would clear away the final obstacle blocking you — not to mention Libera Meretrice and Charlotte Crabbe — from taking control of the family seat in the Wizengamot. Originally, it didn't matter what school you went to when it came to sitting in the Wizard's Council; the prohibition came into play with the Ministry Governance Act of 1705 when the modern Ministry was formed."
"Then amend the act," Cassiopeia stated. "That's all you have to do."
Both Hermione and Daphne blinked. "That's all?" the latter demanded.
"That's all," the brown-haired, hazel-eyed daughter of Voldemort's most powerful fighter said with a smirk. "You know, Sensei is so right when it comes to European wand magicals. How easily you complicate things that are so simple in the long term."
"I can agree with that," Hermione stated as Daphne laughed. "So why just amend that?"
"Simple. The Treaty of Ynys Môn was a magical 'gentleman's agreement' between the first Magus of Meridiana and the Founders of Hogwarts so that neither side could poach potential students from the other school. Remember how fractured magical teaching was a millennia ago. Private apprenticeships with no set standards. The only decent place to learn how to use magic in the Christian world at the time thanks to the Muslims having seized Jerusalem — thus invoking the Pope's wrath and his Magical Papal Bull concerning seeking magical training in Islamic-influenced schools — was Ariadne." As the visiting witches nodded, their magi-trained host sighed. "Of course, people back then didn't want to travel to another PLANET to learn magic alongside all sorts of magical creatures…especially given the fact that many humans could interbreed with the native Nerioites. And did, too!" That earned her laughter from Hermione and Daphne; both had seen pictures of the many human-like therianthropes native to what was properly called "Nerio" and most often nicknamed the Mundus Magicus, which orbited the Sun between Earth and Mars in a quasi-hidden magical pocket dimension that couldn't be breached by normal means. So many of them were so human…even if they had animal ears and tails! "So Magus Bryn proposed that a magical sensor net be laid out all across Britain and Ireland, linked to the Roll Books in both Hogwarts and Meridiana. As soon as a magical was born, the Roll Books would automatically try to interpret what sort of magic the newborn possessed. Any links with Nerio…"
"Was an automatic candidate for Meridiana. Most anyone else went to Hogwarts," Daphne finished for her host. "And that's been going on ever since."
"Right," Cassiopeia affirmed with a nod. "And back in those days — long before the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was even proposed as a way of dealing with the Dark Times of Magic during the Reformation years — there were occasions when Hogwarts graduates and Meridiana graduates worked together to deal with magical issues. I can't even speculate on how many magical pactios were created between a Meridiana-trained mage and a Hogwarts-trained wizard or witch. Many Meridiana graduates served in the Wizard's Council; several even served as the Chief Sorcerer or Sorceress of the Kingdom!"
"Wait…"
Eyes locked on Daphne. "What?" Hermione asked.
"I just realized why people moved to cut Meridiana and its alumni off from the Ministry."
"What's that?" Cassiopeia asked.
"Because of the whole pactio thing," the Countess of Mutuantonis stated. "Look at Negi Springfield. When he went to teach English at Mahora, he formed pactios with all sorts of people. Most of them were what we'd call 'muggle' here in Britain. His wife would be a muggle by that standard." She smirked. "The Statute of Secrecy demands that no normal person who is not an immediate relative of the wizard or witch in question — by blood or marriage — can be informed of the existence of magic. The only exceptions to that rule are officers of government who need to be in the know."
"So when the Ministry Governance Act was proposed to reform the Wizard's Council, those who had been trained at Meridiana couldn't agree to cut off all potential contacts with normals. That would have limited their choices of potential partners to form pactios with." Hermione then shook her head. "Idiots…just another damned, stupid way of trying to control things to no one's real benefit!" she spat out. "No wonder Tsukiko-sensei went berserk on all the colonial ministries in Asia in the 1940s!"
Cassiopeia laughed. "It's a wonder to me that they didn't try to kill you when you agreed to become Sensei's apprentice before Riddle was killed, Mione-chan," she said. "It should have been as obvious as coal in a ballroom that you wouldn't stop until you finally dragged all the wand-wavers in this country into the Twenty-first Century."
"That's always been her good point," Daphne noted. "By the way…"
"I haven't seen Mother…and I have alert wards all over the property that will scream it out if she tries to come into the house," Cassiopeia stated with a tired sigh. "The only place I can't ward is the vault at Gringotts. Did you tell Griphook…?"
"He knows," Hermione stated with a nod. "They'll keep an eye out for her."
"So how should we word the bill for Monday?" Daphne asked.
