When Jack went to discuss his kidnapping and harm at the hands of the Black Coats, he did not expect that the psychologist would be a squib and former member of The Order of the Wozak. As they got to talking, the psychologist suggested that Jack should take Harry on a vacation, to meet his Aunt Sam, maybe try to find his Uncle Mike, and to of course meet Gramps. Jack was reluctant at first, but the psychologist insisted.
"Well, Jack, you won't get over your fears if you stay where you feel it is safe. You need to get out. It is a common thing to retreat into a sort of safety net, when it comes to things like this. Soldiers often stay on base; police officers stay at their precinct. And others begin to stay where there are always large groups of people. The key is to coax them out of this safety net, to get them back into the world at large so they can face their new fear and defeat it. I'm going to suggest you call your sister, Samantha was it?" said Dr. Ortiz.
"Well, she goes by Sam. She's a Captain in the Air Force, out in Colorado. She does some sort of deep space work," said Jack, "I suppose I could call her and ask to spend some time with her for a few days. I know she would probably love Harry. I mean, he's Harry, how can you not love him?" Jack smiled.
"Yes, tell me about that," asked Dr. Ortiz, "Why did you adopt Harry?"
"I just…I felt this strong desire…um…when I saw Harry, he touched my heart. I know that sounds…well, I was taught that women are the ones who are all touchy feely and that men are strong and don't show their feelings. Dad taught me that it's bad for a man to do that. So, I just kind of keep stuff bottled up. Oh, when it came to my wife or daughter, I showed them plenty of affection because Dad, he taught that a man's affections are for family," said Jack. He stopped. He was trying to think of the right words to use to express why he adopted Harry.
"I'm not a smart man, when it comes to things like science and technology. I am kind of smart when it comes to some other things, like I can solve almost any puzzle given time and if you give me enough information, I can see things, well not literally, but I can almost see connections in the information. When I saw Harry, I just knew I wanted to be a Dad…a Daddy again. I mean, I'm Zoe's Dad and all, but she's grown up. She can take care of herself," said Jack, a hint of pride in his voice, "She's a strong young woman. She's smart, a genius really. She doesn't need me. Harry, when I looked into those innocent eyes, and my heart was touched, I felt drawn to him, a need to help him and protect him and to be a good father to him, to make sure he had a good life and a happy life. I wanted to make sure he had enough hugs and affection. My dad…hugs were rare from my dad. They were given for things like perfect marksmanship and getting my black belt in Shodokan, or when I made the track team in High School and then it was a one armed hug and a "I'm proud of you" and that's it. It wasn't until later that I realized, that's how my dad showed his love. His one armed hug and 'I'm proud of you' was like when other parents say, 'I love you so much!' so when I realized that, I knew that he did love us."
Dr. Ortiz made notes from what Jack said and then he asked, "So, do you and your Father get along?"
"Yes and no. My dad and I have a tentative relationship. I think he was disappointed that I did not pursue the military but was not as disappointed when I went to the academy to become a Federal Marshall. He was there when I graduated, in his full dress military uniform, and he gave me a firm handshake, which was his way of replacing the one armed hug. I think it was his way of saying, 'You've grown up, but I'm still proud of you,' and he smiled. He calls every once in a while and checks on me and Zoe. He's a good grandpa to her; she's the one that nicknamed him Gramps, which he doesn't exactly like, which is why I think she insists on using it. They get along well. Zoe and her Aunt Sam have always gotten along great. She and Zoe, well, I think they have an almost mother-daughter bond. It's something Zoe never really had with her mother. Oh, her mother wasn't a bad mother, but they just didn't seem to be as close. Maybe that's just a misconception on my part," said Jack.
"If I may conjecture, I don't think so. Jack, you are pretty good at reading people. Before I met you for the first time, I sat in Café Diem and watched you. From my observation, you seemed to be able to read people's moods pretty well. It was almost as if you had an ability to read emotions. Tell me, Jack, since you adopted Harry, have you been tested?" asked Dr. Ortiz.
"Well, no. Why would I need to be tested, I'm a muggle," asked Jack.
"Well, sometimes…you see, to sum it up, there are different types of magical beings. Among those are magical humans. Among magical humans are many various types but to simplify, you have magic users, squibs, and magically sensitive mundanes. Squib is a sort-of catch-all phrase that has been used for centuries to describe a person born to magic users that cannot use magic but this is not exactly true. Yes, squibs are unable to use spells but there are squibs that have a different type of magic. And, like Mundaneborn witches and wizards, a squib can often be Mundaneborn as well," said Dr. Ortiz, "That's why I came here from Paraguay. I am a squib, but like many squibs, I am much more than a mundane. Unlike mundanes, I can use magical artifacts, and unlike a witch or wizard, I can use technology. The Order of Wozak, are in fact, technomages," said Dr. Ortiz.
