Book 10: The Great Wizard

by Veronice

Henry Bellamy, the wizard once called Harry Potter, is now known as 'The Great Wizard.' He is very old, very powerful, and has gained a wisdom. Yet it is only now that he becomes interested in politics. The Arabic nations especially – wizards should not be free to act exactly as they choose - as the Khatabi family has done for centuries.

1. Chapter 1

Notes: Characters and world originally based J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. This story is best read with knowledge of Book 9, Title: John.

Terms used: Language evolves with the years, and with fashion. By this time in the life of Harry Potter, he is known as Bellamy, wizards and witches are often referred to as Ani and Ania, or Anirage. Spells are often in Old Aniragi, (mostly because the writer doesn't have any Latin) Muggles are Medjkind, the Ministry of Magic is known as the DMT, and the Minister is now the Dachier. 'Crio-magic' is the term for a lasting spell put on an object.

Other notes:Bellamy's daughters: Susan, Lesley, & Mary. His employees include: Peter & Gabrielle Barnes, their son, Oliver. Kitty and Sidney Bourne, their sons, Luke, Ross and Ryan. Louise, cook, Alison, secretary, and Victor, Horse Manager.

Warning: Contains self-indulgent detail of minor characters, including horses, and hardly any sex. 51 chapters.

Chapter 1:

In early August, a few days after Henry Bellamy's birthday, he left Pat and his three daughters still lingering over their breakfast coffee, and went out for his morning ride. The dog, Trey, trotted at his heels. His new horse, Madigan, had vanished again the previous day, but he'd done that before and returned by himself. This time he was already back, and greeted the boss with a ringing neigh. Bellamy hugged the horse who had such character. He'd been originally sold to a small Australian stud, but had escaped. After the second spring of his freedom and several mares stolen from stations around, he'd been caught, gelded, and returned to the breeder with some scathing words about so-called 'clever horses.'

Bellamy wasn't planning on putting saddle and bridle on the horse, and only attached some rope to his halter, watched with some disapproval by Victor, who looked after the horses.

Bellamy glanced at him, and said, "It's too soon yet. I'll accustom him to bridle and saddle in a few weeks."

"Well, Boss, I'll have to leave this one to you. He won't let me even approach him without threatening to bite or kick."

"He'll let you in a while." He caressed the big black horse, and then lifted the long mane to show bite scars. "It's too recent. He liked being a brumby."

Victor sounded almost surly, as he stated, "Well, there's no wild horses in Britain - not true wild horses."

Bellamy answered, "There'd be some who'd argue about that."

Victor acknowledged, "Well, there might be the breeds, but still..."

There was always someone with Bellamy. It was so recent that he'd been apt to collapse with only a few seconds of warning, and his wife, Pat, had worried about him for too long to fully believe his assurances that it would not happen again. After all, he'd said that before.

Bellamy knew he was fully cured. His memory was returned, and not just his memory. It had been like he was a hollow man, but now he was whole. There was something new. Sometimes, it seemed to him that each trauma, each hardship and even heartbreak he'd endured, had left him with something extra, enhanced power or a greater understanding. This time, it was a greater feel for the life around him, the animal life, and even the insect and plant life. It was a part of his consciousness now, as it had not been before.

There was something else, maybe less mysterious, but of great potential value. He'd been half-blind for those three and a half years of illness, and, not even understanding himself what he was doing, had borrowed images from the minds of others. Only when he'd recovered his memory and his own vision, had he known the oddity of sometimes seeing himself in the images that came to him. Before that, it was just how he saw. Now he knew that it was not normal. But Bellamy was a bit sensitive about his differences from the norm, and hadn't discussed this ability even with his wife.

He mounted the black horse, who snorted questioningly and pawed the ground. Bellamy grinned and said to his horse, "If you want..." Trey backed cautiously away from the horse. Then Madigan was bucking furiously, Bellamy on his back laughing his enjoyment and balancing apparently without the slightest difficulty.

