Chapter 9
SGC Isolation Room 10
1900
Janet paced the room for what seemed to her the thousandth time. General Hammond had just informed her, the only other witch that he was sure of, that Sam's Department of Mysteries teaching job was still approved and that the students were arriving today. Sam wasn't back yet, still floating about space with the rest of SG1 and Thor. So that left Janet: Doctor, Witch, Friend, and, apparently, BABYSITTER extraordinaire. She punched the table in front of her and swore loudly.
"Really, Madam, is such language necessary?"
Janet whirled around to face the door. She hadn't heard it open, and yet there, with smirking SFs, was stood a positive HERD of British Wizards!
"This is an American Military base," She began, willfully pushing her frustrations aside, "Specifically Air Force, though we have a small contingent if Marines as well. As I understand it, you will all be staying here, in this wing. You will not have unfettered access to the base, and until Maj…Ricta has you sign Oaths, you will not be told what we do. Your presence on this base depends entirely on Ricta's desire to keep you around. She is in our Head of Wizardry."
"And where is this Ricta?" An aristocratic dark haired man asked, just barely politely enough to disguise his arrogance. Janet stared at him; he was tall with black hair, dark eyes, and was obviously a Pureblood with the common attitude that he controlled everything. Janet smirked inwardly; she couldn't wait until Sam returned. She could out-arrogant even a Black if she wanted to.
"She is currently seeing to her duties elsewhere, Mr. …" Janet looked pointedly at the man.
"LORD Greengrass, Madam. You have yet to introduce yourself. Is it common amongst American Muggles to ignore courtesy?"
"Lord Greengrass, I am a Prewitt and a Witch, but first I am an American Airman. This base is my home; I am also the Chief Medical Officer for the entire base. That makes me the head Healer as well. You may address me as Dr. Frasier." She turned to the SF's, "I have this well in hand so you can leave, unless you would like to demonstrate a standard return physical." The two young men left quickly, casting fearful glances at the small woman.
"I have a list," Janet said as the door shut, "provided by Director Croaker, of students who are supposed to be here. I understand that Ricta requires the presence of a Magical Guardian or a Head of Family. I cannot answer any questions about how she will be teaching, or what. Ordinarily I would be doing your physicals now and sending you off, however, there has been a complication. Please just look at the parchment and mark your names." She thrust the list at Lord Greengrass and closed the curtains around the small group.
Medical Bay, Thor's Ship
Earth's Orbit
1900
Samantha, used to recovering quickly, was the first to wake. She hopped out of the bed and morphed back to her Blond disguise. She looked over at Harry, her nephew, he was still asleep, and there was a black mass being drawn out of his forehead. IT was screaming as it was removed, and decaying before her eyes. She cast her vision around at SG1 and Andromeda; they too were transfixed on the boy to notice her as she stealthily hopped off the bed.
"Carter," O'Neill snapped, not turning to face her, "I'm telling Janet." Samantha chose the mature route of sticking her tongue out at him and moved over to Andromeda's side. "I cant figure out," she whispered to her smirking friend, "HOW he always knows!"
"Perhaps he just knows you. If you are always in this close proximity, then they must all know you better than Regulus does. You did not want to tell Sirius…but…is Reggie alive?"
"Yes." Samantha was spared from responding further by Nymphadora groaning and Bellatrix's left arm making an odd hissing noise. Suddenly a holographic image appeared directly in front of Samantha, accompanied by an undisguised Thor. Jack opened his mouth to explain, or chastise the little alien, when Andromeda slapped Samantha's arm and glared at her.
"Why did you not tell us he is Asgard? We could have rekindled the alliance and asked for help with Voldemort, like they helped with Mars the Wretched three thousand years ago!"
