"An arrest warrant?" a stunned Harry asked as he pulled away from their embrace. "You're the Archive, why didn't you know about this earlier?"
"I did know about the warrant itself—you are being charged with sedition by the way—but I didn't think that Shacklebolt would sign it so quickly," Ivy explained. "I figured he would wait at least another month or two."
"But you did know the Ministry of Magic was going to turn on me again, and that Kingsley was willing to go along with it?"
"Not only did I know it was going to happen, I was planning on it," Ivy replied. "The war you just fought did little to damage the pureblood power structure in the United Kingdom. In fact by removing Voldemort, who was very unpopular and quite possibly insane, you probably strengthened their overall position. Since you are Dumbledore's heir apparent it was only a matter of time until they moved against you."
"This whole trip, meeting with all these foreign leaders, was about undercutting Kingsley's stature as the Minister of Magic and forcing him to go over to the purebloods," Harry reasoned.
"Yes, and it worked. It wasn't difficult to arrange considering that he despises you." Sensing how angry the boy was she added: "I promised that I would never lie to you, but that does not mean I've told you about all of my plans for the future."
"Well that is going to stop right now. Tell me everything about your little schemes or I leaving," Harry snarled. "It's obvious you want me to replace Kingsley as the Minister of Magic despite my young age. What are your plans once I'm in power?"
"Stop being so provincial. Tying you down to the British Ministry of Magic would be a waste of time and resources," Ivy replied. "My aim is for you to become the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."
"You honestly want me to become the dictator of the entire magical world!"
"Not the entire magical world, just your special corner of it."
"Why?" Harry demanded.
Ivy turned away from him for several minutes as she weighed her options. "Very well. I have told you before about the White Council, but what I haven't told you about is the Black Council. This organization is very secretive, and it is difficult even for me to be certain of the identities of its members or their ultimate goals. However from what I and others have been able to deduce, those goals will be disastrous for the world as we know it."
"So the true wizards have their own Dark Lords as well," Harry said with some satisfaction. From what Ivy had told him about the members of the White Council they sounded as if they combined the worst traits of Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, and Albus Dumbledore while having more raw magical power than Voldemort ever dreamed of. He was glad they had some weaknesses.
Ivy shook her head. "No you don't understand. Lord Voldemort's aim was to rule as tyrant, and he wanted to remake the world according to his own twisted ideology. This Black Council appears to be working towards an Apocalypse."
That revelation caught Harry off-guard. "An Apocalypse? As in the end of the world? That is completely insane."
"Yes, it is," Ivy agreed. "Which is why I have been so willing to bend the rules which have constrained the Archive for the past five thousand years. This mysterious Black Council has already managed to destroy the Red Court of Vampires, and they have decimated the Wardens of the White Council at the same time. And they have managed to do this without exposing themselves."
"Wait a minute. You told me that there was a big war between Red Court and the White Council, but you didn't mention anything about a Black Council at the time."
"Several years ago a young and rather hotheaded true wizard named Harry Dresden was goaded into killing an important noblewoman of the Red Court despite the treaty which existed between the vampires and the White Council. I have met Dresden on several occasions, and I'm certain he never would have deliberately started a war of this magnitude."
"So you believe the confrontation was a secret plot by this Black Council?" Harry asked. "Do you or this Dresden guy have any proof of that?"
"No," Ivy admitted. "As I have said they cover their tracks very well, but the circumstantial evidence of their involvement is overwhelming. The vampires of the Red Court had survived for thousands of years by being intelligent and very cautious, yet at times during this war they committed acts that could only be described as suicidal. At the same time the White Council was betrayed by several of its own members—something which hasn't occurred since the time of the original Merlin himself."
"Well was it really such a bad thing that these evil vampires were wiped out?" Harry asked. "From your descriptions they sounded like grotesque overgrown bats that only looked like humans on the outside."
"A rancher views his livestock as nothing more than potential food, yet what action would he take if a stranger started killing that livestock?"
"The rancher would protect his herd, and maybe even try to kill the stranger," Harry replied to Ivy's non sequitur. It took him a good minute to figure out what her bizarre analogy meant. "So you think that if the Black Council is really a threat to human civilization then the Red Court vampires would have fought back against them to protect its food supply from destruction."
"Exactly," Ivy said. "The Black Council stage-managed an entire war to eliminate one of their potential enemies, and used that war to kill well over half of the White Council's most powerful and experienced Wardens. Again without risking any of their own members or resources."