Victor waited patiently, astride his own horse. Oliver Barnes hurried over, leading Sparks. Oliver was thirteen and had every intention of working for Bellamy the rest of his life. He claimed it was the Barnes family tradition and wanted to be the fifth generation of Barnes to look after him. Now that it was school holidays, he seldom missed a day riding with him in the morning. It was a part of looking after him.

Bellamy looked around and saw them waiting. Madigan stopped bucking, raised his head and whinnied shrilly. A couple of mares answered from the next paddock. He may have been gelded, but he still liked mares.

A few minutes later, the three riders were cantering sedately along the quiet road to where they could turn onto the bridle track that led to the moors. They could drop restraint now, and galloped, Madigan forging ahead. He was a very big and powerful horse. Bellamy felt his horse's enjoyment. Madigan was no longer miserable. Being a riding horse might not have had the thrill of stealing mares from furious station owners, but there was still pleasure to be had, as Bellamy had told him not so long before.

They came home more quietly. Bellamy felt a strong thought of Victor's, not just the words, Good to have the Boss back, but the sense of satisfaction and even possessiveness, that came with it. He didn't show that he'd accidentally overheard. He only used his telepathy normally when he had very good reason, but there were always these occasions when a strong thought came to him anyway - the ones in words. Most thoughts were not organised into words.

It was often a time for talking on the way home, but this time, the three rode quietly, Trey trotting behind them. Only when they turned into their own gateway, did Oliver grin at the boss, and say, "Race?"

Bellamy grinned back. "How much start should we give you?"

Oliver boasted, "Sparks can keep up with Tattler..."

Victor took charge, and cantered Tattler a hundred yards forward, sent Sparks a little ahead of him, and then grinned at Oliver. "Maybe if we don't warn him, just start galloping..."

Oliver cast a look behind, grinned, and gave Sparks her head. The little mare knew about racing, and raced, big Tattler thundering not far behind him.

Madigan pranced, ears forward, waiting for the cue from the boss. Trey sat beside him, looking alert, then decided not to be foolish and took the more direct route to the house. Madigan threw himself into the race, stretching himself, ears laid back, and putting all his determination into catching the other horses, and then overtaking, unfortunately snapping fiercely at Tattler as he passed, making him shear to the side, almost unseating Victor.

Bellamy sat more upright, the rebuke quite gentle and only in his mind. Madigan finished at a slow canter, behind both Tattler and Sparks.

Oliver was overjoyed to win, and said, "See, Sparks is just as good as any other of the stud. Size isn't everything."

Victor smiled at the boy. He was very fond of Oliver, Cam-Medj, as he was himself. That is, born to Anirage, but without the power to work magic. He glanced disapprovingly at Bellamy's lawless horse, but then reassured himself. The boss would tame him. The boss could tame anything.

That evening, Pat and Bellamy sat together, side by side in the hot spa, the soothing water bubbling around them. Bellamy had his head back, his eyes closed, and he wore an expression of absolute contentment. Pat said after a while, "I guess I'll just have to come riding with you in the morning if I want to talk to you alone."

Bellamy opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I'm not really asleep. Just that it feels so good."

"The only times you stay still are when you're asleep or in the spa."

Bellamy sat up a bit higher and put on an expression of alert interest, so that Pat laughed and asked him how Madigan was going.

"Misbehaved today. Snapped at Tattler, but I don't think he'll do it again."

"So did you rebuke him?"

"Mildly. But we stopped racing and he loves to race."

"I heard Oliver crowing he'd won."

"Sparks is a good little mare."

Pat was quiet for a while and he waited for her. Finally, she said slowly, "I had a letter from Najia today."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow. It would not be the first time that Najia had shocked his wife with an innocent comment or question.

"We know that the Khatabis had their breeding programme..." Bellamy only nodded. Pat grinned at him with a sudden mischief, "You were supposed to be a part of it, of course."

Bellamy reddened. It was how he'd met Najia, when the beautiful young girl, barely sixteen, had tried to seduce him in order to have his baby. He'd never told Pat just how difficult he'd found it to resist her, even when he'd known her intention the moment she'd come close. He still didn't understand his own temptation. He never normally wanted any woman aside from his wife, but little Najia...