Hermione smirked as she drew out a pad of paper and a pen…
Islington, 12 Grimmauld Place, that moment…
"I think we're burning Harry out, girls!"
Both Mandy Potter and Pansy Black perked on hearing their co-lover's words. "No! You think?!" Harry's Slytherin wife then said as she smirked at Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, who was now officially seen as the Man-Who-Won's consort. While any children born between Harry Potter and the now-retired metamorphmagus auror would have the proper protection of both the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter of Taunton Deane and Black of Grimmauld, no such child could directly inherit either family seat…unlike the case of any child born of the former Mandy Brocklehurst or Pansy Parkinson. Added to that was the complication that Mandy was also the heiress apparent of the Noble House of Lynch of Knapton. This would normally mean that any second child between Harry and Mandy would become the next Baron or Baroness of Knapton. Mandy hoped to convince Dora to take up the proxy vote for her late mother's family — as Dora was Mandy's co-lover, it would be allowed under normal circumstances — but after everyone had got back to Grimmauld Place in the wake of the previous day's events at the Wizengamot, more primal urges had taken over and they had spent the night ravaging their husband/lover.
"We are going pretty crazy with him," Mandy noted as she sipped her tea, gazing out the kitchen window onto the quiet lane where they lived. "Why is that, anyway?"
"Simple," Pansy stated. "With our magic returned to us, our cores are driving us to mate with our husband to bring forth children. In Dora's case, Harry is not just Teddy's godfather, he's also a very powerful wizard who could father more children for her now that she's recovered from what her aunt did to her. But…"
"Magic doesn't seem to realize that our bioroid bodies need about a month to fully start ovulating so we can get knocked up finally," Dora finished with a smirk as she gave Pansy an appraising look. For the sake of Dora's son, all three women were dressed in housecoats…though they didn't go far past their crotches and none of them wanted to wear panties or any other foundation garment. "Lucky thing we turned down Lady Negako's invite to learn the tantric arts of her family's school."
"My God! We'd kill Harry if we used THAT on him!" Mandy moaned.
"Good point," Pansy mused as she got up to put her tea cup into her sink, and then she poised herself behind her co-wife as her hands reached under Mandy's housecoat to get at her firm buttocks, that making the other girl gasp in shock.
"Pansy!" Mandy yelped.
"Drop the shields, Mandy-vayae," Pansy purred into the other woman's ear as her fingers gently began to probe between Mandy's legs. "It's what our husband wants…"
Smirking at the sight of Pansy — who clearly liked being in the dominant position when it came to any female lovers she had — trying to trigger the genetic programming inside Mandy so they could become marei'cha at last, Dora stood up and walked out of the kitchen into the sitting room so she could relax before the hearth fire and allow her re-awoken magic to fully bind with her new body and all its wonderful abilities.
"I take it your co-lovers are being a little frisky now, Dora?" a voice then teased.
Dora smirked. "Well, even if there are still some dominance issues inside their subconscious minds, I think they'll bond pretty soon, Grandaunt," she said as she gazed on the portraits of Walburga and Orion Black, Sirius' parents.
"And what of you, young lady?" the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black then asked from Dora's left rear. "Any possible soul-mate for you? I know you miss Remus…"
A sigh as her eyes teared. "Yeah…"
The portraits in the living room fell respectfully silent as they sensed the retired auror about to break down and cry. Given what had ultimately happened to her, it was quite understandable that she still felt the raw pain of the death of her husband Remus Lupin at the Battle of Hogwarts. Forced into a magical coma by Bellatrix Lestrange in 1997, Nymphadora Lupin had spent the next thirteen years in a "wide-awake nothing" until she had been allowed days ago to become a Terran-turned-Avalonian thanks to the Earth Angel, Moroboshi Negako, aboard H.M.S. Hood during a levée with Her Majesty in attendance. While it had done Dora a ton of good — her overall magical power had increased by fifty percent once she awoke in her new body — it still didn't help her get over the fact that she had missed out on the birth and early life of her son Ted, much less help her mourn the loss of her husband…to say anything of her parents, both of whom had been killed by Death Eaters in the late spring of 1997, just before Albus Dumbledore was mercy-killed by Severus Snape during a failed invasion of Hogwarts by Voldemort's forces.
Dora DID have the comfort that those people who had killed her parents — the infamous Carrow siblings — had been betrayed by Amycus' daughters Hestia and Flora, thus allowing Dora to kill them personally during Death Eater Season in the wake of the deaths of Pansy's parents Malcolm and Gruoch.
But still…
"You should seek out a separate lover, Dora," Phineas then advised. "Yes, it is — in your eyes — still too soon, but Avalonians DO practice 'intimate therapy' for those who lost a loved one. Mrs. O'Neill and Mrs. Carter told us that once."
