The Queen who fell to Earth

by Bobmin356

Forced to compete and abandoned by his friends, he steps from the tent with only one goal in mind, suicide. Instead Harry awakens a power that spans time and space and starts a war between the worlds.

10. Chapter 10

Standard Disclaimer:

The curtain pulled back and Bob stopped and stared. Against the back wall was the biggest monitor he had ever seen. It was bigger than enormous, it was bigger than ginormous, it was plaidnormous!

Bob turned to look at Alyx. "Did you buy that?" he asked.

"Yes, I got it on sale, we'll have to give up on a few luxuries, but I thought it was a good investment," she replied smugly.

"Give up on a few? Give up what?"

Alyx looked up from connecting the screen to her computer. "Oh little things, like eating, your internet connection, your subscription to LOTRO, your subscription to playboy, your subscription to Backyard Nuclear Physics, that sort of thing. I think that covers it, but I did manage to save enough so that I could continue to play WOW and have the internet on my computer," she replied smugly.

Bob frowned. "Did you remember to factor in the power bill?"

Alyx blanched. "Oh oopsie."

Bob snickered. "You think that's bad, wait til the readers discover you've put us out of the writing business."

Alyx glared at him. "No, I took that into account. Here!"

She shoved a small yellow object at him. Bob took it and looked down at the object in his hands. "You wrote the disclaimer out on post it notes?" he exclaimed.

"Yup, you'll be able to visit each reader and give them a personalized disclaimer for them to post to their monitor. They will know we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon Riders of Pern!" she exclaimed dramatically.

Bob stared at her in shock.

"And while you're gone, delivering the disclaimer, I'll be raiding Thunder Bluff on my new monitor." she declared.

Bob shook his head and walked off the stage. "I'll be back in about eight years, there are thousands of disclaimers to deliver."

Alyx clapped her hands and fired up her computer. The monitor flared to life, then the entire stage went dark. Alyx whimpered, she was sure the power company had cut the lines and burned all records of their account.

"Bob?" Alyx whispered in the dark. Something nearby growled ominously and she squeaked.

Bob looked up from the master circuit breaker and grinned. "Enjoy the chapter folks. No raiding for Alyx with that crap gear. Now who's first on the delivery list?"

---

Dragons have wings and, therefore, the ability to fly. Inbreeding and long disuse, however, has caused that ability to erode to the point where most dragons in the reserves are unable to leave via flight. Superior wizarding wards restrain them from escaping. By now, the dragons, while still dangerous, are like the domesticated bull: dangerous but controllable.

Excerpt from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander. Published 1927.

Office of the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, March 24th...

The door flung open and Lucius Malfoy stormed into the room. "What in the name of Hecate have you done, you stupid woman!" he thundered. He was beyond incensed. The bitch was clearly overstepping her bounds and he'd put her in her place!

Delores Umbridge looked up from the parchment she was reading. "I beg your pardon?" she said icily. She was relieved to see four of her people move quietly into the office behind Malfoy. She knew he was a dangerous wizard and far more capable with a wand than she was. But she wasn't alone. She had friends working for her.

"You gutted the DMLE! Now who's going to find my son?" Malfoy asked angrily.

She slowly stood and glared back at him. "Your son? Your son probably got one of those missing girls pregnant and ran off with her. In fact, according to Marcus Flint, your son was considered a real ladies man, often sampling the girls of Hogwarts." She sneered. "Cassius Flint says that his son saw your boy being quite chummy with that mudblood, Granger."

It was a nasty dig that she knew wasn't true, but it would set him off.

"He would never!" Lucius declared. He leaned over her desk, getting right into her face. "When Cornelius hears what you've done he'll send you to Azkaban personally. You've gone too far, bitch, and I'm going to take you down once and for all. I thought it was amusing to let you murder Bones, but you're not powerful enough to take me."

"Imperio!" said a soft voice from behind him.

He shook and a feeling of lazy peacefulness descended upon him. It was a feeling he had never felt before in his life.

Umbridge smirked at him. "Tut, tut, Lucius. You know you can't fight it. Why, you weren't able to fight it the first time it was used on you. Why try now?"

He struggled against the voice commanding him to put down the cane with his wand in it. His eyes bulged bug like and sweat dotted his forehead. Slowly, his cane came to rest on the desk.

Delores reached for it, carefully avoiding the small poisoned needle that would extend if one was foolish enough to try to draw the wand without first twisting the hilt of the cane. Sometimes it paid to be the daughter of the craftsman who made such fine wand holders.

She admired the solid silver snake-like wand grip, then she looked over his shoulder. "Is it clear out there?"

"It will be when we dispose of his body," came an answer. Several men chuckled and she smiled sweetly at them, then she turned back to Lucius.

"It's such a shame, Lucius. I could have used you on my side, but you are far too interested in being the one in control. I'm afraid I can't have that. Control is not something I willingly share with anyone."

She threw the wand and cane on the desk, then pulled parchment from one of the drawers. "You will sign this, Lucius. In exchange, I will allow your wife to continue living. I'll even leave your brat and his little pregnant whore alone when I find them. And believe me, I will find them."

Delores giggled like a school girl. "Oh, yes, I'll find them all and spread their entrails from one end of Britain to the other!"

He stared at her and she gestured.

"IMPERIO!" said the voice from behind him.

"Sign the parchment, Lucius! Put your mark and your seal on it now!" she hissed.

He looked down at the desk and picked up the black blood quill and signed the parchment. Dropping the quill, he pressed his signet ring into the parchment.

"Excellent," she crooned. "That wasn't all that difficult now was it?"

She gestured again and two of the men stepped forward and threw an invisibility cloak over him before dragging him from the room.

She handed the parchment to one of the others. "You know what to do with this."

"Yes, my Lady," he said, taking the parchment. He turned and hurried from the room.

The goblins wouldn't question the parchment. They knew Lucius never did things that didn't provide him a gain somewhere, so emptying his accounts into the Ministry's coffers had to be politically motivated.

They would be right, only it wouldn't be Lucius gaining power. Delores was systematically undermining the structures of authority in the hopes that she would become the power behind Cornelius.

Campbeltown Weyr, March 24th...

Remus looked up from the old manual typewriter he was banging on. Given his condition, he had often been forced to seek employment in the muggle world and typing was just one of the skills he had been forced to learn to survive.

"Remus, my boy, can I come in?" Albus said from the door.

Remus waved him in and motioned to a chair. "Give me a moment to finish this paragraph and then I'll be right with you, Albus."

He typed for another minute, then he pushed the machine to one side and looked at Albus.

The old man eyed the machine and gestured to a page Remus was already done with. "May I?" he asked.

Remus chuckled and passed the sheet over.

Albus examined it carefully. "Wonderful machine," he murmured. "Every letter is uniform and the spacing is so precise. Our best printers can't duplicate this," he said, then he passed the page back to Remus.

"You're right, Albus. However, our best printers are using techniques that are two centuries old," he said, then he waved a hand at the old manual typewriter that Lily had bought him after they graduated. It was one of his prize possessions. "This machine is an antique. Harry's Mum bought it for me when I had trouble getting work. She said I'd be able to find work in the muggle world if I knew how to type. As it stands, it's old fashioned and doesn't have half the abilities of the modern machines. I could ask James to buy me a modern machine, but I don't want to give this up."

Albus eyed the machine sadly and reflected on how such impersonal things could bring back fond memories of people lost.

"Now, Albus, why don't you tell me what brings you to my office this morning?" Remus said.

Albus shook himself and turned back to Remus. "I have received some disturbing news from Minerva, along with an even more alarming letter from an old friend. Things in our world are turning bad very, very quickly.

"Minerva writes that my old friend, Garrick Ollivander, had a run in with our stalwart defenders, causing him to pack up his shop and flee. Florean Fortescue wasn't as lucky. Minerva visited him in St. Mungo's and says he'll be there for weeks still. Both men refused to allow a recruiting poster to be placed in their shops.

"As it stands, Florean still got off lucky. Auror James Goldmann and his partner tried to intervene in the fight between Ollivander and the WDF men. Auror Goldmann was killed in the exchange. Minerva heard from his partner, Auror Shacklebolt, who told her that almost all of the auror force has resigned because the head of the department is refusing to arrest the WDF men responsible for the crime.

"No one knows where Ollivander fled to, but he took his shop with him."

Albus paused and peered over his glasses at Remus. There was no customary twinkle in his eyes. "Right now the Wizarding World has no police force and the WDF is slowly assuming control. I do fear that if this isn't stopped, Cornelius Fudge may find himself as a figurehead, while Delores Umbridge runs everything from behind the scenes."

Remus glanced out the window where he could see the dragons and their riders assembling for morning flight drills. They normally ran drills in the morning and a few classes on basic dragon care, then used the afternoons to study various subjects. For the muggle subjects, tutors were slowly coming available from the British armed services, usually retirees or wives of retirees that had spent their careers teaching at base schools.

He turned back to Albus. "It's bad news to be sure Albus, but I'm not sure we can do anything about it. As Harry is so quick to point out, we have thirty four total riders and a few non-bonded people who can ride dragonback. And only twelve of those riders are magical."

Albus nodded unhappily, but he had expected this kind of answer. There just weren't enough riders to do much unless they brought in the un-bonded dragons.

"And the other piece of news?" prompted Remus.

Albus looked rather unhappy at this point. "My friend, Alejandro Croaker, sent me a letter via Minerva. He is the wizard in charge of Department of Mysteries. He claims that all the wizards who have rejected our world have vanished, and that I or Harry Potter seem to know where they are and have some measure of control over them. He wants me to tell these wizards to contact him.

"Apparently part of his charter is to occasionally arrange for a change of government when the existing government is in danger of exposing our world. His department is too small to have any impact on the Ministry and he wanted to use those wizards who have gone back to the muggle world to help him."

