Colorado Springs, Colorado
Stargate Command
Apparition and Portkey Arrival Area
0800 Hours the Next Day
General George Hammond was patiently waiting for the arrival of six VIPs. As he looked at his reflection, he noticed how young he looked. His graying skin was now pink and healthy, and he had taken to shaving his head because there was hair growing back. He also had to order a new dress uniform because his shoulders were broader than they had been in a number of years and his waist line was smaller.
This was all thanks to the new medical treatment he was taking. Doctor Frasier had prescribed a number of potions that made him feel twenty years younger and helped bring his blood pressure back under control. Also the cancer that he had been diagnosed with was gone. Not in remission, but gone. He was healthy once again thanks to the group he was meeting today and the treaty that now existed between the mundane and magical world.
George knew without a doubt that he would have been dead from a heart attack or the cancer if it was not for this treaty and Doctor Frasier's insistence that he be examined and treated right away when she found out. With the help of Poppy Pomfrey and Healers from St. Mungo's George was the test subject for muggles being treated with magical means. He was pulled from his thoughts as a gush of wind signaled the arrival of the six VIPs from England.
"Lord Gryffindor, welcome to the SGC." George said as he shook Harry's hand. Harry, like the others in his group, was wearing black slacks, a dress shirt, dragon hide boots, a robe, and his weapon on his hip. Though this was not their first visit to the SGC, it was their first in an official capacity.
"The honor is mine General. I believe you already know everyone: my wife Ginny, my sister Hermione Weasley, my brother-in-law Ron Weasley, my god-brother Neville Longbottom, and his fiancée Luna Lovegood. Guys, this is Major General George Washington Hammond, Commanding Officer of Stargate Command."
"Good. Now that the formalities are out of the way, it is about time you kids made it. Jack and Sam have been dying to see you." George said as he hugged Harry and Ginny. "And my granddaughters are upset that you missed the Fourth of July this year."
"We've been busy with graduating from school and getting everything sorted out in England. Besides, we don't like that the colonies got their independence. We're British, remember?" Ginny said. "You look better now than when I last saw you. It looks like you lost twenty years and a few stones?"
"Yes I do look better and I have dropped almost forty pounds now and feel well enough to start working with Teal'c on some of the advanced hand to hand combat he teaches. Oh and before I forget, Doctor Frasier-Jackson wanted me to ask if Poppy was still planning on coming over before school started?"
"We're not sure, but we'll ask her when we get home." Hermione said as she made a note on her PDA.
George, seeing this, smiled. "Thank you Mrs. Weasley, now, let me give you the grand tour of the SGC. I know you already know everything but I have my orders to follow and they say that you are to be given the full tour, again."
"This is Neville and Luna's first trip to the SGC so please go right ahead." Ron said.
"Excellent. Well Mr. Longbottom, Miss Lovegood, I should tell you that your friends here have been given full clearance to the whole base. For the past year, there were certain areas and files that were restricted to them without an escort. That is no longer the case. Technically this clearance is called a diplomatic commission and was never meant to mean much at a base like this. However, in your cases your commissions are worth just as much here as it would on any US military base in the world, if not more because of what you have done for all of us."
"That is really nice sir. Thank you." Harry said.
"Albus & I thought it might be a good idea so we spoke to ICW, the President, and Secretary Anderson and they all agreed. Now, the details, first here are your badges and IDs. They are also magically tied to you somehow so that no one using polyjuice or anything else can use them."
"Good safety measure." Harry said "Your idea Hermione?" She nodded.
"Lords and Ladies Gryffindor and Pendragon, if you look at your IDs you will see that you all hold the rank of Colonel. Alastor is already a Major General, retired of course, and Albus is a Lieutenant General, retired as well." George explained.
"None of you will be required to salute, but your ranks do give you the authority to order things done. Thanks to an executive order from the President, Lord Gryffindor, you would be considered third in command and the CO of all Magical Troops here at the SGC. Basically you are equal to Colonel O'Neill's position."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"It is something I would like to talk about later if we could? There are a few more people who need to be involved in that discussion." George said.
"Alright General, but I do expect an answer today." Harry said as the tour started.
An hour later the group was standing in the gate room looking at the Stargate. "This is the stargate itself. This gate was discovered in Giza in 1928. The other gate, which Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter discovered in Antarctica, is in storage here at the SGC."
