Last Time:
After a long silence, James uncomfortably cleared his throat. "So...Harry, what do you want to know?"
Harry gave the man a blank stare. It was something he had perfected for when his relatives had gone into praising Dudley for every little thing he did while blaming Harry for every shortcoming. To those that were not used to it, it was more than a little intimidating.
Lily was the next to speak. "Please Harry, we need to talk."
"About?" Harry asked tonelessly.
The two adults shared a glance. "About why we left you at..." She trailed off but Harry was able to understand perfectly.
"Alright." He sighed. He might as well hear their side of the story, even if he didn't like them.
Ch3: I've had enough
July 31, 1991
When his parents had first started to explain why they had left him with the Dursleys, he had wanted nothing more than to throw them into the walls with his telekinesis. Repeatedly and until he felt they had suffered as much as he had during those years. Of all the irresponsible things they could do, they would leave a baby on the doorstep before going back home, thinking that all that was needed to convey the seriousness of the situation was a note. A bloody note telling his so called aunt that she had to take him in, that it was for the best, for his protection, with nothing to counter the burden of taking care of another child.
Of course his Aunt would resent having him in the house, if she hadn't even had any say in the matter. Good grief, what was wrong with these people that he had the misfortune of calling parents? You didn't just dump a kid on someone's doorstep, even if they were family.
Harry was a bit ashamed to admit that he had stormed from the room before he lost his temper. It was so much easier to remain emotionless when you weren't emotionally connected to the person taunting you, but for his own parents to do this to him, no matter how little he knew them, really hurt. And that hurt was what nearly made him lash out against them.
"Whats wrong?" he heard his brother's voice and clenched his fists. The last thing he wanted was his so called older brother asking him questions, so he ignored him and slammed the door to his room shut, breathing heavily. True, slamming the door was more than a little childish of him, but damn it, it felt good to let out his anger somehow.
"What's wrong Harry?" He heard Merlin's voice speaking in his head, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the hologram standing there, as if he were in the room with him. His eyes widened in surprise before he sat on the bed, allowing the image in his head to come closer.
He felt Merlin's hand on his arm, and took a small amount of comfort in the gesture. He knew that the sensations weren't real, they were figments of his imagination that the band around his wrist sent to his head, but at the moment, he didn't really care. He just needed some support.
He sent the memory of the conversation over to Merlin, the hologram processing it in a second. He frowned before the grip on Harry's shoulder tightened slightly, then relaxed.
"I cannot believe the mentality of my descendants." He said, troubled.
"They're all idiots." Harry said back, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Merlin said nothing.
"I mean come on, as far as I can tell, Petunia hates Lily, and Lily knew it too, otherwise she would have actually spoken to her in person."
He huffed angrily. "And who the bloody hell thinks its a good idea to leave a baby outside in the cold in the middle of November? I could have bloody died from the cold before Petunia even opened the bloody door."
Merlin tapped his nose none to gently, and Harry tinted red before saying sorry for his language.
Merlin nodded in acceptance. The situation that his young protege found himself in was worth more than a little swearing, but that didn't mean he was going to let him get away with it that easily.
"Its just...why..?" Harry asked helplessly, throwing his hands behind his head.
"Why would they even consider doing something like that?" Merlin asked him.
Harry nodded.
Merlin shrugged. "People do strange things when they are afraid, thinking their actions to be completely rational. I myself had made hasty decisions in the past that did not turn out for the best." His false eyes seemed to glaze as if in memory, before he shook his head and smiled sadly. "One of which most likely cost us the war with the Wraith."
They both sat there quietly for a moment before Harry tried to pat his shoulder in comfort. It passed through air, making him scowl and Merlin laugh lightly.
He got up from the bed and grabbed the toothbrush he had bought from a drug store a few days ago. He may have to live with these people, but that certainly didn't mean he was going to trust them to magic his mouth clean. For all he knew they would influence his mind and make him trust them, another reason he had waited for them to start eating before he did. So what if he was paranoid? He didn't know anything about these people other than that they had left him on a doorstep in November in order to 'protect' him.