Remus chuckled and shook his head. "I'm afraid he's in for a disappointment then," he said, then took a deep breath. "My suggestion is a simple one. Pass the information on to James and let him inform the appropriate individuals. You have taken it upon yourself to tutor our magical riders in their magics and should probably stick to that. The problems of the Wizarding world have grown beyond just dragons versus wizards and it's out of our hands."

Albus looked unhappy with the answer. Remus noted the man's expression. "Albus, what can we do? We have dragons and not nearly enough riders. Harry's concentrating solely on dragons and anything that affects them. I'm certain he wouldn't have gone to the goblins except for the underground dragons there. In a few years time, I'm sure the Weyr will be a force to reckon with, but we aren't today."

Albus held up a hand placatingly. "I know, my boy, I know. I guess I have grown accustomed to being at the center of things."

"But you are, Albus. You are at the center of the biggest thing to hit the human race since the invention of the wheel. I'll grant you your position has changed radically, but we're doing something that has never been done before," Remus said firmly. "I can't begin to tell you how much I envy Harry and the other riders. What they are doing is unique in human history."

Albus nodded. "I can see why you say so, but I can't help but worry about our world. All this upheaval in our Ministry leaves us vulnerable to Voldemort taking advantage of it. Who knows what he's..." He broke off and frowned when Remus being to laugh. "I fail to see any humor in this. Voldemort is a terrible threat to everyone."

"Yes, about that," Remus said a bit uncomfortably. "A month before James and Lily went into hiding, James told Sirius about the prophecy. When Sirius escaped and I realized he was innocent, he and I spoke a lot about that time. Part of what we spoke about included the Prophecy.

"I know you're not going to approve of this part, but the dragons recognized the spirit that came out of Harry as something very dangerous. They were able to detect other entities similar in nature and they led us to a small town called Little Hangleton."

Dumbledore jerked as if shocked and he leaned forward staring at Remus intently. "And?" he pressed.

Remus shifted nervously. "Well, you see, once we knew that we were up against Voldemort in a spirit form, we decided to put an end to the threat once and for all. We, that is, Sirius, myself and a dozen or so dragons, stormed the place. We captured Voldemort in some sort of magical homunculus. Sirius recognized it. He also knew he couldn't just kill the thing. So he tore his family library apart looking for books that contained information on very specific dark spells.

"Albus, he locked Voldemort's spirit into that form, then altered it so it was more animal like than human. He cursed the spirit such that if it ever left that form it would be banished to one of the demon realms. Finally, he boxed it up and left it in the Director's office at the London Zoo. It's stuck, with no means of escape. The dragons found him and helped contain him. Sirius cursed him to an immortal existence without any magic or any ability to communicate.

"I never saw him like this before. He came back to the weyr after getting rid of that murderer and got drunk. Not surprising, given that we're talking about Sirius. But I'd never seen him that drunk before. When he sobered up, he had me obliviate him so he wouldn't remember the spells he used."

Albus looked at the man in surprise, then he shook his head. It was an interesting solution and he had to admit, it was one that worked. He was also comforted by the idea that Sirius had most of the information removed from his mind. Vanquish doesn't necessarily mean kill, he thought. The dragons provided the ability, through Harry. And so the prophecy ends not with a cataclysmic war, but with a whimper of a Dark Lord turned muggle science experiment.

"Does Harry know?"

"Only in broad terms. We didn't think he needed to know. His dragons helped locate him, destroyed that big snake of his and let us capture Wormtail. I think Harry's done his fair share, don't you?"

Albus nodded with a growing smile. "Indeed. You have given me much to think about today, Remus, and you have relieved an old man of his biggest fear."

He stood then and looked at the younger. "I will pass the information to James. I daresay he will make use of it. In the meantime, I have a class later this afternoon and I'd best prepare for it."

Campbeltown Weyr, March 24th...

He dropped lightly to his feet and immediately crouched down. He had spent nearly four days watching this place and he was certain this was what he was looking for. From his vantage point he could see armed sentries making their rounds at the gates, trying to stay warm in the cold of the evening.

A pair of headlights approached from another direction and he tensed. He watched the military vehicle come within fifty yards of his position, but it never slowed down. He was uneasy. There was a lot more magic going on around him than he had expected there to be.

This was supposed to be an airfield run by the Ministry of Defense and the military presence confirmed it was still very active. But in four days of observing, he only seen two military aircraft, and one of those didn't belong to the British!

Something smelled wrong and his finely honed instincts were screaming that this place may hold information he could use.

He wrapped his invisibility cloak tighter around himself and started to carefully move towards a cluster of buildings that had a lot of traffic coming and going all day long.

He sprinted across the road, keeping low. On the other side, he knelt behind some bushes, trying to get a better understanding of what this place was all about.

He froze suddenly as the hair at the back of his neck rose up. A low growl sounded from just over his shoulder and he could feel the hot breath pushing against him.

"Stand slowly and drop the cloak and your wand. If you make so much as a single move that I don't tell you to make, the dragon will fry you," said a voice. "Cheki, call in Norendrath, Spath and Momnarth. Alert the Weyr."

He dropped his cloak and wand. He wasn't too worried though, as he had a spare wand and several other weapons. If he had to he'd fight his way out of this.

Lights suddenly turned on, flooding the area around the buildings and a siren went off in the distance. One of the hangars opened its doors and several dragons came loping out of the building with people chasing after them. Spath and Norendrath landed about a dozen yards away. Norendrath had Sirius on his back. Sirius saw Harry holding a man at wand point, heard Chekiath growling and he immediately slid down from his friend's back.

The man's eyes bulged outwards at Sirius' approach. He recognized Sirius and he immediately exploded into action. Here was Voldemort's number two man at a muggle military installation! He had to do something! He pulled his backup wand and immediately cast a bone crushing hex, which hit Sirius in the chest.

Harry yelled in outrage and he thrust his hand forward. The man's wand glowed blindingly white, then exploded, taking most of the man's arm with it. Harry had found a use for his ability to access a wand remotely by overloading the core in the wand the man carried.

Chekiath stomped forward and swiped at his legs with one huge paw. The man screamed and fell to the ground with both legs badly broken. Growling louder, Cheki placed a huge clawed paw on top of the man.

Panicked, in pain, the man tried to activate his emergency portkey, but the Weyr was under an anti-apparation, anti-portkey wards. His last sight before unconsciousness claimed him was a dragon standing over him, baring his teeth.

Harry sprinted to where Sirius lay and knelt on the cold ground. "Sirius?" he whispered. He reached out, but was afraid to touch the man. Sirius groaned and shifted slightly and Harry nearly wept in relief.

A second later, Remus and Katherine Atkins ran up to Harry. Atkins gasped and fumbled for her walkie talkie.

"Remus, do something," Harry pleaded, his eyes overflowing with tears now.

Sirius opened his eyes for a moment and he smiled at Harry before closing them again.

Remus stood and conjured a stretcher, then carefully levitated Sirius onto it. After casting a few sticking charms, he gave a quick flick of his wand, then turned and bolted for the infirmary, the stretcher following him.

Katherine watched Remus for a moment, then she turned her attention back to the intruder. He was unconscious and her people were working on him. Someone had applied a tourniquet to his arm and they were waiting for the ambulance to pull up so they could get him to the infirmary.

Dan Granger ran up to the scene and Atkins jerked a thumb towards Harry, who still knelt on the ground where Sirius had lain. Chekiath stood nearby crooning softly, but Harry wasn't paying any attention.

"Harry," Dan said gently.

Harry didn't look up. Dan walked over to where he knelt and placed his hands under Harry's arms and pulled him to his feet. "Let's get you inside where it's warm."

"He killed Sirius," Harry said flatly, turning his gaze towards the injured man.

"You don't know that," Katherine said. "He was still breathing when Remus took him away and I have no doubt that your Madam Pomfrey is probably already working on him."

"Come on, Harry," Dan repeated, "Let's go find out what's happening."

He wiped at his eyes and reluctantly nodded. He was terrified and wasn't sure he wanted to know Sirius' condition. He was afraid that Sirius would be dead. If he died, not only would he lose his godfather, but one of the last links to his parents.

Dan led him into the infirmary and they both stopped when they saw Madam Pomfrey working on Sirius, her wand flashing constantly. Remus stood motionless not far from the pair. Corporal Stone, the company medic, helped Madam Pomfrey by fetching potion bottles from her bag.

The door opened and Katherine held it open while two of her security team moved the assailant in and placed him on another bed. Poppy glanced up at him, noting the obviously broken legs and the missing arm. She gestured and Corporal Stone left her to go work on him.

Harry growled in the back of his throat and he reached for his wand. Only Remus stepping in front of him prevented Harry from blasting the man to pieces.

"Get out of my way, Remus," Harry said intently.

"No and I won't let you do it, Harry. Think! We need to find out who he is and how he found us."

"I'm not going to say it a second time. Get out of my way," Harry repeated.

Katherine turned to see Harry staring down Remus, his wand sparking with power. The room was rumbling and she could hear dragons outside bellowing. She stepped between the two men and grabbed Harry by the shoulders.

"This isn't helping Sirius. Killing him might make you feel a little better for a moment or two, but it won't tell us who sent him here and why. If you kill him now, we may still have a major problem for the Weyr and we won't know who is behind it."

He slowly focused on her, his eyes empty, his face expressionless.

"I promise you, if Sirius doesn't pull through, I'll personally hold him down for you," she said intently.

He searched her face for a moment, then he nodded.

She gently turned him around and passed him over to Dan. "Why don't you two go get a cup of coffee or something. I'll send word as soon as we know anything."

Dan wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Come on, Harry," he said gently.

Harry let himself be led outside where Chekiath waited. Norendrath waited also, right next to the door to the infirmary. He stopped and looked at the dragons. "We should know soon," he said to Sirius' dragon friend.

