Beneath Sovereign Skies

by Bobmin356

Harry and the dragons fight to find their place and gain acceptance amidst growing international tensions. Not all is well and good as the Weyrs threaten established powers and offer new opportunities. Follow Harry and the dragons as they try to navigate increasingly turbulent waters of international politics, terrorism and intrigue. On indefinite hiatus.

3. Chapter 3

Standard Disclaimer:

"And folks if you call in within the next fifteen minutes, we'll include free complimentary llama shaped candy canes to go along with your Christmas Llama star," Alyx proclaimed happily.

Bob walked onto the stage and blinked in shock. Then he blinked again, hoping the sight would vanish, but alas, it didn't. Alyx had covered the stage in snow and she was dressed up as one of Santa's elves. There was a large palm tree that had a number of ornaments stapled to it, and under it was a little nativity scene where someone had replaced the sheep, cows and donkeys with llamas, manatees and a sloth named 'Pokey'.

The three wise men looked like the Blues Brothers and to top it off, a large neon sign blinked above the scene proclaiming the arrival of the very first Christmas.

Bob slowly face palmed then he looked at his wife. "What are you doing?" he shouted, "Can't you just for once write a simple disclaimer telling people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern?"

"I'm just following one of your ideas," Alyx replied smugly. "Remember when you wrote Multiverse? That story with billions of infinite universes?"

"Yeah," Bob replied guardedly. He didn't dare debate the concept of applying 'billion' and 'infinite' together made no sense.

Alyx grinned. "Well I had an idea for a new movie and I figured I would sell some of my own designed Llama Christmas tree stars to finance the movie!"

"But it's not Christmas!" exclaimed Bob.

Alyx chuckled. "That's the beauty of it. Somewhere out there it is Christmas. Christmas doesn't fall on the same day in every universe you know," she replied smugly. "In fact there are an infinite number of universes where today is Christmas."

Bob sighed and massaged his pounding temples. Infinities always gave him a headache. "Do I want to know what this movie is about?" he whined.

Alyx perked up. "I'm glad you asked. It stars a deranged, mutated Snape!" she gushed.

Bob smiled brightly. "I think I like this movie already."

"Draco plays the handsome, far too young scientific hero that must travel around the world looking for a cure for Snape while Harry Potter plays an evil villain out to control Snape and wreak havoc on civilization. Meanwhile Snape escapes from his confinement and is attacking several cities. I call it Snapezilla attacks!"

Bob blanched. "Start the story! Start the story!" he shouted over Alyx's continuing description.

"Lord I would hate to see what her idea of crowd funding is all about," Bob muttered, then he turned and stalked off the stage.

---

Beneath Sovereign Skies
Chapter 3
Dementors and River Stones

Hangar two, Campbeltown Weyr, August 5th, 1997...

In the months since Spath's passing Dronth slipped into the role of Elder dragon with a fervor that Spath couldn't match. For all his age, Dronth was still more than 100 years younger than Spath. His ability as one of the few dream walkers made him a very effective teacher of the Weyrlings and gave Remus a detailed view of life in a Pern Weyr that even Spath would have trouble matching.

But not all of his Earthly memories were as good as the Pern memories. Dragons and Dementors had a long history thanks to Wizards. It came as a surprise to Remus and it was why Dronth was so eager to take part in the next major Weyr task.

Dronth had revealed memories of several Mediterranean countries making sport of forcing dragons and dementors into close contact in an enclosed arena several centuries ago. The sport had fallen out of favor in the mid eighteenth century, but the dragons in the Mediterranean nations remembered it well. Dronth came from a North African nation and he had vivid memories of the 'sport' from the few survivors.

These memories, along with information learned from the Battle of Balmoral Castle meant that world wide dragon-kind wanted these creatures destroyed.

Harry walked into the hangar and quickly climbed the short steps to the stage. Dronth moved to position himself next to Chekiath just to one side of the stage. Chekiath crooned a greeting to Dronth who crooned in reply then they both turned their attention to Harry on the stage.

With the hatching back in November and again in February the Weyr's ranks had swelled to two hundred and four riders. The increased population had resulted in Harry ordering the elves to gut Hangar two and restructure the interior again. The huge space inside had been reclaimed, gone were the classrooms for Magic, instead the space now had enough room to fit roughly twice their number and still had room left over for the dragons of the Wing leaders.

The Weyr theater couldn't fit everyone and by the end of the year they would be moving to shifts for meals until the Kitchen hall could be expanded. Many of the couples were taking to cooking some of their own meals in their quarters in order to avoid the noisy kitchen hall. The only meal the Weyr tried hard to share together was breakfast because Harry usually had announcements to make.

Construction had begun over the summer for Susan's design for an apartment block. It was a strange looking affair that seemed to resemble an out-door car park and storage units. The building had broad, reinforced balconies for dragons to land and take off from. The plans eventually called for five of these sixty apartment, buildings to be constructed, but right now they were just building the one.

Just four stories tall with six single bedroom and nine double bedroom apartments, per floor, each building would comfortably fit at least sixty single riders and with the appropriate space enlarging charms even larger families could be accommodated.

Every morning construction workers would arrive and enter via a secured gate where they would board mini-buses to ferry them to the work site. It added a little extra time to the construction but it allowed Major Atkins' people to keep a close eye on the workers. The construction company had extensive military construction experience and had no problem dealing with the security restrictions. And the Weyr's restrictions were minor compared to some of the work they did.

For now however the Weyr was seriously cramped and a few riders were living out of magical tents that they had bought with the help of Gringotts. The Weyr was starting to generate some serious money but even with that, construction still took time. Everyone knew it was temporary, the first apartment building would be finished in late January of 1998 but for now, people were seriously crunched and Harry was already worrying about the addition of new riders come November.

Harry stopped in the center of the stage and he looked down for a moment, passing an image to every dragon in the Weyr, then he turned and walked over to a white board and placed a large map against the board with a sticking charm.

He nodded to his guest and then looked at his riders, signaling them to settle down. "Good morning riders. My guest is Yoshi Musabe, official court wizard to the Japanese Imperial court and ICW delegate for Japan. Starting today we are going to be assisting Mr. Musabe and the dragons of Sakushima Weyr in eliminating the Japanese population of dementors. I am sure by now the wizards among you have explained about the extra classes they've had for the past month on casting the Patronus charm. So you probably knew that we'd be going up against dementors soon."

Harry paused and smiled. "What you don't know is that the Japanese government is willing to cede a large piece of Sakushima island to the Weyrs in payment as well as paying a bounty for each dementor we eliminate. They have even offered to help install the necessary physical security measures for a new Weyr. However unlike the Americans or the British they were reluctant to assign a military force to help secure the facility.

"It has taken us this long, but we now have permission to hire an armed security service company to provide security for Sakushima. Our new friends were reluctant to allow armed security for the new Weyr, but it will only be needed for a few years, until the new Weyr is capable of protecting itself."

Harry didn't need to point out to anyone that a dragon was capable of destroying just about any threat with it's fire. The Japanese government understood that fact but had opted to pretend otherwise. For Harry it provided a unique insight into the Japanese mindset.

He nodded to Ronan who in turn ordered his people to pass out folders containing information about what they would be doing.

Harry waited until everyone had a folder, then he pointed towards the map and a large lit circle appeared, centered on a single mountain. "In your folder is a map, please take it out to look at."

He paused and waited as everyone dug through their folder. In quick order everyone had a map in their hands and were looking at him with interest.

"In the Shari District of the Hokkaido Prefecture there is a penned in area which is heavily warded. Despite the wards, each year a few of the dementors manage to slip out to cause trouble among the local mundane population.

"Mount Unabetsu and the area some 20 miles around it are home to some one hundred to one hundred forty dementors. The Japanese never took an accurate census of the things, but then they never tried to use them as prison guards either. Unlike the British Ministry for Magic, our Japanese friends never attempted to use them in any capacity. Sometime around 1790, they invented a ward which the dementors didn't like and they herded them into an enclosed area around the mountain.

"The area is heavily wooded and that is going to be a problem," Harry said tensely. He gestured and the map expanded on the board until it had zoomed into what looked like a break in the forest. "This is the nearest large clearing that doesn't have people nearby and it's the only significant clearing in the warded zone. With the forest in the way, we have the problem of spotting dementors and getting to them."

Harry looked back to his riders and grinned. "The Japanese government has politely asked that we do not burn the forest down to get to the dementors," he said with a slight smirk, and then he paused while the riders chuckled.

Nearby Yoshi nodded fervently. This was an old sacred forest revered by mundane and magical equally and a forest fire would not be impeded by the dementor wards.

"What I propose is an effort that is going to see us very busy for the next week or two. The magical riders have been practicing their Patronus charms on their dragons for a reason. We are going to round up the dementors by herding them towards that clearing.

"It may take multiple sweeps to get them all. Sakushima will locate the dementors and we'll herd them towards the clearing where the non-magical riders will be waiting to snatch them up and take them between.

"A dragon that is being used as a Patronus focus creates a shielded area, sort of an anti-dementor zone. We'll slowly sweep the treetops and herd any dementors located by pushing at them with this Patronus zone. It may take a bit at first, but I'm confident we'll soon work out how to herd the dementors into the direction we want them to go."

Harry turned back to the map and explained his plan in greater detail for dealing with the dementors. He pointed out where they would be staying. There was a children's summer camp near the edge of the warded area that had been closed years earlier because of a dementor breakout. The buildings had been recently renovated and there was adequate room for the Sakushima and Campbeltown dragons as well as space and facilities for the riders.

