Author's note:
I know this is another exposition heavy chapter but I swear it is the last one. The next chapter gets the plot going and the one after dives into the Avengers movie plot. Hopefully you all liked it and didn't mind finding out some more of what everyone has been up to. I'm really anxious to hear what you thought of Wakanda. I know that maybe you all were hoping for friends but even T'Challa admits they weren't in the right before staying to themselves and right now T'Chaka is in charge and isolation is the name of the game.
I am going to admit outright that I wasn't sure of British terminology for the legal stuff regarding Padma and Dean which is why their work is not very well explained :( If anyone knows better and has some advice there I would appreciate it.
Also on my computer this story is already over 70+ pages... how and when did that happen. I feel like I've barely written anything yet.
...
Chapter Summary:
Harriet's most trusted allies come round for the morning meeting.
Chapter 4: A Morning Meeting
...
The chime for the front door went off alerting the arrival of three new guests.
Together Percy, Denise, and Dobby had been able to get Harriet to begin eating while they discussed the relevant matters of the day. As he had already eaten Percy left the others to their meals to go see to the arrivals himself.
Waiting impatiently on the other side of the door was a heavily pregnant Parvati flanked on one side by her sister and the other by her husband, both of who were laden down with a collection of packages and bags.
Pulling his pocket watch out Percy gave the time a glance before leveling a pointed look on the trio.
Parvati waved her hand at him. "Yes, yes, we're early and it's going to throw off the sacred schedule but I'm pregnant, haven't slept all night for the kicking of my organs, and I have to pee so move out of my way."
Fighting to appear severe Percy did as instructed, stepping to the side to allow the expectant mother to pass. Immediately she made a beeline for the lavatory.
"Sorry about this," Dean said as he too moved past heading for the nearest desk. After loading himself of his burden he turned back to Percy. "She's too tired to think. Been second guessing herself and changing plans all morning."
"The hormones probably aren't helping," Padma added as she passed to put down her own burden of bags and boxes.
"You may be able to say that but I can't," Dean told his sister-in-law before turning back to Percy. He smiled apologetically. "The only thing for it was to come early and let her put it all before Harriet to be settled."
"...That might not be such a bad thing," Percy admitted. "Harriet could use being distracted with some lighter matters."
"Has something happened," Padma asked.
"It's not even gone eight yet and already there's trouble?" Dean lamented.
Judging by the lack of decorum and the bags under his eyes Percy felt it was safe to assume Padma's being kept awake had led to a sleepless night for Dean as well.
As they waited on Parvati's return Percy filled the pair in on the attempted break-in. As they were both Harriet's legal advisers he did not have to worry about censoring the facts in this matter.
After graduating from Hogwarts Padma had pursued a career in Wizarding Law while Dean returned to the Muggle world to continue his education on that side eventually achieving a Law degree. While Harriet and her organizations had dozens of legal representatives in the magical world and more than that in the muggle it was these two she trusted most and so it was these two who helped to carry the burden of legal affairs, overseeing matters on Harriet's behalf.
When Parvati returned from the lavatory she ignored them entirely heading straight for Harriet's office. With barely a pause for a cursory knock on the door she let herself inside.
"Good morning Parvati," Harriet greeted unfazed by her friend and business partner's arrival. With a smile she finished handing her empty dishes off to Wonder, Winky and Kibble's first and for the time being only child. The exuberant young house elf beamed before heading off to get Dobby's plate.
"Hello's Misses Parvati Tomas," Wonder greeted with all her usual child like charm as she walked past Parvati.
"Hello little one," Parvati greeted with a quick forced smile before lowering herself into a chair.
Having gotten Dobby's plate Wonder moved on to get Denise's. With that collected she turned to Harriet to ask, "Should I be telling mama to send up a tea service?"
Harriet smiled at her fondly. "That would be lovely Wonder, thank you."
With a happy nod of her head Wonder popped off taking all but one of the dishes along with her. Thankfully Harriet, Percy, and Denise all were prepared and sent a hovering charm at the plate to stop it crashing. Popping back now empty-handed Wonder glared at the dish, personally offended to find it had stayed behind. With her eyes still locked on it she informed Harriet, "Tea will be coming," before, still glaring, she took the plate in hand and popped away. They were all prepared to catch it again if she should fail to bring it along but thankful it wasn't a problem.
"It looks like she's finally getting the hang of it," Parvati acknowledged.