"But I thought that Division M was working on getting technology and magic to work together," said Jack.
"Yes, and no. They can use magic to duplicate technology or they can use technology to duplicate magic. Those are easy. But getting magic and technology to merge together is hard to do. Much of the Order's devices either mimic technology or mimic magic. Remember, squibs can use magical artifacts. In fact, many artifacts are only usable by squibs, because a witch or wizard would overload them," said Dr. Ortiz, "We are off track, so going back to my advice, you are going to call your sister and ask to stay with her a couple of days on vacation. Do you wish me to call the Order of the Wozak and setup some discreet security?"
"Define discreet," said Jack.
"They will be around, in key places during your vacation, but they won't explicitly seek you out, unless you are in danger. Alternatively, we can put a sub-dermal transponder on you; it would activate anytime someone uses a binding or stunning spell on you. We can put one in Harry and Zoe as well. We can either key it to activate with a binding or stunning spell or we can put it in the shoulder, near enough to the epidermis that with a heavy press, they can activate it."
"I thought the point of the vacation was to leave Eureka, get out of the safety net, "asked Jack.
"It is, but let's not be stupid. People are out to get you, to kidnap Harry. It would be both irresponsible and stupid if we didn't at least arrange for your safety. Okay, well our session is over, so go and call your sister, and make arrangements for your vacation."
Jack left the office and drove back home. On the way home he formulated what he was going to say to Sam, thinking it out carefully and finally was satisfied that he had a good idea what to say. He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number that Jack O'Neill guy had given him. It rang three times before someone picked up. "Samantha Carter, please" said Jack.
"This is her," said the voice on the other end.
"Sam…it's Jack. We need to talk," said Jack.
MEANWHILE: IN GERMANY – Klues Forest
Severus Snape was gathering ingredients for his potions. Oh, he was kind of excited, because he had not had the opportunity to gather exotic ingredients like this since his potions mastery. One of the tests for a potions mastery was to be taken to a random location, blind folded, and told to gather 7 viable ingredients to make a potion. This was repeated 7 times, with 7 different locations. The ingredients had to be different, which meant that the potions master had to memorize the ones s/he had already gathered. Some wrote it on parchment, just to be safe, which was acceptable but would not gain any bonus points. Severus always memorized what he had gathered and would later write it down at the end of the week, along with dates, so he could be sure of how fresh the ingredients were.
He had a house elf to come along to help him this time, and to take the ingredients back to Hogwarts to his special potions ingredients cabinet. It had special runes designed to keep the humidity at 77%, the temperature at exactly 6.9 degrees Celsius (44.5 degrees Fahrenheit), and with runes for stasis. Spells would interact with the ingredients, but runes functioned on a different frequency from spell magic, and only about 3 types of runes reacted with ingredients, so the other runes could safely be used to store and keep ingredients fresh. Even with the stasis runes, 77% humidity, and 6.9 C temperature, the ingredients did not stay fresh forever. At most they lasted 3 years, but some were more viable and lasted 4 or 5 years.
He had enough exotic ingredients that he could try a few experiments that he had been considering for the past year. He would assign his few Newts students to introduce first years to potions, telling them to give a lecture on safety and ingredients preparations. He would tell them to take the old ingredients, the ones that were not fresh and use them. He had made sure to buy some non-fresh ingredients so that he could brew a potion from them and demonstrate to his first years why fresh ingredients are important. He was going to make a tummy smoother, which with the non-fresh ingredients would sooth a person's stomach, but also give them a large amount of flatulence. Inevitably the first years found it hilarious, but he did not, because taking too many non-fresh potions would cause sickness, and would actually hinder a person's magical immune system.
So Severus was in Klues Forest, gathering a very rare specimen of a fungus called Imp Droppings. It had gone extinct in Great Britain 300 years ago. It was too bad, because, Severus theorized that this particular fungus might be key to a cure for Lycanthropy. He had done some work with Phil Damocles on the Wolfsbane potion. His contribution was the adding of distilled moonstone extract, as opposed to powdered moonstone, which allowed the wolf's bane's effect to be stronger. He also suggested that syrup of hellebore, triple distilled, would stabilize the potion and allow for it to simmer over a higher flame for a shorter period of time. The original potion, before Snape's suggestion, would have worked fine but would have had an effect of simply calming the beast's instincts until it was more like a playful puppy. Snape's additions actually made it possible for the person to keep his/her mind during the transformation.