As Harry spoke it became clear that the Weyr would be earning a tidy sum of money for eliminating the dementors and already had agreed with the Japanese to reinvest most of that into turning Sakushima into a full Weyr. Sakushima Weyr would be the first Weyr that was built using money earned by the dragons instead of donated by a host government.

That also meant that Luna and her team would begin searching for potential candidates once the dementors were dealt with.

Harry paused again and turned back to his audience. He slid his hands into his pockets and looked at them carefully, trying to gage their reaction. "That's the plan people. We'll spend the next two weeks trying to herd the dementors into position. Mr. Musabe assures me that they will have several members of the Japanese Aurors on site to help with the local authorities and we'll have someone to help us with simple stuff like shopping. They will also provide each of us an enchanted object that will provide translations for Japanese. The objects will have the added benefit of making any mundanes hear us in Japanese."

Harry glanced around and then he spotted Arnas Roberts, the Weyr meteorologist. "Arnas, what kind of weather can we expect in this area?"

Arnas stood and shuffled his feet nervously. Normally his job consisted of posting local weather reports in the Kitchen hall as well as looking up weather conditions around the world for the Wing Leaders. Today was the first time he would be addressing the entire Weyr.

Arnas coughed nervously and glanced at a clip board in his hand. "There is no significant weather over the target area at the moment. A seven day forecast shows little change, but I'll continue to monitor the situation. Feymieth and I will jump back to Campbeltown daily to check the forecasts.

"The terrain does lend itself to typical mountain weather. That means we can expect morning fogs and or a light drizzle that will burn off by mid morning. Despite the date, it is probable that we'll see cool evenings requiring heavier clothing. Afternoons however can be quite warm. I don't anticipate any significant weather to impact flight operations," he said, then he sat down in his chair and looked about nervously.

Harry smiled at Arnas and nodded his thanks. He glanced at his watch. "Your dragons have the jump imagery; we'll assemble on the flight line tomorrow at zero four hundred hours. That will have us arriving around noon in Japan. Make sure you pack some warm clothing. Wing Leaders, we'll have a meeting tomorrow evening after everyone gets settled in at the base camp. So for now you're dismissed, go pack, or tell Major Atkins if you need a run into town for any personal needs. She'll arrange for the motor-coach to make a town shopping run."

The riders stood and slowly started to disperse. Each of them had things to attend to before tomorrow. The riders rarely took their dragons into town because of the excitement that they generated and the fact that the dragons couldn't enter the stores. None of the riders expected that to ever change, but it made them uncomfortable to leave their dragon sitting in some parking lot while their rider shopped.

"Oh!" called Harry with a grin. "Don't forget your passports!"

Laughing the riders made their way to the exits. Each rider carried an official British passport for themselves and a Campbeltown Weyr issued passport for their dragons. Unfortunately as far as Harry was concerned, no one had asked to see their passports since their trip to the United Nations in New York. He wanted to issue passports to the riders as well, but first he needed just one country to acknowledge the Campbeltown passports. With that precedent set, issuing passports to the riders would be easy.

Harry turned to Yoshi and grinned. "That went well actually. A lot of the riders from the later impressions haven't experienced dementors but they are taking it very seriously. Only the first and second impression riders have any experience with them and they are understandably nervous."

Yoshi moved closer to him on the stage, behind him Harry could spot May, Hermione and Ronan climbing the short stairs to join them. "And the dragons?" asked Yoshi.

Harry's expression hardened. "They want them dead," he said flatly. "You know about the racial memories of dragons correct?"

Yoshi nodded.

"Dronth, our elder dragon and our Weyr historian got to talking one day and we quickly realized that dragons had faced dementors in the past on more than a few occasions. During the time of the beasts they had been forced to face them as a kind of sport by some magical communities. Without their intellect, the dragons had little control over their fire and almost none over their flying abilities. The dementors didn't always win, so the dragons remember being forced to face them; they are willing to do anything to rid the world of their menace," Harry said harshly.

"They even give dragons nightmares," Ronan added quietly.

Yoshi raised one eyebrow, he was surprised to see how serious the riders were taking this task. The press portrayed the riders as being some kind of daring adventurers but Yoshi was discovering that was far from the truth. He had witnessed some of the training the magical riders had undergone and came away impressed. The Weyr was deadly serious about eliminating the dementors and deadly serious in performing their duty to the Weyr and dragon-kind. "Well then perhaps someday we will be able to declare such creatures a thing of the past."

"Now that is something I'll drink to," May said fervently. The few times she had been close to dementors they bothered her deeply. That was before she had gotten together with Harry and she told Hermione that she'd end up needing some serious Harry cuddling if she had a repeat of her first encounter. Hermione smiled and told her that it was likely they all would need some serious reassurance if they got too close.

May and Hagrid were to set up a small medical clinic in case of dragon injury, so unless the dementors attacked the base camp, the odds were slim that she'd see one up close on this trip.

Harry smiled; the thought of ridding the world of dementors was a good one, especially if he could get countries to pony up cash for the effort. He wasn't interested in putting a Weyr in every country but he wasn't adverse to earning the dragons some welcome currency that wasn't attached to hot rocks.

As it stood the Weyr had three primary sources of wizarding galleons. The first source came from the work done by Polenth's clan of underground dragons and Harry kept seventy five percent of that in trust for Polenth and his clan in case they ever needed it. The second source was from the sale of scales and custom built Jordan wands and finally they made galleons from selling dragon dung.

Hot Rocks were expected to become the Weyr's principle source of income once the power plants started going on-line. Right now the Weyr only produced hot rocks for testing and research only.

They were earning fifty million British pounds for this job, most of which would be sunk right back into the Japanese economy to pay for the construction of Sakushima Weyr. But there were plenty of other countries in the world with dementor problems. If Harry had his way, this Japanese job would set the precedent and the price tag for all future dementor hunts.

Harry wanted the dragons to earn their place in the world. So if he could finance a new manned Weyr by eliminating dementors, he would.

Both Maziang and Condron were absent from this particular exercise but he had plans to include them in future dementor hunts. And he was certain that once word got out about Japan getting rid of the problem, other magical ministries would be screaming for similar services.

"Mr. Musabe, I wanted to thank you for all your help. I know how time consuming this has been, and that it's taken away from your time dealing with the Mediterranean crisis," Harry said.

Yoshi smiled and shook his head. "Please, Weyrleader, among mages there are only given names, it is just Yoshi."

Harry smiled. "Then you must call me Harry."

The old mage returned his smile and bowed slightly. "As to the issue between Italy and Greece, they settled down once we interdicted the zone between them. Now the only war they can fight is one of words across a bargaining table. The cease fire has been in place for four months and the two sides are talking a bit. There's still a great deal of hostility, but they cannot do any more than shout insults at each other across the bargaining table.

"On the other hand the embargo is hurting them and there are rumblings of opposition parties to the people in power trying to force the governments to make a binding peace. I fear we might have to wait for the governments to fall, but I know we will conclude this successfully, like Albus wanted."

Harry nodded and swallowed down the lump in his throat. The mention of Albus caught him off guard and threatened with a tear or two. The death of Dumbledore had hit the Weyr hard, and despite Harry's open declaration that he wasn't affected, he was. The loss deeply bothered him and confused him. There was still a lot of room for anger against Dumbledore, but most of that vanished when he became the dragon's advocate.

"Yes he would have wanted that," Harry murmured. He could feel a pair of hands touch his back and he didn't need to look up to know his wives were nearby, supporting him. They weren't officially married or even engaged, but he couldn't help but consider that a done deal at this point. They knew him better than anyone other than Chekiath. And they knew how deeply Dumbledore's loss meant to Harry, and perhaps even understood it better than Harry did.

Yoshi gestured towards the now mostly empty hangar. "Your people are preparing to fight an evil that we have struggled against for centuries. If anything Harry-san, we are deep in debt to you and your riders and dragons. It took us a hundred years to perfect a ward to contain those demons, and even after another fifty years of research we cannot make it fool proof. You will give us the protection we have needed for so long."

Harry grimaced slightly and he gestured to the map still on the white board. "We will try Yoshi, but the forest poses considerable difficulties. Since we can't burn it down, some may escape."

Yoshi nodded grimly, he had come to that same conclusion when the muggles asked that the forest be preserved if possible. "Nothing in life is certain Harry-san. We do our best and hope it is good enough. We have a rough idea of how many dementors there are, so we will continue until we attain that. If some are left behind they would still be trapped behind the wards. I have made both governments aware that the restrictions imposed could result in a small number of dementors escaping elimination."

"But as you've pointed out the wards aren't perfect," Hermione protested.

Yoshi made a shrugging motion with his shoulders. "It is the best we can do, and if we can kill one hundred of the beasts we may have pushed them too far to recover from. We know they reproduce, but no one knows how or what triggers their mating. No one has studied it before. What we do know for certain is that they reproduce only very infrequently or their population would have grown significantly since we penned them in. Killing off one hundred from such a small population to start with may result in the beasts being unable to recover their losses."

Harry squared his shoulders. "We'll do our best. The dragons hate dementors and there isn't an ounce of sympathy for them among the riders," he said, and then he turned to Hermione. "Has Lee made the press statement yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "He had Mariah make the statement. He asked me to tell you that he's not very comfortable in front of the cameras and Mariah is more than capable of acting as the official spokesperson."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, considering his own reaction to speaking on camera he couldn't really blame Lee. Despite Lee's misgivings, Harry had wanted him to be the official spokesman for the Weyr and not Mariah. Lee was still in charge of the Weyr Press office and Mariah be the public face of the Weyr. She is very attractive and well spoken, she'll do a good job and I know she gets along well with Lee, he mused for a moment then he decided to stop pressing Lee about it.

"Harry, everyone gets along with Lee," Chekiath said in reply to his musings. "But Mariah likes Lee very much and enjoys it when he covers her."