"She's wonderfully stubborn," Harriet answered diplomatically.
Denise snorted at the descriptor.
They were very grateful that Wonder's persistent efforts to improve in her abilities to apparate were finally yielding improvement. She'd had much trouble with it as she learned but refused to give up or accept any help. When Wonder got it in her mind to do something she could not be deterred. They'd bared all they could of the little one breaking down into heaving tears after one too many failed attempts and were happy those days were behind them. House elves' aversion to failure was worse than a flock of Ravenclaws or for that matter Hermione gearing up for exams.
Sitting behind her desk Harriet took in Parvati with concern. As always she was immaculate, with flawless make up and impeccable tailoring but even Percy could see by the way he held herself that Parvati was uncomfortable.
"Are the twins giving you trouble," Harriet asked.
Parvati frown down at her protruding stomach even as she cradled it lovingly. "Constantly these days. I really don't know how Lavender's gone through this three times now and still wants more. One and done I tell you. I'll take my bogo special delivery and then no more."
"Fine by me," Dean declared coming to her side to kiss his wife's cheek.
"It better be," Parvati grumbled but there was fondness in her eyes and a smile threatening at the corner of her lips.
"Weren't there some things you wanted to show Harriet," Padma hinted bringing in some of what they had brought.
Nodding Parvati turned her focus on the work. The distraction allowed some of the tension she was carrying to fade away.
After Voldemort's defeat Harriet's new rise to further heights of fame led to uncomfortable levels of attention whenever she ventured out into public. Not wanting to deal with the crowds she'd asked Hermione to pick up her school things for her. As Hermione went to that year to Diagon with Lavender and the Patil twins they happily stepped in to help with the shopping. Percy wasn't completely clear on how this had developed into Parvati becoming Harriet's person shopper and stylist but that's how things were by the time graduation came.
Her connection to Harriet helped Parvati to get a job at Witch Weekly Magazine and soon after a column of her own. It wasn't long however before it wasn't enough for Parvati. She decided she wanted to make things of her own. With a sound bussiness proposal Parvati approached Harriet about opening a beauty line with plans for expansion in the future and Harriet accepted. Harriet provided money and her name while Parvati took care lead on running the business. Under her vision they'd successfully expanded from beauty to accessories to clothes and far beyond in the years since.
Normally the two business partners were in agreement about things. When Parvati wanted to buy up the rights to Skeekeazy for the publicity Harriet manufacturing a potion her Grandfather invented for the launch of their beauty line Harriet approved. When Parvati wanted to bring hats back into style Harriet obediently wore a hat whenever going out. When Parvati wanted to open a shop that would sell muggle fashions that were enchanted to magical standards Harriet supported her and dutifully did her part for the publicity. The only thing Percy had ever known them to argue on was Harriet's hair.
Parvati desperately wanted shorter simple hair styles to take over the wizarding fashion but she knew it wouldn't happen so long as Harriet kept her hair long and was constantly styling it in complicated ways which required length to replicate but Harriet would not budge. She liked to keep her hair long and would not change it.
"Just to the shoulder," Parvati would plead.
To comfort her despondent partner Harriet would say, "Think of all the hair product sales we'd be missing out on if people cut their hair."
For almost a decade of business that wasn't an impressive track record of understanding.
Dobby stayed behind to watch as Parvati occupying Harriet's time with swatches, packaging designs, fittings, and all manor of other business Percy and Denise retired to the assistants' office while Padma and Dean went off to other parts of the house to see to their own work until the rest arrived for the morning meeting.
At nine the house chimed alerting them of another group of arrivals, this time in the floo room.
"Right on schedule," Denise said heading for the door to let them in.
"Good morning Denise. Percy," John Potter greeted, smiling with his usual charm as he passed them on the way to Harriet's office in all his usual glory.
Like Harriet John stood heads above most of the people around him but it wasn't just his height that was intimidating. John had an air about him that both drew you in while making you feel as though he was someone you had to look up to, not just physically. Much like Parvati he was always impeccably dressed to present himself. It was the two of them together that had taught Harriet to have the same level of care in her appearance and how she presented herself to the world.
On John's arm was a resentful Hedwig, displeased as she was every morning with her travels through the floo network from John's estate to get to Harriet. Unfortunately for her Harriet just wasn't willing to let her fly around to and from London on her own.