"It seems so strange to be able to step thru a ring and go anywhere in the galaxy." Neville said.
"And being able to perform magic isn't?" A voice asked from behind them.
The group turned around and saw Colonel Jack O'Neill standing there. "Ginny, it is about time you dragged Harry out here for a visit. I mean just because he killed a major bad guy last year, making more money than god, and of course helping to develop toys that can make a lot of people really happy, does not mean that he can slack off and not see his friends more than a couple of times a year. And we have to go to England to see you on top of that." He said hugging the redhead and then Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Technically the Lionfire Estate is in Northern Wales." Harry said.
"Whatever." Jack said dismissively.
"Neville, Luna, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Commanding Officer of SG-1. Jack, this is my god-brother Neville Francis Longbottom, Heir Apparent of the Noble House of Longbottom, and his fiancée Luna Marie Lovegood." Harry said, straightening himself up.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both. So what are you guys doing here? I thought you were waiting for your big test results to come back." Jack asked.
"We already got them." Ginny said.
At George and Jack's curious look, Hermione decided to put them out of their misery. "The four of us passed our NEWT exams with very good grades. Harry and Ginny received 10 NEWTs, Ron 9 NEWTs, and I got 11 NEWTs. As of last night, we are graduates from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry."
"Congratulations all four of you; I remember when my daughters graduated from high school. It was a very proud day for the Hammond Household." Hammond said.
"Thank you sir" Harry said, before turning to face Jack. "General Hammond was giving us the big tour thanks to Neville and Luna hereof the SGC before we went to check out the Dragon Habitat and then we are scheduled to go and check out one of the Dragon Preserves."
"Colonel, why don't you join us then? It is almost lunch time and SG-1 is scheduled to be their off-world escorts." George said.
"Good idea, sir, let's go and head to the labs next then and grab Major O'Neill. Knowing her, she'll forget to eat if I didn't remind her." Jack said as he led the group to Sam's lab.
After pulling her away from an experiment involving dragon's blood, the group headed to the training room where Teal'c was putting a number of the SGC personnel thru their paces.
"Teal'c told me the other day that he didn't have anyone to spar with anymore. With Rya'c married and off world, Bra'tac working off world, and you guys never coming to visit, he is getting rusty. I can give him a run for his money but I am usually unable to move for a week afterwards. And he refuses to spar against Sam because the last time they did he sliced her abdomen open. It was a deep gash. If not for Teal'c carrying Sam all the way to the Napoleonic Warmonger, she might have died." Jack said.
"Are you alright Major O'Neill?" Luna asked. Being a future healer, it was Luna's nature to make sure people were healthy.
"Oh yes. Between the Asgard, Tok'ra, Alterran, Magical, and Mundane Healing technologies at her disposal Janet was able to patch me up in less than twenty minutes." Sam said "Though I understand that Teal'c and Jack had some issues."
"Let me guess, Jack kicked the crap out of Teal'c, who was too noble and just took the beating like a fool." Ginny said.
"You know Jack and Teal'c too well."
"No, it is exactly what Harry and Ron would have done to each other if Hermione or I were hurt in a sparring session." Ginny said.
"Good point. I finally had to tie Teal'c down and show him that I didn't even have a scar from the accident. Besides, I should have been quicker to block." Sam said.
"And what about Jack; did you tie him down?" Hermione asked.
"I always do. He is kind of kinky like that." Sam said as Jack and George turned scarlet.
To save Jack and the General, Ron drew their attention back to Teal'c with a pointed finger. "Look at his form. It is even better than last time I saw him three months ago."
The group watched as Teal'c took on five SGC personnel in hand-to-hand combat. Ron was right. Teal'c's form was almost flawless. Every move he made was fluid and contained no wasted movement. As soon as he hit one person, he was already using the momentum of the impact to head towards his next target.
After watching Teal'c dispose all but one of his opponents, Harry and Ron looked at each other before doing a quick game of 'Rock Paper Scissors' to see who would spar with the Jaffa. Harry won as Teal'c threw his last opponent across the room hard. He would need some pain relieving potion and skelegrow when he got to the infirmary. Seeing that Teal'c was getting ready to move on, Harry removed his robes and scabbard and spoke to the Jaffa.
"Teal'c, I think that you are getting a little rusty. I mean it took you seven minutes to beat five people. I think you should spar with someone your own size." Harry said jokingly.