So, he sent a message to Phil Damocles, saying he was going to Germany and asking him if he thought anymore about their conversation about the cure. Phil wrote back and told him that he did and was doing some research, and found out that Salazar Gaunt, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, was an expert Potioneer and had been on the verge of a cure, when, according to his notes, he discovered that British Imp Droppings had gone extinct. He tried many different varieties of fungus, but could not find one that would work, and without the final ingredient, the potion was worthless. As a result, he lost his reputation, and the family name became ridiculed among Potioneers. As a result, he couldn't get work, and slowly lost the family fortune trying to regain some of his reputation. He'd funded several potions by "up and coming potioneers," only to lose the money when they took the money and ran. No wonder he had been sorted, much to the shame of the Gaunt family, into Hufflepuff.
So, Severus had looked into his notes, and found that Sal Gaunt was indeed on the verge of a cure, but lacked that one ingredient. Severus hoped that the German variety of Imp Droppings was the same species, so that they would have a cure. Perhaps he should look for other varieties of Imp Droppings just to be sure. He was pretty sure that French Imp Droppings were transplanted from England because they had a time controlling the growth but he couldn't be sure. It is possible that British Imp Droppings were not actually extinct if they had been transplanted to France and were now an invasive species. Many witches and wizards found them growing in their yards and were increasingly frustrated.
That would be his next stop. He scowled. There was that same Muggle Family. He'd seen them during the train ride. They couldn't be following him, could they? If so, why? Severus had originally come here to try and find Harry Potter's muggle family, but when the Headmaster flooed him and told him that the brat had been found in North America, Severus decided to go anyway. After all, Hogwarts had more than enough funds, and with the exotic ingredients, he could finally continue some of his research. Not only that, but with his contract, Hogwarts would get 45% of any royalties of any potions he developed at Hogwarts until his retirement, when their cut would drop to 20%. If he developed any in his spare time during the summers, they would still get 10%.
So he noticed the muggle family had gone as he was packing up himself. That was odd because they had just arrived. He took out his wand, his instincts on guard.
"Juro," Severus called. Nothing happened. "Juro," Severus called again. Okay, this was too weird. Juro had been assigned to him as his personal Hogwarts elf, and was therefore his even during the summer. He didn't like the concept of house elves overly much but she loved washing dishes and washing his clothes, so he let her. He did keep her out of the potions lab, because house elf cleaning magic could destroy even the most inactive of potions ingredients. He gave explicit instructions that he, and he alone, was to clean his potions lab, to the Head House Elf, Grubby, and that was that. Now, he just had to assign detention to enough Gryffindors and they would clean his lab.
He pulled out his emergency Hogwarts portkey. It was a simple muggle nut on a necklace. He activated it and…nothing happened. He immediately cast some spells and found that wards had been put up around him. He threw up a shield, just in time for a stunner to wash over his shield.
"Severus Snape. Professor, Hogwarts, Death Eater, who managed to get away from his punishment," said a voice, genderless, all around him.
"Who…who are you," said Severus, strengthening his shield, and trying to dismantle the anti-portkey ward.
"Who we are is of no concern to you, Death Eater," said the voice.
"I'm not a Death Eater. I'm…I'm Loyal to Dumbledore," said Severus, he had just about dismantled the anti-portkey ward; it was surprisingly weak. He supposed that it was not tied properly to something. Perhaps it was merely cast like a spell.
"That had better be a lie. We wish to employ the services of a Death Eater," said the Voice, "Someone who can find and kill a filthy muggle."
"No. I never killed. Lord Voldemort wanted me for the potions he needed to sustain his body. I convinced him that killing would mar my magic and taint the potions, making me useless. So, he allowed me to take the mark, and unlike the others, without murdering someone; it did not bind my soul to his," Severus said. It was the truth and he had just unwound the last cord of magic in the anti-portkey ward. One more nudge and it would collapse.
"Then, if you cannot kill a filthy muggle for us, you are of no use to us," said the voice. Severus had just gotten the anti-portkey ward to collapse and activated his Hogwarts Emergency portkey and was whisked away just as 7 green killing curses hit the spot he had been standing.