He laid in the bed, thinking about all the changes that his life had gone through recently, before he fell into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning, he woke up bright and early, wanting to explore the house a bit to see if there was anything good. Despite his distrust for his family, he did want to know more about this strange power that they called magic, and amused, Merlin said that the best location for such information would likely be the manor's private library, something that all old family lines had.
Ignoring Merlin's amusement at his somewhat silly question (because really, where else but a library would you go for information?) Harry opened his door and started to explore, looking around at the paintings and vibrant colors decorating the walls. It was strange how the very air seemed to have a sense of...cheerfulness to it, but it did.
Thirty minutes later and he was starting to get more than a little annoyed. The manor was like a bloody maze, and he was sure that he had come to this same floor more than twice already. He took the staircase again, and was relieved when he found himself in an area he was sure that he had not seen before. That feeling of relief was quickly dashed by the numerous sentient protraits that were all staring at him.
He ignored them for the most part, trying to find the illusive library, but eventually the weight of their stares became so much that he couldn't ignore it any longer.
"Don't you have better things to do than stare at me?" He finally burst out, rounding on a frame that said 'Charlus Potter' on the label.
The portrait's eyebrow rose regally and he said "Not really." with as much pompousness as he could muster.
Harry gave him a glare before turning around, only to notice out of the corner of his eye that the protrait was following him from painting to painting. He turned back to the portrait, his expression demanding the image explain itself(and didn't that just sound strange?).
"You are the younger son of James and Lily?" Charlus asked, and Harry's glower increased. "Unfortunately."
The portrait grew indignant, and it nearly shouted. "What do you mean unfortunately? My son hasn't done anything to you!"
So this was a portrait of James' father. Wonderful.
"He left me with my magic hating relatives in the middle of a November night!" Harry snapped back, pleased to see the shock in the portraits face as he turned around to keep walking. The portrait was persistant though, and kept following him.
"I assume that these relatives were muggles?" He heard the portrait ask, and for a moment he wanted to bang his head against the wall at its nosiness.
"Yes they were." He growled, trying to open the door in front of him, and was not happy when it refused to turned to the portrait and saw a smug expression on its face. "Do you know how to open this door?" He asked as politely as he could manage.
"Only the head of house can key someone into that door." Charlus answered.
Harry nearly groaned. "And what is so important that only he can let me in there?"
"It is the family library, filled with countless years of research and magic solely for the family. It is only appropriate for family spells to remain family spells." He retorted somewhat pompously.
Well that was just great. The one room he was looking for to spend time away from his newfound family was one that was locked by the head of said family.
"Is there any other way for me to get the door open?" He asked.
"There is, but it will cost you." Charlus answered cheerfully.
Harry's eyebrow twitched. Was his whole family filled with overly emotional and cheerful people? "What will it cost me then?"
"You will have to ask one of the house elves to put me in James' office, then I will ask that elf to let you into the Library." He replied with the same cheer.
Harry sensed that there was a reason this portrait was kept out of his so called father's office, but at the moment, he wasn't feeling exactly charitable to him, so any measure of payback, no matter how petty, felt like a nice idea.
"Deal."
The elf gladly moved Charlus' portrait into James' study, and Charlus kept his end of the bargain, asking the elf to let Harry into the Library. The house-elf agreed, and with a small squeezing sensation that had felt a little like when his father had 'apparated' him, they appeared in a room filled with shelves upon shelves of books. The elf quickly bowed and left with a small pop.
Harry found himself staring in wonder at the place. The library was a large circular room with a skylight in the center of the ceiling. There were three floors from what he could tell, and there were so many shelves he believed that he would never be able to read all of them in his lifetime. Inside of the circle, there were several desks with old fashioned lamps, all to be used for any matter of work.
In the very center of the circle, there was a small pedestal not unlike that of Merlin's vault, except that this one had a parchment and quill sitting on it instead of a sword, along with a smaller stool whose purpose was unknown. Cautiously, he gripped the quill, and words appeared on the parchment.
This parchment is used to find books by topic or classification. What is it that you are looking for?
After conferring with Merlin for a moment, Harry wrote: History
As soon as the quill lifted from the page, ink coming from seemingly nowhere began writing the names of different books in neat handwriting that took him a moment to decipher.