Dora hummed. "I don't know, Professor…" she then breathed out. "I mean, I'd prefer a magical lover, of course…" — that earned her approving nods from both Orion and Walburga — "…but the only one close to my age I could see being lovers with is Hermione Granger. Harry looks on her as an adopted sister; it would just weird them out to get them in a surei'cha-type situation." She then hummed. "Still…"
"What?" Orion asked.
"There are some of the other girls Ambassador Holmes' father helped rescue from the power of Helga's Blessing and made Avalonians back in the mid-1980s," Dora noted.
All the portraits gaped at her. "That's right! Harry's delightful sister is one of them!" Phineas stated. "I even heard that Bellatrix has a daughter who's one!"
"Cassiopeia!" Walburga stated, giggling with pride. "I just loved watching Harry put her, Rose and Raven onto the family tapestry after he became the head of house!"
"Still, Rose IS Harry's sister," Dora noted. "Raven and Cassiopeia are my maternal first cousins, too!" She hummed. "There ARE the Meretrice girls, though…"
"Sarah Perks' sisters-in-law, you mean?" Orion asked.
Dora gaped. "You know Sally-Anne?!"
"Of course!" Walburga said as the other portraits all laughed, and then she frowned. "That poor girl! Just because she met up with Lady Libera in the Forest of Dean before her fifth year and fell in love with her was no excuse to make her leave Hogwarts!"
"There was no violation whatsoever of the Statute of Secrecy rules," the portrait of Sirius' paternal grandfather and predecessor as head of the House of Black, Arcturus, then stated. "Sarah was a witch — a muggleborn, yes, but wanting to learn everything about her new society…and her parents served the Queen as soldiers, for Merlin's sake! — and Libera was learning how to be a mage at Meridiana! That was done for centuries before the Statute was passed!" He shook his head. "Disgusting…!"
"That was another thing we could blame old Dolores Um-bitch for!" Dora snarled before sipping the rest of her tea before relaxing in her chair…
Unseen by his mother and unnoticed by the portraits in the living room, a smiling brown-haired boy of twelve was standing very still in the hallway that connected the living room with the kitchen and the stairs heading to the upper floors. Dressed now in a blue H.M.S. Hood T-shirt — one of a set of five that had been given to him by Ginny Weasley's new wife, the former Nell McAndrew, on Sunday — and slacks, Ted Lupin could only smirk as he ghosted his way up the stairs up to the second floor, where his bedroom was located. Walking inside and locking the door magically behind him — Harry had begun teaching his godson wandless magic after Ted's seventh birthday — he then made his way to his work desk, where a dataPADD awaited him. Another present from Nell McAndrew-Weasley, the Avalonian-built laptop computer/communicator was fully linked to both the HyperNet and the MagicNet; Ted had taken the device to the Technomancy Shoppe to get the links to the magical version of the Internet put in the day before while Harry and his wives were busy tearing apart the stalebloods in the Wizengamot.
With the PADD, he was now able to get in contact with a whole host of people…including Harry's maternal first cousin once removed, Margaret Dursley. A pretty girl who just turned seven, she was the daughter of Harry's cousin Dudley Dursley and his late wife Eleanor Dresden; the older woman had died in an auto accident on the M25 when Maggie was only two. Dudley — with silent financial support from Harry — chose to raise Maggie as a single parent…but the grief Maggie's father felt at the loss of his wife drove him into taking drugs. Arrested and forced into detox — which he had accepted with a grace and maturity that shocked all of those people he had bullied in the past — Dudley allowed his parents Vernon and Petunia to take charge of Maggie until he was clean and could once more act as a proper father. It was all okay…
…until she began displaying signs of accidental magic.
To Dudley's parents, it was simply too much.
While some would state that being forced to care for Harry Potter — who had been left on the Dursleys' doorstep in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT after Voldemort's first fall by Albus Dumbledore…who hadn't even done the basic, decent courtesy of informing Lily Potter's sister of what had happened at Godric's Hollow — without any chance to choose whether or not to take responsibility for a magical child was a mitigating factor, it still never excused the level of emotional and physical abuse they heaped on Petunia's nephew over the next ten years. Recalling that, Ted then grinned as he remembered a pensieve memory Harry had shown him of the day the Dursleys were shown how powerless they were when it came to their nephew…
The borough of Camden in London, King's Cross Station near Platform 9 3/4, Friday 28 June 1996, late afternoon…
"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," Arthur Weasley said.