Harry chuckled and the others looked at him strangely. He tapped his temple, "Comments from the peanut gallery about Lee and Mariah. Very well, we'll let Mariah be our public spokesperson for now while Lee runs the office. So she released the announcement today?"

Hermione nodded with a smile, all of the riders were used to their dragons listening in on their inner monologue and occasionally dropping a comment or two. "Yes, officially tomorrow the Riders will be visiting Japan as part of an effort to pave the way for the establishment of a new manned Weyr."

"Don't forget we have an invitation to the Imperial Palace," May added excitedly.

Harry smiled at her. May loved gardens, either working in her own or visiting other gardens and she was excited by the idea of seeing some of the best Japanese gardens in the world. Meeting the Emperor of Japan was okay, but seeing the Imperial garden was the real bonus for her. Books had been written about those gardens and she owned several of them. Harry was certain she would leave there with plans for sprucing up the Weyr.

The backyard of their home had the makings of a fine garden that she spent the whole summer working on and getting Harry's help with. There was a small path and a tiny fountain with a stone bench nearby. They had one of the largest backyards in the Weyr and it was still tiny. May wanted to put together a garden that was big enough to allow a dragon to enjoy it. Unfortunately for May she was still trying to convince Trath that a garden shouldn't contain a small herd pen in case the dragon wanted a snack while sniffing the flowers.

"His Imperial majesty is most eager to meet with the dragons. However he did not want to appear as if he was taking all of their time so he's invited the palace staff and members of the court with their children to be present also. Many of the staff have children that attend the same school," Yoshi said softly. "His majesty wishes to meet privately for a short while, then the children and families will be presented to the dragons."

Harry's smiled broadened. "The dragons love children," he replied. "They know that meeting the Emperor is the real purpose of the meeting, but to them, the highlight of the visit will be the children."

"As you said yourself Harry, children still believe in magic. To the rest of the world we're not magical, but our very existence gives them a little hope that there may be magic somewhere," Chekiath announced to everyone.

Harry looked to where the huge hangar doors stood open and he could see his dragon waiting for him. "I know mate."

Yoshi looked troubled. "Do you really think that people should believe that Harry?"

Harry reached out and put an arm around May. She smiled and leaned into him. "Yoshi, the biggest crime the wizards did was take away magic from the world. Oh I know it was necessary at the time, but I like to think that the majority of the world has grown past the point of witch hunts and burning people at the stake. Even a hint of magic gives people hope. We took a world of wonder and beauty and selfishly hid it away from the world. In a way we made the world a colder, harder and harsher place to live."

"My Mum went with us to visit Hogwarts last month, she's a normal person who got to see her very first unicorn," Hermione said softly. "She broke down and cried because it was so beautiful."

Harry smiled at Hermione's remembrance. Emma's reaction was pretty standard; many of the normal riders had similar reactions to seeing a unicorn. Harry had even commissioned a goblin made charm bracelet for Emma's birthday with the first charm being a unicorn.

"Sir William is tasked with starting the process of revealing magic to the British public. Arthur Weasley is busy putting together a plan to do just that," Harry added, "The original plan wasn't going to work and Albus had written down some ideas of how to fix it. Arthur found Albus' notes and turned it into a real plan. I think Arthur's plan has a good chance of success but he hasn't started it yet because he needs to sell the idea to the ICW and get their support. The Minister of Magic is looking at a plan that takes almost fifty years to complete. I would strongly suggest you talk to Arthur Weasley about it."

Yoshi looked at Harry, he was appalled at what he was hearing.

Harry saw the reaction and he quickly conjured some chairs and motioned for Yoshi to sit down. The others took seats and Harry waited for a moment trying to order his thoughts. "I'm going to say something and I may get this wrong, so May, Ronan, if I'm wrong, please jump in."

The others nodded and sat, waiting for him to continue.

"This is a tale that Jasper Brady told me and I think it highlights the problem like never before," Harry added.

"Ah the American that used to be ICW Delegate?" Yoshi asked cautiously.

Harry nodded. "That's right, he now works at the American Weyr as the government liaison. He was telling me about a problem that had first come to light a few years ago. You know what a satellite is?"

Yoshi nodded a bit uncertainly and Harry looked at Ronan. Ronan leaned forward in his chair. "A satellite is a machine that is sent into Earth orbit via rocket. It is so high above the ground that it is outside of our atmosphere."

Ronan paused and pulled out a bulky phone from a pocket with a short antenna. "This phone allows me to call anywhere on the planet. Once my call enters the network it is quite likely that it will be sent via a satellite to its destination. Satellites are used for all sorts of things these days, this is just one example."

Yoshi nodded, he was a bit confused as to where this was going.

"The normals have been putting up satellites for the last forty years or more. Some are used like Ronan said, for communication and others do things like monitor the weather. Some governments use them to spy on their neighbors and potential enemies by taking very precise photographs. According to Jasper Brady one department of the American government, the National Reconnaissance Office, was charged with making the most accurate maps in the world. Shortly after they began they started noticing holes in their maps, places where they could see towns and streets but no official addresses existed for those locations.

"Places like the Salem enclave or the great Rocky Mountain reserve were detected by these machines. Technology had given the normals the ability to find us and every day their technology improved until they were finding individual homes that were hidden among their cities," Harry said, then he waved a hand towards the map where the dementors were kept penned in. "Sir, you know the problem, the normals every day move closer to a source of danger that they can't even see. Everyday increases the chance of the magical world being discovered. And everyday increases the chance of that discovery leading to a conflict between the two worlds."

"Hiding was right when wizards first did it, but the world's changed," Hermione added. "Soon it won't be possible to hide and someday an unfriendly government will learn of your existence. Wouldn't it be better to try to gently bring the two worlds together? If wizards can control how the secret is revealed, then perhaps they will have allies among the normals to help if some government decides to reinstate the witch hunts."

Hermione was strongly in favor of Arthur's plan and she hoped that the Weyr would be asked to help with it at some point. She knew there was good chance that any children from her and Harry would likely be magical.

Harry glanced at her and nodded approvingly. "Exactly. It's time to gently ease the two worlds together. If the wizarding world were to follow a plan like the one Arthur Weasley has, then by the time the normals know about magic, it will be routine to them. A source of envy perhaps, but not a source of conflict. And if a country, like Italy for example decided to oppress their wizards, the rest of the world would react in outrage."

Yoshi glanced up at the map and grunted sourly. Hokkaido was a heavily populated prefecture, what Harry proposed could happen. The area where the dementors were kept was warded against muggles, but no ward was perfect and the forest was a popular tourist location. The separation between the two worlds was rapidly shrinking and sooner or later they would collide. What the Weyrleader proposed was to control that collision in an attempt reduce the impact on both societies.

He stood abruptly. "You present an interesting and alarming case Harry-san. I think it would be best if I spoke with Arthur Weasley and get a better feel for the issues. I can see why you think it is necessary although I am not sure I agree with it yet."

Harry nodded. "Just give it some consideration Yoshi. The Weyr isn't pushing for this, but we do recognize this as a big problem facing the wizarding world. If asked, the Weyr will support and help the effort to bring the two worlds together peacefully. If the two worlds came to blows I do not know what I would do, but I also do not wish to be forced into making that choice."

Harry didn't need to mention that the bulk of his riders were non-magical and he would most likely side with the non-magical side.

Camp Orange Blossom, August 6th 1997...

Harry looked up and saw Ronan approaching. He held up a hand to Hermione and she fell silent, then he turned to Ronan. "Well?"

Ronan grimaced. "The place hasn't been well maintained like we were told. It looks like some of the buildings were repaired several years ago but since then there's been a lot vandalism. Between the elves and our wizards I think we can fix it up. We will still need the Japanese to bring in basic supplies, the kitchen is a wreck and even if the elves can fix it, there's no food here like we were promised."

Harry nodded unhappily. The camp they were expected to use during their dementor hunt was in terrible shape. Many of the barrack-like buildings had broken windows and the interiors were a wreck. There were no beds or food and less than half of the buildings had working power.

A few feet away Yoshi stood with a thunderous expression on his face. He didn't know who was responsible, but he had been assured the camp was in decent shape and now he had been made to look like a fool!

Harry nodded, and then his eyes glazed over for a moment as he called for a Wing command meeting. He needed to speak with his wing leaders and seconds, and get organized. Satisfied that the leaders were on their way, he wandlessly levitated a table from nearby and turned it right-side up before placing it in front of him. A quick scouring charm made it usable for his needs. He placed a briefcase on the table and opened it.

"Yoshi?" he called. He could clearly see the old man shaking with anger.

The aging mage shook from his introspection and turned his attention to Harry. He had ridden on Chekiath with Harry to this location just over an hour ago and had been shocked into silence by the poor condition of the place. He had made promises based on reports he had received and now it was clear someone wasn't giving him accurate information.

"Weyrleader, I fear I must apologize," he said, then he trailed off as Harry cut him off.

"Yoshi, no apologies are necessary. You thought the camp was ready for our use. Someone told you it was ready and you had no reason to disbelieve them. The camp is a mess but we'll soon have it set to rights. In the meantime if you would contact your people. We're probably going to need the mundane liaison to purchase some supplies for us. Blankets, bedding, food and cookware for the kitchen hall, someone to fix the power problems, we'll also need someone that can translate until your ministry can provide the translation items."

Yoshi nodded. "I am told that someone will be here tomorrow from my ministry with specially enchanted earrings that will provide the translation function. I will also find out who was responsible for this... this unacceptable mess."

Harry bowed slightly. "We know we can rely on you Yoshi. I am certain this was all an innocent misunderstanding, but together we can fix things."