Harry looked at the list in front of him with some trepidation, but brushed his hand against the book at the very top of the list, and with a small whirring sound, the book appeared on the stool almost instantly after he touched its name. Harry jumped slightly at its appearance, before picking up the book and moving toward one of the desks.
After that disatrous explanation to his son, James wasn't exactly eager to get out of bed and face the day. His son was acting as if they were Death Eaters for Merlin's sake, waiting for them to serve and eat as if they would put poison in his food!
It made him so angry, thinking of what his wife's sister could have done to his precious son. From what he had observed, the boy was cold and blank to those he did not trust, an expression that James had only seen on the most regal of purebloods. And Harry hadn't been raised like that. He had learned to hide his emotions away from the world, and it scared James to think what could have happened to the boy to make him seem nearly inhuman.
The one moment that his son had actually showed emotion was when Petunia said Lily's name. He remember the open shock, fear and confusion that had been on his son's face, before he grasped at something within his shirt and disappeared from the house, much like one would after taking a portkey.
Which didn't make any sense at all. Harry had been isolated from the Wizarding world since he was less than 18 months old. How could he have possibly come into contact with someone that knew he was at least partly magical, and then gave him an unregistered portkey. It chilled him to think what his son could have been learning from this wizard all this time; obscure potions and rituals that even squibs could perform?
He tried to push those thoughts behind him as he entered his office. He had a lot of work to do.
When he dipped his head under his desk, he was startled by a loud voice shouting "Good afternoon James!" and banged his head on the desk above him.
Cursing, he slowly moved so that he could stand up and glared at the source of the noise, only to pale when he realized that it was his father's portrait. How the hell had he managed to convince the house elves to move him?
"Well it is nice to see you too son, its been far too long since you've come to talk to me."
James quickly walked out of the room. He loved his father when he was alive, but he was certain that the painter had cursed his portrait to be as annoying as possible.
He also had to find out just which elf disobeyed his order that only living Potters could ask them to move portraits around, after the first fifty times the Portrait figured out a way to get around his orders.
He stopped then, and walked back to the office.
"Well hello again James, that was rather quick-"
"How did you convince him?" He interrupted brusquely.
The portrait gave him a strange look before it said. "I have no idea what you are talking about James."
James gritted his teeth slightly and asked, in as normal a tone as possible, "How did you convince Harry to move you to my office?
"But I did no such thing son, why would I ever force one of your-"
"I order you as head of house to tell me what you did!" He nearly roared. By Merlin, even after all this time and the portrait still got on his nerves this easily.
His father's image seemed to sulk before shrugging. "He wanted to get into the Library, so I asked him for a favor and he agreed."
James felt the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, then squashed it because it was a habit he had unfortunately learned from Snape of all people.
That annoyance quickly turned to unease when he remembered just what kind of information was hidden in the Library, and he called an elf and asked it to take him to the Library immediately.
They arrived with a small popping sound, and James almost immediately saw his son's head pop up from the desk he was working at, then his expression closing off when he realized who it was.
James' face fell slightly at that reaction, but he nonetheless made his way over to where Harry was working, writing with a muggle note-pad of all things, along with a pen.
"What'cha doing?" He asked, trying to sound casual. By the narrowed eyes, he hadn't succeeded.
"Looking at History books, so I can learn about the culture I am supposedly a part of." Harry answered tartly, then pointedly looked back at the page, and James winced slightly.
He also felt a small bit of anger at the smart tone, but he let it slide for now, given all the upheaval Harry must have in his life right now.
"What do you think?" He ventured to ask, and an annoyed huff came from Harry's lips before he nearly slammed the book down.
"Your society sucks."
Well at least he didn't dance around what he thought.
"What do you mean sucks?" James tried his best to keep a neutral expression, but didn't like the slight to his culture.
"Well, lets see, most of your traditions are thousands of years old, you allow slavery when the normal world abolished that over a century ago, you descriminate against other sentient species...need I go on?"