Pat went on, "And Zoe, of course, killed the matriarch of the family because her arranged mating resulted in a retarded baby who was put down."

"Mating a thirteen-year-old girl to her uncle..." Bellamy shook his head. "It was a wicked family."

"The girls accepted it as normal. And now Najia wants to know whether other families sterilise the ones they don't want to breed from."

Bellamy looked at her, shocked, "They sterilise them?"

"She didn't give details, just put in a casual question in between other things, like a mention that Zoe was bitten by a dog and that the evening course has been a help for housekeeping."

Bellamy was thinking, and finally said, "When I went to the Khatabi residence in New York, there were quite a lot of servants, but they didn't feel to me as if they had any more power than normal. I didn't ask if any of the servants had children, just told the powerful women to take their children, and leave the family."

"And the men, of course."

"I told the men they couldn't kill, or hurt, or even defend themselves if attacked, that they would lose their magic, and that they, too, were to disperse."

"It worked..."

"There's been no trouble from them since, as far as I know."

"Except for old Riza taking her revenge on you."

"I suppose she thought it justified."

Pat agreed, and was very glad that Riza Khatabi was dead. Bellamy's disappearance for over two years, and still so sick when he'd finally found his way back to her, not even knowing that she was his wife... It had been a terrible revenge.

Pat said, "I'll answer, of course, that it's not normal." But then she gave him a penetrating look, "Is it? In Aniragi culture, is it so unheard of?" Pat was Medj, often appalled at the barbaric things that wizards sometimes did to each other. Medjkind was more civilised.

Bellamy was a touch hurt that she would think it possible, but he only said, "I've never heard of any other family systematically breeding for certain characteristics as the Khatabis apparently did."

"Sorry. Just that every now and then, there's still something that astonishes me." Mixed marriages such as Bellamy's were not very common, most Anirage viewing Medjkind as far beneath them.

The exchange of letters between Pat and Najia had started slowly, after they met the girls the previous October, in Rome. Bellamy had still been sickly, but had managed to heal all but one of the sixty-five victims of Riza Khatabi. That last one had been healed only just recently, when he'd found himself again capable of raising what he referred to as 'the strong magic.' That was the end of it, he thought. The Khatabis were no longer a problem, all the living victims he knew of, were cured, and the two young Khatabi girls, Najia and Zoe, now worked as spell-breakers in Italy, coping with almost all of the demand in Europe.

A week later, Pat said, "I had another letter from Najia today."

"That was quick."

"Mostly she writes only about every month or so. She's worried about something, but hasn't told me what yet and I don't want to push."

"Just young girls and all alone. They need people to be interested in them, but would withdraw, I think, if you were not careful."

"Najia told me a little more about this sterilisation business. The children are assessed now and then from about the age of six, but what they refer to as the Sorting is done usually not long before they turn thirteen. Then some are called Khatabi-Richi, given adult type robes, with what she calls a yellow 'flash' on the right shoulder, and they're servants. And that's when they're sterilised. She says it's the Nroko Uviki Spell for the boys, and that's painless, and the Nala Spell, for the girls, and that's the vanishing of the womb and involves some minor discomfort."

She consulted her letter and read, "That's what we were told, anyway, and Zoe thinks it's right, because she never heard anyone thinking different."

"They were lied to sometimes."

"Like the girls never being told that there was any such thing as apparation."

Pat glanced back at her letter and read, "After that, Khatabi-Richi are educated separately, and we're supposed to regard them only as servants. They're free, of course, and can leave if they want. Not many leave, but Zoe thinks that some of the boys try and run away before the sterilisation. Not much point running afterwards."