"And at some point they are going to come for us," Harry said as he plopped back down on the ballroom floor. "That is why you want me to become the Supreme Mugwump. So I can prepare for a war that only you and a few others even know is coming."
"Your people are a low priority target, but at some point the Black Council will want them out of the way," Ivy explained as she sat down on the floor beside him. "As you can see, I have valid reasons for everything that I am doing."
"Maybe," Harry allowed. "Let's say that everything you told me is true. How does my being arrested by the Ministry of Magic help us with our goals?"
When Ivy heard the adjective "our" she couldn't help but smile. "When we return home I think we should invite Teddy's godmother Queen Titania over for a visit. I think she would be very interested in learning about Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."
"You want to invite the scary but gorgeous Sidhe Queen over for a spot of tea... so we can talk about Hermione's SPEW?"
After their return to London Harry and Ivy met with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna at Grimmauld Place to discuss the current situation at the Ministry of Magic. It turned out that Neville was their best source of information since his grandmother had been reinstated to her old seat in the Wizengamot.
"Dumbledore was always Shacklebolt's most important political patron, and the Headmaster has been dead for over a year now," the Longbottom heir explained. "If the Minister wanted to survive politically he had to make a deal with the pureblood faction left over from Voldemort's regime. Plus there are a lot of strange and disturbing rumors floating around about you and your new girlfriend."
While Harry trusted Neville with his life, Ivy had refused to let the wizard know about her status as the Archive. He was under the impression that she was a muggle.
"What kind of rumors are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"That you attacked Gringotts, and killed Ragnok for being a supporter of Voldemort. And that Ivy is helping you gather international support to overthrow the Minister," Luna offered. "No one knows who she is, and given how insular we are here in Britain your new relationship with her is making the average wizard on the street very nervous. Not that it is any of their business."
"Has everyone conveniently forgotten that I killed the You-Know-Who?" Harry muttered. "Does Kingsley really have the votes needed to convict me?"
"Well, you have broken a lot laws over the years, so on the charge of sedition it looks like you will be convicted by a very narrow margin," Neville admitted. "That is why the purebloods of the Wizengamot want to have a trial now, before anyone starts calling for new elections which will leave them outnumbered."
On that sour note Ron and Neville headed back to the Minstry since they both in training to become Aurors. Ivy insisted that Luna accompany them back to her townhouse so that she could meet their good friend Titania. Harry started to ask his "girlfriend" what she was thinking when Ivy silenced him with wink. He realized that something unusual was going on an hour later when Luna spontaneously rushed into the Queen's waiting arms as they were introduce.
When they sat down for tea, Harry dutifully asked Hermione to tell them a little about SPEW and that was all the girl needed. Like one of those cranks at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, she quickly began a passionate speech about her beloved house-elves. At some point she forgot that anyone else was in the room, which was a good thing since Mrs Tonks could barely keep a straight face.
"I have personally met over thirty-seven different species of elves, and none of them were ever referred to as a house-elf," Titania remarked as she ran her hands through Luna's long blonde hair. "Do you have access to one, so that I may properly scrutinize it?"
"Kreacher is currently living at Grimmauld Place here in London, but I don't know if he could pass through the wards around this place without being killed," Harry told her.
Ivy closed her eyes for a moment as she adjusted the house's many magical defenses. "Try calling for him now."
"Kreacher!"
The crotchety old house-elf appeared at once. "Yes, my filthy half-blood master?"
Titania began to laugh when she saw him. "Ivy, you really are full of the most wonderful surprises. Who else could find me a spellbound dark-elf? I heard stories about their downfall, but the villains who cursed these poor creatures were clever enough to hide their crime even from the Sidhe."
"Do mean that a house-elf really isn't a house-elf? What exactly is a dark-elf? Is there anyway to reverse this curse they are suffering under?"
Hermione asked these questions without drawing a single breath. Queen Titania wasn't impressed with her manners, and shot the girl a withering glance.
"Sorry, your Majesty."
"Dark-elves were gifted but violent warriors, and they are all but extinct even in the vast and endless realms of Nevernever. A thousand years ago it was rumored that two wizards and two witches captured a number of them, and somehow magically enslaved them before vanishing."
"I guess we know now why there is nothing about house-elves in Hogwarts: A History, don't we Hermione," Harry said with a grin. "I wonder which one of the Founders came up with the idea of using them as slave labor to build Hogwarts? It was probably Helga Hufflepuff. Her portraits always remind me of Umbridge."