Yoshi cocked an eyebrow at Harry, and then he returned the bow. It was obvious that Harry had been studying Japanese culture and customs. His comments attributed blame on no one and made it plain that this was just an accident that he was willing to forget. Yoshi appreciated the gesture, but he still felt this was a slight on his honor. He promised himself he would get to the bottom of this and find out who had dropped the ball.

Harry turned away to greet the others entering the room. There were now ten wings representing two hundred and four riders.

Ronan was pushing for a reorganization of the Wings along divisional lines of five wings to a division, but so far they were still coping. Harry was reluctant to reorganize because it would leave holes in the wing structures as people moved into new positions. He wanted to wait until they had trained up replacements before reorganizing.

"As most of you have noticed, Camp Orange Blossom needs a little work," he said dryly. His wing leaders chuckled and he smiled in return. "We need to put this place in order and even if I called all our house elves from Campbeltown we'd be still working on the place well past midnight. So all magical riders will turn out for a systematic, building by building repair and cleaning party. The normal riders will follow behind setting up makeshift bedding that I'll have our elves deliver.

"Tinny and a party of elves will concentrate on the kitchen. Hopefully they'll be able to repair the kitchens or we may end up doing a lot of take away food," he said with a smile.

The riders laughed at that, between the riders and some others from the Weyr, they had two hundred and fourteen people that would need to be fed. They would easily overwhelm any restaurant they used to feed their people.

"Harry, isn't that unfair to make the wizards do all the work?" asked Brian Thornhope, Wing leader of Wing Eight.

Harry chuckled and looked at Hermione. "Would you care to demonstrate?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand. She turned to one corner where two windows had been broken. The floor underneath the windows was littered with leaves and random junk blown in by the wind. "Reparo!" she snapped at one window. Glass fragments flew up from the floor and in just a few seconds the window was whole and looked freshly cleaned. Hermione didn't wait; while the first window was being repaired she cast the spell again, repairing the second window. In under a half a minute both windows looked brand new.

"Scourgify!"

The debris on the floor vanished and the area, including the walls around with windows looked freshly scrubbed.

"Those are standard cleaning and repairing spells that all of our wizards know," Harry said. "Even the weakest among us can easily handle casting these spells multiple times. If I wanted, I could have told Hermione what color and she could easily change the colors of the room while cleaning it."

Hermione smiled and expertly twirled her wand, then deftly slipped it back into her holster. Hermione's wand twirling was a direct result of May who managed to convince her that it was perfectly acceptable to be proud of her abilities. She had practiced twirling her wand for years in secret and it was only with the urging of May that others now saw this side of Hermione.

Harry chuckled and waved a hand at the rest of the building interior. "Three or four wizards can repair and clean the interior of a building in a few minutes."

"Then why do you insist that we don't use magic when cleaning up Campbeltown?" asked Nancy Feltip, wing leader for wing seven and a witch.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nancy there are over two hundred of us and only forty six magical riders. If I allowed you to use your magic to do chores around Campbeltown you'd end up making the normal riders resentful because you can complete a job with only a tenth of the effort. What you do in your own quarters and how you clean them is your business, but sweeping the walkways or planting grass and mowing those lawns in front of the Weyr buildings has to be done the same way by everyone."

Nancy looked surprised, then she slowly nodded in understanding. It was a leadership issue that Harry was teaching her.

"Alright I'll buy that, but why change now?"

Harry smirked. "I don't know about you Nancy, but I would prefer to eat and sleep in a clean, repaired building. In this case we'll be thankful that our magical riders can fix everything in short order. Doing it the normal way could take a week or more. Sometimes you need to bend a rule to avoid inconveniencing everyone. Unless you like sweeping and scrubbing floors by hand?"

Nancy shook her head to the chuckles of the others.

"You have your orders, let's get cracking," Harry said. The Wing leaders and seconds filed from the room leaving Harry, Dan and Emma and Yoshi standing in what would have been the eating area of the kitchen hall.

"You handled that really well Harry," Dan said quietly.

"I agree. I know we spoke of this before, but I did not realize the extent that you must go to prevent your abilities from breeding resentment," Yoshi said softly.

"My riders are allowed to use their abilities as they wish when they are not performing Weyr duties. But we all have to do things the same way. For the wizards it means they come to learn to respect the normal riders and how they must live their lives. The normal riders appreciate the effort and appreciate the magic that their friends can do to help them all."

Emma nodded knowingly; she had helped organize the witches so someone would be available after every meal to cast the anti-cramping spell on the normal female riders. It was a service that most of the boys didn't know about and the reason why the witches were universally liked by all of the normal girls. As a whole, the witches were appalled by the fact that there was little relief to be had for their normal counterparts and they were eager to help their sister riders.

Harry pulled his wand from its holster and Yoshi's eyebrows rose. This was the first time he saw one of the glowing Jordan wands. Hermione's wand had the same glow, but it was more muted than his was. He waved his wand and all of the remaining windows pieced themselves together and the doors that were barely hanging on straightened and reattached themselves.

A second spell had the entire large dining area spotless and looking like it had been freshly painted.

"Oh Harry, I want you around next time we do spring cleaning," Emma murmured.

Harry grinned broadly, then he turned his attention back to the map he had laid out on the table. "Now that this room is taken care of we can get back to business," he murmured.

"Bonth?" he called.

"Yes Weyrleader?"

"Send out your wings and let's see if we can get an idea of what we're dealing with," Harry ordered. "Have them bespeak to Chekiath or Dronth if they locate any pockets of dementors. Remember, this is an exploration trip only, not an attack. I don't want you to fight any dementors."

"At once Weyrleader," replied the senior dragon of Sakushima Weyr.

Yoshi stepped closer and glanced upwards when he heard the sound of many dragon wings. "You are starting already?"

Harry pointed to the map. "No point in sitting idle. Sakushima can scout out the area and give us an idea of where the dementors are while we fix up the camp. They will pass the imagery to Soranth and Chekiath. Lee is adept at picking a location out of his dragon's mind and locating it on a map," Harry replied, then he dropped his voice. "Also it will give the dragons of Sakushima a sense of participating. They will be helping to turn their Weyr into a true manned Weyr. Dragons are truly no different than people in that they like to feel needed and that they can contribute to a cause."

Yoshi nodded. "A sound plan Harry-san. The dragons help build a home for themselves and you end up with a leg up on finding the dementors."

A pop announced the arrival of Tinny and a crew of ten elves. Harry smiled at the elves who looked around warily until they spotted Harry, then they relaxed. The elves had come to trust the riders and in particular, Harry, but they were still wary when entering an unknown situation like Camp Orange Blossom.

"Tinny, I hope you and your crew are up to some hard work, we have a mess in the kitchen and the stoves need to be cleaned and repaired before any meals can be made," Harry said. Harry had looked in on the kitchen earlier and it was a total wreck. The kitchen was a disaster. It seemed that the vandals had payed close attention to the room and it's machinery.

Tinny nodded and he walked over to the swinging double doors that led into the kitchen. As the elves entered the kitchen they became a blur as they went to work.

Harry turned back to the map on the table and thought about what should be done next.

"Harry-san, with your permission I will depart for a while. There are people I must meet with and arrangements to make," Yoshi said.

Harry nodded. "Thank you Yoshi, your help has been invaluable and I'm certain it will continue to remain so. The Weyr is honored to have your help."

Yoshi bowed and smiled thinly, then he vanished with a very soft popping sound. Emma shook her head at the sight and looked at Harry. "When will you and Hermione learn to do that?"

Harry frowned. "Before the end of the year I think. Remus has brought it up several times now, but there hasn't been time."

Harry took a moment to sit and rest for a moment. As he sat, he examined the map on the table and considered the problems facing the Weyr in finding the dementors. The thick forest was going to make spotting dementors and herding them to the one large clearing difficult.

"How are you holding up?" asked Emma gently.

He looked up startled; he had forgotten they were there! "I'm fine, I guess I'm just a bit shocked at how badly run down this place is. It suggests that the muggle and magical ministries don't talk to each other very well."

"You're handling things well though, my first inclination after seeing this place was to go home," Dan replied. "Instead you accepted the mess and put people to work fixing it. The camp will be in working order in no time."

Emma moved a little closer to Harry. "Harry dear," she said hesitantly. Harry immediately perked up, Emma never called him that before and he wasn't sure what it meant. "No one was happier than I was when you and Hermione managed to solve your differences. Even Dan eventually understood there were factors involved that were outside anyone's influences."

Dan nodded solemnly. He approved of Harry for Hermione but their three way relationship bothered him still. He didn't make a stink about it, but Emma knew he was resigned to it at this point. Emma privately wondered if part of Dan's problem was a touch of envy.

Dan didn't really understand what was involved. What Harry, Hermione and May had was totally unlike anything he knew about. All Dan really saw was one man with two beautiful young women, one of which happened to be his daughter.

Dan had come to accept what was happening, but still really didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes. Emma knew more than he did, and had to deal with both girls who tearfully confessed to snapping at Harry for no real reason except that it was that time of the month. Magic might help with the physical cramping of their periods, but it did little to help with the occasional mood swing.

Harry bore their treatment stoically until Emma put her foot down and made the two girls explain their behavior to him.

"There is one issue we've wanted to bring up, but were reluctant to mention. I know that you have spoken to Hermione and May about some kind of handfasting ceremony, but at some point Hermione's family is going to want to see her settled down properly."

Dan sighed and wiped at his face. Sometimes Emma could be so obtuse even he had trouble understanding her and the look on Harry's face said he hadn't a clue what she was talking about. "Harry," he said, jumping in. "Em is talking about a marriage service at some point."