From behind John came his personal assistants, the other side of the coin to Percy and Denise in working to keep the Potter affairs organized and their lives running as smoothly as they could.
The first was Gabrielle Delacour, Percy's family through Fluer and her marriage to Bill. For years John had been making do on his own or borrowing Percy's services but once he retired from the aurors in order to help Harriet with her affairs full time it became clear he would need at least one personal assistant of his own. With Fleur pregnant with her first at the time Gabrielle was looking to move to England to be closer to her sister and future niece. When John finally admitted to needing help Percy had Gabrielle's resume ready to present to him.
Gabrielle had been with them since. She was capable, she was responsible, and she was more than wiling to use her Veela charms to their advantage. All things John greatly appreciated. As a Beauxbatons' student and a French pureblood Gabrielle had an education that stressed decorum and edict, diplomacy, debate, and very importantly to their work languages. Percy had given up on keeping track of just how many languages Gabrielle dabbled in.
When John went looking for a second assistant he found two.
Tracey Davis was the first. Having a muggle father who was a business man himself Tracey had an understanding of the Muggle world which the rest of them lacked. While Denise was muggle raised her upbringing had done nothing to teach her about big business. Tracey was dedicated to the work and had proven that Slytherin ambition could be an admirable thing. While at first Percy hadn't been sure they could trust her at the level needed he'd come to be glad that John had hired her. His second hiring Percy couldn't say the same for.
Percy did not like, did not trust, and did not enjoy working with Blaise Zabini. Completely setting aside his 'family fortune' and how his mother had gone about accumulating it, in Percy's opinion Zabini was arrogant, condescending, rude, and worst of all in Percy's professional view the man was not at all proactive. He would do as he was ordered but he never took the initiative to go beyond it the way the rest of them did. Percy spent some months hoping John would fire Zabini but as years past Percy had given up hope. For some reason John found Zabini worth keeping around and so begrudgingly they'd had to adapt to that reality.
The one thing Percy could say for Blaise was that he respected his employer and Harriet. Despite his behavior with everyone else he was always respectful of those two. And because of his personality they could always use sending him to deal with a matter as a punishment for anyone who was being difficult.
As Harriet worked hard to appear neutral in public she rarely showed her true feelings outside of secure spaces. No one was ever treated with particular like or dislike but for those in the know and the elite or ambitious of the wizarding world had worked hard to be aware of this secret language. The biggest tell to knowing Harriet's and John's current feelings for a person was which assistant was the one making contact on their behalf. It it was Blaise, they were not please. If it was Percy more than likely they weren't favored as in truth he was not the most charismatic either and was willing to play hardball on Harriet's behalf. If it was Tracey or Denise they were in their good standing. Gabrielle was a mixed bag. She was sent to those that needed charming or to be made to feel important.
They all had their specialties in the office.
With John, Harriet, and Parvati occupied Percy closed the doors sealing them off for privacy.
"Good morning," Denise asked the other assistants.
Blaise sneered but did not bother to lift his face from his sorting through the mail Dobby had left on his desk. "What do you think?"
Denise with practice ease ignored him.
As Gabrielle was hastily penning a response to a letter of her own Tracey was the one to answer.
"The boss isn't in a great mood. First we got word of the break in."
"Attempted," Percy corrected.
To which Tracey rolled her eyes and otherwise ignored him while continuing. "Then it there was a notice that we're having trouble getting the property we were counting on for the new Sanctuary, an attempt at blackmailing one of ours, a break down in the Rings negotiation, and the peace da resistance-" Gabrielle sent her a look for Tracey's butchering of her native tongue- "word came that Stark is on schedule to bring the arc reactor online tonight."
Percy frowned. He wasn't Stark's biggest fan. None of them were. For years Harriet and John had been trying to covertly work through others to bring the muggle world around to sustainable living. They had Stark approached multiple times to see if he would consult on projects, lending that massive intellect of his towards the good but his massive ego meant he was never willing work on projects where the credit would be divided amongst many and the work would help to build up a company outside his own. Even when Stark Industries removed him as CEO he hadn't been willing to hear a word about it. But once it was known he was Iron Man and he thought he was dying? Then he was all ready to play nice, just so long as it was in his name, building up his legacy.
Mister Stark had proven since coming out as Iron Man just how much good he could do. They were all just a little resentful that it took him this long to get around to it.