"Harry Potter, it is good to see you again. It has been many months since we were together." Teal'c said as he bowed to Harry.
"It's good to see you too Teal'c. And yes the last year has been busy. Having to rebuild a country and manage my finances and businesses is hard work. Would you care to give these guys a little demonstration of what you can do with your toy?" Harry said nodding towards the SGC personnel who were placing bets on the duel they were about to watch.
"I would be honored. What kind of duel do you wish to have Harry Potter?" Teal'c asked.
Harry smiled "Swords of course. First blood on the torso wins."
"I agree to your terms Harry Potter." Teal'c said as he held out his hand, a moment later his bat'leth appeared in his hand.
"What is the range for that summoning rune? I don't remember what the predicted results were for the new ring." Harry asked as he prepared to fight.
"Anywhere within the SGC and anywhere within a goa'uld mothership" Teal'c said. "The Fidelius Charm on the ring also works as per design. No one knows that I wear it unless they are told the secret by the Secret Keeper."
"That is excellent news. I'll let Snaptooth know when I see him." Harry said. "Now we shall bow, and begin." The duel lasted for fifteen minutes, all the while everyone looked on in amazement as Harry not only used his sword, but also cast spells at Teal'c. One of the things that the goblins did in the forging of the bat'leths was to make them able to deflect spells and energy blasts from weapons, which Teal'c was a master of. This made the fight much easier for him and more challenging for Harry.
At the end of the fifteen minutes, Jack called an end to the duel. "Excellent duel Teal'c. It seems unbelievable, but you have gotten even better with the bat'leth since the last time we dueled." Harry said as he wiped his brow with a towel.
"You too have improved Harry Potter. I believe that you have been training with Ginny Potter and Lord Pendragon since we have last met."
"That I have Teal'c. Anyway, when you finish with the recruits, why don't you join us? We are finishing up our tour then grabbing some lunch before we head over to see the dragon staging area." Harry said as he finished getting dressed.
"I shall endeavor to meet you for lunch. Enjoy your tour Harry Potter." Teal'c said as he bowed to Harry.
The group continued on until they arrived at the Infirmary where they heard Doctor Frasier screaming at someone. "I SWEAR TO GOD CHARLES PATRICK WEASLEY IF YOU ARE NOT MORE CAREFUL THEN I AM GOING TO CALL YOUR MOTHER!"
"Sounds like my brother got into trouble with Janet. I wonder what he did this time." Ron said.
"Probably got burned, again; he has been in at least once a week for the last two months. I think he has a crush on one of the nurses." Jack said as they entered.
Janet spotted Jack first. "Colonel I swear to god if you think that I am in the mood for you and your crap then you have another thing coming!"
"What about a visit from some friends from England?" General Hammond asked somewhat jokingly.
Janet looked up and saw the witches and wizards with her two commanding officers and best friend "Oh hello everyone. Sorry for the outburst earlier, but I am having issues with a certain dragon tamer."
"He wouldn't happen to have red hair and freckles would he?" Ginny asked.
"Why yes he does." Janet said.
"Allow me to handle this then."
"With pleasure" Janet said smiling.
"Harry dear, can you and the others place some silencing charms around Charlie's bed please? Triple strength?" Ginny said batting her eyes at her husband.
"Of course" Harry said. He, Ron and Neville cast the charm along with Hermione. Thirty seconds later, everyone could hear Ginny through the charms as she tore her brother a new ass. It was very muffled, but still able to be heard. Ron cast a wandless charm at the silencing wards they had erected and whistled in appreciation as he looked at the numbers that appeared in front of him.
"104 decibels! That is just as loud as a 747 aircraft at lift off." Sam said.
Then there was a flash of blue light followed by screams. As Ginny walked out of the silenced area, she shrunk her staff back to wand size.
"He'll need some help with the super charged bat-bogeys I gave him, but he should be more careful from now on when dealing with the dragons." Ginny said.
"Harry, she reminds me of my oldest daughter; feisty woman and meaner than a Texas Tornado." George said with a smile. "Doctor Frasier, why don't you get Mr. Weasley cleaned up and remind about the tour he is supposed to be giving in two hours."
"Yes sir." Janet said. "Good to see all of you."