"I have increased our dragons overhead, Weyrleader," Norendrath said. "Instead of five, twenty now watch the Weyr and our skies."

Harry nodded and reached out to Chekiath. He patted his dragon absently and started walking to the kitchen hall. It had been sheer chance that Chekiath had spotted the man as they returned to the Weyr after bringing James home.

For more than an hour he sat with Dan, holding a cup of coffee, but not drinking. Hermione, May and many other riders joined them in the hall, sitting and waiting, talking quietly among themselves.

When Remus appeared in the doorway and looked around, Harry's eyes snapped to his. When he saw Remus smile softly, he sagged in his seat as the tension drained away. Hermione and May both grabbed him by his arms to keep him upright.

Remus walked over and sat down next to Dan, across the table from Harry. "It was close. That curse shattered his rib cage and punctured his lungs in multiple places. But Madam Pomfrey is a master healer. When I left she was working on our guest. I don't recognize him, but judging by his equipment, I am going to guess he works for the Ministry."

He paused and poured himself a cup of coffee. "It's strange. If he's Ministry, why was he here alone? Even the hit wizards usually work as a team of three or four to a group."

Harry looked up at Remus in surprise, then he turned slightly and his eyes glazed over. "Norendrath, there may be more intruders in the Weyr. Be extra careful. I don't know if Wolf told you, but Smelly Dog is going to live."

There was a moment of silence, then Harry got an impression of more dragons taking to the air. "If there are more intruders, we will find them, Weyrleader. And thank you. Wolf was so worried about you, he ran right by me."

He shook his head and turned back to Remus. "Sorry, Norendrath was increasing our coverage overhead. If there are more intruders, we'll find them. Extra dragons are also watching the sleeping quarters for the riders." He took a deep breath. "Remus," he said slowly, "About what happened in the infirmary. I'm sorry."

"Harry, don't." Remus replied. "If Sirius had died I would have gladly skinned him alive. Believe me when I say that I understand what you were feeling."

Albus appeared in the doorway and he looked around for a moment before spotting Remus. He walked over and sat down. "Madam Pomfrey will be returning to the school shortly. She wanted to send her patients to St. Mungo's but realizes that isn't possible.

"Our assailant had a portkey that ends somewhere in the vicinity of the Ministry of Magic, but without testing it, I cannot be more precise. On the surface, all of the items he carried looked like Ministry issue, but appearances are misleading. His wands are not Ministry standard wands. Nor was his invisibility cloak or the little potion kit he carried. It could be that he decided to replace his Ministry supplied items with more reliable, custom items or his kit was carefully crafted to give us the impression that he works for the Ministry. Until he wakes up and we get him talking, it's impossible to tell."

"Do you recognize him, Albus?" asked Remus.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I do not. That should come as no surprise, however. Some departments, like the Department of Mysteries, have taken great steps to make their employees unrecognizable. Or perhaps he could be an employee hired from elsewhere. Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, for example, was born and taught in South Africa."

"Can we get some veritaserum?" asked Harry.

Albus blinked and peered at him intently. "I can brew, it assuming we can get the ingredients, but are you sure that is the way you want to go, Harry? You cannot just force him to take it. No court would recognize such a confession."

Harry stood and stared down at the man. "My godfather was nearly killed and my Weyr invaded, perhaps by an agent of the Ministry of Magic. The man cast a lethal spell without consideration or regard to who he was casting it on. He will be interrogated under veritaserum or I'll have Cheki light a fire in his flesh until he talks. One way or the other, I will have answers from this man. Frankly, veritaserum is a lot cleaner than slowly roasting him via dragon fire."

He turned and walked from the room, leaving everyone in stunned silence.

"Albus," Emma said, "I know you're concerned with legalities here, but it's too soon for that. Right now his only concern is Sirius and why this happened. He wants to know if his dragons and his riders are safe and I can't blame him. He doesn't give a damn about court legalities."

"I understand, Emma, but he needs to learn that a leader, above all others, must be bound by the law," Albus countered.

"Perhaps that is true. But he is the Weyrleader. He is a leader of a nation that has no laws at the moment. I'm certain Harry doesn't even consider himself British any longer," May added to the conversation.

Hermione nodded. "She's right. If nothing else, right now he's forming the basis for the laws that will govern the Weyrs. You've seen what he is willing to do to protect his Weyr; to protect us. Can't you see that forcing this man to take veritaserum is a compromise he's offering? If you don't take it, I'm certain his next step will be to make the man talk by dragon fire."

Dan looked at his daughter strangely. "You don't seem very upset that he would be willing to torture someone."

Hermione turned to her father. "Daddy, what would you do if you caught someone trying to rape me?"

He stared at her for a moment. "I think I would probably kill the bastard," he admitted ruefully.

She nodded and reached out to take his hand. "Harry feels the same way about all of us. He's committed to giving us the best life he can. I do not think I could easily fill his shoes, and yet I know I could easily cast a lethal curse at someone hurting my Comaloth."

"And I would kill anyone who even attempted to harm you," Comaloth said fiercely. "You are my rider and I am your dragon. We are together and the only time I will share you is with your children and the people you mate with."

Emma chuckled and shook her head at Hermione's reaction to her dragon's comment.

"It would be easier if you and May just shared Harry," Trath added.

Both girls groaned.

"Trath!" hissed May, then she buried her face in her hands.

"What? You could go to him now if you want. I'm sure he would appreciate it. Chekiath is very unhappy right now and his rider is still very upset. Harry loves Smelly Dog very much, even if he doesn't know how to say so. He is frightened because he nearly lost Smelly Dog and because he was angry enough to kill."

Both girls were up and moving before Trath had even finished her statement and the adults stared at the retreating girls in astonishment. The other riders followed close behind them.

"Did you see that?" exclaimed Dan.

Emma shook her head. "Both of them?"

Remus chuckled. "No, and certainly not in the way you're thinking. I'm not going to pry but I would bet any amount of money that Harry's quarters will be overflowing with Riders tonight. Maybe not all of them, but a good many of them. He is their Weyrleader, but he's also their friend. I'd bet we're going to see a repeat of what happened for Susan, only with more people."

Emma nodded, remembering. When Susan lost her Aunt, a number of riders rallied around her and helped her through her grief. No one had even impressed at that point, but they were still tied together by an unspoken bond. Now they were united and joined by an unbreakable bond of dragons. One of their own was hurting and they'd reach out to him.

Not far away, some twenty people crowded into Harry's quarters. He was initially surprised and shocked, but started relaxing after a bit. Luna handed him a cup with whispered advice to sip it, not gulp it down. It took a bit, but slowly the icy knot in his belly dissolved and he relaxed.

They talked long into the night, helped along by Luna's special brew, which turned out to be one part pepper up potion and four parts orange juice and vodka.

Andrews Air force Base, Maryland, USA, March 25th...

The Secretary of Magic, Christian Baker, frowned and stepped into the darkened hangar. He had received an emergency signal from the office of the President citing a need to meet with him on an urgent matter of national security.

Baker was annoyed that he was forced to interrupt his busy schedule to meet with this muggle, but he was bound by his oath. There were very few controls on the Department of Magic, but the oath of office imposed several personal compulsions on the Secretary that he couldn't shirk. Anything involving national security could not be shrugged off. However annoyed he was by the summons, he couldn't avoid attending the meeting.

He smirked. No matter what the topic, he was sure the meeting would be short. A single gesture from him and his personal guard would obliviate the man, leaving him with a memory of a very productive meeting, even if nothing happened.

His guard, four men in invisibility cloaks, followed him into the room and spread out. The hangar was poorly lit with only a few of the large overhead halogen lamps lighting it. Long shadows and large dark areas filled the room, adding for an uneasy atmosphere.

Baker was walking into a trap, but was too arrogant to think mere muggles could ever get a drop on him.

He stood in the largest center of light in the large room and looked at his watch. The President was supposed to be waiting for him to show up! Four loud shots rang out and echoed in the hangar and Baker whirled around to see two of his men crumple to the ground, their invisibility cloaks sliding from their bodies. From another two locations pools of blood appeared but no bodies were visible.

Unlike the British, who shot to disable the President's minders, the US Marine sharpshooters were under no such restrictions. And while invisibility cloaks worked fine in most cases, they didn't conceal their wearer's signature from the infrared scopes mounted on their rifles.

Baker whirled in place and doubled over in pain as a spasm hit him. Someone had raised an anti-apparation ward! A door opened and ten armed marines ran into the hangar, shouting at him to disarm. He was reaching for his wand and his portkey when his arms and legs locked up, causing him to topple over.

In shock and fear he watched another wizard appear. The wizard carefully folded up his invisibility cloak and placed it into a small bag.

"Captain," he said with a thick British accent, "this isn't a case of a man with a gun. Even without a wand, many wizards have some capabilities with magic. So put them down and take away everything they have. Keys, money, even buttons can be turned into a portkey."

The young officer nodded. "Even clothing?"

"Even clothing," agreed the British agent.

"Full body cavity search then," muttered the captain.

"Quite so," the British agent said, then he turned to look at the Secretary of Magic. "The President will be here shortly. I strongly suggest you rethink your position. Right now, it's not looking good."

He waited until the marines had removed everything from the man and had him in handcuffs, with his ankles bound, before removing his full body bind.

"But you're a wizard!" he pleaded with the British man.

"Yes, I am. I'm on loan from Her Majesty's government, actually. I'm here to help the Yanks clean up things," the British wizard replied smoothly. "Our chaps and their class system left quite a lot of unhappy first born for the British government to entice into service. Your system wasn't nearly as biased, but we still found people who owed their loyalty to God and country rather than magic. We're training up a fair number of your people."

Baker could only stare at him in horror. Wizards working with muggles? British wizards training Americans to work against the Department of Magic? Impossible!