Bellamy shook his head. Civilised wizarding countries had little to do with the Arabic nations, regarded as barbaric. Ones in Asia were not much better. The Khatabis were of mixed blood. They had their homes, their 'Compounds,' one in Japan and one in Morocco, as well as, for a time, the one in New York. Probably the DMT knew more, but Bellamy hadn't enquired. If he showed any inclination to interfere in law-keeping, he was always firmly discouraged with the statement that he was needed for spell-breaking, and that law enforcement was the job of the aurors. America's request for him to help defeat the Khatabis had been an exception, and only because the ranks of its aurors had been decimated by the powerful Khatabi wizards, apparently just for fun.

Henry Bellamy had unique abilities, and was the only one who could have eliminated the Khatabi threat in the manner that he did. He was also the only one who could break certain spells. Yet, by inclination, he was neither a law enforcer nor a healer. Bellamy cared about individuals, and was happiest among family and friends, playing with his horses, and sometimes involving himself in teaching, research, and even in inventing or writing books. Most of his income came from royalties from old inventions and books. He was a very wealthy man, and could afford to indulge his own interests.

The spell-breaking was an exception. He regarded it as an obligation. It took little time now, with Lucasta and Juana Stonehouse working in New Zealand, and now Zoe and Najia, known as Kaseys, not Khatabis, handling most of the European demand. Bellamy only did the few British ones, plus those failed by one of the other spell-breakers. A routine, every Friday morning, almost always only a few hours, sometimes even less, though he mostly stayed for the lunch that was provided. He had many friends at the DMT, especially the aurors who did duty as bodyguards for him.

Bellamy's daughters returned to school at the beginning of September. It would be the last year for Susan. Lesley was in fifth year, Mary in fourth year. He remarked to Pat that it had seemed so hard the last time he'd seen them return to school, when he'd felt that he didn't even know them. Pat replied, "You told me a long time ago that almost all Aniragi children go to Hogwarts."

"There's a few tiny private schools, a few primary schools, and a rare few families send their children to European schools." He smiled, "I loved it when I went to Hogwarts. It felt like home, as my guardians' house had never felt like home."

"Until eleven, raised as Medj, and now they call you the great wizard."

"I don't like it much. I almost prefer Monster, as I was for a time."

"Not mutation?"

Bellamy admitted, "I still hate it when someone calls me mutation!"

Pat laughed. Her husband may have had unique abilities, but he was very human.

She said casually, "Check the mail?" She liked to check it with him, wanting to at least see the invitations he was apt to casually pass back to Alison with the instruction, "Usual reply." The usual reply to most was a polite thank you with no indication whether or not they would attend. It was for security. Bellamy led a dangerous life when in the world of Anirage. There always seemed to be someone wanting to kill him. It was why the DMT insisted he had bodyguards. He'd never asked for them, but all the same, the bodyguards had saved his life more than once. Powerful wizard or not, he could still be defeated, as Riza Khatabi had defeated him.

Alison handed Pat a handful of letters, and gave Bellamy a summary of his own mail, "A few thank you letters, several congratulating you on your recovery, a pressing invitation to the Finch-Fletchleys for dinner, plus a few more to small affairs, not counting the large affairs you never attend." She didn't tell him about the accounts and the notices to do with his investments, notices of pays for spell-breaking or anything else to do with money. He was always perfectly content to leave all that to her.

Bellamy said, "Decline the Finch-Fletchleys," though he glanced at Pat, in case she had other ideas. But Pat was reading one of her own letters, a frown on her face.

Bellamy flicked through the sheaf of invitations, kept three, and handed the rest back to Alison, saying, "I'll let you know about the others."

Pat was still frowning, now staring into space. Bellamy glanced at her and asked Alison, "Anything else I should know?"

Alison smiled, "Jason is sleeping better these days." Bellamy glanced at the cradle holding the sleeping baby, and then went quietly over and just looked, smiling at the contented baby. Alison watched his face. She loved seeing the boss like this. He'd always been a sucker for babies, and now it was her own he admired.

Pat said quietly to Bellamy, "Would you like to have coffee in the garden?"

He'd known there was something. "I'll ask Kitty."

Kitty brought them coffees as requested, with macaroons, saying, "Louise made them."