Harry blinked and stared at Dan for a moment before looking at Emma who nodded also. "You know I would marry them both if I could, but it's not legal," he replied softly.

"We know," Dan admitted. "And Hermione told us just how unhappy it made you when you were certain it wasn't legal. We understand the legal issues, but at some point Hermione's grandparents on my side are going to want to see their only granddaughter get married."

Harry leaned forward on his seat and rubbed at his temples tiredly. "And I suppose being at the handfasting service won't be good enough?"

"I wish it would," Emma replied. "Dan has a large family with several brothers and sisters. Trying to explain your three way relationship would probably ignite a small war."

Dan placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Nothing need happen immediately, but we need to figure out a solution for this. I know you were planning to hold the handfasting several years from now and I'm fine with that time frame. I... We wanted you to know about this so we all could plan for it."

Harry nodded and looked up at Dan. "Thank you. And while I'm at it thank you for being so accepting. I can't imagine how hard it been for you."

Dan smiled wryly. "You have no idea. But someday when you have girls of your own, I hope you find out."

"Dan," Emma warned with a small smile, and then she turned to Harry. "You make her happy. That's all that matters to us. You treat her and May very well, neither Dan nor I can complain about that. Hermione has explained to me about some of the difficulties you three have had to deal with. I think everyone has been amazed at how mature all three of you approached this."

"Six," Harry said softly. "That has been the problem from the start. Everyone sees me and two beautiful girls and immediately think this is some kind of wild sex thing. It's not. It's six people, three of whom happen to be dragons."

Harry tapped his forehead. "There is no privacy from our dragons. I can't shut Cheki out, nor would I want to. But that also means that I can feel what he feels and he can feel what I feel. The girls are in the same situation with their bond and it's always there, reinforcing what we normally feel. It's becoming more pronounced because of the dragon bond. Through the bond we can feel each others emotions, I can't speak for May or Hermione but I am keenly aware of their feelings and know instantly if I do something that makes them unhappy."

He stood and stretched a little. "I will talk to Hermione about this. We'll figure out how to handle this I'm certain. But now I better go help with the repairs."

He started to walk, but Emma stopped him by pulling him into a light hug. "Thank you for listening. Hermione and May are very lucky girls and I don't know if it helps, but if you were my son I would be very proud of you," she said.

He smiled at her and she released him. After he walked out of the building Dan turned to Emma. "I hated laying that on him. He's got so much to worry about as it is."

Emma walked over to Dan and wrapped her arms around him. "Harry will be fine. He has two very smart women to help him."

Later that evening, Harry lay cuddled in an enlarged sleeping bag with May and Hermione. A cushioning charm hid the fact that they were lying on a hard wood floor. All three were tired from the day's efforts. Harry had joined the others, repairing the parts of the camp where the repairs were too big for a regular magic user to handle.

He had briefly considered returning to Campbeltown, but then he remembered the time difference. They would be arriving back in Scotland to sleep and it would be daytime there.

"You're awful quiet tonight Harry, what's wrong?" asked May.

Harry smiled in the darkness and gently caressed her hair as she cuddled into his shoulder. This was their bond at work. They were becoming aware of his emotions as much as he was becoming aware of theirs. It was subtle and often hard to interpret, but it was there. "I was just thinking about something Hermione's parents said to me today."

Hermione instantly tensed against him and he reached with his other hand to caress her as well. "Oh?" she asked warily.

He smiled in the darkness, with both girls cuddling against him like this he often found himself embarrassed by his body's reaction. Both girls were aware of what his reaction often was and had worked out their own ways of solving it.

"Tomorrow morning," Hermione whispered in his ear and then she gave him a brief caress before moving back again. He sucked in a breath and nodded. It took him a moment to recenter himself, and then he continued with the conversation. Tomorrow morning he would have company in the shower. Hermione seemed to really enjoy the bath/shower and it was her way of helping him deal with 'issues'. Naturally he did all he could to help her in return.

"Your Mum and Dad told me that at some point your family is going to want to see you get married. And the more I think on it, the same probably holds true for May's family as well. It wouldn't be a problem if it was just the parents, they know what kind of relationship we have and will be present at our handfasting. But..."

"It's not just our parents," Hermione said with a dawning realization of the can of worms being opened. "My dad's parents are still alive and there are two aunts and another uncle, all with kids of their own."

"We have time, no one expects this right away, but we're going to have to come up with a solution that makes the families happy without getting me arrested," Harry said.

"My family is small, but both of sets of grandparents are still alive," May murmured. "We have time right?"

Harry smiled in the darkness. "Yes we have years still. Even if I replace your promise rings with an engagement ring at eighteen, I want to wait until we're at least twenty before asking Eddie to perform her service."

May lifted her head off his shoulder and peered at him in the darkness. "I'd do it tomorrow if we could, but that wouldn't solve this problem."

Harry pulled her gently forward until he could kiss her forehead, then he did the same to Hermione. "I would also, but I look at the handfasting as the last step before starting our own family."

"You look what?" exclaimed Hermione.

Harry chuckled. "I didn't say that was when we'd start sweetheart. All it is is the point where we feel we're adult enough to handle that kind of responsibility. I'm hoping by that point the Weyr will be running smoothly and most of our problems will have been solved by then."

May poked him in the ribs and he jerked slightly. "Hey!"

"Problems solved?" she said with a throaty chuckle. "Adding children introduces a whole host of new problems Harry. But I understand what you're saying. I would be happy to give you a couple of girls a few years after our handfasting."

"Girls? Sure of yourself aren't you?" Harry said with a laugh.

"The father is the one who decides the sex of the child," Hermione reminded them both.

"As long as the children are healthy and my wives are healthy I don't care what they are," Harry said fervently.

"Will we have to adjust Disko for human hatchings Harry? The sands might be too hot," Chekiath suddenly asked.

Outside Harry's quarters Ronan paused when he suddenly heard the sound of three people laughing. He smiled and shook his head. "Lucky bastard," he muttered, and then he continued on to where his dragon waited. This close to the dementor preserve he was on first shift night patrol with several others.

Kitchen Hall, Camp Orange Blossom, August 6th...

Harry bent over a table examining a map that Lee had handed him earlier. It was mid-morning and the riders were assembling after an uneasy night sleeping on the floor of the buildings. Yoshi had contacted Harry early and informed him that a Japanese Defense Force convoy was en-route to the camp with beds, food and other basic supplies.

After he left Harry and the others the previous day, Yoshi returned to the Imperial Palace where he had an office and with a few messages cut short a number of careers and sent many underlings scurrying to do his bidding.

Harry looked up and noted most of the riders had entered the building. "Time to get this show on the road," he muttered to Ronan, and then he turned to the riders. "Good morning. If you're like me, your back is probably wondering what happened to our comfortable beds. Even with the cushioning charms, my back knew it was still a floor I slept on. Well the good news is that within the hour a Japanese Defense Force convoy of supplies, including beds will be arriving. Since these are mundanes making the delivery we can't use the elves to unload the trucks. That means us and our backs no matter how much they may be complaining."

Harry grinned at the low groan that rippled through the hall. "Don't expect normal bedding either. These will be futons, which I can assure you will be far more comfortable than a hard wooden floor with a cushioning charm."

"Draco, organize your wing to move all the food supplies into the kitchen. The elves will take it from there. I'm also pleased to announce that Tinny and his crew managed to finally get the stoves and refrigerator working. So tomorrow's breakfast will be more than cold cereal and tea. For that matter he's promised a nice hot English dinner tonight even if he has to send someone to Campbeltown for the ingredients."

He paused while an appreciative murmur ran through the riders.

"Sakushima really came through for us yesterday so we now have a map of three clusters of dementors within the reserve. They have been continuously overflying these clusters and the dementors do not seem to be moving around much nor do they seem to be aware of our presence. That's the good news, the bad news is even with the clusters there are a fair number of solitary dementors that we'll have to track down.

"Considering the state of Orange Blossom we'll not do anymore than monitor the dementors for the next day while we finish putting the camp back in order. During that time each wing will take the time out to make some overflights of the area just to get used to the terrain. Wing leaders, make sure everyone knows where the capture clearing is. We'll begin herding them in three days. Sakushima will maintain a round the clock patrol which we'll augment at night with a few riders. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want some overhead coverage when we're this close to dementors."

Luna stood up, "Harry, those clusters might be clans or family groups. Little is known about dementors, but they are sentient to an extent and even in Azkaban it was noted that some dementors seemed to favor the company of select others."

Harry nodded thoughtfully and was silent for a moment. "I was not aware they had a sentience to them Luna but now that I'm thinking about it, they had to be to follow orders at Azkaban. I never really thought about it much," he replied softly. "What else do we know about them? If we sweep up one cluster, what will the others do?"

Luna looked uncomfortable. "Honestly not much is known about them Harry. They are a form of demon. No one knows how they came into existence in our reality. The first recorded dementor sighting can be found in an ancient Egyptian scroll that's nearly thirty three hundred years old. What we do know is that there are realities in which demons are the primary form of life. It was thought that the dementors somehow managed to bridge the two realities, perhaps being summoned here accidentally. Their intelligence is very low but we have to assume they communicate. The warden at Azkaban used to issue orders to one dementor only and they would still follow those orders."

Lydia Drake stood up, her expression was deeply troubled. She was the wing second for Wing six. "Harry, I'm not sure I like the idea of killing intelligent beings," she said.

Harry saw that there were a number of faces among his riders that seemed to agree. He sat on the edge of the table and faced his riders.

"Dementors may be intelligent Lydia," he said, speaking directly to her, but he was addressing the entire hall. "But they look upon people as a food source. The British wizards used to use them to execute prisoners by sucking out their victim's soul. When they weren't used to execute prisoners, they were used to guard a prison so terrible it drove most men insane.