Four very uncomfortable and very disagreeable hours later, he knew the truth. Wizards, British and American, were working with muggles all right.

He had personally seen two more British wizards instructing the Americans in things to watch for. He had witnessed a British wizard teaching very specific spells to an American wizard, designed to locate portkeys and place wards.

While blood purity wasn't as strong a sentiment in the US as it was in the UK, there was enough of it to generate a sizable population of disaffected wizards. The federal government had found them the same way the British did, through their educational records.

Baker was ushered into a room with a table and two chairs. One side of the room held a large mirror. He looked at his image and blanched. The orange jumpsuit was ugly. Of course the hand cuffs and shackles around his ankles didn't help much with his image.

He slumped into the chair and a moment later the door opened.

The President walked in and sat across the table from his former Secretary of Magic and frowned. "Mr. Baker, thanks to the secrecy surrounding your world, we find ourselves in an interesting position."

"You will release me now!" snarled Baker. He was sure the compulsions were still on the President.

The President smiled thinly. "I think you'll find that your memory charms and compulsions have all been removed. In a little while, a lawyer will be admitted to help you with your defense. However, you are going to be tried in a State Department secret court for insurrection and treason. If you cooperate, you'll get life in Leavenworth Prison. If you refuse to cooperate, the federal prosecutors will press for the death penalty."

He paused and his smile broadened. "I wouldn't hope too much for rescue. You see, the British were kind enough to loan us a large number of wizards who were unhappy with their wizarding society. Even as we speak, they are fanning out across the U.S., installing wards to protect special facilities and key government offices.

"And right now, while you sit here in handcuffs, your Department of Magic is under assault by marine units. I'm afraid the casualties will be high on both sides, but we outnumber you and an assault rifle can shoot one hundred rounds in the time it takes you to get one spell off."

Baker's shoulders slumped. He was defeated and he knew it. He had underestimated the President and had been sure the British Ministry of Magic had their muggles under control.

"What do you want?" he whispered.

"Your cooperation," the President said coldly. "You live on our soil. You are citizens of this nation, bound to our laws and have a responsibility to it. You will help us bring your department back to where it belongs, as a law abiding department of the federal government and not an independent entity."

The President stood and looked down at the man, the disgust in his visage was obvious. "I'll send your lawyer in, but remember, Baker, it's the lives of your people that are being wasted. Cooperate and perhaps you can save some of them."

The President turned and exited the room. A moment later, Baker began to silently weep as his world crashed down around him.

The Americans were finally getting their act together. In short order they would begin helping the British in an effort to determine the status of their other allies.

Campbeltown Infirmary, March 25th...

Harry awoke to an interesting sensation. His head felt like it was going to explode and he was sure his left eyeball was growing hair! The other strange sensation was the pile of people around him.

Hermione and May were close enough to touch, but so was Mariah and several others. He was a bit relieved to see that everyone was still fully dressed. He was not sure what he would have done had he woken up to find himself surrounded by naked people.

He stood carefully and threaded his way over the still sleeping forms, noting that some were definitely cuddling with each other. Draco and Michelle were wrapped around each other. Surprisingly, Millicent Bulstrode had Robert Malwich and Samuel Hinerman cuddled up to her. Personal relationships were not his business in his opinion and as long as no one got hurt, he wasn't planning on getting involved. No, he'd stay out of it, and gladly, even if it did involve a former Pure Blood and two muggles.

Spotting Luna, he couldn't help but stop and wonder how she managed to sleep laying over the back of the sofa like that. Then he absently noted that he could see what color panties she wore. He tore his eyes from the sight and shook his head, then froze as his brain seemed to slosh around in his skull painfully.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of his Weyr and nearly bumped into Remus, who stood, grinning. Without a word, the older man held up a vial.

Taking it, Harry looked at the vial in his hands, then slowly back up at Remus.

"Hangover remedy," he murmured.

Harry winced at the softly spoken word, then gulped down the potion immediately.

Remus watched with amusement. When he noted the potion taking effect, he jerked a thumb back toward Harry's quarters. "You know, Harry, usually an orgy requires people to remove their clothing."

Harry blushed. "It was nothing like that, Remus. Luna had this drink, you see, and well, she had a lot of it and..."

He trailed off and blushed. "Oh, bugger, I don't know what happened. One moment we were all sitting around talking, the next I'm waking up next to four girls and there are people sprawled everywhere."

Remus laughed and clapped him on the back. "I seem to recall a few times after we graduated where we found ourselves in similar situations," he offered. "I remember one time when your mum was pregnant with you and she couldn't take the hangover potion. I thought she was going to kill James for breathing too loudly."

Harry laughed softly at the image. It was a tale he hadn't heard about his parents, who were normally painted as saintly heroes, rather than simple human beings, with all the foibles that entailed.

"Are you going to check on Sirius?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded and looked at him worriedly.

Remus held up his hands. "Relax. He's fine. I understand he spent the night comfortably." He held up a large jug. "Let me just place this inside your door, then we'll go check on him."

"Hangover remedy?" Harry asked.

Remus grinned. "Do you really want to deal with Hermione or May when they're hung over? Or worse, Luna?"

Harry blanched and shook his head. He wasn't that brave. "Leave it inside the door and hopefully you won't wake any of them," he said, then he started walking towards the infirmary.

"You're not going to wait for me?" Remus called.

Harry turned and smirked at him. "What and be caught with you? I'm going to let them sacrifice you to the God of hangovers."

Nearly an hour later, a very disheveled Remus caught up with Harry inside the infirmary. Harry glanced up from his position by Sirius' bed and grinned. "You're alive!" he exclaimed softly.

"No thanks to you," Remus grumbled. "Tell me, did you ask Chekiath to fart? I opened the door to find most of them coughing and moaning. It was an awful smell! Then they noticed me with the hangover remedy."

A low raspy chuckle broke off their conversation and they turned to see Sirius laughing weakly on the bed. Though he laughed, they could both see him grimacing. Harry immediately reached for the pain relief potion next to his bed and Remus rushed over to help Sirius sit up.

"Relax, Siri," Remus said gently. "You took a real nasty hit to your chest. Madam Pomfrey fixed you up but you're going to be in here for at least four more days."

Harry held the cup to his lips and he batted at it feebly before giving into the inevitable and drinking it down.

"Was anyone else hurt?" he whispered.

Remus gently lowered him back down and used the button on the side of the bed to raise him to a sitting position. Sirius' eyes gleamed and he eyed the control with interest. Lord Mills had equipped their infirmary with eight modern hospitable beds, including controls to let the patient sit up. A small television was fitted to a movable arm that he could also control.

"Just the wizard that cursed you. He's missing most of an arm and broke both his legs in an accident," Harry said with a smirk.

Sirius arched an eyebrow and turned to Remus, who chuckled and shook his head.

"No, it wasn't me. It was an accident that Chekiath jumped on him."

"See?" Harry exclaimed. "Even Remus knows it was an accident."

Sirius chuckled weakly, and grabbed at his ribs with both hands.

"We don't know the full story yet, Siri, but your attacker is under guard in the next room. We think he may have been sent by the Ministry, but there are some inconsistencies with that theory. When we know, you'll know. In the meantime, we need you to get better," Remus said.

"Yes, get better," Harry echoed, then he choked up and turned away.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance and Sirius reached out and tugged on Harry's shirt.

When the young man turned back to look at him, Sirius smiled weakly. "Don't get all mushy on us, Harry," he whispered.

Harry flushed and looked down and Sirius tugged on his shirt again. "I know," he whispered.

Harry nodded and grabbed his hand, not trusting himself to speak.

After a few minutes, he stood and looked down at Sirius. "You have a lot of people who want to see you get better, including Norendrath, who's been hovering nearby. I'll be back later in the day to check on you."

Sirius smiled at him and gave a little wave.

Harry smiled. "Behave yourself and I'll see if I can swipe Dan's newspaper so you can ogle the page three girl."

Sirius' smile broadened and he watched Harry move off to the aid station where Corporal Stone sat.

"Corporal Stone?"

"Sir?"

"How fares our other guest?" Harry asked.

"We've got him under guard. One of the special detail is always with him, but he's unconscious, and according to your Madam Pomfrey, we shouldn't expect him to awake for at least another day. He took a nasty hit to his head when the dragon knocked him to the ground," Stone said.

Harry nodded. "When you get within four hours of that, make sure you have two people in there. If I can cast magic wandlessly, he may be able to, as well."

Stone looked up at Harry in surprise. "Blimey! No wand? I'll warn Captain Atkins right away."

Harry smiled tightly. "Also, when he wakes up, I think it would be best if you inform Captain Atkins and Remus Lupin. I don't think I could resist the urge to slowly peel his skin from his body."

Stone paled and nodded. "I'll do that, sir. Don't you worry none."

Harry nodded and stepped from the infirmary. He took a deep breath and summoned his flying gear.

"Fancy a fly, Cheki? I feel the need to get away for a bit," he asked.

Chekiath voice was tinged with amusement. "Might as well. The last of the riders left our Weyr. How is Smelly Dog?"

"Recovering. I think he'll be all right," Harry replied unhappily.

"He'll be fine then and we'll be flying," Chekiath declared.

Harry chuckled and climbed onto his dragon's back. "Let's go," he said simply and the pair leapt skyward.

Ministry of Magic, March 26th...

"So, is it all set?" asked Delores.

"Yes, ma'am. I double checked the account this morning. The money is in our accounts, but there is one slight problem."

Umbridge frowned. "Yes?"

"The Goblins at Gringotts took the non-liquid assets from the vault and sent them to Mrs. Malfoy for disposition. I fear this action has alerted her to what is happening."

Umbridge looked at her second in command of the WDF. "What would you suggest?"