That tone reminded him so much of Snivellus, and he had to work his face to keep it neutral. They sat in silence for several minutes as Harry read, before he heard what sounded like a growl come from his son.
Harry gave him an angry look before pointing at the page he was looking at and getting out of his seat, pointedly looking away from him.
James wondered what could possibly make him so angry, then he read the subject, and nearly put his head in his hands.
The tradition of drowning squibs after they were shown to not have magic was started in the early...
James pushed the book away, a look of disgust on his face. He had never understood the idea, then again the Potter family had never really had many squibs in their family line, having been much more liberal with their marriages with veela and magical creatures. These marriages were one of the reasons why the Potter line was so talented, as they had several infusions of near-pure magic into their bloodline while several of the darker families should not have been so unwilling to choose someone too far from their main family lines.
The only Dark families that somewhat escaped the majority of the degradation of their lines were those that married with Magical creatures instead of solely Purebloods, such as the Malfoy and Greengrass families.
He shook his head, then realized what must have made Harry so angry. He was sure that they had left him with Petunia simply because he didn't have magic like they did, (even when they had explained it to him yesterday) and had taken him back for some other reason he didn't know.
A few moments later, Harry came back and nearly slammed several books on the table. James could see a runes book, as well as potions, and tried to suppress the small fear he had from earlier, along with the distate that he always associated with that subject.
"What are those for?" He asked.
Harry's eyes seemed to glow in anger before he managed."If I have to be a part of this world, then I'm going to find some way of making money."
James decided that it was time to leave and come back when Harry was less angry at the practices of the Wizarding world.
Harry let out a sigh of relief when his father left the Library. Almost immediately, the angry expression on his face cooled before he said. "He's finally gone."
"Merlin's image materialized in his eye, and seemed somewhat amused at Harry's display, before he turned to the book Harry was looking at. "So what do you think?"
Harry looked over a description of a potion that supposedly prevented metal from deforming, and shrugged. "There are a lot of things in here that could be used to improve the metallurgy of a ship, maybe even make the hull completely invulnerable to weapons fire?"
Merlin shook his head. "Sorry Harry, but there is a universal law when it comes to spacecraft, there is always a way around a defense. Even if you make the hull completely resistant against energy weapons, it would likely shatter from the nuclear weapons this planet is so fond of."
Harry winced a bit at the mention of that part of history.
"So no, it would not be a good idea to try and make the armor resistant to one specific type of weapon unless you were intending for that ship to only be fighting against that kind of weapon." Merlin finished.
Harry frowned, then asked. "Then make the armor resistant to a point, but still able to protect the same from other things?"
Merlin nodded sagely. "Exactly, though I wonder just how much these 'potions' will really affect ships. Depending on the metal composition used, they may actually weaken the hull strength."
"So we'd have to test the potions long before hand." Harry finished, and then added somewhat gloomily. "After I can find a way to get out of their sight!"
He was under no illusions that the family probably had their servants watching his every move. Even worse, said servants, now that they knew him, would be able to find him nearly anywhere, that much was obvious from the books he had read.
Merlin seemed to shrug. "We'll find a way, but for now we should continue with those lessons."
Harry groaned before he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate Pre-Calc."
Merlin's smile widened to cheshire cat proportions. "I know."
August 28
Nearly a month after his arrival, the family was preparing to go to some place called Diagon Alley for Andrew's school supplies. Harry had absolutely no desire to go(not that they would let him anyway). He knew that the family tended to get into all sorts of problems with the masses so that they had resorted to using glamours for shopping. Harry actually felt bad for Andrew, he was completely innocent when the whole thing happened, and he had no part in the decision to leave him at the Dursleys. That moronic idea was solely that of his parents.
This past month, Harry had been practically forced to stay inside the manor grounds at all times, as if he would be snatched the moment he left the property. He had spent most of his time in the library, reading more and more books about the potions and ancient runes that apparently squibs were able to use. He had even created a few basic runic arrays, then pushed the smallest bit of energy, the same that he used for his telekinesis, into the runes. They had literally worked like a charm, lightening the small clay tablet he had been writing on drastically.