"The Weyr suffered our first dragon death when one hundred of the beasts attacked Balmoral castle. You've all seen Narth, the leader of the Balmoral dragon guard, limping around the Weyr. He survived an attack of dementors, and Ranglieth died. Far too many people died that day whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Lydia, ask your dragon what she thinks. Then consider that your dragon wouldn't dream of killing a goblin, human or elf, but they hate these creatures with a passion."

Harry paused when he saw a number of surprised faces among the riders. Many of the newer riders who had no experience with dementors were discovering exactly what their dragons thought about dementors. May stood and crossed her arms, her expression showed she was deeply unhappy about something. Harry acknowledged her wish to speak with a nod.

"Lydia, I don't like the idea of killing anything intelligent either, but these things are evil." May paused and visibly shivered. "I can't explain it any better than that. I watched Harry and Cheki dive onto a... thing that just radiated terror. It wasn't afraid, no it radiated terror that infected everyone nearby, it was a weapon for the creature and not an emotional response to being in danger. It wasn't even near me and I was ready to pack up and go home. These things are beyond dangerous, it's like someone opened a door to your worst nightmare and out poured dementors. If Harry said he wanted us eliminate elves or goblins I'd be the first to refuse. Dementors scare me silly, but I will help destroy them. There is no room for them in this world. They don't belong here at all."

Lydia looked at May and nodded slowly. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she also knew May well enough to know she wasn't prone to making such passionate statements.

"Thank you May," Harry said softly, then he turned his attention to Lydia. "I know, it's distasteful and it makes you feel uncomfortable, but you need to remember these aren't people, or animals even. They came from a totally alien environment and they feed on people."

"Dragons came from an alien environment," Lydia counted hesitantly. She was now sounding unsure of her argument.

Harry nodded. "That's right, they did. They came from another planet in this universe, probably within our own galaxy. And during the time of beasts they considered everything that moved as food, not just people. But they've moved past that point with the help of people like you Lydia. Where would your Hanth be without your love and help?

"The ability of a dementor to instill a crippling fear in a human suggests it's an evolved weapon used against its natural prey source. The really disturbing thought is that it means that perhaps humans really are their prey in their own dimension. That, or we are just unlucky enough that we're similar enough to their prey for their weapons to work on us."

Harry paused and ran a hand through his hair. "Lydia, I won't force you to kill dementors. If Hanth's own fears about the beasts don't convince you then nothing I say will. If you aren't comfortable with the idea, let me know and I'll assign you to some camp duty."

Lydia blinked in shock at Harry and she shook her head. "I'll do my part," she said. "I may not be comfortable with it, but Hanth says that it's wrong to automatically assume intelligence means benevolence."

Harry relaxed; he knew that Lydia had received his other message as had many others in the building. If he assigned her camp duty she would almost certainly be replaced as Wing second. This mission was too important to allow a wing to function with a reluctant wing second.

"Today is the sixth. We're scheduled for an appearance at the Imperial Palace in six days' time. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd really like to report that most of the dementors are gone by then," Harry said. "We're not scheduled to return to Campbeltown until the 20th and the quicker we can get this job done, the quicker we can look over the proposed site for Sakushima and start our candidate search."

A murmur of agreement ran through the riders, they all wanted to get this unpleasant part done. Helping Sakushima transition to a manned Weyr was more important in their mind. Harry glanced down at his notes and his expression grew pinched. "Finally this afternoon we are due to receive some visitors from the Japanese Ministry of Magic. They will be bringing with them enchanted earrings that will allow all of us to speak and understand Japanese. I have been told that these earrings are capable of providing translations for most human languages. Normally these are not available to anyone but members of the Japanese Ministry of magic, but they are being gifted to us. Do not lose yours, replacements are not available. In order to appear normal to any mundane inspection, the earrings are pierced."

He paused and smiled thinly at the site of the girls looking very interested and some of the boys looking rather unhappy. He couldn't blame them, he never thought he'd wear any kind of jewelry other than his wristwatch, and that could hardly be called fine jewelry. He still wore the cheap watch with the cracked crystal face that he had found in Dudley's second bedroom.

"For you ladies, there is a set of two earrings, but only one does the translation. If you're interested in knowing which, you'll have to ask the Ministry representative when you receive your pair."

He looked up at the sound of engines rumbling in the distance. "That's our food and supplies, let's get cracking folks," he called, then he rolled up his sleeves and headed for the door.

The trucks were just coming through the main gate when he stepped out of the building. Officially the Weyr was occupying this camp while they surveyed land for the Weyr and began a search for rider candidates. Only the ministry of magic and a select few in the normal government knew about the mission to eradicate the dementors.

US Department of Magic, Washington DC, August 10th...

Arthur Weasley felt decidedly out of place. Here he was, representing his ministry and he was uncomfortable with the fact that not a single person around him was wearing a traditional Wizarding robe.

The American Department of Magic was more closely tied to it's muggle government and because of that fact, these wizards and witches all tended to wear muggle style clothing instead of robes. It was just slightly intimidating to the wizard from Ottery St. Catchpole.

"Mr. Weasley?"

Arthur looked up from the magazine he had been trying to read to see a smartly dressed middle aged witch. "Yes?"

"Secretary Jackson will see you now," she said, "If you will please follow me?"

Arthur nodded and placed the magazine down, then he stood and followed the witch into a lushly appointed corner office that had a magnificent view of the city.

"Mister Secretary, this is Senior Undersecretary Weasley from the United Kingdom," the secretary said softly.

Lyle "Ducky" Jackson looked up from his desk and his face assumed a politician's smile. "Welcome!", he boomed, "Come on in and have a seat."

Arthur sat down and placed a small case at his feet.

"Now then, how can the United States help our British cousins?" asked the Secretary.

Arthur smiled weakly and waited for a moment until the witch had left the room. "Mister Secretary, as you are aware, I've been co-opted to fill the role that Albus Dumbledore once held."

Jackson nodded sagely, "Yes, his loss was a great blow to your nation and to the world. He will be greatly missed by everyone."

"Yes sir," Arthur agreed, then he plunged on, "Sir, the reason I am here is because Albus had been working on an idea. Unfortunately he had left only a few notes on his plan so it fell to me to put his ideas together. I'm sure you are aware that my ministry has a mandate from the crown to find a way to integrate both societies."

Jackson nodded. "I do, but I'll be damned if I know how you can manage it. We've been watching your government carefully to see what happens."

Arthur leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Actually sir, thanks in part to Albus Dumbledore, Her Majesty's government hasn't yet started on it's mandate. Everyone had this image of announcing our existence like they did with the dragons and just sitting back to watch what happens. Albus had a different concept and the more I thought on it, the more I thought it might work, but we would need to gather as much ICW support as possible for it."

Jackson leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on the table. "Oh? How can it be done then?"

"Albus was sketched a rough outline of a plan that would take at least five decades to complete. This is a job that you and I would start, but it would be our children or grandchildren that would complete it. Albus wanted to introduce small selected portions of our world, slowly. For example, he thought to announce a pain relieving potion that was invented by a tribal shaman in South America. He knew that mundane science would probably be baffled by a potion that worked and they couldn't say why it worked.

"His idea was to slowly expose pieces of our world until the rest of the world knew about magic even though the governments had not revealed the truth. When the governments did reveal the truth, people would already be mostly aware of it and it wouldn't be that much of a shock to them.

"The dragon announcement came as a shock to the world, and the Weyrs have paid the price for that announcement with massive media attention, some of which has been rather unpleasant. Done right we can avoid most of that process because people will have had fifty years of small surprises instead of one big surprise."

Arthur took a breath and watched Jackson carefully. He had explained his position and that of his Ministry.

"That is an ambitious plan you have Mister Weasley," Jackson said softly.

"Yes sir it is, but it can't be done without help. As much as we wizards like to think our country's are isolated and unique, we all share this world. If Britain were to follow this plan alone, it could result in world wide chaos," Arthur replied.

"Yes, I can easily see that happening. I take it you have an idea of how to combat that?"

Arthur leaned down and picked up his carry case. "I do sir. My government has asked me to present this plan to the ICW. If we can obtain a majority approval we'll be in a better shape to avoid problems in the future."

Arthur placed his case on his lap and pulled his wand slightly from his holster. "With your permission Mister Secretary?"

Jackson nodded a bit cautiously and Arthur removed his wand and cast the spell to open the space enlarged case, then he carefully placed his wand on the table, far enough away to make Jackson relax. "My government sir, wants to form a coalition under the umbrella of the ICW for the purposes of implementing a carefully orchestrated reveal to the muggle world. I have laid out a preliminary plan, but even before that can be agreed upon, I must garner the support we need among the world ministries."

Arthur pulled out a stack of printouts and drawings from the case. "Her Majesty's government estimates that the secret will come out whether we like it or not sometime in the next fifty to seventy five years. If we don't act to preserve ourselves we risk a revival of the inquisition."

Jackson winced and nodded in agreement, he had seen the projections from the Department of the Interior. Large parts of the Military and Intelligence community already knew about wizards and now private corporations were putting satellites in orbit that were nearly as good as the professional intelligence gathering satellites.

"Mister Weasley, I think I can safely say that the US Government will back your proposal. In fact I am going to send you to a gentleman I have working for me who has been struggling with the same problem. Unlike you, he was trying to work out a plan that would have happened over the course of months. I think your long term plan is a better approach however.

"I will ask our normal government agencies to provide you with materials you can use when you present your case to the ICW," Jackson said. "How long will you be in DC?"

Arthur smiled in relief, "I was only supposed to be here for three days, then I'm off to stop in Toronto before taking a portkey to Japan. I'm trying to sound out Ministries and garner their support before presenting this to a full session of the ICW."

