JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Other bits by others.

One Floo Around, chapter 4

"You're Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter? The Boy-Who-Lived?"

Harry frowned slightly, pulling up a fringe of hair to show the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

"Oh my."

Can't blame Harry for getting slightly irritated as he keeps getting the same reaction. To be sure, the cover illustrations on those idiotic books they had in this universe had the glasses and the scar and the messy hair right. He wasn't scrawny or scarecrow-thin though, all the regular exercise and food and studies had filled him up and out a bit more than in those drawings.

"We need you to remain silent on this," I told the father. "Nobody must know where he is or where he is going. No one. The Dark Lord still has allies and followers about."

"Y-yes, of course," said the wizard, his wife standing nearby and nodding her own understanding. "How can I help you?"

I held up the mirror, showing an image of Harry with a red string leading from one ankle and then branching off before fading into invisibility. "Are you familiar with the 'red string of fate' concept?"

"That's just a myth," began the wizard. He stopped though, going thoughtful about the idea.

"Yes, that's the thing isn't it," I responded. "So are wizards and broomsticks and the like. So I came up with something that would indicate who Harry's potential soul-mates are. Those whose destiny could be linked to Harry Potter and are likely to end up fighting by his side in the future when the Dark Lord returns."

"But... Harry killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," said Jaya Patil, wizard and father of twins.

"No body. You should know enough history to know that when there's no body, you can't discount the Dark Lord from returning, sometimes not even then," I told him. "That's why we're here."

"You said 'potential'?" asked the wife.

"Yes. As any potential future fiancees," I began, pausing only as Harry made a few gagging noises. "Ahem. Anyway, the future is likely to be dangerous and so I've come up with this."

The husband took the scroll and his wife sidled up close to read alongside him. "This. It's a marriage contract?"

"Yes," I told him. "Not to take place before the age of sixteen. Can be cancelled at that time by either party without penalty beyond losing whatever empowerment and equipment that they received as a partner in this pact."

"'Empowerment'?" asked the wife. "'Equipment'?"

"Harry's training to be an Epic Hero," I told them. "You've studied magical history enough to be familiar with how dangerous and uncertain that sort of thing can be."

Two nods. The wife looked as if she was going to start crying.

"Well," I said, holding up a card between two fingers. "These are not only symbols of that contract, but carry some benefits. They won't activate fully until things start getting serious. Which I believe won't happen until Harry reaches his eleventh birthday."

"About when he'll receive his Hogwarts letter, I understand," said Mister Patil.

"That was what I've heard," I told him. "That's when everything starts to move. These cards allow instant silent communication between the girl depicted and Harry. They'll also give the girl some equipment or enhanced ability. You know in the muggle stories about the hero usually has Stalwart Companions - so it's more that kind of thing than anything else. It's just that there has to be some sort of formal contracted relationship involved and that was the one I ended up going with for magical strength. Symbolism helps."

Mister Patil seemed very unsure of this and exchanged a look with his wife.

"I'll be back within the week to see if you agree to the terms in the contract," I told them. Big decision after all, best not to push too fast.

"Which of our daughters is -" Mrs Patil's voice trailed off as she pointed at the mirror.

"I don't know," I told them. "Spell isn't THAT detailed. Might even be both of them. Keep in mind that without it - they're still going to be in danger if they're anywhere nearby. All this is meant to do is give them a better chance."

"How can you tell which?" asked Mr Patil.

"Part of the ceremony is a kiss," I said, deciding to ignore Harry's gagging noises. "Yes, I know. Magical ceremony though so certain actions are symbolic. If the card forms - then there's the link."

- Interlude 4-1 -

Albus Dumbledore looked around. He'd kept Harry's vanishing as quiet as he could, considering the allies he'd had ready in case the muggle had turned out to be a Death Eater.

Except that the muggle hadn't been a muggle OR a Death Eater. Death Eaters were wizards after all. Their spells he well understood and didn't involve drawing complex magical circles without the benefit of a wand.

Minerva had helpfully pointed that out as one of those who had arrived, expecting to find that he'd been holding off a Death Eater hit-squad.

Had he been more familiar with the odd wizard's spellcasting and not taken completely unaware as he had been - he was sure he'd have been able to defeat this person handily. As it was, he was left trying to make sense of things after his plans had been completely derailed. How he was to get them back on track would require understanding what exactly had happened.

This location was just another of several possible locations that Harry had visited of late. Ottery Saint Catchpole in Devon. Several wizarding families around here, it was the right approximate distance for the readings he'd taken from his various attempts at making a "Harry Tracker", and he had a hunch.