"I'll remember to thank her then."

Pat asked, "What are the invitations, Henry?"

"A welcome celebration for Serena Davenport's baby, which I thought I might go to, you as well if you want, a conference on whether Anirage should intervene to try and protect the Exopoli from extinction, and an invitation to join Bryce and Isaac at a Convention in France, to do with their book."

"The one on Medj/Anirage differences?"

Bellamy nodded. "It would be interesting, but probably unwise. I'd be too exposed." He glanced at the letter that Pat still held, and asked, "Najia?"

Pat nodded and spread it out. "She sounds awkward. Stilted. As if she was reluctant to tell me, maybe ashamed."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell me, then."

"It's serious. I think I should tell you."

Bellamy sipped his coffee. Getting cold, so he re-heated it. Magic made such things very easy.

Pat started to read. "When Zoe left, there were only a few children left behind. And no adults, she thinks, that are not sterilised. Hicham and Yiko, but no women able to breed." Pat glanced at her Henry and hoped he wouldn't have an attack of conscience. He'd done the right thing, and should not doubt that.

She continued to read. "Every night, we practise all the Combat and Control Spells we can think of that we can practise on each other. We asked Madam Donata about spells to defend ourselves, but she said that the aurors looked after people, and that there was no need for ordinary people to worry about anything like that. But the aurors are not very good and don't understand that we could be in danger." Pat looked up, "She talks about buying spell-books and learning to apparate, but she doesn't say why they're in danger until the third page."

She looked for her place, and started again. "It's because of the breeding programme, you see. They have hardly anyone left to have children, and none left like Zoe and I, with enhanced power. They'd want Zoe, especially, as she was so much valued. I can do spells that others have trouble undoing, but Zoe's spells - I suspect that no-one aside from your husband would be able to undo her spells. She's too valuable for them. They would want her babies." Pat finished very quietly. "She's afraid that their family will take them back against their will, confiscate their wands, make them helpless with some sort of crippling spell, and use them to breed young ones for the Family. She says she thinks that's what happened to Aunt Bouchra, who is in a wheelchair, and isn't allowed a wand."

She read again, "I know she's had a lot of children, but she's too old now. There are other ways than making our legs useless, and maybe they could even make it so that we can't call your husband for help." Pat looked at her husband, and said, "Surely they wouldn't do it to two of their own."

Bellamy threw away the dregs of his coffee, suddenly bitter in his mouth. "The Khatabi men. They killed and maimed for amusement, and we know how ruthless Riza Khatabi was."

Two days after Pat received this letter, Bellamy leaned against a wall outside the building where Zoe was working, and waited to see them. To his surprise, Zoe was angry with Najia for confiding in Pat. In spite of everything, Zoe felt a loyalty to her family.

Bellamy said, "I won't interfere in your lives, but if you want, I can teach you Defence Spells, crio-magic, that can also be a defence, and I can maybe help with Zoe's telepathy."

Zoe said reluctantly, "I know hardly any crio-magic."

Najia said, "I think it's something they didn't teach the women very much."

Bellamy was a gifted teacher, and after the beginning, Zoe put aside her fierce independence and accepted the help they needed. He visited frequently in the next weeks, teaching them both to erect an instant shield that would protect against spells. "Probably not a Death Curse, though mine does. But if you're frightened of being taken prisoner, this is what you should practise, again and again and again, so that it's just there when you need it."

He taught them other things, an instant apparation dodge, that he'd practised himself when he was just Zoe's age. Anti-apparation crio-magic, and he had Najia do an area, and had Zoe see if she could ignore it, as he could do. He was philosophical when she failed, and admitted, "As far as I know, I'm the only one who can do that." Apparation with a passenger, although that difficult skill was usually only taught to aurors.