Potions however, made no sense. There seemed to be no logical direction as to why a certain type of stir would affect the potion in a way completely different from another type of stir, and on top of that James' prejudice against the subject was nearly rabid. Harry could almost feel his disapproval lingering in the air long after he had left the library.
Harry had been waiting for so long to get a chance to go practice his lessons with Merlin again, but every time he thought he would be able to do so, his personal house-elf Mipsey would come and give him an extremely disapproving look, one that threatened her telling James he was trying to leave, and so he didn't.
He had taken to practicing with an enchanted mop instead of his staff, just so that he wouldn't get out of practice.
But now that he knew it would take them hours to go through the shops of Diagon Alley, he decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to go to the vault, and he walked outside not ten minutes after they left through the floo, having already changed into his normal clothes 'for comfort'.
He hated wizarding robes with a passion, he couldn't shake the feeling of wearing a dress at all times.
As soon as he was past the wards, he pulled on the pendant.
With that familiar dissassembling sensation, Harry disappeared from just outside Potter Manor in a flash of light and appeared in Merlin's vault once again.
Almost immediately, Merlin's hologram came to life and flickered, before Harry ran into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Merlin gave a quiet cough after a minute or so and asked."Should we start with the staff training?"
Harry almost groaned but kept it in. After all this time not practicing for real? He was going to get slaughtered! He reached out with his mind, and the staff slowly floated over to him.
Merlin nodded in satisfaction. "Good, but I want you to learn how to use it better without your staff at some point."
Harry nodded warily, spinning the staff around and relishing the feeling of power and safety it gave him.
Merlin gestured, and a hard-light staff appeared in his hand. "Begin."
Harry flung a telekinetic strike, trying to get his mentor to be pushed back. Instead, Merlin dodged and gave Harry an admonishing look. "I didn't ask you to use your telekinesis Harry, you know that I can't respond to those."
Harry gave him a sheepish smile and nodded.
"Now, again."
Harry didn't hesitate, running forward and trying to hit him with an overhead strike. Merlin easily countered, then swung his staff at Harry's ribs, making Harry dodge to the left.
"Good, you are anticipating better." Merlin encouraged.
Harry tried to strike again, this time at Merlin's legs, but his teacher's staff met him at halfway, jarring his arms with the impact.
Not to be deterred, Harry aimed at Merlin's hip on his other side, only to be blocked with the opposite end. From there, Merlin seemed to be through with giving him free shots, and started attacking him in earnest. From there it was a desperate struggle for Harry to hold him back, meeting blow for blow until Merlin managed to smack him on the wrist and he reflexively let go of the staff, allowing Merlin to point his staff right at his throat. With a sigh, he yielded, rubbing his smarting arms and giving Merlin an annoyed look.
His mentor seemed unrepetant as he said. "You're getting better, but your footwork and reaction time need some work." He gestured towards Harry's staff and the boy reluctantly picked it up.
"Now, again!" Merlin commanded, and Harry hurried to block him. He just hoped he wouldn't get too many bruises out of this session.
He had a lot of bruises.
He had a lot more than just a lot of bruises.
Harry hadn't been sure if the beam would be able to get past the wards, so he came the same way he left, having the portkey deposit him right at the edge of the wards so that he could walk up to the Manor. Unfortunately for him
Harry winced as he found Lily Potter waiting for him in the main entrance to the house, nearly breathing fire.
"Where in Merlin's name have you been?" She demanded, hands on her hips as if it would make her more intimidating.
Secretly, Harry admitted that for some reason it did in fact make her look more intimidating, though why he had no idea.
But the bigger problem was that he had been caught out of the house, on the first time that they had left him alone. He had likely lost whatever trust they had for him. And it would mean even more restrictive measures for him. He felt a sense of nausea well up in him at the thought of being locked up only inside of the house for another month, and mentally shuddered.
"Well?"
Harry fought the completely foreign urge to squirm. He had never really had any authority figures that he respected(and he certainly didn't respect these people that much) but something about the words and the tone still made him feel guilty.
He stubbornly kept his mouth shut though, knowing that if he said anything it would make the situation worse than if he said nothing.
Lily seemed to sigh, shaking her head. "Alright, if you won't tell me where you've been, then I have to take whatever it is you are using to leave."