After lunch, which included a number of embarrassing stories about members of SG-1, Harry and his friends made their way to the elevators that would take them to the surface and then out to the dragon area. Daniel even joined them. He had been off-world at the Alpha Site translating some rock one of the teams had found when Harry and his friends arrived. It was too large to store at the SGC, hence why it was at the Alpha Site.
The dragon habitat was concealed by a number of charms and enchantments to make it look like part of Cheyenne Mountain itself. Inside of the enchantments was where 40 dragons currently lived. Charlie, fresh out of the infirmary, gave the group, which did not include the general, the grand tour. Hammond had a meeting with the President he had to sit in on.
"So far these forty are from the dragon preserve on the Hawaiian Islands. The island itself is three times the size of the big island and is invisible to mundanes thanks to dragon magic. We're going to keep fifteen dragons there to help keep the wards up.
"We have ten male dragons and thirty female dragons. The best thing is that there are at least one male and one female dragon of each species going thru the gate."
"How are you going to knock out the dragons for transport thru the stargate?" Hermione asked. Even though she worked for the ISP, she did not know all the details of every project that was being worked on.
"Doctor Frasier and Snape have developed a knock out potion and delivery system." Charlie held up a vial of orange potion eight inches long and 3 inches in diameter. "This baby will knock out our largest dragon for twenty four hours. We shoot them from a modified P-91 powered by a banishing charm. We aim right behind the ear and the dragons drop. Once they are asleep, we use the cranes to load them onto those flat bed trailers. The trailer will then proceed to the missile doors that are above the gate room. The flat bed is designed to be lifted off the wheels and lowered down by another crane, right onto another set of wheels which will then be pushed thru the gate to their new home.
"Once there, we remove the harnesses' and let the dragons be. When they awaken, they will explore their new world. The needle also contains a locator chip which we'll use to track the dragons and monitor their condition." Charlie finished.
"What about food sources for them?" Neville asked.
"These four planets have a wide variety of both plant and animal life that are very comparable to here on earth. There are deer, cows, and even buffalo. As for plant-life there are a number of plants that we have here. I have a report in my office on the various forms of plant-life we found if you want to read it." Charlie said.
"Thanks. I spoke to Professor Sprout and a few other Herbologists and they agree that as long as the plants release oxygen, the dragons should be fine eating them." Neville said.
Harry was looking around the habitat and spoke "How about the designs for main compounds? How are they being built?"
"We are using some modified prefabricated structures that the US and British Military use. Ours however have been charmed for more room and leave no imprint on the planet they are on. Trash and waste is banished; water, food, and supplies are stored under preservation charms.
"Each of the units is enchanted to blend into the natural surroundings. We have also taken the extra steps of having emergency portkeys made which when activated will make everyone wearing on the planet return to the command center. At the same time, an automatic distress call will go out and dial the gate to the Alpha Site thanks to a remote DHD that the Asgard found in their information from the Alterrans." Charlie said.
"What we are also working on is a way to portkey the entire command center in case of an emergency to the Alpha Site once the gate is activated. And eventually maybe even be able to do the same with the dragons in case of an attack." Sam said.
"How did the experiments with the gate and the portkey work out?" Neville asked. "Can we travel between planets by way of portkey?" Even though he has a herbology genius, he still dabbled in other branches of magic.
"No. 'Moving Magic', which is what we have lumped all magical forms of travel, requires some sort of a connection between locations. For example, we cannot travel from here to Chulak by portkey without the gate being active. Once the gate is active, we can portkey from Rya'c's home to Hogwarts. It is much bumpier and longer than normal, but it is doable." Sam explained.
"What about the Iris?" Jack asked, realizing what this meant if the bad guys could learn to use magic.
"It does not seem to have an effect on Moving Magic. We have erected wards to stop all forms of magical travel, except for flame travel, around the gate room and throughout the SGC and Cheyenne Mountain. The only area that a portkey can arrive and depart in is the arrival area."
"I take it this has stopped portkeys from working thru the gate then?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Bill Weasley and his team did the wards in this matter so that we could in theory lower the wards around the gate room in case there was an emergency and we need to portkey thru the gate. The same is true with the other wards so that the base is always protected from the gate side and the outside world."
"I still don't get how we can portkey from one planet to another only when the stargate is active." Neville stated. "I mean, what if we lose our magic once the gate closes."