"That's our news. What about yours," Tracey asked. Denise was quick to catch her up and as she did they all proceeded on with their other work.
Just before half past nine the chime for the floo rang out signaling the first the arrivals for the morning meeting. While the others went off to prepare the conference room Percy went to take his station by the floo room.
Sirius was the first to arrive. His time at Azkaban had gone a long way towards aging him prematurely but his happiness since his name was cleared seemed to stall the hands of time. That there was usually a smile on his face and laughter in his eyes helped awfully much.
"Morning Percy," he greeted, patting Percy on the shoulder as he passed. "Caught the game on the wireless last night. Had me on the edge of my seat. I imagine the energy was even worse at the stadium."
Percy couldn't help but to smile with pride. "Yes. The weather was so poor that a good deal of the time we didn't know what was happening until the announcer informed us despite being there."
Sirius laughed. "Harriet in her office?"
Percy nodded his head to the door in answer signaling that Sirius was free to go in.
"Thanks. In case I forget to say so later, pass my congratulations on to that husband of yours," Sirius instructed giving Percy's shoulder another squeeze before heading off to visit with his goddaughter before the meeting.
Sirius hadn't yet made it through the door when the chime signaled the next arrival.
Prompt as always had arrived Hermione.
Like Percy she had pursued a career at the Ministry directly out of Hogwarts and quickly became disheartened with the work. It was clear to her that the bulk of the changes for the betterment of the magical world were coming from outside the government and her position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was not the place to bring about the change she wanted. She stuck with the job long enough to see the Department for the Protection of Elvish Welfare firmly established before putting in her resignation. After four long years she was free and Harriet wasted no time snatching her friend up. She created a position for Hermione which was unassumingly named Head of Research and Records.
People may have joked during their school years that Hermione always had her noise in a book but as an adult it was often the case. Thanks to her mastery of Occlumency Hermione's already impressive retention, comprehension, and recall had reached near perfect levels. Taking advantage of this Hermione consumed everything she could get her hands on, which was essentially her job. Harriet paid her to read every report that went through their hands, every bit of research, books and tomes from all over the world, and to keep it all in her head so that when they needed to know if something was known she could quickly tell them. It was also her job to oversee the physical storage of this knowledge.
After only being out of the floo for seconds she already had a file open in her hands for her eyes to track over. Hearing the door she looked up from the file.
"Morning Percy," she greeted, moving quickly out of the floo room so Percy could shut the door, allowing the protections of the house to engage opening the floo to further use. "Has there been any word on the break in?"
"None yet," Percy informed her.
Resigned Hermione nodded before looking back down at the file in her hands while heading off for the conference room.
She was only just out of Percy's sight when the chime for the floo went off again.
Opening the way to his former professor Percy greeted the man respectfully with a bow of his head. "Mr Snape."
"Mr Weasley," he received in reply with a mirrored bow of the head. As was his way Snape chose not to engage in any further pleasantries and instead headed for the stairs.
Initially it had been as hard for Percy as the majority of Snape's other former students to believe he was a thoughtful mentor who protected Harriet and trained her to be able to defend herself so that when the time came for her to stand against the Dark Lord, she not only held her own but won. Sometimes it was still hard for Percy to agree. With most Snape was just the same as he'd always been. The only exceptions Percy knew of were the Malfoys, John, and Harriet. When Snape interacted one on one with any of these Percy could see a hint of the man which made Harriet smile with fondness when his name was brought up.
After Dumbledore died the only thing keeping Snape at Hogwarts was Harriet. He stayed continuing her tutoring until she graduated. Then h retired to begin a new chapter of his life studying potions for the purpose of improving existing brews as well as inventing new creation of his own. A specific interest of his was werewolves and finding a cure or at least a way of neutralizing the threat they posed on the full moon.
During the time he was working towards this Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been booming however the trill of being successful business owners had worn off for the twins. Due to protecting their recipes and some outdated wizarding laws the twins had to manufacture many of their products themselves. With the products constantly in high demand and the necessities of running the business themselves this left Fred and George little time for anything else including inventing and passion projects. With every passing month stuck in a regular routine that had long become boring for them they grew more frustrated and morose about their work.
