I do not own Harry Potter or Superman, Marvel and DC do.

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Conversations

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"I'll kill him!" Hermione growled as she stalked into the Ravenclaw common room. "Harry, I know how much he means to you, but he! Is! DEAD!"

Harry and Neville gave each other bemused looks, then Harry lowered the book he was reading.

"Hermione, what are you talking about?"

"Sirius, that's who!" Hermione snarled. "Bastard published my essay!"

"…essay?" Harry asked cautiously as Hermione stomped around the room, not noticing how everyone was almost frantically getting out of her way.

"Essay!" Hermione waved a fist in the air, then started to parody Sirius. "Oh, Hermione, Charity showed me the memory of the argument you made during her turn helping out with your homework club. You remember? The one where you declared that the Wizarding World was safer now than ever before. Is there any chance you could write that up for me? It sounds interesting. Of course, Lord Black. I'd be happy to. Thank you. I'm sure it will be very educational. Damn the man!"

Harry shook his head as he put his book down and rose from his chair. "I don't follow."

"He sent me a copy with a thank-you note!"

Harry paused mid-stride as he blinked in confusion. "…isn't that a good thing?"

"HE PUBLISHED IT IN PLAYWITCH!" Hermione shrieked into Harry's face.

"…okay… erm, Hermione… could you put me down please?"

Hermione blinked, then blushed as she realised that she was pinning Harry against one of the wall-mounted bookcases by his robes.

"…sorry." She mumbled as she lowered him back to the floor and released his lapels. Harry twitched his robe straight, then gently placed one hand across Hermione's shoulders and led her to the couch where he had been sitting.

"It isn't as bad as you think." Neville piped up. "Sure, they still do those pictures, but the articles are very interesting…"

Neville trailed off as Hermione half-turned to glare at him while Harry tried and failed to hide his laughter as a cough.

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"It should be held at Hogwarts!" Bagman stomped around the classroom that had been repurposed as part of the suite of offices for those overseeing the (rather inaccurately named) Tri-Wizard Tournament. "How could Black…"

"Save us a great deal of money?" Crouch interjected and Bagman froze. "It was a simple matter to persuade him to fold the Tri-Wizard Ball into the one he is hosting, although it was rather tricky setting things up so that he thinks that it was his idea in the first place."

"But… why?" Bagman asked almost plaintively. "It's a brilliant chance to show off Hogwarts to the other schools…"

"But a better chance to show off the expansions of Hogsmeade to the world." Crouch countered. "When Tegg's Nose re-opened, tourists from other countries began to visit, bringing money with them. The Ministry is in negotiation with Evans Industries for a transport hub that will link to other countries, making it easier and faster for those who live abroad to visit our nation and bring their money with them. Money which helps to pay our wages, Ludo."

Ludo sullenly sat down. "But… the Ball…"

"Ludo, it is under control." Bartemius said as reassuringly as he could. "It will be bigger than we could have hosted here and Lord Black has invited all the pupils of Hogwarts and their families as well as all the visiting pupils and their families! To do that ourselves would have cost a fortune in food alone, let alone transportation and security. As it is, I have assigned my assistant to aid Lord Back in setting things up, Percy will make certain that all goes according to plan."

Bagman gave him an expression that on anyone younger could easily have been described as a pout.

"Lord Black has also informed me that there will be Broomstick Races and even a chance of Quidditch." Crouch added. "If you have not let your skills slip, perhaps you could demonstrate those skills that made you the greatest Beater ever to fly in the black and yellow?"

Ludo's expression blanked for a moment. "I… think most of the rust has gone…"

"And the Beaters of the four Houses have improved quite a bit under your guidance." Crouch complimented Bagman, hiding a sigh as he saw how such obvious flattery caused the other man to brighten up.

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"Playwitch?" Voldemort asked as he entered the living room. "I didn't expect you to be a reader of it."