Titania turned to face Kreacher. "You don't remember your true origins, do you? They tainted your minds as well as your bodies."
"Dark-elf? Kreacher knows words, but he can not remember."
""I will do anything it takes to correct this historical injustice. Is there any way you can help me?" Hermione asked Queen Titania.
Kincaid suddenly stepped forward. "You stupid little girl. You never ask a Sidhe for a favor. Never, not even if your life depends on it!" he snarled.
"My dear Hellhound, you have spent too much time dealing with my malevolent counterpart Queen Mab," Titania said as an ancient scroll materialized on the dining room table. "The child wishes to free the dark-elves, and I am inclined to help her without asking for anything in return. That is if she is willing to pay the price that their freedom requires."
"What price?" a frightened Hermione asked. Being caught between a Sidhe and Jared Kincaid was enough to terrify anyone.
"I am not entire certain, since it varies from person to person. I only know that the price is always a terrible one, and you must pay it. Or perish," a gleeful Titania explained.
"She is telling you the truth," Ivy assured them. "As a Sidhe the Queen can not lie to a mortal under any circumstance. The ritual this scroll describes will free the house-elves from slavery, but it will also extract a price you will have no choice but to pay."
At this point Harry began shouting, but Hermione never once took her eyes off the scroll on the table. "I do it," she declared over the protests of her best friend.
The ritual itself was thousands of years old, but the instructions were straightforward enough once Ivy translated the Akkadian script. Since the house-elves had been bound to slavery all at once it was possible to free them by breaking the magical bindings of just one. Titania drafted Kreacher, who was still confused as to what was going on. The words "dark-elf" obliviously had some meaning for him, but the knowledge was locked away beyond his reach.
Once a complex spell circle was drawn on the floor Hermione began chanting. Kreacher immediately fell to the floor screaming, and his muscles spasmed with wave after wave of pain. Slowly his body began to lengthen, his sparse hair began to grow, and his skin began to turn a dark purplish color.
"What is happening to him?" Harry asked. "Tell me or I am going to stop this bloody ritual right now."
"If you do, it will kill them both," Titania pointed out.
After an hour the transformation was complete. Kreacher now stood a bit over one-hundred and sixty centimeters tall, and his long white hair reached over his pointed ears and fell far down his back. His skin was a unique color half way between purple and black, but it was his face that had changed the most. The old elf was now undeniably beautiful.
"On behalf of my fellow dark-elves I give you thanks Hermione Granger," Kreacher said in a clear voice which was now full of strength and intelligence. "I must go now to collect a gift worthy of our joining ceremony." With that he disappeared into the shadows.
"I know I am not going to like the answer, but what exactly is this joining ceremony Kreacher was talking about?" Harry asked as he went over to hug his bewildered friend.
"I believe you mortals would refer to it as a wedding, but it superfluous now," Titania informed him. "Their souls have already been joined together... for all of time."
That night a reign of terror was unleashed on great magical estates of Western Europe. An army of dark-elves had been reborn, and they had a thousand years worth of grievances to share with their former masters. Kreacher's people were violent by nature, and they were deadly warriors even when armed with nothing more than kitchen knives. By dawn the vital heart of the pureblood movement had been ripped out and destroyed forever.
The aftershocks of the "Great House-Elf Massacre" were felt for weeks. Half of the magical governments in Europe fell thanks to the deaths of their various leaders, and in Britain itself the Wizengamot could not even muster a simple quorum. Added to this was the chaos unleashed on the magical economy after the loss of so many wealthy business wizards. Only decisive action by the goblins of Gringotts kept the shops open and galleons flowing.
Lord Kreacher—who had been chosen as the leader of the dark-elves thanks to his role in the ritual of rebirth—was unrepentant. "The fools reaped what they sowed."
He was also disappointed that Hermione had rejected his gift. Breaking into Azkaban and gathering the three skulls of the Malfoys had taken a great deal of time and effort of his part.
"I believe the term you are looking for is karma," Ivy offered.
She too was unrepentant; according to her the plan had worked out perfectly. Shacklebolt had been sacked as the Minister of Magic, and was replaced by Arthur Weasley. The warrant for Harry's arrest had quietly been rescinded the next day.
The Boy-Who-Lived just glared at Ivy as he tried to comfort a still-crying Hermione. She hadn't taken the news of her soul bond with Kreacher well, although Harry had caught her looking at the very attractive elf once or twice. "Too many students from Hogwarts know about the existence of SPEW. Sooner or later someone is going to make the connection, and then Hermione will have to face hundreds of angry relatives out for revenge."