"Yeah," Alastor Moody growled. "About how he's treated when he's at your place."
Watching his uncle and aunt quiver in outrage over being confronted by four adult magicals, Harry tried not to smirk on seeing Vernon and Petunia Dursley put on the spot like this…especially on the normal side of the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. A quick glance to Dudley Dursley, however, surprised Harry. His maternal cousin — who was still quite large, though clearly becoming quite buff and muscular because of his boxing — was glancing fearfully about…but his eyes were focusing on Harry, then his father, then back to Harry again. Noting that, Harry smirked. Pity that a certain arrangement had been made; hadn't a certain someone from Japan imposed herself between the Boy-Who-Lived and the Ministry of Magic, he would still be subject to the Trace on his wand. Not to mention still be under the magical guardianship of Albus Dumbledore…which would be legally terminated the instant he walked into Gringotts for a private reading of Sirius Black's will; his new sensei had told him about the vision his godfather had around Easter — the coming of the Grim — which foretold his pending death.
Fortunately, Gringotts didn't care at all about the legal status of wizards who had NOT been given any sort of trial for crimes by the Ministry of Magic.
Oh, dear…too bad…
Finally, after a moment of his moustache flaring and his skin turning a deep shade of puce, Vernon then snarled, "I am not aware that it is any of your business…"
"Are these the creatures who abused you, Harry-kun?"
Arthur, Dora Tonks and Remus Lupin all paled on hearing that cold voice as Harry turned to smile at the Oriental woman in the fashionable business suit who just walked through the barrier dividing Platform 9 3/4 from the rest of King's Cross. Moody smirked as he gazed over his shoulder at Harry's new teacher. "Aye, Lady Tsukuyomi, these are the pathetic arse-wipes that find it no problem to lock up children in cupboards under the stairs because they might be a bit different," the retired master auror stated with a toothy grin. "Pity questions about James' and Lily's wills were never raised at the Ministry before that idiot dumped the lad with these fools!" As the adult Dursleys sputtered on hearing such words applied to them — Dudley was gaping in surprise at what Moody just said — the old warrior added, "Might have saved Harry some trouble."
"Well, it will be resolved very soon," Yomigawa Tsukiko stated as she reached up to pull off her sunglasses to reveal her black eyes, that making Vernon and Petunia croak out in horror on seeing such unnatural dark orbs peeking out of such a normal-looking face. Dudley was also gaping, though more in curiosity. It was something the Dark Lady of the Orient was quick to note. "You have a question, young man?"
Dudley blinked, and then he asked, "Are you a metahuman?"
Tsukiko blinked in surprise on hearing THAT asked of her…and then she roared with laughter as Harry snickered and Moody guffawed. As Dudley's parents looked at him in shock and disbelief, the visitor from Japan winked at him. "Actually, my eyes are like this thanks to a rather ugly accident with some ebony meson when I was much younger and not so wise to the ways of the world. You must be Harry-kun's cousin. No after-effects from those soul-wraiths that attacked you last summer near your home?"
A wry smirk crossed his face in response. "Depends on how you define 'after-effects,' ma'am."
"Dudley…"
"Be silent…or be dead."
Petunia croaked on hearing that dire threat from Tsukiko, and then she turned to gaze on Moody. "You can't allow her to do this! You have laws…!"
"Silencio!"
Vernon jolted on hearing total silence from his wife. "BOY! You'll…!"
"Silencio!"
Now he was flapping his jaw with no effect…which made the other Weasleys and the Grangers — all of whom had gathered nearby to watch this — snicker with delight. "When I get finished with you, Harry-kun, you'll be able to do that wandlessly and without spoken words," Tsukiko vowed before she glared at the adult Dursleys. "I do not threaten people like Alastor-san and his friends were about to do. I promise…and I fulfill my promises. Karma has a way of striking back at you for bad deeds. You now have to answer for sixteen years of abuse…and I will see to it you do answer for it!" She smiled at Dudley. "Follow your son's honourable example…or else I may have to contact a friend named Dean Raeburn." As Vernon and Petunia gaped in shock on hearing the name of the leader of the War Hawks, Tsukiko added, "She's friends with your Queen. I wonder how Her Majesty would view your actions towards your nephew." As the adult Dursleys turned a sickly grey on hearing THAT unspoken threat — like many normal Britons, they were passionate monarchists…and could guess what the disfavour of the Crown could do to them — she gazed on Dudley. "We'll be busy at Gringotts for a day or so, Dudley-san. Be assured, you will be protected from Voldemort and his ilk by two house elves who have gladly agreed to serve Harry-kun. We shall arrive at the house tomorrow. Come, Harry-kun!"