"While the pictures hold little appeal for me, save for their artistic merits, some of the articles are very interesting." Gellert replied without looking up from the magazine that he was perusing. "That article on the negative consequences of excessive inbreeding was quite an eye-opener. Apparently mental retardation is one of the more common outcomes, but having Squib offspring becomes more common with each generation, the risk becoming quite high if a family goes more than four generations without an infusion of fresh blood, whether Muggle or Muggleborn."

"That must have caused quite a stir." Voldemort chuckled and Gellert nodded to the rack in the corner.

"The article in question is in the September issue. They had to have a special section for the resulting letters written to them in the October issue and again in this one."

Voldemort ambled to the rack and a moment later, pulled out the first two issues of Playwitch in question. Moving to the silver-and-green armchair, he sat down and opened the first magazine, then quickly leafed through it.

"By the way, what are you reading about?" He asked as he reached the article that he had been looking for.

"It's about the continued effectiveness of the Statute of Secrecy and how the recent advances in magical technology have synergised with those in the Muggle World to help protect those of us who use magic. Our conversation a while ago was accurate, but it seems we overlooked a few facts."

Voldemort looked up from the magazine. "Really?"

"It's very well written and logically consistant, but it does tell me that I may have underestimated the resourcefulness of those without magic." Gellert confirmed. "Apparently it was written by a Hogwarts student. If I manage to find out who he or she is, I do believe it would be worth trying to recruit them."

Voldemort gave him a measuring look, then returned to reading the article that Gellert had recommended. "I must say, had I known about this when I was contemplating my first rise to power, I would have set things up quite differently. It certainly explains why so many of my original followers were outright morons, though. I had assumed that it was cultural."

"You were partially right." Gellert chuckled.

The duo read in silence for almost quarter of an hour, then Gellert chuckled darkly.

"Incredible. Just… incredible."

Voldemort gave a hmm of query but didn't look up from what he was reading.

"The recent advances in our world mean that Wizards are far less likely to give themselves away in the Muggle world and given the increased amount of entertainment which we have available to us now, only those who have a true reason to go there will do so. You were right… but not quite for the reasons you thought."

"So… the idea is that by making Wizards more Muggle-like, it keeps us apart from them better?" Voldemort frowned. "That seems rather counter-intuitive."

"Yet apparently the need for Obliviators has decreased by almost three-quarters since the re-opening of Tegg's Nose, according to the Editorial." Gellert mused. "We may need to rethink at least some of our plan given the societal changes."

Voldemort looked up. "Oh? What did you have in mind?"

"I find myself wondering just how much young Malfoy would like to become Minister."

"That would take quite a few years." Voldemort pointed out. "He will have to come of age first."

Gellert nodded with a smirk. "Yes, but with us backing and directing him from behind the scenes… maybe he should become an Auror first. It would allow him to counter many of our more expendable plots, thus increasing his fame and within a decade and some careful assassinations, he would be the leader of the DMLE from where it would be a simple jump to Minister."

"A good plan from Draco's viewpoint." Voldemort slowly agreed. "But how would we keep him in line? He is showing some hints that he may have a rather… concerning amount of independent thought."

"If all else fails, you still have your snake." Gellert pointed out and Voldemort stared at him in confusion before slowly starting to grin.

"Yes. Yes, I do…"

"There is no rush." Gellert returned the grin. "After all… we have all the time in the world… Of course, we will still need to get rid of Potter, he's a very unpredictable person and that would not be good for our eventual supremacy."

"Then it's a good thing that we have access to Hogwarts, isn't it?" Voldemort replied before tilting his head. "How goes the potion?"

"Another few months yet for it to be permanent." Gellert sighed. "Sadly, we will not be ready by the Second Task."

"But the third will allow us to remove the largest obstacle in our path." Voldemort gloated.

"It will indeed." Gellert agreed. "It will indeed. By the way, that project you are working on?"