The girls soaked up all he could teach them. He made them feel less exposed, less insecure. One day, he suggested they ask for a few days off, and once that was arranged, took them to London and showed them a hidden house, what he called the 'Black' house. "I've owned it since I was fifteen. But it was owned before that by an evil family of wizards, and they've left an atmosphere. I never liked it much, but I've only ever told my immediate family about it, and it's forgotten as well as having powerful enchantments that hide it. It's very, very secret, and you can use it, live here permanently if you want, or just have it as a refuge in case of danger, as I do." And he walked around casually vanishing and re-conjuring some of the furniture.

Najia asked curiously, "How long do your conjures last?"

"Long enough," he replied vaguely. To tell them they lasted at least seventy years when the record was sixteen months was too obvious an indicator that he was something different.

By November, Bellamy's visits to Rome had become less frequent. The girls were very competent, and as he said to Pat, they were natural fighters. "Bred for it, of course, even though Zoe says the women were never fighters themselves."

"Zoe still accepting your help?"

"She's polite, but told me that they could do very well by themselves now."

"She still prickly?"

Bellamy smiled with some fondness. "She'll always be prickly, I think. Very guarded. Doesn't want to get too close, and while Najia always gives me a hug, she only offers a hand to shake."

Pat looked at him in surprise, and then comprehension. It hadn't occurred to Henry, but she suspected she knew exactly why Zoe might be reserved. Given a chance, Zoe would love him, maybe as a mature woman loves, more than the doting adoration that Najia bore for him. Zoe was seventeen, Najia twenty.

At the end of November, a newspaper article fell out of the letter that Najia had written to Pat. It was in Italian, and Pat put it aside. Henry could read it for her. It was obviously about the Kaseys as their photographs were in the paper. It was very serious, and proved that the girls' fear of kidnap was not unfounded. But Pat smiled as she read the letter. Najia was so proud of her cousin. They stunned me before I even knew we were attacked, but Zoe fought and brought down two, and Santo brought down one, and one escaped. Three Khatabi-Richi arrested for the crime of attempted kidnap!

Bellamy went to see the girls, but Zoe told him firmly that it proved they could look after themselves and he was not to worry. Najia looked at her cousin's resolve, and added, "The aurors are much more alert now. I doubt if it will happen again."

Bellamy said, "You do know that you can call me. And if Zoe calls me, she can tell me things, more than just a cry for help. You can simply ask me to come when convenient, for instance." And he entertained them with an old story of going to the help of an auror once, when he had just a towel wrapped around his waist. "Just out of the shower."

Zoe looked at him, laughed, and asked, "Did she forgive you?"

Bellamy blushed and said crossly, "How often have I told you it's not ethical to look at minds?"

Zoe was grinning, and Najia asked, "Did she forgive you?"

Bellamy admitted ruefully, "I tried flowers, chocolate and jewellery and was still dumped a week or so later. It was the worst time!"

Six days later, Zoe did call him, finding that she could talk to him in her mind, even over such a distance. Not an urgent trip, Please come this evening. We need your help.

Bellamy was at dinner, eating in the staff dining room rather than the private one, as Pat was out. Victor was talking to him about the recent successes of Oliver and his friend Steve, at a horse show, when he looked away, listening instead to Zoe. There was no urgency, no fear, more a bewilderment. Members of her family in trouble, women and children. Zoe didn't know how to help.

Bellamy sent back a reassurance. There in a half hour, and turned his attention back to Victor, who asked whether he'd been listening.

"Of course. You said that Sparks shows talent at the gymkhana events as well as the jumping."

Victor nodded gruffly and added, "Young Steve's spending a lot of time with Gemma Cutter, who still routinely wins show classes with her palomino."

"They going to the December show?"

"I think so. They're keen as mustard and getting better all the time."

"How are the lessons going?"

"Janie and Tilse are doing well. Their parents bring them four times a week." Janie and Tilse were daughters of Rick McArdle, who worked for Paul Pickering. Victor tutored all the children in riding, as Helena Pickering gave them their primary schooling. Bellamy's daughters, Lesley and Mary, had been exceptions, never interested in riding.