Minerva thought it unlikely that Harry was being transported against his will, the boy living in a cupboard under the stairs of the Dursleys among other things indicating to her that this other most likely had good intentions and lousy timing.

Albus himself wasn't as willing to extend benefit of the doubt. The child could be Imperiused or similarly coerced after all.

Neither he nor Minerva had any idea what the kidnapper was trying to do now. If he'd gotten away, as indications had led them to believe, why return?

It was a puzzle and one he truly did not like. Unfortunately he had to put things together to understand what he needed to do to put these events into his own plans.

- End Interlude 4-1 -

"Yes? Oh. We don't attend church, sorry."

"It's about your daughter, and not about church attendance." I paused. "Though if you want to discuss that at some later date, I know a few people."

"Hermione?" The man frowned. "I think you ought to explain yourself."

"Light," I cast with one hand, causing the book in his hand to begin glowing like a lantern.

"What the-?!" asked the man, checking the odd effect.

"I can demonstrate further, but we need to be out of sight of the street," I told him. "There are things going on in the world that your daughter will likely be caught up in - and knowledge of these things allows you better planning."

He let us in, and before the three Grangers I demonstrated three more spells. One caused the wilting flowers in a vase to straighten and freshen. One was a Levitation on Daniel Granger himself. Third was a set of images from Harry's stay at the Magic Academy.

"Magic is real?" asked Emma Granger at the end of it. "Can we do it?"

"As far as I can tell - no. Hermione is the only magic-wielder in your family," I told them. "I haven't studied the genetics involved but I think it is a main gene for the magic and a recessive gene that allows tapping into the magical field. The local wizards use wands in order to cast spells."

"You didn't use a wand," pointed out Emma Granger.

"I'm not from around here," I replied.

"You're from another universe then?" asked Dan Granger.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You catch on quicker than any of the wizards I've run across."

"I watch Doctor Who," answered Dan, his wife and child both nodding.

"Ah," I said. That really did explain a lot. "Well, if you're familiar with the genre - then this might go easier. Are you familiar with the typical plotline of a fantasy story? Young prophesied boy has to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord, gathering allies and such as he goes along?"

"Or finds a magic ring or something, yes," admitted Dan.

"Harry's the prophesied hero. I don't know what the prophesy says exactly, and he's got bad guys after him already. Which is why I'm hiding him as we make early contact," I told them. "As near as I can tell, this will all start in his eleventh year when he and your daughter will be enrolled in the local magical school which is named Hogwarts. And apparently it is the ONLY magical school in Great Britain and only one of three in Europe. The Dark Lord miscast a spell or something and hasn't been heard of since he attacked Harry as an infant and has been missing since then."

"Ah," said Emma Granger. "They never found the body did they?"

"You are familiar with how things go," I agreed. Genre-savvy helped. "So, Dark Lord has a miscasting or something, ten years go by - he returns to kill Harry and enact his Diabolical Plan."

"How can you say something like that where I hear the capitalization?" asked Dan.

"Practice," I told him.

"Do we know what his diabolical plan IS?" asked Emma.

"From what I've gathered, he's what they call a 'pureblood supremicist' - a magical Nazi-type basically. Might be like most of those in that he's just espousing the belief in order to gather minions and resources from an existing mindset." I shrugged. It was an old tactic after all. "Basically, if you can't trace magical heritage from both parents and document it, you're subhuman in their way of thinking. Quite often similar beliefs are simply put forth in the cause of greed or having someone to blame for your own lack of success or wealth or whatever. I've seen a lot of groups like that over a lot of years and the words and targets vary while the activities look very much alike."

"And our girl is going to get mixed up in all this?" asked Emma.

"I'm afraid so," I told her. "Which is why I'm trying to do something about it. Are you familiar with 'akai ito' or the 'red string of fate'?"

"No," admitted Dan.

"I am. I saw an old Japanese cartoon," said Emma.

"Okay, the tradition is Chinese and links ankles instead of fingers but the idea has been out there for awhile and symbols and belief are forces within magic," I told them. "Hermione is one of those with a POTENTIAL link to Harry. They could end up soul-mates, best friends, close friends, rivals, actually married, I'm not sure what else is possible. However, their fates are already linked at better than nine-out-of-ten so chances are they'll be together at Hogwarts at the appropriate time."

"So - you're forming a Fellowship Of The Ring or something?" asked Dan.