"Excellent, gather up your material and let me introduce you to one of our Wiz kids. He's a young man, but Blaine Reading is a wizard who holds a normal degree in sociology. You can explain the details to him and we'll see where we can go from there."

Arthur practically bounced to his feet and shook the Secretary's hand vigorously. "Thank you sir, I was fearful that this would be harder to sell."

Jackson smiled, but he shook his head. "It will be harder to sell, but you got lucky today Mister Weasley. We already knew this was becoming an issue, but to be honest we really didn't know what to do about it. Just remember that not everyone will agree with your plan. "

Arthur nodded soberly. Jackson had been right to warn him that his plan wouldn't meet universal approval.

"Still sir, I am encouraged. Our Prime Minister suggested visiting your country first, he felt that our unique relationship would work in my favor," Arthur admitted.

Jackson chuckled. "That it did," he replied. He was enough of a politician to understand the unique relationship that existed between the UK and the US. It was a fundamental part of both country's policies to see that American and British interests rarely clashed.

The Imperial Palace, Tokyo Japan, August 12th...

Harry slid down from his seat on Chekiath and looked around for a moment, and then he turned to Chekiath. The parade grounds in front of the elegant building were not very large. "Land the wings two at a time Cheki, Wingleaders can take their dragons over here by you, but I'm afraid the others will have to find a spot to perch or go to Sakushima until called for. And remind them to stay off the Palace please."

Chekiath looked around for a moment then he turned back to Harry. "Yes, there isn't enough room for all of us," he replied. As he did Wing one and two came in for a perfect in-formation landing.

Harry nodded absently while he pulled off his gloves and put his beret on. He smiled seeing Yoshi nearby looking very excited and he nodded in greeting to the elder mage. As each wing landed, the riders scrambled down and quickly removed their gloves and donned their berets. They were dressed in their dress uniforms for this occasion and despite Harry's wishes, they were lining up in a formation along Wing lines.

Harry hadn't wanted the Weyr to appear so militaristic, but he had reluctantly agreed since they were often appearing at formal public occasions and the neat lines of Wings and riders looked far better than a milling mob.

Getting to this point had been an interesting exercise. The last five days had been hectic and at points downright exciting. Yoshi was ecstatic over their kill count, one hundred and nineteen confirmed dementor kills and not a single injury related to the dementors.

There had been injuries, but none of them were related to the action against the dementors. Bob Malwich had broken his ankle when his harness snapped on landing. Bob had been catapulted from his seat and came down on one leg, breaking his ankle.

Harry scowled remembering that. Millicent however beat him to the punch when she very publicly upbraided him for not taking proper care of the harness. Bob made up one part of the trio consisting of Millicent, Bob and Sammy Hinerman. After she finished yelling at him she grabbed him in a powerful hug and held him for a long time.

The harnesses were made from standard nylon seat-belt material and while they were more resilient than leather straps, the constant freezing and thawing they underwent weakened them until they broke. Metal chain had been tried, but it proved to be too heavy and could cause frost bite if it came in contact with skin for too long. Attempting to coat the chain with a rubber coating resulted in the coating cracking off after only a few trips Between.

Each rider knew that they were responsible to maintain their harnesses, and Bob Malwich had neglected that task which resulted in him breaking his ankle.

Bob had been treated at a local muggle hospital and then sent back to Campbeltown. Harry knew he couldn't do much while the bone healed, so Harry gave him the task of checking every harness in their supply room for cracks and other signs of wear. After that he would inventory their stock of equipment.

It wasn't uncommon for a rider to have to swap an old wet harness for a new one. The older harness was dried out, tested and usually returned to stores so it could be reused. By Ronan's estimate there were some three hundred harnesses in stores that Bob would have to visually inspect and test.

"You are well Weyrleader?" asked Yoshi.

Harry smiled again and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I was just wool gathering. The Weyr is well and eager to meet the Emperor."

"And your injured rider? I heard about that yesterday," pressed Yoshi.

"He will recover, it was an accident that's all. I have sent him and his dragon back to Scotland," he replied. Harry didn't really like discussing Weyr business with outsiders, but he needed Yoshi's support so he was willing to bend his rules in this case.

"Bunta tells me that you were frightening in your intensity when you dressed down your rider," Yoshi offered. The elder mage was intrigued by Harry and what motivated him, so he had the muggle liaison report any unusual circumstances to him.

Harry turned and eyed the man for a moment. Bunta Saito was the Japanese muggle government liaison that Yoshi had arranged to stay at the camp with them. Harry realized that the man would be reporting to the Japanese on events unfolding at the camp, it was a necessary evil, but they needed the man to smooth the way for them, and most understood he would also report on their activities.

"Bob Malwich made an error which resulted in a personal injury. He became careless and risked himself and his dragon in an easily avoidable accident. I do not enjoy having to punish my people, but our lives and the lives of our dragons are too important to allow anyone to become lazy and cut corners.

He knows he made a mistake. He knows what he did was wrong and he knows that he was sent home early as punishment. Yelling at him would have been a waste of time. He knows what he did endangered himself and his dragon.

"He is a good rider and this is the first time he's done something stupid. I have faith that it will be a long time before he repeats this mistake," Harry said.

Yoshi nodded sagely. He had spent several hours last night listening to Bunta Saito speak in fearful tones about the Weyrleader dressing down his rider in a low tone that sent shivers down his spine. Twice a month Harry held a session after breakfast in which he would deal with problems that cropped up among the riders. For the most part these sessions were lighthearted and often Harry would go out of his way to praise and reward a rider for some innovation they had come up with.

In Bob Malwich's case he stood in front of Harry, crutches under both arms and stood silent while Harry read him the riot act for neglecting his safety checks. He never raised his voice, but he had managed to scare and impress the Japanese liaison who was used to superiors that shouted.

Harry used the experience to hammer home a very important lesson that the riders needed to be reminded of. A careless mistake could result in the death of two people, the rider and then the dragon who would suicide by jumping Between. It was a sobering thought that resulted in a number of the riders going back and meticulously checking their own harnesses.

From one of buildings lining the parade grounds a pair of doors opened and two adults stepped out followed by dozens of children all dressed in uniform.

"The children of the palace staff all attend the same school. It was felt it would be best if they wore their school uniforms today," Yoshi said softly then he glanced at the dragons who started making a thrumming noise. The noise had been described by various news broadcasts as the dragon version of a cat's purr.

Harry smiled and nodded to Chekiath who made a sharp barking sound. Soranth and Buth landed nearby and Lee and Mariah stepped from their group and joined their dragons. Mariah had a large box of the dragon posters while Lee would talk to the teachers and students. Harry's smile broadened when he saw the teachers struggling to hold back the children.

Some of the littler children rushed out to meet Soranth and Buth partway. Both dragons stopped in their tracks and just waited for the children to reach them. They knew that sometimes the younger children could hurt themselves if the dragons weren't mindful of where they were.

The main doors to the palace opened and a large group of people exited the building. The two teachers said something sharply to the students who turned and bowed deeply. It was obvious that the small crowd of people were surrounding the Emperor and his wife.

Yoshi stiffened next to Harry and he turned to face the older looking gentleman and the stately woman next to him. The crowd cleared in front of the pair, making way for them to exit the building.

"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Akihito and his wife the Empress," Yoshi said softly to Harry, "Please Harry-san, follow me."

Yoshi strode forward confidently. He was known at court as a close family friend to the Imperial family, but few knew of his real function as the Imperial Wizard. Harry followed Yoshi and Chekiath followed him. The approach of Chekiath was enough to make the Emperor and Empress pause in their footsteps, stopping just at the top of the short stairway down to the parade grounds.

Yoshi stopped a few feet short of the steps and bowed deeply. Harry was impressed; he had never seen the old mage show that kind of respect before. Self-consciously Harry fingered the small silver star earring that had been provided to the riders. The girls were offered a more ornate flower earring with inlaid gold filigree and the boys had a simpler design of a single small five pointed star.

"If it please your Majesty, I present to you Weyrleader Harry Potter of Campbeltown Weyr and his bonded dragon Chekiath," Yoshi said loudly, then he turned to Harry. "Weyrleader, his Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the Empress."

Harry bowed as if he were bowing to the Queen of England. It was a shallow bow compared to Yoshi's bow, but it was an acceptable bow for a meeting between leaders. "Your Majesty," he said, then he side stepped a half step and Cheki craned his long neck so that his head was just over Harry's right shoulder.
"Lord and Lady Holder, the Weyr is honored to visit today. May you find peace and shelter under our wings."

Akihito watched Cheki with a very interested eye. Like his father before him, he was an acknowledged Ichthyologist and a recognized specialist in the study of Gobiidae. Harry could tell the biologist in the man was busy cataloging and examining Cheki. The Empress frowned slightly and Harry bit back smile when he noted her barely nudging her husband.

The Emperor blinked momentarily, then he smiled. "Welcome Weyrleader and welcome noble dragons to our land." He waved towards a cadre of news people and smiled, then in a much softer voice he said, "We will talk to the reporters for a little bit, then while they are busy talking to the dragons and the children, we'll stroll in the gardens and speak privately. My dear friend Yoshi tells me we have much to thank you and your dragons for Weyrleader."

Harry was relieved that this meeting wouldn't be under the lenses of the press. "We managed to get lucky. Yoshi and I agree, if the original figures are correct, then there are less than a handful of dementors remaining. I've asked Bonth to continue his overflights as a precaution. But two solid days of overflights failed to locate any more of the creatures."

"And if they find any?" pressed the Emperor.