Harry felt his blood run cold, and was about to turn and run when she cast a spell at him. He felt the pendant tugging against his neck, and grabbed at it with his hands, forcing it to stay put with his telekinesis. Lily frowned at him, then cast another spell, this time at his body, and his eyes widened slightly before he just barely dodged to the side, grabbing the pendant again and disappearing.
Lily stared at where he had been in disbelief. James had already raised the anti-portkey wards, and yet Harry's portkey had gone right through as if they hadn't even been there.
She held her head in her hands, cursing under her breath at her rashness. All she had wanted was to keep him from had to stay safe, away from the wizards that would love to use him to hurt their family. It would likely be a nightmare trying to track him down again. Before he had come with them somewhat complacently, but now? He'd likely come kicking and screaming, or disappear as soon as they managed to find him.
She called for Harry's elf and sent her to look for him, then rushed to James' office. They had to get the ritual ready as soon as possible.
Harry appeared in the cave, panting.
He couldn't believe that Lily had actually fired a spell at him. How dare she!
Without realizing it, he got up and started to pace, fear quickly turning to anger at what she had done.
She had no right to ask where he had been! He had been looking after himself for years, without the slightest bit of help from any adult figure. He knew how to avoid bad people, and Merlin had been teaching him how to throw away people with his telekinesis. It tired him to do it without his staff, but the fact was that he could defend himself, and yet she treated him like some baby that couldn't so much as walk around without help.
They all did, even Andrew, who didn't even realize how careful he was around Harry, as if he were made of glass! He hated it!
So what if he didn't have magic? So what if he wasn't a bloody wizard? He was smart, and he could fight much better than most children of his age! Merlin himself admitted that Harry was slightly ahead of where he had been at his age, but unlike Merlin, Harry had the drive to learn the art, so that he could protect himself. Merlin had grown up in a city-ship, where he was very unlikely to need to fight for his life when he had his entire family there to protect him.
But Harry had no one he could count on, no one that he could even trust to do anything for him(Except Merlin).
Merlin's image appeared behind him, looking concerned at his thoughts.
"Harry?"
Harry turned around, his fists still clenched and his breathing loud as he tried to calm himself.
It was just so infuriating! Who were these people to abandon him, then come back and say that he needed them to protect him, after he had been doing fine on his own?
"Harry." Merlin's voice had a harder edge to it, and Harry looked up immediately, not wanting his teacher angry.
"I hate them!" Harry shouted. "All they do is sit there and treat me like I'm made of glass, like I'm useless 'cause I don't have any magic like they do! I just hate them! I can't be in the same house as them anymore!"
Merlin gave him a look before holding his chin, thinking. He had thought of when he could get Harry to go find his Library on Camelot, once Harry had advanced far enough in his studies to be able to use it . But now, it looked like Harry needed to get away from here.
He knew that Harry couldn't stand his treatment by his family. Having his freedom restricted like that would really try anyone's patience. His family had literally been keeping house-elves on him all the time, and even though he had known that it would be likely Harry would be caught when he came this morning, Merlin didn't say anything, knowing that Harry needed to get out of that manor before he went crazy.
"I was planning on waiting until you were older to tell you, but there is a way off of this planet that doesn't involve using a ship." he finally said.
Harry stared at him dumbly for a moment, then annoyance and excitement warred in his expression. "Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded more than asked, and yelped when Merlin gave him a sharp rap on the head for his tone.
"I didn't tell you because it would require you to directly interface with a stargate and then dial a planet, which I didn't want you to learn just yet." He explained. "It takes a great deal of concentration to do so, and I didn't believe that you were ready."
"I am ready!" Harry insisted almost immediately. "You said it yourself, I've been doing really good with the exercises you gave me!"
Merlin sighed. "That's not the point." "I am afraid that if you do use this technique before you are ready, it could hurt you, make you collapse from exhaustion, I don't know!"
Harry's eyes seemed to be glowing with anger and frustration. "Then I'll get some of those pepper-up potions the wizards have to stay awake!"