Bellamy rose from the table a little early, and left a message for Pat, saying where he was, before apparating to Rome and knocking at the door of the Kasey's little flat. It was very full, and Bellamy was introduced to Akila Khatabi and her son of fourteen, Tristan, who was trying not to show that he was very much afraid of him. There were children as well, girls, Zahra, twelve, Najet, nine, and young Jiro, a boy of four. Then there were two heavily pregnant young girls, Bahiti, fourteen, and Hasina, a couple of years older.

After a few pleasantries, Akila took command. She appeared to be about forty, was a good-looking woman of Arabic appearance, and looked tired and worried. She told the young children to go to bed, ignoring Zahra's complaint that she was only a little younger than Bahiti.

After they took themselves off, she made a silencing shield, saying that it was not a story that she wanted the children to overhear. Bellamy sat in the comfortable chair he'd conjured for himself, and listened.

Akila said, "I left them shortly after having Tristan. I was supposed to be mated with Ahjmed next, and I didn't want that monster anywhere near me."

"You couldn't just say no?"

Akila smiled slightly, and said, "We were taught from earliest childhood the absolute necessity of obedience. Few of us contemplate anything else. They found us, but all they did was to sterilise me. I'm not powerful myself, and at that time there were plenty of other women. They didn't need me, and so we were left alone."

Tristan said, "If things had been different, they may have come back for me, but I'm not powerful either, or even very clever. But by the time they came for us, they had no-one but Tashfin, who's just a couple of months older than me. All they had to father children, and no women or girls."

Hasina said in a bitter voice, "So they took Bahiti and me. We're not Khatabis. Egyptian. They tied us down, and had us raped for the purpose of breeding babies."

Tristan looked firmly at the floor, his acute embarrassment too strong for Bellamy to miss. Bahiti was sitting next to the boy and took his hand. Bahiti finished the story, "Tristan listened to me, and talked to Akila, and then Akila and Tristan stunned a couple of guards and rescued us."

Bellamy's eyes were on Tristan. It may have been just a boy, but rape was a very serious crime in his eyes. He was knowing his mind. Bahiti had been tied down, even blindfolded, at least the first night. He made it so that Tristan felt his cold gaze.

Tristan's fear turned to terror, but there was no way he could fight the great wizard, even if the sentence was death.

Bahiti said defensively, "It wasn't his fault. They said it was his duty to his family."

Tristan was not excusing himself. He should have refused. If only he'd been more brave, but when he saw her... And maybe the potion they'd given him had an effect as well.

Bellamy took his eyes off the boy to the relief of Bahiti and Akila. Tristan scarcely realised, seeing himself as a rapist as he hadn't quite seen himself before.

Akila said, "We took their last children, as well."

"Not Tashfin, of course. He likes rape."

Bellamy asked, "You're afraid they'll come for you again?"

Zoe replied, "If they catch one whiff of their whereabouts, they'd come. The two babies, plus the three Khatabi children. They can't afford to lose them."

Akila said, "They're desperate. If they cannot find members of the family to breed, there'll be none left."

Hasina put in acidly, "And a very good thing!"

Zoe said, "They've still got Tashfin, so I guess they'll just kidnap another girl for him."

"Why stop at one? I'm sure he could get as many pregnant as he chose, and the more they hated it, the more he'd enjoy it!"

"The servants said he showed indications of enhanced power and was extremely valuable - the future of the family."

"Yiko's dead, if you didn't know, by the way, and the Japanese Compound is closed down."

Zahra appeared again, with the excuse of looking for a glass of water before returning to bed. She was going to have the beauty of some of the Japanese/Arabic mixes, the same as Najia. Akila allowed her to have her water, as the child stared curiously and a touch fearfully at their male visitor, but she then went obediently to bed.

Once she was out of earshot, Akila said in a level voice, "If Zahra was home, she'd soon be having lessons in reproduction, and soon after, she'd be mated. If she was not obedient, they would restrain her or maybe use the Snail Spell, and have her mated anyway, only provided they have a suitable fertile male."

"Just Tashfin's not enough, or all the babies will be brothers and sisters."

"Well, Jiro's only four, and I don't know of any others besides Tristan."