"One of the advantages of being a dragon rider your Majesty, it takes us only a few minutes to go from Scotland to Hokkaido. And in a year, two at the most you will have your own Weyr that can deal with the problem if it arises again."

Harry stopped and looked up at Chekiath who turned his attention to the Emperor. "Dementors are an abomination Lord Holder. The Weyr will always do what it can to eliminate those foul things."

Harry glanced towards the press and was pleased to note that they were too busy talking to Mariah and Lee to take much notice of Chekiath. He was glad that Chekiath had learned to limit the range of his conversations so that not everyone could hear him if he wanted.

The Emperor stared at Cheki for a moment, and then he turned to Harry with an inquisitive expression.

"Has Mr. Musabe explained what a dementor is capable of doing your Majesty?"

"He has. Terrible creatures, something I never thought I would say about a creature."

Harry reached up and touched Chekiath, who crooned softly and moved his large head close enough for Harry to caress his eye ridges. "For eons the dragons lived their lives, locked inside their minds, unable to communicate with people or other dragons. For the most part their higher mental abilities were severely curtailed. But their memory is practically photographic, even if they had no understanding of what they witnessed at that time.

"A dementor will take a dragon and force them back into that state. Imagine that, just the very presence of these demons can cause you to lose your ability to think and reason. A rider can prevent his or her dragon from losing their intelligence, but for an un-bonded dragon they have no such protection. Dragons are mighty beings with some fantastic abilities and yet they wisely fear dementors and know that only a concerted effort can accomplish ridding our world of this menace."

"Narth is crippled because of them, and Ranglieth is no more," Chekiath added softly. It was impossible to miss the sorrow in his voice.

Harry nodded then he reached with a hand to comfort his dragon. "During the conflict to return control of the British Ministry of Magic to the crown, a witch staged an attack on Balmoral castle in an attempt to assassinate the Queen of England. Fifty visitors to the castle were killed, and of the ten dragons guarding the Queen, several were injured, one was permanently crippled and another was killed. The dragons have no natural enemies on this planet, but the dementors are probably as close to an enemy as you can get."

"May I?"

Harry smiled as the Empress stepped forward and looked at Chekiath with a sense of longing. He nodded and Chekiath moved closer to the Empress. It wasn't common for her to be so forward, but it was obvious she was eager to touch the dragon.

The Emperor watched his wife with a gentle smile as she stroked Cheki's eye ridges.

"Dragons are a symbol of power and luck," Yoshi added quietly. "While their meaning has been commercialized in recent years many still believe in the old ways. Japanese people will see a weyr of our own as a symbol of luck and prosperity."

Chekiath thrummed softly and Harry took a deep breath, he suddenly knew what was coming. "The Lady Holder honors me, but her eagerness comes from the fact that had she been found early enough in her life she could have been a rider."

Yoshi sucked in a breath loudly and the Emperor's brow knotted in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Harry's smile broadened, this was perfect in his opinion. "It means that the Empress could have been selected as a dragon rider candidate in her youth. It also suggests that the ability might be found still in the Imperial family your Majesty. The Empress feels a natural kinship with the dragons because of who she is. It is possible that her ability to bond with a dragon may have been passed to her children. We are due to start a search for candidates among your people but we would never dream of searching your family without your permission."

Yoshi looked at Harry like he was crazy but Harry wasn't about to let that stop him now. A connection to the Imperial family, even if it was just a particular fondness for dragons because part of that family could impress was something Harry was willing to cultivate. The Emperor smiled and shook his head. "We will speak of this after we have talked with the reporters Weyrleader."

Harry bowed slightly and glanced over to see the Empress talking softly to Chekiath. The sound of children's laughter drew their attention. The press was busy photographing the children interact with the dragons while others set up some video cameras.

This particular press conference was much more civilized than Harry had previously experienced. There was a single interviewer who would ask questions that had been submitted by a myriad of Japanese news agencies. It sure beat standing in front of a podium with dozens of people shouting questions.

One of the courtiers coughed politely and the Emperor nodded, then he gently pulled his Empress away from Chekiath. "Excuse us please noble dragon, but the reporters are ready for us."

"This is the part I never like very much," Chekiath replied. "The cameras always make me uncomfortable."

The Emperor stopped in his tracks and a soft smile spread on his face, then he turned to Chekiath and motioned for him to come closer. "Me too my large friend," he replied with a smile. "Me too."

The four of them laughed as they took seats that had been set up in front of several television cameras. Chekiath maneuvered until he was behind the four. The interviewer, a pretty young woman seemed rather flustered. It was one thing to interview the Emperor, but to do so with a dragon really seemed to rattle her.

Harry glanced at the cameras and noted they were not yet functioning. He leaned forward in is seat. "Miss Hajima, Chekiath will not hurt you. Please relax," he said softly.

"I wouldn't dream of it TV lady." Chekiath added.

She blinked and stared at Harry and Chekiath in shock and he bit back the urge to laugh. Even the Emperor seemed to find the situation amusing.

Hours later he yawned and watched May who was still bouncing around the room in her excitement. After the press conference the Emperor and the Empress escorted Harry down a path towards one of the most beautiful gardens he had ever seen. May in her exuberance rushed up to Harry and started to babble about some of the things she had seen in the garden.

The Empress laughed and questioned May who was an avid amateur gardener. When they left the palace several hours later May was pulled aside by one of the courtiers and handed a small envelope describing a gift that would be headed their way via the Japanese Embassy in London. The Weyr would be receiving a supply of river stones that had been handpicked by the Imperial Gardener as well as a prime selection of plants and bonsai trees. It was a generous gift from the Empress of Japan to the healer of dragons and fellow gardener.

They had returned to Camp Orange Blossom for one more night before moving on to Sakushima to survey the proposed Weyr site. Harry lay back and grinned, then he yawned again. Hermione lay next him on her belly. She had a book in front of her but it wasn't her preferred reading position in bed. The futons lacked a proper headboard in her opinion, and that made reading in bed difficult.

A quick glance over to May showed she was wrapped up, rereading the list of materials and deep in making plans for a Weyr garden that even the dragons could enjoy. Shaking his head he settled back in the bed and reached out with one hand to caress Hermione's butt.

She smiled at his touch and moved a little closer to him. She knew he was nearly asleep and would soon be out like a light.

Tomorrow the real purpose for their visit to Japan would begin. They had earned the money to build their weyr. Tomorrow they would begin planning to make that Weyr a reality.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

* Well what can I say? You people have totally ruined this section. How can I mock people and answer questions when most of the reviews were about a single topic?! Spath's passing made people cry, crash their cars, steal candy from babies, email the National Republican Committee with death threats, and even made a few rude people run naked through their neighborhood and they didn't bother to take any pictures for me!

Sigh.

Honestly it really was a bit of an ego boost to know so many people found that particular section moving. Not that I need an ego boost considering I am the almighty Bob. NO! DO NOT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN!

* Now we did have a few people sneak in some questions between the weeping and whaling. Yes, it's whaling season again in fan fiction land folks. Remember you must have a permit on your person at all times and your catches cannot be less than forty feet long or you have to toss them back. Now personally I don't approve of whaling, but it does make one wonder, just what goes into making an Eskimo pie? Real Eskimos?

* A few people have asked if we'll cover some of the pivotal events of the last decade. In a nutshell, yes but some of those events are covered only to justify some of the national stupidity that follows. We will not have dragons preventing 9/11 or the day the Mets won the world series. There was an awful lot of history crammed into the first decade of the century and some of it will be in the story if for no other reason than to give people a frame of reference. However we will not rewrite those events.

* 480 people, most of them non-Australians, explained to me what a Tim Tam is. It's a cookie. Thank you, but seriously if I mention something in the notes and you read that chapter A WEEK LATER, assume that someone else has already explained the cookie to me. :)

* Romus Lupin is very concerned that the dragon dung is being treated in an ecologically friendly manner. Our erstwhile eco-dung mavin wants to know if the goblins are processing it properly. All I can say is that I have reviewed their procedures carefully and other than washing out the cargo containers into a drainage connection that feeds into London's water supply, everything is above board and fine. On the other hand I'm glad we have a deep well here.

* Rexnos wants to know if the dragons could move the world's trash into Between. Well first off you'd have to define trash because if I had them do that, the first thing to go would be the producers of reality TV shows. But seriously, think about it. A city like London must produce millions of pounds of trash in a single week. You'd need millions of dragons doing nothing but trash runs, just to take care of a small region like Europe. It sounds like a nice idea until you realize its a logistical nightmare.

* WhiteElfElder wants to know if the dragons can find something that is Between. No. Anne's son took over writing the dragon rider books and suddenly Between went from being a null state to being a place where things could survive without air for months. So not happening, his version of Between makes as much sense as Deathly Hallows and Horcruxes. Bleh.

* BJH wants to know why Charlie Weasley is anti-dragon. There are a couple of reasons for this.

a) He lost a job which he loved.

b) He's in denial over the concept that he's been participating in killing intelligent beings.

c) He's a stubborn Weasley.

He won't remain anti-dragon, but it will take a few years and something important before he sees the light.

* Alifromnm wished me a great Mother's day. Thank you, but I'll have you know you had me checking my gender several times that day just in case the holiday causes a change that I wasn't aware of. As a result of one such check, I now have a court appearance for public lewdity in Walmart. How was I supposed to know they were taping me?

* A fair number of people commented on the scene with the Weasleys. A few guest reviews flamed me for not bashing them. There is no bashing in this story. The Weasleys are not a pivotal part of this story, but will appear from time to time to give us a view inside the magical world.

* And finally a warning, the next chapter will see the first of several major time jumps. The weyrs are working hard to establish a role for themselves, but still time must march on and in each life there will be milestones that we'll need to touch on.