Merlin sighed again, but seemed to accept defeat. Harry was incredibly stubborn when he wanted to be, and this looked like it would be one of those times.
"Alright then Harry, if it is what you really wish, then we should prepare for leaving." Merlin reluctantly agreed.
Harry opened his mouth, as if he were already about to argue, before he realized that Merlin had actually said yes and that he would be able to go.
Just then a familiar feeling came over him, and he realized one of the Potter Elves was coming. Frantically, he thought of what to do, and by the time he heard the pop, he was able to react. Merlin disappeared at the same moment, sensing something was wrong, though he readied the transporters in case whatever was coming had to be banished from the vault.
Grasping his staff, he channeled his power at the elf, binding it into place. The elf stared at him with wide frightened eyes, unsure of what to do besides struggle against the intangible ropes holding her in place. This was the master's son, and she couldn't harm him, but he was casting magic on her! Should she go back to Master James and tell him, or should she-
"Mipsy! I order you to stay here and not move!" Harry commanded.
Mipsey seemed to flinch as the command came, and reluctantly stopped struggling against the invisible bonds.
Merlin's hologram reappeared, and Mipsey squeaked before she could stop herself, staring at the image of a man thought to be long dead.
"Harry, this may have just solved some of our problems." Merlin commented quietly.
"How?" Harry asked, keeping an eye on the elf in case she tried something.
"You needed a way to get all of the things out of my vault, now you can just ask her if the Potter Family has something that can carry things from here."
Harry gave Merlin an upset look at the prospect of stealing, but he agreed and asked the elf the question.
Mipsey seemed torn, but answered that the family did have several heirloom trunks, one of which had been already chosen for Harry before it was learned that he was a squib. That little tidbit made Harry growl, but Merlin touched his shoulder and he relaxed.
"Can you get it for me, and not tell anyone where I am?" Harry asked. Mipsey's ears seemed to droop before she answered yes.
"Alright, then after that I want you to pack at least a week's worth of preserved food, several pepper-up potions, and an ever-full pitcher of water in a separate bag." Harry instructed her, and she nodded unhappily before popping away.
"Alright, what do you want me to bring?" He asked Merlin's image.
"Everything you can." Merlin said, looking around his vault wistfully. "But the technology has to go first, it is much more dangerous than the gold and jewels."
Mipsy popped back into the room, carrying a mahogany trunk trimmed in gold with the Potter crest emblazoned on top along with a small moleskin pouch . Harry thought it looked awfully tacky, but when he opened it he gaped at the amount of space inside.
"Holy..The trunk's about the size of the Dining room." He whispered to himself. And by dining room he meant the dining room for formal events, enough to seat dozens of people.
Merlin 'looked' inside, and his eyebrows rose. "I must admit this is one of the most useful things our descendants have created."
Harry tore his eyes away from the trunk and looked around the room. "So what to we pack for-" Merlin cleared his throat loudly, and looked at Mipsey.
"Right...Mipsey, you are not to tell anyone of this location until tomorrow, no matter what anyone says or orders." He paused, then added. "The same thing goes for trying to take me back. Do you understand?"
The elf seemed to struggle against herself, then stiffened and nodded, popping away.
Harry quickly started grabbing things with his telekinesis, lowering them into the trunk and then moving to grab another thing. Merlin aided him by using the transporters to bring anything to heavy for him to lift quickly right next to the trunk, and after a matter of minutes, The room was cleared of everything.
Harry stared around the room that had been the closest thing to home for him in wistfulness, before he asked Merlin "Anything else?"
The hologram nodded. "I will beam the crystal containing this consciousness to you after you activate the gate, then you will have to place it in the pedestal under my Library in Camelot, it is in a secret passage, opened by pushing on a book on one of the shelves." Merlin shrugged apologetically. "I can't remember which one though." Harry rolled his eyes, before he closed the trunk and grasped his staff with his right hand. "I'm ready."
Merlin nodded, and Harry disappeared in a flash of light.
Author's note:
And now we get to the stargate stuff. The next chapter has a lot of short scenes, and has spoilers for the episode "Camelot." (season 9 episode 20 of SG1)
Posted: 5/23/13