"No one shall harm my soul mate," Kreacher declared, a statement which only made Hermione cry harder.
"I think it would be an excellent idea for the dark-elves to return with me to Nevernever," Queen Titania said. She had remained at Ivy's London townhouse to watch the disaster unfold, and Luna had never once left her side. "Luna and Hermione will be perfectly safe under my protection."
"Why are you so interested in Luna?" Harry asked in a harsh voice.
Ivy knew she had pushed her boyfriend to his breaking point, so she quickly answered his question before the Queen could respond. "Luna has ancient Sidhe blood flowing in her veins from both sides of her family. It is Titania's wish that she join the Sidhe of Summer."
"But that is impossible. She is a human being," Hermione said after blowing her runny noise.
"This child is still young enough and powerful enough to choose to become one of us thanks to her heritage," Titania informed them.
Harry jumped to his feet. "Luna, please don't do this until..."
"Silence!" Titania thundered. "Boy if you attempt to interfere in the affairs of the Sidhe again not even the protection of the Archive will prevent your death."
"It's all right Harry. I have been confused about everything my entire life, but now standing at my Queen's side it is all so perfectly clear," Luna said softly as she held on to Titania. "With the Sidhe I will finally have a place where I belong. Plus they have a huge flock of heliopaths at the Palace."
Even being an emotional wreck couldn't suppress Hermione's curiosity. The prospect of witnessing Luna's transformation into a Sidhe and seeing the Palace of Summer proved too much for her, and she agreed to accompany Kreacher and the dark-elves to Nevernever.
"I can't stay here in Britain because you were right: someone will remember SPEW and I will end up being tossed through the Veil immediately without a trial. Plus if the dark-elves don't leave Europe soon who knows how many wizards and witches they might slaughter out of a misguided sense of justice."
"You aren't taking this soul bond nonsense with Kreacher seriously, are you?" Harry asked.
"I would be lying if I told you I didn't feel some sort of connection with him. And he is kind of cute now."
"What about Ron?"
"I sorry, but I just can't deal with his jealousy right now," Hermione whispered. "Just tell him I will be back when this mess with the elves resolves itself one way or another."
It took the dark-elf horde several hours to pass through the portal to Nevernever. After Lord Kreacher and Hermione followed them Titania and her new protégé were free to close the opening. It pained Harry to admit it, but he had never seen Luna look happier as she passed out of sight. Once the magic dispersed Mrs Tonks gathered Teddy in her arms, and lead Kincaid out of the room. She knew perfectly well that a huge row was about to start.
"Just invite Titania over for a spot of Tea," Harry muttered. "You knew what would happen if she was ever in the same room as Luna and Hermione. As the Archive you knew that Luna had powerful Sidhe ancestors, and you knew Hermione would jump at a chance to free the house-elves using that ritual, no matter what the cost. And let's not forget that a few hundred wizards and witches were killed because of your scheme."
"The dark-elves caused those deaths, not me," Ivy replied.
"I am not in the mood to play word games with you!"
"And I am not in the mood to listen to your pathetic teenage prattle."
"I am older than you are Ivy," Harry shot back.
"And exactly how old do you think am I?" Ivay asked in quiet but dangerous voice.
"You are sixteen."
"You could not be more wrong. Thanks to the Archive I am thousands of years old, and in those thousands of years I have seen things you would not believe Harry Potter. Children burned alive by their own parents as sacrifices to some petty wizard masquerading as a god. Entire civilizations annihilated for no other reason than the pleasure a psychopath took from the slight of the endless rivers of blood. That is the kind of barbarism we will be facing again if the Black Council comes to power."
"So this looming threat justifies tricking Hermione into a soul bond with Kreacher, and turning Luna into one of those inhuman monsters? And the massacre of all those pureblood families?"
"You know that it does. You are just too much of a coward to admit it to yourself," Ivy snapped. "I thought that after defeating Voldemort you were strong enough to become the consort of the Archive. That you were strong enough to face this coming war at my side. Was I right, or was I wrong?"
Standing there for several long minutes Harry tried to imagine leaving Ivy and the new life she was offering him, but he just couldn't do it. The girl had enough magical strength to crush a Dark Lord like a cockroach, and Harry was certain he would need that kind of strength in the future. Her vast knowledge and vast wealth were also attractive traits in a potential wife. But in the end none of that really matter. What matter was that she wanted him, and he wanted her. How could he throw all that away?
"You were right. Let's make it official."