"Unfortunately, Andromeda Tonks, thanks to the treaty made with the Goa'uld, concerning the Tauri, the Asgard are currently unable to assist you on Earth. However if you can get this…Voldemort…to an unprotected planet, then the Asgard fleet will gladly assist our old friends." Thor explained gently, "I am not here to discuss this matter. I have found a mass in Bellatrix's brain, it seems to be made of what your race calls black magic. It is not in her tissues, it is on them, pressing down on all four hemispheres," he gestured to the hologram and it changed, showing the top of Bellatrix's brain. "This is where it is," he continued, pointing a long gray finger at the large black mass. This image is not magnified."
The mass was pulsing and solidifying, becoming heavier according to the hologram's notations. Her brainwaves began to decrease. Samantha turned to Thor, vaguely aware that both Nymphadora and Sirius had awakened, "Ca-can you beam it out?" She asked the little alien desperately, "Can you give us Bellatrix back, Thor?"
The little grey man nodded, "I can, with her families permission. It is as simple as removing the soul fragment from young Harry Potter, and the Dark Magic from the tattoo on your arm." As Sirius and Andromeda emphatically agreed to the procedure, Samantha stared at her left arm. She willed the tattoo to appear, and it was still there.
It was different, though, she could no longer feel any of the people attached to her mark. Just like Bellatrix was bound to Voldemort, Roldolphus, and Narcissa, Samantha bound to Voldemort, Regulus, and Alecto Carrow. Both Voldemort and Alecto had been siphoning magic from Samantha's core for almost two decades, but now she felt an over abundance of power. She and Bellatrix would have to watch themselves for accidents until they adjusted again.
She returned her attention to her damaged friend as a beam of light danced around her head. Bellatrix was screaming, still unconscious, from the pain of the magic fighting the beam. As it lost bit by bit, Asgard technology repaired the damage it was causing in her brain. If the Asgard could sweat, then Thor would be as he physically operated both technologies. It was a sight to behold, as was the expressions on her teammates' faces.
Teal'c was stoic as ever, but deep in his eyes burned an anger and despair. As much as he had accepted Samantha as a Warrior, he could not dismiss the fact that they were women and meant to be protected by their husbands, not harmed by them. Colonel O'Neill was glaring at the black mass as it reassembled itself on a table next to Thor, as though he could kill the person responsible through it. Daniel was on the verge of crying and Andromeda had thrown herself into Samantha's arms, sobbing, as Bellatrix's screams became more wretched. She looked helplessly at Nymphadora and Sirius, only to see them staring at the floor. Nymphadora's hair could not decide if it wanted to be black or white and Sirius seemed to be making a concerted effort to rip the nail on his right ring finger completely off.
Thor was still repairing damage in Bellatrix's brain when Harry sat up, his cry of distress habitually silent. Samantha disentangled herself from Andromeda, directing the distraught woman over to her daughter, and moved to the frightened boy. He was staring wide-eyed at Thor, his mouth hanging open. Bellatrix finally stopped screaming as the light stopped circling her head and her eyes opened. She quickly cursed and closed them again. As Thor and Andromeda fussed over Bellatrix's migraine, Samantha spoke to her nephew, "I am sorry I did not believe you. I should have checked, after Father died. But I didn't want to stay in England and the Goblins didn't tell me when I was there."
Harry smiled at her, "Can you get me away from the Dursleys? I think spending the summer in America is better protection from Voldemort than living with people who hate me. Besides you can tell me the things that others wont, about my parents."
Samantha stared at him, "I can try, but even though Thor confirmed your relation you still have to have a regular blood test. Classified isn't a pliable excuse in court, after all. It doesn't really matter; you will be an adult in July. The contract, which now that I know you are alive I am not willing to dissolve, stipulates that you be married ON your sixteenth birthday."
Sirius found his way to his feet, looking healthier than Harry had ever seen him. His hair was shining ebony, his teeth white and repaired, and he was no longer emaciated. Overall Thor's machines had taken decades off of the man's appearance. He stumbled over to Harry's bed, "I am also not willing to dissolve the contract, now that I know it exists for sure. It is the only way for Andromeda and Bellatrix to rejoin the family, as they should be. I thing the first thing I will do after your wedding will be to dissolve that disastrous marriage. The second will be to disown Narcissa and her whelp. I have my heiress and don't want our money going to Voldemort."