Harry nodded at Dudley…before spitting into his aunt's face, which made Petunia recoil in shock. He then headed off in Tsukiko's wake as Moody whispered, "Finite!" He then smirked. "You're thinking right now about finding some way of putting Harry down again when we're not watching," he whispered at them as they shied away from that ravaged visage now looming over them. "Think again. That lady that's become Harry's new teacher is seen by us as a million times worse than Voldemort's EVER been! Back in World War Two, she totally destroyed all the colonial magical ministries in Asia, from India to Indonesia and everywhere in-between. She helped bring down the International Confederation of Wizards; that was our version of the League of Nations until 1946. And while many of the fools in this country still hate her for doing that, the rest of the world sees her as one of the greatest freedom fighters ever to live! There's no way in hell that the Ministry OR Dumbledore will come to your rescue in case Harry wants a reckoning…which he'd be entitled to. Remember that, Dursley."
Hermione had, by then, come up to join them. "The fact that Harry turned out so well despite you two and that drunken monster you call a sister, Dursley, amazes me. I'm glad that Tsukuyomi-sama has come to finally straighten things around. And I hope to heaven that bulldog-loving bitch comes to your house!" As Vernon sputtered — though he was quick to see Dan Granger, who was a former British Army officer who had served in the Special Air Service and still looked it, glaring at him to try to do something to his little girl — the normal-born of the Golden Trio turned away. "I heard Tsukuyomi-sama has a thing for dog stew!"
With a gay laugh, she headed off to rejoin her parents as Vernon and Petunia exchanged horrified looks and Dudley found himself trying not to laugh.
Much that he did care for Aunt Marge, he HATED the damned dogs…!
"What's so funny, Teddy?"
Ted gasped on hearing that voice, and then he flustered. "Sorry, Maggie…"
"It's cool," Margaret O'Neill-Carter (née Dursley) said from her own bedroom at 5 Privet Drive in Little Whinging. A beautiful girl who inherited her father's raven hair and brown eyes, she no longer had the haunted look in those orbs indicative of the abuse she had received at the hands of her grandparents for a period of about a half-year…until one of Arabella Figg's kneazles, Tufty, had taken notice and then wandered into a house inhabited by two "strange humans with a lava scent." There, he came into contact with Private Lucy O'Neill of the 3rd Battalion, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment — now serving as an acting corporal in the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) — and her bond-mate Shelley Carter, who was then an officer in the Surrey team of the Special Protected Persons Bureau of the Home Office and now served as Elder Mother of all Avalonian-Britons living in Surrey. On mind-melding with Tufty, Lucy and Shelley learned Maggie was a "witch kitten," then reported same to Arabella…who immediately called in Harry Potter.
In the wake of that, Maggie was adopted by Lucy and Shelley as their child with Dudley's blessings; he was currently serving the second year of rehab at Her Majesty's Prison Ford near Arundel for his drug addiction and probably wouldn't be paroled for a few years to come. Vernon and Petunia, however, were serving what Americans called "hard time" for their abuse of Maggie — and their nephew as well from 1981 to 1996 thanks to the secret intervention of Harry's friends in the DMLE and Gringotts — with the former now held at H.M. Prison High Down near Banstead and the latter at H.M. Prison Bronzefield near Ashford.
"I was just remembering what Harry showed me of his memories of the time Tsukiko-sensei took him on as his apprentice and she threatened your grandparents," Ted added.
Maggie giggled on hearing that. While she was still too young to really understand why her grandparents had done that to her — after all, they had fully supported her father when he elected to raise her on his own after her mother died — she had the resiliency of youth, two loving foster parents and the discovery of magic to boost her along. Even better, her "Uncle Harry" arranged for a truly cool friend named Charlotte Crabbe to start teaching her magic in the Meridiana style, using training wands and the very wordy style that went into spell-casting. And best of all, Maggie didn't have to worry about some silly underage magic restriction; Meridiana-type wands weren't tracked by the Ministry of Magic in London. Though, to teach responsibility when it came to using magic, "Aunt Charlotte" gave her students special hypnotic suggestions to make sure they didn't show off their powers around normals unless it was an emergency. When he learned how Charlotte trained magicals and STILL made sure the Statute was obeyed, Ted wished they would do something like that for Hogwarts students as well.
Even if he could get away with it living in a magical home, all the normal-borns in his classes weren't so blessed…and that wouldn't change anytime soon, it seemed.
"So what's happening about your mom's aunt? Have they found her yet?" Maggie asked.
He shook his head. "Nah! Can't believe she 'ported out of St. Mungo's…!"