Seeing they were speedily heading for a burn out Harriet stepped in. She was already looking into manufacturing for her business with Parvati which at the start was primarily potions based. With all of them working together they went about setting things up in a way that would best work for them. If there was an ingredient or material they needed that they could see to harvesting rather than waiting on suppliers to do it for them they did it themselves. They lobbied with the Ministry to see certain laws which restricted Masters and Craftsman from outsourcing elements of their production. They hired competent potioneers and charm experts who were sworn to secrecy and taught how to create what was needed. Then, at Harriet's insistence Fred and George hired others to take over the day to day hassles of running the business.
They set it up so perfectly that when the time came they all took a step back and everything went smoothly. It had been hard for the twins to give up control but as far as Percy knew they never regretted it as it finally gave them time to create again.
It was not long after this was done that Snape managed his first major break through. The potion he created was an improvement on Wolfbane Potion which allowed the werewolf to retain their human consciousness through the shift while greatly easing the burden of the transformation. What was most exciting about the potion was that it only needed to be taken once a month. Once a month at any point after the last full moon and the werewolf was assured control. The problem with the potion was the finickiness of it. If not brew absolutely perfectly the potion still allowed the werewolf to retain their human awareness but the werewolf aggression would still be present and multiplied.
With the dangers that could ensue from a single ill-brewed batch Severus was not willing to release the recipe to the general public as intended. He needed the potion to be brewed under the supervision of the best to assure control. He could have spent his life brewing and selling the potion himself but much like the twins he would have been chained to this work and that was not what he wanted. He turned to Harriet for help in the manufacturing and distribution process. Help she readily gave.
Hearing about his recipe the twins took an immediate interest. From this an unexpected but productive working relationship bloomed. Working together Fred, George, and Snape created a cure for werewolves within a year and had since gone on to do many extraordinary things by combining Snape's orderly genius with the twins own more whimsical style of invention.
It was their working together that inspired Harriet to start up an initiative for collaboration among the great minds of the Magical World. More often than not these people spent their lives locked away in their own spaces hoarding the secrets of their discoveries for themselves. It was Harriet's goal to break this mold. She worked hard to bring people, knowledge, and magics together from all over the world in the name of working together to bring about innovation, new discoveries, and the recovery of methods and techniques that had been lost to time. Snape, the twins, and many others played a large roll in these efforts and the projects that spawned from them. This accomplishment of successfully bringing these people together with each other and the resources they needed was Harriet's greatest pride.
It was one of the campuses for this work which had been targeted the night before.
A minute after Snape's arrive came Fred but Percy kept him waiting until George had come through as well. Both were a mess showing they had come straight from the labs.
"Percy," they greeted happily, pulling him in for a hug and spreading their mess onto his clean outter robes.
Rolling his eyes Percy hugged them back but once he was released he drew his wand intending to banish himself and the twins clean. The effect was that rather than vanishing the mess which had previously been a rather dull mix of neutral colors became of mess of bright neons and sparkles.
"Whoops," George said with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Sorry there Percy," Fred said playing innocent.
"We should have warned you about that," they chorused.
Percy scowled down at his previously predestine robes then up at the menaces that were his brothers. He and many others had hoped like troublesome puppies their rambunctiousness and mischievous nature would lessen with age. Reportedly it had done for Remus and Sirius but unfortunately Percy had yet to noticed a marked change in the twins.
Striping off his robes Percy asked with strained patience, "How do I get it off?"
"Honestly," George asked.
Percy gave him a pointed look. "Obviously."
The pair shrugged. "We don't know yet."
Their innocent expressions broke into devilish smiles at Percy's gawking expression.
Before he could tell them off for bringing such a contaminate into the office and more importantly purposely getting it on him the chime from the chime went off alert one then a second new arrival. Holding off on his rant Percy reflexively prioritized seeing who had arrived. Taking advantage of his distraction the twins made their escape.
Scowling in the direction they had gone Percy called after them, "Turn your robes inside out this instant or I will retaliate," before composing himself. Draping his soiled robe over his arm he turned to see to the door.
One the other side Luna and Neville met him with a smile.
The pair, many years married, headed conservation efforts as well as being leaders in the forces training to deal with the Convergence and the possible new arrivals and environmental fall outs that might follow. With Neville's expertise as a Herbologist and Luna's as a Magizoologist and seer the two made a brilliant pair out in the field. They were quite famous as leaders in their respective fields but despite that had managed to keep their humble natures in tact which helped to draw others of talent in to work for them.