The man smiled back at her. "I think that Mrs. Malfoy should go the way her husband did, with one slight difference. We should pin the murder of her husband on her. This way she can die resisting arrest."

Umbridge returned the smile. "Do it that way. Cornelius isn't due back for a few days. I want to get this mess behind us before he arrives."

The man nodded. "My lady," he said with a slight bow, then he turned and walked from her office.

Umbridge admired his buttocks as he left and contemplated taking him as a lover. He was pliable enough and had just the right amount of fear to make it delicious. The hoops he'd jump through to keep his wife from learning of it would provide her with much amusement.

Umbridge's plan for taking over the Ministry was proceeding exactly on schedule.

Campbeltown Weyr, March 27th...

As predicted, Sirius was on the mend and starting to chaff under the restrictions of being in the infirmary. What wasn't predicted by anyone was the emotional state of Captain Atkins, who upbraided Sirius for performing what was her job. That in itself wasn't the issue, but then she scolded him for nearly getting killed before they could date.

Needless to say, that had a number of people in the Weyr chuckling. Sirius had a hunted look about him and Norendrath was walking around chortling over the entire affair. Once, at Hogwarts, Sirius had a serious reputation as a ladies man. Since his escape from Azkaban, he had not been on a date even once. Being a wanted felon seriously cramped his style. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do on a date anymore, and the idea of dating a muggle worried him. He was afraid he'd screw up big time.

All this had the added benefit of keeping him confined to his bed where he felt safe.

Harry was sitting in the kitchen hall when Fawkes returned from his daily trip to Hogwarts. It was unusual, but about one trip in ten Minerva sent a copy of the Daily Prophet back with Fawkes after telling the Phoenix to deliver the paper to Harry. Usually it was obvious what she wanted him to see, something relating to dragons, or to him directly.

They had dropped the restrictions on Minerva remembering where Dumbledore was, as it appeared that the Ministry was not interested in questioning her. Their exact location was unknown to her, but she knew now that Albus and Harry were together, along with Hermione.

"Thank you, Fawkes. Albus is still in his quarters, so you should find him there," Harry said, taking the paper from the bird.

Fawkes trilled and vanished again in a burst of fire as Harry unrolled the paper and started to look at it. It was apparent almost immediately what Minerva wanted him to see. The hat had erased her memory of where Malfoy had gone and Madam Pomfrey never spoke of who she saw when she was called to help someone, but she had her suspicions and she already knew about Harry and Hermione being together.

Lucius Malfoy Murdered by Wife after making Patriotic Gesture.

Witnesses Stunned.

Just a day after making a stunning patriotic gesture by donating a large sum of money to the Wizarding Defense Forces, Lucius Malfoy was killed by his wife, who was enraged by the act.

The brutal murder was witnessed in the Ministry Atrium by the security guard on duty, as well as two members of the Wizarding Defense Forces.

Elmo Watkins said,"The couple were fighting loudly just in front of the fountain. I couldn't see them well, so I moved to get a better view. Lucius moved closer to his wife in a threatening manner and she hit him full on in the neck with a reductor curse. He fell backwards and bled out less than a minute later.

"I was shocked. Here was this great man, cut down like a dog right in front of me. I pulled my wand and managed to get a curse off. I think I hit her, but I'm not sure. She saw me, then noticed the others and she apparated away."

WDF spokesman and second in command of the force, Brent Thompson had this to say. "In light of the problems being experienced with the DMLE and the Ministry efforts to restructure that department, we have been authorized to apprehend Mrs. Malfoy. I sent a squad out to Malfoy manor and we are endeavoring to break down the wards to get to her. Right now, we know for a fact that she's holed up in her home and refusing to come out."

The DMLE force quit en masse a few days ago over working conditions and disputes over pay, leaving Wizarding Britain without a law enforcement body. We are lucky that the WDF is able to step in and take over that roll.

Mrs. Malfoy, when apprehended, will be charged with murder and resisting arrest.

This is not the first tragedy to visit the Malfoy family this year. Draco Malfoy, heir and scion to the family name, has been missing since early February. Rumors have it that this once proud Pure Blood engaged in a liaison with a muggle born witch and the pair ran away to avoid the stigma of her pregnancy.

According to Ministry sources, Malfoy fell for the wiles of one Hermione Granger, who is also listed as missing. Miss Granger was known to be a close associate of Harry Potter and probably helped him formulate his part in the dragon crisis.

Harry read the article a second time, then he rolled up the paper and sat back thinking.

"Dobby," he called.

The little elf appeared a moment later and he smiled at him. "Dobby, I have an unusual request for you. Can you still enter Malfoy manor and not be seen?"

Dobby nodded reluctantly and Harry patted him gently on the shoulder. "Can you tell if Mrs. Malfoy is there and not let her see you?"

"Dobby doesn't need to go to bad master's home for that, Harry Potter sir. I can feel her in the home still. Bad master broke the bond and until I has a new bond I can feel thems. Little master is in the big building with dragons and riders. Missy Narcissa is in her bedroom," Dobby said, then he paused and his eyes widened. "I cannot feels bad master."

Harry nodded. "I know, Dobby."

He started to stand when Dobby stopped him. "Harry Potter sir?"

He turned to look at the little elf. "Yes?"

"Would Harry Potter sir let Dobby bond with you? It would make Dobby very happy to be your elf."

Harry sat back down and looked at Dobby. "I will agree," he said, holding up a hand to forestall the elf. "But I want you to promise me two things first. If you ever want to leave, you will tell me. And you will not punishing yourself, ever. I don't have a problem with you bonding with me, but you'll never be a slave. I'll continue to pay you as I have been."

Dobby nodded and lifted Harry's right hand, pressing it to his forehead. He felt a momentary wrenching sensation.

Dobby smiled broadly. "Dobby will do his best for you, Harry Potter sir."

Harry nodded, but frowned. "Dobby, does this mean you can no longer go to Malfoy manor?"

Dobby shook his head. "No, sir. Wizard wards don't stop elves, Harry Potter sir."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, then he stood. "All right, then. I may need you to visit there later, but for now you can go back to what you were doing."

Dobby nodded and vanished.

Harry picked up the newspaper and walked over to Hangar Two where Momnarth and Hagrid were working the riders through their wing exercises. He entered and stood off to one side watching for a moment.

"You're worried about something," Chekiath observed.

"I am," he replied. "What do you think of Sinnath?"

"He's a little short, but he's growing well. He won't be as big as me but I like him and his rider. Draco is less stuffy now that he's decided to mate with Michelle. I'm sure he'll be even less stuffy once he actually does it. You'd be less stuffy if you took a couple of the girls as mates, too. You humans make mating too complicated."

Harry grimaced. He really didn't need to know about Draco's love life.

"Do you think they are ready for a long jump Between?" he asked.

"I think Momnarth is overly cautious. Many of our riders are ready for long jumps. You brought some of them to Gringotts. They were ready then and they're ready now," Chekiath replied.

Hermione and May nodded to Harry and he smiled in return. As Hagrid passed May, she nudged him and pointed to Harry, who was waiting patiently for his friend to spot him.

Hagrid smiled and walked over to Harry. "Good mornin', Harry. Do yeh need summat?"

Harry thought about the news he was bringing, then he sighed. There was no avoiding it. "Can I see Draco for a bit?"

Hagrid nodded, then he turned to the riders and let loose with a piercing whistle. "Draco, the Weyrleader wants to talk with yeh."

Draco trotted over to where Harry stood. He motioned the blond to follow him into the hangar office.

There was signs all over the hangar of the work that was about to begin, but right now it was still the old layout. James had obtained a large supply of partitions and was working on a layout for the building that would create several offices, class rooms and a large area for riders and dragons.

Harry waited until Draco had followed him into the office, then he closed the door and turned to the blond.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

Harry handed him the paper and waited.

Draco's complexion paled almost immediately. After a couple minutes he put the paper down and looked at Harry with anguish. "It's not possible. My Mum couldn't have done it. Her marriage vow would have prevented it."

"Oh?"

"The Malfoys have used the same magical marriage vows for centuries. Once, a husband killed his wife. His son then killed his father and from that day forward the family used a set of vows that would prevent either spouse from killing the other without dying themselves," Draco replied.

Harry nodded and leaned against the wall. He eyed Draco carefully and considered the issue for a moment longer. "Well, what do you want to do about it?" he asked finally.

"Do?"

"She's holed up in your home. Dobby says she's still there. I've never met her, Draco, but she's your mum. I would go to the ends of the earth to help my mum," Harry said softly. "But it's something that I'll never be able to do."

He nodded and looked at Harry. "I understand what you're saying, but you don't understand the situation," Draco said plaintively.

Harry shook his head. In his mind this was a straightforward thing. "I guess I don't," he said slowly. "Why don't you explain it to me?"

"My parents are the worst kind of bigots. My mother wouldn't approve of Michelle as a mistress, let alone wife. And my bond with Sinnath? She's not going to approve of any of what we're doing here."

Harry frowned. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I guess I just assumed you'd want to help her. It's hard for me to envision growing up with parents, but I always thought it would be a wonderful thing."

"It can be, but parents are only human. My father was never a very nice man, but Mum cared. Unfortunately, she is a very opinionated woman."

"So you don't want to rescue her?" Harry asked intently.

"Even knowing what you know, you'd still rescue her?" Draco asked in surprise.

Harry shrugged. "Why would the Ministry want her? Maybe she knows something about what they are doing?"

"Or maybe she's just the person they decided to use as the scapegoat for my father's murder," Draco countered.

Harry nodded. "It's possible, but we won't know until we ask. Besides, Draco, she's your mum. You changed greatly coming here. Maybe she will also."

"Or maybe we'll be bringing a real pain in the ass to the Weyr," Draco added in warning.

Harry smiled. "True, but if she turns out to be that much of a distraction, I'll give you my permission to pick her up and dump her anywhere on the planet."