KK-KRACK!
Ted yelped in shock before he spun around…and then he watched morbidly as a woman in the dark red robe-like gown of a patient at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, who had just somehow APPEARED by his locked door, staggered for a second, then toppled face-first into the floor. Silence then fell as Ted gazed down at her — he was quick to spot the greying-black hair on her head — and then he turned to gaze wide-eyed at Maggie. "Who was that?!" the younger girl then asked.
Ted blinked before he sighed. "Winky!"
Pop! "Master Teddy! What…OH, MY!" a certain house elf gasped on seeing the unconscious woman on the floor of her youngest charge's bedroom. "What is Mistress Bella doing here?! Mistress Bella is sick! She should be in hospital!"
As Winky immediately moved to levitate Bellatrix Lestrange — who looked much older than her current fifty-nine years of age…which made her physically in her mid-thirties by normal standards — onto Ted's bed, the young metamorphmagus got off her chair to stand close to his maternal grandaunt. At her home in Surrey, Maggie activated her dataPADD's holo-projection system, which was modelled after the like communications system from Star Wars, thus allowing her to literally watch what was going on in her favourite cousin's bedroom. "Wow! She looks really out of it!" she noted.
Winky nodded. "Yes, Mistress Maggie! Mistress Bella's magic is very weak!" She then waved her hand over Bellatrix's still face…and then she gasped. "The Earth Angel…!" she whispered in awed fright. "The Earth Angel did this to her…!"
Ted's jaw dropped. "The soulsword!" he gasped. "Miss Negako used a soulsword to make Mummy wake up from her coma! She did the same thing to Uncle Neville's parents, too!"
"Soulsword backlash."
Ted looked…and then he grinned. "Hey, Aunt Shelley!"
Shelley Carter was now standing behind her daughter, warmly hugging Maggie as she leaned her chin on the younger girl's head. A beautiful woman appearing to be in her early twenties, the Terran-form Avalonian-Briton had been an administrative assistant on one of the villages on Phentax Twelve before the Liberation. Possessing wavy raven hair to her mid-back and eyes the shade of chocolate, she had helped process the refugee applications of nearly a quarter-million sisters who had elected to live in Surrey during the last two weeks of February and the first three weeks of March this year. These days, she — atop doing the traditional duties of Elder Mother — was a junior administrator for the Home Office working for the Borough of Runnymede, where Little Whinging was located. Today was her day off from work. "Hi, Ted! So what's your grandaunt doing in your bedroom?"
"She escaped from St. Mungo's after Miss Negako helped Mummy and Uncle Neville's parents wake up," Ted stated. "Everyone couldn't believe it; you can't apparate out of St. Mungo's…just like you can't do it out of Hogwarts! But why…"
"This was Mistress Bella's bedroom when she was a child and stayed with her cousins, Master Teddy," Winky stated. "Winky remembers old Kreacher telling her that."
Ted hummed…and then he reached over to open one of Bellatrix's eyes. Gazing into that dull hazel orb, he then shook his head. "The lights are on…but no one's home," he whispered as he closed the eyelid. "Well, better call Uncle Harry…"
"Teddy, wait!" Shelley called out. "I don't think there's much that St. Mungo's can do for a soulsword victim. Let me get her brought over to one of our healers. Even if she was guilty of terrorism and other crimes, she still has the right to live."
Ted gazed at Maggie's adopted mother, and then he nodded…
To Be Concluded…
WRITER'S NOTES
1) Harry Potter's sister Rose Potter, Draco Malfoy's sister Raven Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter Cassiopeia Lestrange, Neville Longbottom's sister Grace Longbottom and others of the group of Terran-turned-Avalonian Meridiana-trained magi mentioned in this story are all characters I first introduced in my Icemaidens stories. In the universe of this story, I speculate that Lily Potter and other witches of her generation were pregnant at the time of the attack on Godric's Hollow on 31 October 1981…but would never give birth to living children. The Curse of Helga Hufflepuff AKA Helga's Gift or Helga's Blessing mentioned here is this universe's analogue to the combination of the Kokujun ("Shield of the Realm") ward stone spell-transmission system and the Desidero Infantis ("Lost Child") spell introduced in my Icemaidens stories. However, with the presence of the Avalonians in this universe, there was a much easier way to have those children brought back to life.