Bahiti squeezed Tristan's hand, and said consolingly, "Don't worry. You made up for it."

Tristan gave her a timid half-smile. He loved her, shared a bed with her every night, and wanted to marry her as soon as he could.

Bellamy asked, "When are the babies due?"

"Early in January."

"You'd best have my house in London then, as long as you want. Besides Zoe and Najia, only my immediate family know where it is. The crio-magic on it is ancient and very powerful. They won't find you there. Zahra can go to Hogwarts, which is also very safe, the others when they're old enough."

Akila gave a deep breath of relief and sagged in her chair. She was not accustomed to taking responsibility, and the last few months had been very hard on her. She was also running very short of money.

Bellamy said kindly, "No need to worry any more. I'm perfectly able to support all of you, as long as you want. The only thing is that you need new names. Too foolish to be called by your old names."

The following day, Bellamy provided each of the 'Peterson' family with passports, escorted the group to an airport, and took them to the hidden house in London. At the Black house, as soon as the weary party arrived, a pair of house-elves started serving coffee and rolls. "This is Liktry and Kelta," said Bellamy. "I'll try and organise a human helper as well, and maybe a security guard."

Akila looked around at the house. "I can see this house has not been loved for a long time," but then she went to him and said a dignified thank you.

He smiled at her, "You're a courageous woman. The children owe a lot to you. You're to ask for whatever you need."

Patricia Peterson, formerly Zahra Khatabi, was enrolled at Hogwarts by Bellamy. Jill Parker, the headmistress, looked at him suspiciously. He looked up from the form he was filling in, reddened, and said that Patricia was definitely not his daughter.

Jill apologised and reflected that he may have been an incurable womaniser when he was not married, but he'd been married to Pat long enough that a child of this age was most unlikely. She asked, "Any more to follow?"

"Probably two more when they're old enough."

The headmistress said, "Anything I should know?"

"Patricia does not have permission to go outside the school grounds, even on supervised excursions, unless myself or her guardian tells you differently. I don't expect anyone to find her here, but there could be people looking, so she has to be protected."

Jill didn't ask for any more information, but asked instead about Oliver, whom she'd met.

Bellamy said, "He's a great boy, and since that attack in April, he and Luke Bourne are very friendly again."

Madam Parker smiled, pleased. So difficult for Oliver, growing up with three other boys, and himself the only one without magic. Cam-Medj were rare, and some families treated the poor children as a disgrace to the whole family, as if it was their fault.

There was ample money now, provided by Bellamy, the money taken for granted by Akila, who took it as natural that someone else should provide for her. She did not take his continuing interest for granted, and took a great deal of comfort from it. Like a sheltering wing he continued to extend over the fugitives. Bellamy's house finally had someone who cared about it, and it started to become the home it hadn't been for centuries. Akila found a new liking for interior decoration, and Bellamy one day smiled at her in warm approval. "I always disliked this house, but you've already made it a home."

Early in January, on the same day, an expert specialist healer helped both Hasina and Bahiti give birth. Both the babies were girls. The breeding stock now tucked away in Bellamy's house could have been the beginnings of a revived Khatabi Family. Instead, Bellamy visited frequently, and gave them the same sort of defence lessons he'd given Zoe and Najia. He regarded them as refugees, and looked after them as best he could, short of taking them to his own hidden home. There were too many, and young Jiro had a streak of cruelty in him. Once he was older, there could be the potential for treachery. Hasina's baby could have the same cruel streak. Bellamy always had a sense of people - not knowing minds, but characteristics such as strength, intelligence, courage - or a mean streak - it was a part of his awareness of a person.

Life settled down for the 'Petersons.' Akila started to look a lot happier, and the girls adored their babies. Tristan, in spite of his youth, acted as if they were both his children, and Hasina smiled on him. She didn't want her daughter growing up without something like a loving father.

Bellamy was confident they were protected, checked on them now and then, but Archie and Peter Barnes coped with the details of their care, and Alison with the financial arrangements.

***chapter end***