"Is coming along very well." Voldemort replied smugly. "Soon, I will show you the fruits of my work, but for now…"

"I understand." Gellert nodded. "I shall await it with baited breath."

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"So, what do you think so far?" Sirius asked and Harry paused to look downslope at the majority of the park which was surrounding by boarding that was due to be removed.

"It's good." He finally admitted. "Opening a branch of MageDonalds will help attract people and having the rides available for only a few Knuts each or a one-Sickle all-day pass was inspired."

"Remus suggested renting out plots for other food stalls, restaurants and accessory shops." Sirius admitted. "I expect to at least break even with this part alone."

Harry nodded in agreement, then turned away from the fairground to the archway and booths leading to a two-level Switching chamber that had a wider third level from which a set of tracks emerged, tracks that arced out to enclose the fairground before ending underneath the Switching Tower.

"Why…?" Harry pointed at the short tower and Sirius grinned.

"It's a one-way system. Each side, you enter on the lower level and come out on the other tower's upper level, giving you a good view as you head down the walkway. Having it one way means that you can get far more people through since they're not trying to push each other out of the way."

"And the tracks?"

"Rollercoaster that starts on the Island." Sirius chuckled. "No need to climb a long slope like Muggle coasters, just roll forwards into a tube, come out there, zoom round the fairground and into a second tube that takes you back to the platform. Not needing the climbing slope means that the ride can be even more exciting, although one of the five coasters on the island still has the Chain Drive since it does help enhance the experience a bit."

"That is… wow." Harry admitted. "I never thought of doing something like that."

"The coasters have an extra Switching Tube that allows us to add extra trains or take them to the garage for maintenance." Sirius added. "You want to try the coasters out?"

Harry laughed as Sirius led them through the Switching Room, then he paused as he took in the newly-revealed vista in front of him.

"Welcome to Regulas Park." Sirius stated, his normal jocularity in abeyance as he waved one hand. "I decided to name it after my brother. I think he would have appreciated it."

Harry nodded as he looked across the island. Although he could only see half of it due to their position halfway up the central island, the park itself was obviously well laid out with sections devoted to different themes and several groupings of buildings as well as a stone-clad tower rising from a formal garden set so it was a few meters above the surrounding area.

"That's the Peacock's Range." Sirius noted, having seen where Harry was looking. "'Cissa asked if she could invest and the Range is linked to the Peacock's Nest back in Tegg's Nose. Being a member of the Peacock's Rest now includes a family ticket for spouse and children, although I'm not sure how many of the surviving Dark families will use it since it would involve mixing with the rabble. The gardens themselves are accessible only via the tower or a special gate and have runic pillars around them to cut down on noise."

"And probably keep the peacocks from wandering off." Harry noted as he spotted several albino peacocks strutting around.

"That too." Sirius chuckled. "So, at the moment, the staff are settling in, learning their duties and making sure that everything's up and running."

A whooshing sound interrupted Sirius and Harry turned to see a set of empty roller-coaster zooming down a set of tracks that led underneath the walkway, emerging on the other side to loop up and over the Switching Tower.

"That one's the Firebolt." Sirius supplied with a grin. "The Broomstick Companies Comet, Nimbus and Spudmore Sticks were happy to meet some of the costs in exchange for helping design the coasters. All three companies have stores located just by the boarding areas of the coasters in question which also happen to be beside the Quidditch Pitch."

"Neat." Harry admitted as he watched the now-distant coaster go through a double-spiral and an Immelmann. "Can we try it out?"

"Of course we can." Sirius laughed. "This way!"

"Why not use broomsticks to get there?" Harry asked, one hand moving to his wrist-holster.

"Only special broomsticks and Auror flight sets work on the Island except at the Quidditch Pitch and the racetrack." Sirius stated. "Safety reasons… imaging what would happen if someone flew too close to one of the coasters. Better that everyone remain grounded… how are you doing that?"

Harry grinned as he floated ahead of his shocked godfather.

"Harry! How? Harry!"