2) Translations: Minna — Everyone; -dono — Japanese suffix honorific stemming from the word tono, which means "master" and is above the polite "-san" honorific and below the very respectful "-sama" honorific in terms of level of respect…and is often used to indicate the head of one's family; Freiherr — Literally "free lord," this is the German noble title that falls in between a knight and a count, thus making it the equivalent of a British baron; Bunka Go-nen — The Fifth Year of Bunka (meaning "cultural achievement"), which is the Japanese year-date for the year 1808 C.E. on the Western calendar; Surei'cha — Literally "the one with whom you have a child" and normally translated as "child-mate," this is the person an Avalonian would select to father her child; Magistra Maximus — Literally "Supreme Mistress," this is the title for someone who has achieved TWELVE separate magical masteries (this would be seen as the step beyond the NEWT tests in Britain) which are legally recognized by any member state or community of the ICMC (the male version of this title is Magister Maximus or "Supreme Master"); Potentio Mutiplo — A spell prefix title meant to ensure the spell strikes multiple targets; Morsmordre Crucio — An application of the Cruciatus Curse on a Death Eater's Dark Mark (the reason this is done is that the Dark Mark is an magical construct…thus, this gets around the whole legal and moral issues of using an Unforgivable on a living person as indicated by Raven and Cassiopeia in the flashback scenes); Morsmordre Imperio — An application of the Imperius Curse on a Death Eater's Dark Mark to control the bearer's actions; -vayae — Sagussan suffix honorific usually meaning "My Dearest" or other terms of intimate endearment; dataPADD — Literally data Personal Archival Display Device (the term comes from Star Trek, by the way).
3) Josef Wilhelm Freiherr von Taserich is an immortal in the same manner as Hosan Hirosuke (introduced in the first Wizards and Avalonians). His birth-name is unknown to this day; the name he is known by is the Prussian noble name he assumed during the years that kingdom existed on the southeast corner of the Baltic Sea. He was quite older than Master Hosan, having well passed ten thousand years of age when Hosan himself was born five thousand years ago. He was the man who forged the Übermenschen Gruppe that was the main team of Axis non-magical metahumans who were active in World War Two. While his fate post-World War Two is a mystery, it is believed he is alive. Like Hosan, Taserich's blood is filled with crystals of ebony meson that effectively made him immortal. He is notorious among magicals and other mystics on Earth for allowing other people to be injected with ebony meson into their blood stream to give them metahuman powers. As stated in my other works such as The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone direct exposure to ebony meson will drive someone totally insane if one does not have sufficient mental guards (such as being a master in Legilimency) or has a strong will.
4) Names and locations of the various magical lordships mentioned here:
The Viscountcy of Barnet (originally Rodolphus Lestrange) — This is the name of one of the boroughs of Greater London. Modern Barnet was brought together from territory originally governed by the Counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire in 1965. Barnet itself is located ten kilometres west of north from the City of London.
The Viscountcy of Saxmundham (originally Vincent Crabbe Sr.) — This is the name of a small market town in County Suffolk, which is located five kilometres inland from the North Sea coast and thirty-five kilometres east of south from Norwich.
The Viscountcy of Wolverhampton (Gregory Goyle) — This is the name of a city in the West Midlands part of England, fifteen kilometres northwest of Birmingham.
The Barony of Norwich (Flora Carrow) — This is the name of the county town and largest city of County Norfolk. Norwich is located twenty kilometres from the North Sea coast about a hundred kilometres northeast of London.
The Viscountcy of Wye (Libera Meretrice) — This is named after the River Wye, which rises in central Wales and empties in the estuary of the River Severn near the city of Bristol. The Forest of Dean is bordered on the north and west by the River Wye and on the south by the River Severn.
5) The Department of Magical Secrecy Control (short-form DMSC) is the modern name of the Obliviator Headquarters, which was part of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes (DMAC). In the post-1997 shakeup of the Ministry of Magic, the DMAC was subordinated into the DMLE and streamlined to ensure it could better work with its normal counterparts in the Home Office.
6) It should be noted that stories concerning people such as Lì Xīshèn, Ian Boot, Ian's wife Michelle Peakes-Boot and Sally Anne Perks' parents are based on what I created for them in the Icemaidens stories without the influence of the whole Magical Sheriff concept. As I stated in the first W&A story, Magical Sheriffs do not exist in this universe.
7) As Rose Potter is a Negima Meridiana-trained "western mage," her spell to help Harry learn about the prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries works this way:
Eien no Ai Ani-sama (literally "Eternal Love for Elder Brother")
This is the activation keyword that triggers Rose's magic (she uses her desire to finally be united with Harry to give her power to use her magic);
Mater Scientia, Minerva. Ad Se Me Alliciat (literally "Minerva, Mother of Knowledge. Let Her Draw Us To Her")
This serves as the invocation to draw on magic and divine influence to seek out the effect needed for the spell; and
Revelio Prophetia (literally "Reveal the Prophecy")
This is the spell trigger that actually casts the spell forth.