"Well, darn," said a voice, as he walked out from among the trees, "that was foolish to say the least. Who cast the anti-portkey ward?"
One of the six witches and wizards in Death Eater robes strode forward and held up his hand, "I cast the ward, sir, I tied it to a tree."
"Foolish, but better than if you simply cast it like a spell. Next time, anchor it to the ground or to a rock," said The Necromancer, as he flicked his wand and the Death Eater fell to the ground writhing in silent agony. After a few seconds he lifted the spell. "That was a necromantic variation of the cruciatus curse, a personal invention. Now, since we cannot rely on Severus Snape, you are going to have to find me another potions master. Malfoy, Macnair, Goyle, you have three weeks to find me these ingredients," said the Necromancer, handing them a piece of parchment.
"Crabbe, Yaxley, and Nott, you have three weeks to find me someone who can brew a necromantic potion. I suggest you start with East Asia, as they don't have the same hostility toward necromancy that Europe has. Nott, Malfoy, you're in charge of each of your teams," said the Necromancer. He then lifted his wand and vanished. Nott turned and looked at Malfoy and asked, "Who do you think he is?"
"How should I know? He didn't reveal his face, and all the usual magical identity spells are useless against necromantic magic," said Malfoy, "All I know is that his use of necromancy makes him stronger than the Dark Lord," and with that, Malfoy lifted his sleeve, to show that his dark mark was gone. "See, he was even able to break the soul-slave bond, without killing me."
Malfoy pulled an old piece of lead pipe out of his robes. He touched it with his wand and said, "Portus" picturing his portkey room in his mind. It was a room inside Malfoy Manor that one could portkey into, but only with a portkey made by him. Gripping one end, he motioned for Macnair and Goyle to grab on and they were whisked away. Nott took out an old piece of rope from his robes and did the same thing, picturing the garden at Nott Estate.
The Necromancer has been busy. So, any guesses as to who it may be? Do you guys want a hint?
Perhaps you'll get it in the next chapter, if you read and review.
The Dark Mark is a necromantic spell, which was why no one was able to reverse it using standard magic. The Necromancer was able to perform the counter-spell. With the Dark Lord currently not occupying a body, his power is diminished and the bond is as well. If the Dark Lord had a body and was at full strength, the necromancer would not be able to remove the mark. He could cancel most of its effects, but it would remain.
I made up Salazar Gaunt. I figured that he made a blunder and lost most of the family fortune. I also made him a Hufflepuff b/c Slytherins are never (or almost never) that naïve, but a Puff might be. His family never recovered the shame that he brought to their name so they were unable to get jobs or training.
As a reward to WhiteElfElder for being the only one to review, I let him choose if this chapter would have Samantha Carter in it; he said to introduce her but not bring her to Eureka just yet, so I did.
Imp Droppings is a fungus that is taken from Skyrim; in Skyrim it's called Imp Stool. I figured over the years, the language changed.
Will there be a cure for lycanthropy? I'm not telling.
Ortiz is a common surname from Paraguay. Dr. Ortiz is a squib and former agent from the Order of the Wozak. If Jack seems OOC, it is because he can open up to Dr. Ortiz. Dr. Ortiz's experience as a field agent makes Jack feel more at ease. So the Order of the Wozak are squibs who are like the agents from Mission Impossible; their gadgets are techno-magic. They will be guarding Harry, Jack, and Zoe on their vacation, which will be the next chapter, with Sam Carter (YAY) and SG1 (YAY) but not on base. SG-1 has vacation time so they'll spend it with Sam's step-brother.
OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE
Harry was sitting in his room, playing with his toys and growing quickly bored. He knew that his daddy was down stairs talking to someone and Zoe and her friend were in her room doing girl stuff.
"SAWAH, I'm bored…" whined Harry.
"Why don't you read a book Harry," asked SARAH.
"I've wead almost evewything," said Harry, rolling his eyes. This was not true but as Harry was a typical 2 year old, he was prone to exaggeration from time to time.
"Don't roll your eyes at me. How about I animate one of your stories using my holographic wallpaper? Which book do you want me to animate?" asked SARAH.
"The Three Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," asked Harry, going to get the book. He put the book in the book scanner and SARAH scanned it.
"Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails who lived with their mother," read SARAH, putting a picture of three cuddly wolves on the holographic wallpaper, like in the first pages of the book, only in this one, SARAH animated the wolves, adding noises and music as she read the book.
YES! The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is a REAL book, by Eugene Trivizas. That is the first line, directly quoted from the book.