Draco smiled at the thought. "All right then, how will we handle this?"

"Easy. Write a note telling her that you'll be coming by on dragon back. Tell her to get up on the roof of the manor and to dress warmly. If she wants to bring some clothing, tell her to pack and shrink it all down. When you've done that, call Dobby and tell him I said it's all right to deliver the message to Narcissa. In the meantime, I'll put together our wing riders."

Draco nodded and moved to sit at the desk so he could write his message.

Harry watched him for a moment, then sighed and turned away, his mind on the business at hand. As he stepped out of the office and walked around to face everyone, a silence fell on the group.

He looked at them and smiled tightly. "According to today's Wizarding newspaper, Draco's mother is accused of killing her husband. Draco assures me that the magical marriage vows used by his family would make such an action impossible.

"He also tells me that she is a blood purist of the worst sort. Draco has rejected the bigotry that she espouses, but that has not changed her position. I asked him pointedly what he wanted to do. She is currently barricaded in her home with strong wards protecting her, but they will not last forever. She may end up being a very disruptive influence in the Weyr, and I've told Draco that if that happens, he has my permission to snatch her up and drop her anywhere on the planet away from here.

"Given that we could be bringing a very probable problem to our Weyr, I would like ten of you to volunteer to help with the effort to remove Draco's mum from danger and bring her here."

A bunch of hands were raised and he nodded. He wasn't surprised to see Michelle had her hand up first, Hermione and May also volunteered. Ronan Clark and Karen Khan also raised their hands along with many others.

He signaled to them one at time, selecting ten people and they stepped forward. "Get into your flight suits," he told them.

Draco stepped from the office and he paused to watch the people run from the hangar, heading to their Weyrs to get suited up.

"Is that it?" asked Harry, pointing to the parchment in Draco's hand.

He nodded and handed it to Harry. He glanced at it briefly, then he called for Dobby. When the little elf appeared, he gave him the note. "Can you have one of our other elves deliver this to Narcissa Malfoy, Dobby? I don't want to risk sending you there."

Dobby's ears drooped slightly. "Harry Potter sir, it would be best if Dobby does this. Mistress Narcissa might kill an elf she doesn't know."

Harry grimaced. And she might kill you, my little friend, he thought unhappily. "Very well, Dobby, but I want you to give it to her and leave immediately afterward. No matter what commands she gives you, you're to come straight home."

Dobby nodded and with a pop, he vanished from the hangar.

Harry turned back to Draco. "We'll give her fifteen minutes to get into position. Since you know the area, we're going to need you to provide flight imagery."

Draco nodded. "I better get my kit on."

Harry nodded absently, then walked out of the hangar after waving to Hagrid. Chekiath waited outside for him.

Twenty minutes later they came out of Between high above Malfoy manor. Harry surveyed the region. Below them was a large manor house. Flashes of light came from the gate. His eyes narrowed when he spotted more than a dozen wizards facing the gate and casting spells, trying to drain the wards of their power.

A quick glance below showed a figure looking around in bewilderment on a small observation platform. Like so many older pure blood homes, there was a flat platform on the roof that was used to take astronomical observations and for occasional rituals involving the moon and equinoxes.

While rituals observing the seasons had fallen out of practice, it was common for all of the large manors to have such platforms, merely as a statement of prestige.

"Sinnath, Wivaronth and Trath, go down to the house and pick up Narcissa. Sinnath, you and your rider will handle the pickup, while the other two will maintain a flight cover. The rest of you, prepare to follow me. We're going to lay down a line of low powered flame about twenty yards behind those wizards. Hopefully it will startle them and spook them into fleeing," Harry sent to the wing. "Sinnath, when I'm in position, make the pickup and return to the Weyr. We'll make one pass and follow you home."

The wing split into the two groups and Harry aimed his larger group to an area near where he wanted to flame. So far they hadn't been spotted from the ground.

"We are in position, Weyrleader," Sinnath said.

Harry glanced around and saw they were all set. "Now," he commanded, then placed Chekiath into a shallow dive. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone here, so he was careful to place the flame close enough to scare, but cause no real harm.

The line of flame appearing behind the wizards had the desired effect and Harry was sure they hadn't spotted him. They took one look at the flames and portkeyed away.

Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries March 27th...

Alejandro Croaker watched his last co-worker use his portkey and vanish. Yesterday, three of his researchers had been detained and illegally interrogated by members of the WDF. And now one of his operatives was missing.

He knew instantly what had happened, as the globes monitoring their life signs dimmed. They had been forced, via veritaserum, to violate their vows and the magic of those vows killed them. He had raced up stairs to help them, but he was too late to stop their deaths. As it was, he was just able to get back down to the department level and seal it off. Hot on his heels were fifty WDF wizards who were stymied by the fact that the Department seemed to have vanished. It was still there, but now a layer of solid granite eight feet thick blocked all access points.

Since yesterday he had been working with his people to make sure they had places to go. Bolt holes where they could hide, or ways to leave the country entirely. It was all falling apart and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Albus Dumbledore had not responded to his letter, and other than some former Aurors, there was no one he could turn to. He had no doubt in his mind that the WDF had announced he was wanted for some made up crime by now.

He picked up his own portkey and walked over to a large wall. He traced a set of runes against the wall and it lifted away, revealing a surprisingly muggle looking machine. He smiled softly at the machine, which had been installed just after World War II when the current Head of the department had realized that the muggles were pulling far ahead of the wizards. His mentor felt that the department needed a safe guard that would stymy wizards, so he opted for this muggle alternative.

Lovingly cared for and maintained, the tanks behind the walls would flood the department with odorless carbon monoxide if someone broke through at one of the access points. There wasn't an infinite supply of gas, but there was enough to cause quite a problem for anyone breaking in. Each major section of the department had its own lethal trap. This was but the first.

With a few flicks of his wand and ten minutes of turning some valves, he was ready to leave. He fingered his portkey and then he was gone, off to his fidelius protected cottage in Cambridge where hopefully he could safely get a handle on what was going on with the country.

Near total silence descended in the last bastion of sanity the Ministry had. The only sounds were those of the WDF attempting to break through the granite barrier.

Campbeltown Weyr, March 27th...

He awoke to pain unlike any other he had ever felt before and he groaned.

"Ah, good. You're awake," said a voice that he didn't recognize.

He opened his eyes and looked around warily. He was in a small room that had bars on the windows and four men staring at him harshly.

A man stepped forward. He had dark brown hair, streaked with gray. Another man set up a video camera and pointed it at him. Beyond those two men were two others wearing the uniforms of the British Army.

"Where am I?" he said, then he gasped as a wave of pain passed through him.

"You were captured attempting to break into the Campbeltown weyr," said Lord Mills, who was done fussing with the camera.

The man's eyes darted to the two soldiers who wore sidearms and had clearly visible wands holstered on their belts.

"We have some questions for you," said Remus. "The first, of course, is why are you here? The second is probably obvious, but we'll ask anyway. Who sent you?"

The man on the bed glared. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Remus smiled slightly. "You think you're in pain now? Let me explain our plans for you, my friend. If you don't answer our questions, we'll be dragging you out of your comfortable bed, taking you outside, stripping you naked and tying you to a post. Once done, you will be bathed in low level dragon fire. That fire, once lit, can never be put out. Just imagine it. You will burn for the rest of your days and no potion, no spell, will ever abate it."

"Remus," James said in caution, then he stepped closer. "I am Lord Mills, the Prime Minister's personal representative here at Campbeltown. Right now, I'm probably the one person who can help you the most. Remus here is in favor of bathing you in dragon fire for what you did to his friend. And I don't need to tell you, you're surrounded by dragons who would dearly love to help the Weyrleader by frying you up for breakfast."

"But, but, Black! Did I get him? We have to warn the Ministry! Black is dangerous," exclaimed the man.

"Oh, shit," muttered Remus, then he glared at the man. "You shot someone just because he looked like Sirius Black? What if he wasn't?"

The man blinked and stared at Remus. "He wasn't Black?"

"Oh, he was and he's mighty pissed at you. All things considered, I just might let him deal with you since he'll be out of the infirmary tomorrow. You, however, will have a much longer stay, as we used muggle medical techniques on you. That will make it easier for Sirius to deal with you, as he won't have to hunt you down."

The man paled and stared at Remus. "But you're a wizard! You have wizards with you!"

James almost broke down in laughter at that point. Madam Pomfrey had healed the man's legs last night, as well as healing what was left of his arm. His pain was that of strained muscles, and the mysterious, phantom pain that often accompanied the loss of a limb.

"So, why are you here?" Remus asked pleasantly, though his eyes burned with anger.

"I was looking for missing wizards," muttered the man.

"Missing wizards?" repeated James in confusion.

"We had this list of wizards who'd gone back to the muggle world. We'd been keeping track of them when they vanished," explained the man. "I stumbled onto Xeno Lovegood a few weeks back and he spoke of magic being done near the coast. He wouldn't say where, so I lifted some images from his thoughts."

"He voluntarily allowed you to do this?" exclaimed Remus.

The man on the bed looked away and refused to answer. Remus' frown turn into a scowl. "I think perhaps it's best if we turn you over to the muggles to deal with. You can't stay here. Your life will be forfeit in hours if you do. And we certainly aren't going to turn you over to the Ministry."

James looked at Remus strangely, then motioned him to follow. Once outside the room, he turned to Remus. "What was that all about in there? You know Harry doesn't want him turned over to anyone until we find out what he's doing here."

Remus rubbed his face tiredly. "James, that man in there just admitted to using a form of mind reading on Xeno Lovegood. As angry as Harry can get, if Xeno's daughter discovers we're holding the man that mind raped her father, she'll roast us all under a slow flame while she tortures him. She is the sweetest girl in the world, but like every member of the Lovegood family, you do not hurt one of them and live. If he's lucky, he obliviated Xeno and it took. The Lovegoods are notorious for being immune to mind magic. Most likely all our guest got was a brief glimpse of some landmarks and a massive headache for his effort."