8) Luna Lovegood being a Seer is pretty much fanon, but I felt it right to bring such a power into play in the flashback scenes here.
9) According to Negima manga canon, Negi Springfield was born in 1993…but since Meridiana has no age restrictions like Hogwarts does to invite people in to study magic, it is possible for people of different ages to be in the same class. Rose, Raven, Cassiopeia, Grace, Charlotte, Ariel and the other Terran-turned-Avalonian magi mentioned here are physically the same age as Harry, Draco and Neville.
10) Nerio is my name for the Mundus Magicus introduced in the "Magical World" story arc of Negima. As I stated in Phoenix From the Ashes and other stories, I do NOT accept Akamatsu-sensei's idea that Nerio is actually Mars under magical disguise. In the universe of this story, Nerio was formed when an asteroid slammed into Mars millions of years ago and literally sheared off half the planet's mass to form another planet. The life-bearing elements that were on Mars at the time were transplanted to Nerio, thus allowing life and magic to develop there. Mars, unfortunately, was rendered lifeless.
As for the "beast-people" who live on the Mundus Magicus such as Collette Farandole (who first appeared at the end of the Negima manga story "All Negi's Got" [manga story #202]), I decided to use the term therianthrope (combining two Greek words, therion and anthrōpos, respectively meaning "wild animal" and "human being") in the Icemaidens stories to describe people like her. While a therianthrope in the classic sense was a human who could transform into an animal (like the animagus transformation in Harry Potter), it struck me as a very nice term that fit people like Collette very well, so I came to use it.
11) Cassiopeia's calling Hogwarts-trained wizards and witches "wand-wavers" is technically incorrect; Meridiana-trained magi also use wands as Negi Springfield and many of his friends show…but the type of magic shown in Negima tends to lend more to what would be seen as "wandless magic" in the Harry Potter universe (which is a very hard skill to acquire), so the insult may have some basis in fact.
12) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (QRR) was one of the original infantry regiments of the British Army founded after the Restoration of 1660 brought the monarchy back to stay after the years of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. The second senior line infantry regiment in the Army during its existence, it was initially as "The Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Foot" a year after King Charles II ascended the throne. The regiment acquired its modern title in 1921 and was amalgamated into the Queen's Regiment in 1959. As with the QRR's sister regiment introduced in the first W&A story, the modern Queen's Royal Regiment was reformed by Avalonian-Britons (such as Lucy O'Neill) as an element of the Territorial Army as a reserve unit of troops that could augment its parent regiment when required…and also mobilize new battalions under its own name if called to by higher authority.
As with the Royal Sussex Regiment, the modern version of the Queen's Royal Regiment is split into two battalions. The 1st Battalion, the Queen's Royal Regiment (1 QRR) would be headquartered in Guildford while the 2nd Battalion, the Queen's Royal Regiment (2 QRR) would be headquartered in Tandridge. Unlike the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex, neither battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment would be given an airborne or airmobile infantry tasking.
13) British prisons are divided into two large classifications: "Open" prisons (where inmates — on approval by the prison authorities — can go home after a set period and show no inclination of escaping custody)…and "Closed" prisons (where inmates are considered likely candidates to escape or are seen as too much of a threat to normal people). Open prisons are also known as Category D prisons. Closed prisons are rated from Category A for the worst offenders to Category C for those who are not trustworthy for an open prison but whose probability of escaping is rated as low. Per this rating system, H.M. Prison Ford is a Category D open prison, H.M. Prison High Down is a Category B closed prison and H.M. Prison Bronzefield is a Category A closed prison.
14) The Soulsword (in Japanese, Kontō; in Latin, Animae Gladium) is, in the universe of my stories, the ultimate martial arts form. Forged of one's very own fighting spirit, the soulsword — I was inspired by the magical weapon introduced in the 1983-84 Magik comics from Marvel — can literally kill on contact when the target is a normal person. When it is a person with a strong will or psionic/magical powers, the target is forced into a coma as his/her spirit is cast out into an astral form; this would grant someone time to allow the astral form to be reinserted back into the body…but there is a time limit for such (as shown in The Senior Year story "Spirit-War Tomobiki"). When it comes to cases of possession or removing the effects of a magical curse, the soulsword literally burns the possessing spirit out of the body. As the curse used on Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin and Neville Longbottom's parents was a form of magical possession to suppress the soul of the target, the soulsword Moroboshi Negako used to free them of that curse literally restored them to life…but since the curse was powered by Bellatrix's living magic, a backlash occurred.