Charlie took up this conversation, having spent the most amount of time off world of the magic wielders "I understand Neville. Let me try to explain. Our magic, the stuff we channel thru us and from within us, comes from inside us. What makes us different from mundanes is that we are able to take the natural energy that encompasses all living things in the universe, and convert it into something that we can use either internally thru things like Occlumency, Metamorphmagi, and the Animagus Transformation, or externally in the forms of spells. Our magic grows and replenishes itself thru our rest and nourishment. Now strong external magical forces do tend to help speed up this process. These include potions, healing spells, sources of intense magic like Stonehenge, Hogwarts, Mount St. Helen, Harry and Ginny, etc." Charlie stopped to allow everyone to laugh.
"So in other words, we're fine when we go off world." Neville said.
"Yep" Charlie said. "Now to your first question: Albus and Thor think that the wormhole that is created when the two stargates activate creates a link between the two locations, almost like a bridge, that magic, which is a form of energy, can pass thru without any trouble. Without the gate, magic simply cannot cross the distance between worlds or even Earth and the Moon."
"We have discovered that if a powerful enough wizard, on the power level of at least a High Level Sorcerer, like Harry, Albus, or Ginny, can apparate to a ship in high orbit of a planet and back, providing they know exactly where it is. Albus tested this with coordinates and he was able to hit his mark ten times out of ten." Sam said.
"And for the record, the only High Level Sorcerers recorded were in order from least powerful to most, Tom Riddle, Albus Dumbledore, and Godric Gryffindor. Salazar Slytherin, Merlin, Ginny and Harry are all rated as Grand Sorcerers." Daniel added.
This information knocked Ron, Luna, Jack, Neville, and Sam on their ass in surprise. They knew Harry and Ginny were powerful, but this was unreal.
"Hermione and Ron, you guys are rated Mid Level Sorcerers. If you really needed to, you could apparate into orbit, but you would be weak from it." Harry said.
"Well this lesson on magic theory was nice, let's get back to talking about the dragons, shall we?" Jack said, feeling his head ready to explode.
"Well, it isn't about the dragons, but have we had any problems from the Goa'uld? Hermione said it has been pretty quiet on that front for a while." Ron asked.
"She's right. The Jaffa Rebellion has taken down a lot of the lesser goa'ulds and the System Lords are still trying to deal with the fallout from their dealings with Anubis last year." Daniel said.
"Any word from him yet? I mean I know that his base was blown to bits thanks to the Mark X Gate Busters we portkeyed thru the gate." Harry asked.
"Not a peep in almost a year. We know he survived, but that is it. The quietness is scaring the shit out of Jack and the General." Daniel said.
Before Jack could respond, his cell phone rang with the SGC's emergency tone. He answered it and immediately stiffened.
"O'Neill…Yes sir. How many? Stand by sir, let me put you on speaker." Jack put his phone on table after turning on the speaker. "You're on sir."
"Thank you Colonel. Five minutes ago, Master Bra'tac contacted us. He reported that some of his people were on PHX-917 and had taken what sounds like spell fire from something or someone. Two of his people were killed instantly and more injured." Hammond's voice said.
Harry immediately took action. "Neville, I'm sorry but you and Luna can't be here for this. It is rated Top Secret and you don't want to know what it takes to get that clearance."
"I understand Harry. Is there anything we can do though?"
"There sure is," Harry turned back to the phone. "Sir, I think under the circumstances we should call a meeting of the ISP War Council."
"I agree Harry. I can start calling everyone."Hammond said.
"No need sir. We have enough people here to do it." Harry turned back to his god-brother. "Neville, I want you and Luna to contact Albus and tell him that I am calling a meeting of the ISP War Council. I need him, Remus, Dora, and Snape here ASAP. Once done, I want you both to remain at Hogwarts and put the DA on alert.
"Hermione, contact Secretary Anderson and inform him as well. Charlie, Bill should be in Washington checking out the new wards around the White House, Mackrack told me that he is their designee for the War Council."
Neville and Luna both took off for the elevators that would take them back to the portkey station and then back to the Ministry of Magic in London. Hermione pulled out her cell-phone and started making calls while Charlie ran for the closest apparition point to get Bill.
"General, can you lower the wards so that we can portkey directly to the Conference Room?" Harry asked.
"I can, but Bill made sure you can make portkeys thru the wards when his team erected them." Hammond said.
"I love that boy. General, we'll be there in a few seconds." Harry said before he made the portkey to return the group to the SGC conference room. Once it was complete, the group returned to the SGC.