"And if he's not lucky?" asked James worriedly.

"The obliviate will wear off, and Xeno will arrange for something very bad to happen to our guest in there. And frankly, you don't want to get caught up in that if you can avoid it," Remus said bluntly.

James nodded. "I suppose you could release him to Captain Atkins after wiping his memories. Then we can just set him free."

"Or you could just let me talk with him," said a voice behind them. Both men whirled around and spotted Luna standing behind them looking very focused. "You know, I came here looking for Remus so I could warn him that Harry had taken a wing of riders to rescue Narcissa Malfoy from the Ministry and I couldn't help but overhear you discussing a man who mind raped my father. This is turning out to be an interesting day."

Remus held up a hand placatingly. Luna seemed calm and reserved, but the magic roiling around the young witch was making him nauseous. "Luna, please. What would Harry say if you killed him?"

Luna pinned him with her gaze. "My Weyrleader would thank me for protecting our Weyr from a dangerous intruder who nearly killed his godfather. But don't worry, Remus, I'm not going to kill him. Daddy already did that. That man is a walking corpse. He just don't know it yet."

Luna started to turn, then she stopped and smiled sweetly at the pair. "Never try to hide anything me, gentlemen. Especially something involving my family. I usually know about these little matters, sometimes before they even happen."

James frowned. "Your father killed him? He's still alive, Luna."

Luna nodded. "Yes, Daddy's technique is slow acting, but it's effective. He'll slowly lose his ability to think, then he'll simply forget to breath. He has less than a year to live. There's something different in the makeup of my family. A passive Legilimency scan will result in a day's migraine. A directed assault will kill the attacker."

She smiled brightly. "Daddy says it's because we mated with Nargles sometime in the past, but my Mum was convinced there is Fey in our ancestry. I'm not sure which is true, but I like the Nargle theory, if for no other reason than it leaves people wondering."

With that she walked away, leaving both men confused and wondering about the girl and her family.

James and Remus exchanged a look, then James muttered, "Well, we don't have to worry about Luna, at least."

Remus nodded, then he stopped suddenly. "Wait. Rescue Narcissa Malfoy?" He turned again, but Luna was no where in sight.

Meanwhile, in the office setup for him, Dumbledore was busy working on the day's lessons for his magical students. He only had them for two hours a day, in the mornings, but he tried to cram as much Defense, Charms and Transfiguration into those two hours as he could. Potions he offered only as a mentoring role, as the subject had become a self study course. He was available for a hour each evening to oversee any brewing.

It was challenging work and very rewarding. Without the bother of formal grades it was a lot easier for the students and for himself. Sirius and Remus helped out as much as they could, as both men were exceptional wizards in their own rights.

He pushed aside today's lesson plan now that it was completed and he reached for Minerva's letter. They only communicated a few times a week now, although Fawkes visited her every morning to make sure she didn't have something to send to him.

He read the letter wistfully and wished he was back at his school. Life in the Weyr was remarkably different and when he was honest with himself, he admitted he didn't like change very much. The Weyr was all about change; change to the lives of muggles, change to the lives of wizards, and most certainly change to the lives of the riders.

He looked up when he heard shouting and frowned. Someone outside was screaming at the top of their lungs and was being rather vile about it. Standing, he made his way outside to find an incongruous sight.

Narcissa Malfoy was backed against a wall, screaming at Draco, who was flushed with embarrassment. Albus had arrived at a point where her lungs needed a refill and she was breathing in, no doubt for her next barrage, when a voice snapped across the tarmac like a whip.

"So, this is what the refined wizarding elite are like? Polite and grateful for being rescued from the Ministry," Harry said with a sneer. Chekiath moved to his side and Narcissa turned white. The dragon released a small bit of smoke from his nostrils and growled ominously.

"How dare..."

"Shut up!" screamed Draco. "Mother, are you an imbecile? You stand here, alone, just you and your wand, against multiple dragons? You wouldn't last ten seconds."

For the first time she really noticed the large number of dragons arrayed out in front of her, as well as the people who stared at her in utter disdain.

"And I'd have no problems giving that order," Harry added. "Now, you will surrender your wand to your son. When and if he feels you can behave well enough, he'll give it back. If, on the other hand, you can't behave yourself or you disrupt my Weyr, Draco will return your wand and drop you in the center of Diagon Alley. No doubt the good folks in the Wizarding Defense Force would love to speak with such a refined and upstanding member of the community."

Dumbledore stepped forward while the sounds of running feet signaled the approach of many more people. "Perhaps if I explain things to Mrs. Malfoy it might ease tensions," he said soothingly.

Remus and James arrived with Captain Atkins. All three were panting slightly in the cold air.

"What is going on here?" demanded Katherine.

"Let's all go to my office and we can talk about it over a cup of tea," Albus suggested. He walked forward and gently took Narcissa by the arm. She walked with him, but her eyes never left Chekiath, who tracked her every movement.

Harry nodded to Draco and he approached. "Go with them and make sure she's disarmed. If you don't get her wand, one of the others must or we'll remove her today. I'm willing to give her a chance to earn her place here, but I'm not going to let her have a wand until I can trust her around our riders."

Draco nodded. "Thanks, Harry," he said with a weak grin, then he moved off following the adults.

Harry watched then all vanish inside the building, then he turned to Chekiath. "Some days I think it would be great to just get away from all this."

Chekiath turned to eye him. "Perhaps. But where else would you find so many nice females who have their own dragons?"

Harry grimaced when Hermione opened her mouth to speak. Fortunately for him, someone beat her to it. "Chekiath is a fine dragon," Comaloth said. "You should be nice to his rider, Hermione. I know Chekiath will try to mate with me. The Weyrleader can do the same for you."

Harry vaulted onto Chekiath's back. "Let's give the Weyr a flyover. We should check security, you know," he said, speaking quickly.

Chekiath sprang into the air to the sounds of many voices laughing.

Hermione is gonna kill me, he thought sourly. He could still hear her sputtering.

Dumbledore's Office, Campbeltown Weyr...

Draco squeezed into the already crowded office just in time to hear several people demanding explanations.

He leaned against the door with his arms folded across his chest. Like so many of the riders, once he'd bonded, he'd discovered a new confidence within himself. Now that he was seeing Michelle, that confidence had grown more obvious to those around him.

"If you'll all be quiet, I'll explain what happened and why," he said in a loud tone, cutting across the noise.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Harry came to me this morning and showed me the paper. My father has been murdered., No great loss there. He was scum. But my mother is being blamed for it. Given the Malfoy marriage vows, she would have died if she had been responsible."

Narcissa looked outraged by his comments but one look at Draco made her hold her tongue. Her son had changed. She didn't know the young man standing in the doorway anymore.

"Harry asked if I wanted to help her. I warned him about her views, but Harry has no experience with parents, good or bad. All he knew was my 'mum' was in trouble. We decided that we'll rescue her anyway for one simple reason. The Ministry wants her badly enough to try breaking down some of the strongest wards outside of Hogwarts, so perhaps she knows something of value. Harry decided, and I agreed, that she'll be given a chance to earn her place here in the Weyr.

"I'm not picky, but one of us is going to take her wand. Harry will not allow her to go around armed until she's earned that right."

"Why, that arrogant half blood!" spat Narcissa.

"Shut up, woman," Draco said, then he stepped closer to her and grabbed her right arm and pushed up the sleeve. The Dark Mark was clearly visible. "Malfoy's bow to no one," he sneered at her. "And yet you bear the mark of being Voldemort's slave. You let him brand your flesh, like cattle! You are an idiot, as was my father. You were both conned into following a half blood who wasn't even as pure as Harry Potter. At least both of his parents were magical. Voldemort's father was a muggle, you ignorant cow!"

Narcissa stumbled back. "No, you lie!" she screamed.

"Alas, I'm afraid young Draco is not lying, Mrs Malfoy. Your Dark Lord Voldemort was born of an impoverished woman named Merope Gaunt, one of the last links to the Slytherin line. His father was Tom Riddle, the muggle son of a local aristocrat," Albus said.

Narcissa stared at him in astonishment. "No, it can't be."

"It is, Mother," Draco said coldly. And with that single statement, everyone present came to understand the situation. To Draco, she wasn't 'mum', she was 'Mother'. It was an important distinction and one that Harry had no concept of.

"Here's how it's going to be, Mother," Draco said. "You're in the Campbeltown Weyr, surrounded by over five hundred dragons who don't like you very much. There are some wizards around, but mostly the people are muggles. You will be polite, regardless of their background. If you want to stay, you'll have to work to find yourself a niche in the Weyr. You will surrender your wand to one of us. If you wish to leave the protection of the Weyr, it will be returned to you. If you choose to stay here, then you will earn the right to carry a wand. At this moment, I don't trust you and neither does Harry."

She stared at him. "But, Draco, how can you take orders from these people? I raised you better."

"You raised me to be exactly what my father was; a murderer. I choose to be something different. I am Sinnath's rider and I can think of no greater honor than that," Draco said proudly.

"Your son, like all of the other riders, has bonded with a dragon, Mrs. Malfoy. It's a lot like a soul bond in it's capabilities."

"You bonded with a beast!" she screeched.

"I am no beast," Sinnath protested. The medium sized dragon moved so he was visible in the window.

Narcissa took one look and fainted dead away. Draco used the opportunity to remove her wand, which he handed to Remus. "Take her to the infirmary. When she wakes up, perhaps Sirius can calm her down. With my father dead and Sirius the Head of the Black family, she'll follow his commands, if no one elses," he said.