"Yes," I said, not hiding my pleasure at someone understanding a lot of this. I pulled out a scroll from a pocket. Those "bigger-on-the-inside" enchants were SO darn handy. "In about a week I plan on coming back here. If you agree to these terms, this should increase your daughter's chances of survival."

Dan took the scroll, unfurling it slightly and making room on the chair for two other sets of eyes. "A betrothal?"

"It's a form of magical linking - again dealing with belief and symbols - that will allow your daughter to speak at a distance with Harry and each can draw power through the link when they need to. It can also be ended by mutual consent later on."

"How many of these are there?" asked Emma.

"Seven," I told her. "Seven is a number that comes up with magic a lot. So does twelve, thirteen, and fifteen. Three would have been better, but ran into problems with that right away. If Hermione goes through with the contract, you signing it as her parents and her placing her hand on that end of the contract, and they kiss-"

Harry AND Hermione made gagging noises at that.

"-then you and Harry will have a Hermione card. It won't work when Harry is in another universe, at least as far as drawing power or communicating - but it will work otherwise if she gets an artifact or special ability out of it. Per a condition put in by a Mister Chang - additional training in magic or special abilities will be arranged if I can swing it. No promises there though since I'm having to coordinate with other people."

"Don't you know what she'll get out of it?" asked Emma.

"No," I told her. "One, I'm not that familiar with the process. It was something I ran across in the universe where Harry's training. Two, it apparently involves the contractEE's 'inner qualities' to find an appropriate match."

"Let's do it!" said Hermione. "I want magic now!"

"Even if you have to kiss a boy?" asked Emma.

"BLEH. Just has to be once though, right?" asked Hermione, making a face but apparently determined to get magic. "Not going to do that again."

"Just once to set the contract," I agreed. "Though don't make too many statements about how you won't do it again. In a decade or so you might change your mind."

"I doubt that," said the five-year-old girl, absolutely certain that boys were icky and that was not subject to change.

"Not likely at all," seconded Harry.

"You shouldn't sign ANY magical contract until you've read it, thought about it for a good long time, and made sure that you're not under any magical compulsions," I told them. "Likewise, be careful of any magical items you might handle as there are various curses and such that can be laid on them. Some of those old stories you might have read have a basis in reality."

"How do we determine if we're under a 'magical compulsion'?" asked Dan Granger.

"Good question," I told him. "Unfortunately, any answer I could give you would be biased unless you had reason to trust me. Since you just met me, you shouldn't."

"Not going to tell us to trust you?" asked Emma, sounding very surprised by that.

"If anyone tells you to 'trust them', especially when you've just met, you really need to start questioning motives," I told them. "'All men bear the blood of Cain' is the old saying."

"Understood. One week you said?" Dan Granger looked at his wife and child and I could see many family discussions coming up. You certainly didn't need Divination magic for that.

"About one week," I told them. "That's for you to come up with a straight yes-or-no. If you say 'no' - I leave and you're on your own later on. It's one of the things about the contracting process. If 'yes' we'll do the ritual right there. Takes about two minutes if you've already signed it at that point. Now - you three have NO magical defenses on the house or on yourselves other than a slight Threshold effect. If one of you starts acting really strange, it might be one of the groups after Harry. I'll be checking before I show up, just in case."

"I really don't like that you're involving us in some magic war," said Emma, making a face. "I can't believe I just said that."

"Well, it IS a bit of a paradigm shift for you," I agreed. "But I'm not. Hermione was going to get involved anyway. I'm just trying to give you a bit better chance."

Things were pretty much over at that point and so we made our goodbyes and left the Grangers by foot.

"'Seven'? Fiancees?" asked Harry when we were alone.

"You saw the contract I drew up and copied," I pointed out to him. "Plus, we've had this conversation how many times now? Besides - being engaged isn't a problem when any of you can opt out at any given point, is it?"

"I don't think either of us have been engaged to even ONE girl before," noted Harry. "Even so - I think this is gonna be trouble."

"The Chinese symbol for trouble is two women under one roof," I said. "I think. At least in one world. I'm not too sure about other worlds."

"What if you're wrong?" asked Harry. "What if I'm not the big hero you're talking about?"

"Then you're going to be really well prepared for running away from a bunch of women with your flying skills." I kept my tone dry. Really, with HIS flight skills? I couldn't see that many of his little clique keeping up with him.

"Can we fly yet?" asked Harry.

I considered it before nodding. "I'll manage the perception filter, you handle the flying, you're better at it."

We'd just taken off when Harry asked another question. "Seven? We've only visited six."

"Patil family - twins."

"Oh yeah," said Harry, not really concerned from the sound of it.