Harry, and Nymphadora (who was eavesdropping), nodded their assent to the two Heads. "That is not to say," Samantha began, smirking, "That you cannot date. In fact my son, Aries, has just begun a relationship with a lovely pureblood at his school. I am sure he would be easily convinced to double up with you. After we've bought you new clothes. What ARE you wearing, boy?"
Harry flushed as Nymphadora and Sirius snickered beside him. "We went to the department of mysteries from school. This is one of my School Outfits Mrs. Weasley picked up last year." He looked down at his clothes, now five or six inches too short, "Did I grow?"
"Indeed you did, young Harry Potter. Part of the healing I gave you reversed the damage your upbringing gave you," Thor stated from next to Bellatrix, who had yet to reawaken, "You had many complications from spending too much time in a small space. I would liken it to the state of O'Neill's knees, except you are so much younger than he, so you simply grew damaged. It took longer to fix than O'Neill's knees did." SG1 stared at their C.O.; his favorite jokes were about how damaged his knees were. Jack shrugged, deciding to ask his questions now that almost everybody was awake, "How did…Andromeda…know what Thor was? What ARE you people? Who is Voldemort?"
Samantha took a deep breath, prepared to give the shortest possible answers when Thor's console beeped. A message from Stargate Command had been transmitted to him.
SG1, and Thor,
Major Samantha Carter has duties to perform as Unspeakable Ricta. Director Croaker says you are to return immediately to the SGC. Your students are already in Isolation 10. Be dressed properly, and if Sempra is with you, cloak her as well.
Hammond Out
Samantha drew her wand, set to conjure decent robes and cloaks when she felt a tiny hand on her arm. She looked in askance at the diminutive alien. "Input your requirements into the console to your left. It will create what you need, then you can enchant."
"Right." She moved over to the console and began designing. Within minutes, every witch or wizard had robes and cloaks defining their stations. She didn't bother enchanting three of them, their crests were enough to identify who the wearer was. Instead, Samantha flicked her wand and the clothing flew to their new owners. Harry's robes were unmarked, but crimson with black and yellow embroidery, the cloak was solid crimson and closed over his entire body. The hood covered his face completely, but even without spell work, he could see out. Sirius' and Andromeda's were black with the crest of house Black in silver and crimson, their cloaks solid black, and without the complete coverage Harry's offered.
As Samantha set about enchanting the other three sets, Bellatrix found her feet. She stumbled over to her friend, intent on reminding her of the specifics. By the time she had reached her, Samantha had finished Bellatrix's robes. They were everything but Unforgivable-proof, including bullets.
The colors were midnight black, with the same embroidery patterns as Harry's robes, in crimson and Yellow, her cloak Midnight Black and all encompassing. Nymphadora's robes had the same features, but were solid crimson, with a black cloak like her mother's. Teal'c raised his eyebrow when the wizards simply began changing, with no regard to modesty and raised the other when Samantha joined them. Her robes were the most elaborate, black and crimson bleeding together with yellow embroidery on the arms leading to the Potter crest on her chest. Her cloak was also solid black and all encompassing. After she had shrunk and pocketed everybody's now surplus clothing, Thor took the initiative and beamed the group back to the SGC.
Isolation Room 10
1920
Dr. Frasier had just closed the curtains around them, leaving Minerva to calm the now irate lord, when a bright light spilled over the top and under the bottom of the curtain. Minerva heard some talking before it was replaced with a buzzing sound, followed by absolute silence. She touched the curtain, only to be shocked by the fabric. It rippled as if there was a wall of water instead of whatever Muggles used for curtains. Someone had erected the famous Potter Privacy Wards.