Draco turned and left the office. Outside the building, he found Sinnath and Michelle waiting for him anxiously. He pulled her into a tight hug and then he leaned against Sinnath. Michelle understood instinctively what he was doing and leaned with him, allowing both the dragon and herself to comfort him.

WDF Main Assembly Room, Ministry of Magic...

Brent Thompson frowned, seeing the twenty men return empty handed.

"Well? Where is that cow?" he demanded.

"We wuz attacked, sir," said one man.

"Dragons!" exclaimed another.

"Dragons?" repeated Thompson.

Several of his men nodded. "They dove down on us and we barely got away with our lives!" said one man.

"And Malfoy?"

"She was plucked right from the top o'the house! Right from under our noses!"

Thompson bit back a snarl. This was bad news and he'd have no choice but to report it. Umbridge had been making demands of him lately that he had been able to hold off, but sooner or later he was going to have to give her what she wanted.

It shamed him to be in this position, but Umbridge had far too much dirt on him. He just prayed his wife, Emily, never found out about his indiscretions.

He turned back to the group leader. "Take your men down to level nine. Help the group breaking into the Department of Mysteries. They're nearly through the wall that's in place."

The man nodded and waved to his men, who followed, relieved to be doing something safer than being assaulted by dragons.

Thompson straightened his back and took a deep breath, then he went to talk to the Boss.

Approaching Umbridge's office, her aide waved him inside. He slipped in quietly. He could hear she was busy talking to someone.

Fudge placed a trembling hand against his forehead. "They all resigned? We have no police force?" he exclaimed.

"We do have a force, Cornelius," Delores said placatingly. "I had my people slip into their roles so that our people wouldn't lose faith in their Ministry. I thought about arresting them, but to be honest, we had more important things to deal with and it's always been the right of an employee to resign their position."

Delores looked up and arched an eyebrow at Thompson's intrusion. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but the team attempting to apprehend Mrs. Malfoy was driven off the property by dragons."

Cornelius looked up sharply. "Malfoy? What in the blazes is going on here, Delores?"

Delores heaved a great sigh and looked at Cornelius with a mournful expression. "Cornelius, Narcissa and Lucius had a fight in the atrium. In front of witnesses she killed Lucius over his decision to donate a large sum of money to the Wizarding Defense Forces, then she apparated away.

"I personally reviewed the pensieve testimonies for myself and there can be no doubt that she was incensed over his generous donation. She cast a curse that killed him. I asked Thompson here to send some men to bring her in for trial."

Cornelius looked between the two. "And dragons chased you off?" he asked incredulously.

Thompson nodded. "Yes, that's what my men reported. I wasn't there myself. I've been busy overseeing the attempt to break back into the Department of Mysteries."

Cornelius paled and he sat heavily in a chair. "The Department of Mysteries?" he echoed weakly.

"Yes," Delores said. "We learned that Croaker was plotting to overthrow you, Cornelius. Three of his people committed suicide rather than reveal the details of their plot, so I immediately ordered the arrest of everyone in the department. Croaker sealed the level against any intruders. We've been trying to break through for several days now."

Fudge played with his bowler nervously, then he turned to Delores. "I think it's time you tell me exactly what has been happening around here."

Delores smiled sweetly and waved Thompson out of the room. "Of course, Cornelius. I know you've heard about some problems, but really a lot of good things have happened as well."

Thompson breathed a sigh of relief and escaped the room. He was glad he didn't need to stick around for that conversation. He wasn't concerned for the Boss, or what they were doing. He knew that if Cornelius put up too much of a stink, Delores would arrange for an accident for the good Minister. He had no idea how wrong he was.

Office of the Minister for Magic, March 28th...

Delores Umbridge paused in front of the door to the office and checked her outfit, then she imperiously waved a hand at Weasley, and he opened the door for her.

She entered and smiled broadly when she spotted Cornelius nervously pacing the room with his bowler hat in his hands. She wanted him nervous. Nervous and pliable to her suggestions.

She sat calmly on the chair opposite his desk and he finally turned and eyed the crystal that signaled the room was private. When it glowed a moment later, he smiled thinly and sat down.

"Stupefy!" said a voice from behind Umbridge.

She jerked spasmodically and the room went dark. She awoke a few minutes later and the first thing she realized was that she couldn't move an inch. She looked around wildly for a moment, then spotted Cornelius.

"Cornelius!" she sputtered. "What is the meaning of this?"

Cornelius leaned back on his chair and eyed her for a moment. "I went home the other night and thought long and hard about what you've done, Delores. In a sense, you did me a great favor by eliminating some of the people that controlled what I did, and by eliminating some of my competition. But I also realized that you were setting yourself up to be the one in charge."

He leaned forward in his chair. "You will be in charge of what I let you be in charge of and you will follow my orders."

Umbridge growled lowly. "And if I don't," she snarled.

"Then I'm afraid that you will be accidentally kissed while making an inspection tour of Azkaban later today," he replied. "Clyde here will escort you to the prison while you're under an imperious and you will regrettably not survive your tour. I'm sure your second in charge would be happy to follow my orders."

Delores' eyes widened as she realized that she was not alone with Fudge. There was another man just at the edge of her peripheral vision and she could hear another breathing behind her.

"I'm going to offer you an out, Delores. You want power and I'm willing to let you have some of it, but as my second in command," he stated softly.

She looked at him warily. This was so totally out of character for Fudge that she was caught off guard. She couldn't believe she had underestimated the man so badly.

"What do you mean?" she stammered.

"Give me an unbreakable vow not to betray me and I'll let you continue to run the WDF."

"But," she sputtered, "you can't be serious!" An unbreakable vow would mean her death, or worse, the loss of her magic if she violated it!

"If you'd rather be kissed by a dementor, I can arrange it," he replied with a shrug.

She paled. "No! Anything but that."

Cornelius smiled. "Excellent," he said, then he pushed a parchment towards her.

She felt a wand dig into the back of her head and the full body bind was released by an unknown person. With a trembling hand, she reached for the parchment that contained the wording of the vow. She gave it a quick read and shuddered. This was worse than just agreeing to be loyal. It was just shy of abject slavery!

She pulled her wand and the wand poking her head pushed against her harder.

With a trembling voice she gave away her freedom and become Cornelius' slave. By the time she'd finished reading the vow and the binding magic of it began to fade, she was weeping uncontrollably. She had been outmaneuvered by the one person she thought least possible of doing it.

Fudge took the parchment from her limp hands and place it in his desk, then he looked at her. "Now, get out, you cow. I'll call for you later with new orders. Until then, go do something useful."

She wiped her tears against her sleeve and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Cornelius watched her leave the room wearing a cruel smile. Dumbledore was missing, Bones was dead and the DMLE gutted. As Croaker was now missing, all his opponents were gone except for the Wizengamot and he'd set Delores on them next. The beauty of the whole scheme was that if something went wrong, she'd take the blame for it and he could claim to be the ignorant, bumbling fool he had been playing for years.

Perhaps the greatest surprise from the emergence of dragons as an intelligent species was the simultaneous rise to power of the first Weyrleader. From humble beginnings, Harry Potter rose to a position of warrior, statesmen and protector of the non human sentient species on the planet. As the dragons rose to become an economic powerhouse, he successfully guided the Weyrs to the position they enjoy today, as partners and equals in human society.

Excerpted from The Weyrs of Earth by Remus John Lupin, published 2040.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

- This one is a major mockery. Will you people please stop reading hidden meanings into stuff? I mean come on, we say we don't write smut so people then point out that some of the dragon names are somewhat suggestive if you drop a few letters, change their order and then add an AKI to it. I mean really the names came from a online dragon name generator. If you think to see something in a name that you shouldn't, your seeing things. And to the guy who said the names contained old Soviet Nuclear missile launch codes. No, just no... (walks away shaking his head.)

- ubetiburn, sorry, but Eppy the House elf isn't ours to play with. Besides, last I heard she was off directly an all male porno with Dumbledore and Voldemort.

- Dragonstorm316, I don't know what scares me more, your FOCKING spelling (his spelling, not ours) or the fact that you're letting an 11yr old read our disclaimers. That's scary, kinda like Wednesday Addams meets the Playboy channel.

- To all those people that are begging for Harry to burn down Privet drive with Dragons. What part of maintaining secrecy is escaping you? The Dursleys will be dealt with in the same manner as Voldemort got dealt with.

- Hufflepuff with a tardis, Seriously dude, can you make your name any longer? I aged a full year typing that. But anyway yeah I can see dragons being excited by a rider giving birth. But come on, most of our riders aren't even 17 yet. I do have plans for seeing some of those aspects of Weyr life, but not for a few years still.

- BJH, do I look stupid? The last time I portrayed Ginny in a good light I nearly ended up abandoning a story because of all the hate mail and death threats. We MIGHT see her again, but by the time we do, Harry will be firmly taken. There is no way there will be any Harry/Ginny shipping here. That ship was sunk.

- Shannon Dee, we'll see your Mutant Gophers and raise you a breeding pair of Mutant Emus. Be afraid.

- It is amazing how many people cut their teeth on stories like Dragonflight in their teens. Ms McCaffrey opened up view onto an amazing world and it makes us feel all tingly inside knowing that others feel that way. Or maybe its the drugs we're taking. Nevermind.

- Regrettably there are no plans to fight the IRS. Something, like old age, the borg and the IRS are enemies you can't beat.

- Motivations behind why people are doing things is not always obvious to you, but generally speaking things do eventually get explained.

- Harry's injury was temporary. We're not planning on crippling him anytime soon. But some of you, no promises.

- Gadriam, yes the girls are patient. But I'll remind you that most of them are GIRLS, teenage, not even 16 for most of them. So at this stage they are more bark than bite.

- Chibi-Kaz, you're missing the point. There won't be a Weyr woman in these Weyrs. Someday there might be a Weyrleader that's female, but she won't be a Weyr woman in the Pern sense.