The bulk of their time was spent traveling the world and very rarely were they in town to attend meetings in person, usually having to call in by mirror from whatever far flung location they found themselves. They had arrived back in England a week prior for Neville's grandmother's birthday and were staying to see to the establishing of the new Sanctuary. Thanks to advancements in dragon care the Welsh Preserve in was close to having more Welsh Greens then they could handle. They were buying up land to create a space where they could resettle some of the dragons too as well as a few other magical plant species who's numbers in the wild they were hoping to grow.
"Hello Percy," Luna greeted in her usually dreamy way. Her eyes were locked not on him but on something just over his shoulder.
Imagining just what she might be seeing that he could not Percy had to fight to hold back a shiver. Forcing a smile he returned. "Good morning Luna, Neville."
"Sorry we're running a bit late," Neville apologized with a smile which became a grimace flashing over his face. "We visited Trelawney for breakfast and things ran on a bit long."
As they walked past Neville reached up to tap at his own chin while looking at Percy's. "Do you know you have something, just there?"
Shutting the door to the floo room Percy walked over to a near by mirror. He frowned at the smear on his clean shaven skin. At least it wasn't as vibrant as the mess he'd tried to vanish from his robes. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and explained, "The twins."
Neville nodded in understanding while Luna smiled at the opening doors to Harriet's office.
"Luna." Harriet smile with an exuberance she would never let herself show in public. "Neville."
She moved to the pair to pull them in for a hug while Sirius, Tom, Parvati, and Dobby filed out of her office. While most of the group entered into conversation Dobby accepted his greetings from the pair of new arrivals before collecting the mail from the assistants desks and heading off to deliver them.
Over at the mirror Percy could see his handkerchief had very minimal success in removing the stain to his face despite becoming considerably stained itself. Sighing, he folded the fabric in on itself before putting it in his robes which he rolled up as well. Grabbing some paper from his desk he charmed it to grow in size so he might wrap his robe up. Marking it to be left alone he placed the parcel in the closet where he grabbed a new robe as well as a new handkerchief.
"Has everyone arrived," Harriet asked.
"We're still waiting on Ron," Percy informed her. Looking at the clock it showed they were a minute on from when the meeting was due to start.
Harriet looked concerned. "What for him will you," she requested. Not an order but a request. Very rarely did Harriet give him actual orders. Percy was always free to decline. He very rarely ever did.
"Of course," he answered.
He received a smile of graduated from Harriet before she followed the others up the stairs to the conference room.
Seventeen minutes later Ron arrived through the floo.
Percy was pointedly looking at his pocket watch as he opened the door.
Sighing in exasperation his littlest brother ran a hand through his hair as he worked to tidy himself up. "I know. I know but the aurors were being difficult. They don't like being restricted. They're used to having free rein to traipse about as they like. Kept dragging their feet about things until Tonks finally showed up."
Rolling his eyes Percy stopped Ron to fix his brother's tie and straighten his suit before they headed up. Overall Percy was very proud of his Ron but every so often some of his less than commendable traits would peak through a crack in his finish. Like sloppiness in his appearance or a bit of hypocrisy.
Not so long ago Ron had been one of those aurors who didn't like being told no or having restrictions put on his investigations. He probably still would be to if he hadn't found out Harriet was looking to hire a Head of Security. Ron was proud to be an auror and had plans to succeed Kingsley as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The odds were it would have happened too. He'd been a star of the force, noted for his magical knowledge and ability as well as his dueling skills. But having a chance to do similar work while getting to be around his best friends again was tempting enough to motivate Ron to give up on those aspirations. That the pay and benefits were miles better, he got to see to it for himself that Harriet and the others were looked after, and he'd gotten to start as a Head helped to ease any misgivings Ron had about retiring.
It wasn't just favoritism that won Ron the job. Harriet had a habit of hiring friends she had known since her younger years as it was easier for her to trust them but she never put anyone in a position they weren't entirely competent to handle. Ron did a beautiful job as Harriet's head of security.
With Harriet out of school for the rest of their fifth year after Voldemort's defeat Ron stepped up in a vital way to take over in leading of the DA with Hermione and in the following year when the DA went public as the Defense Association, a club opened to all the school Ron continued as a leader of the group. He had done so well as a teacher that McGonagall encouraged him to consider becoming a Defense Professor when he eventually chose to retire from being an auror. Perhaps one day Ron would take her advice but for the last several years his skill as a teacher were used to train those who worked under him. The program he put them through impressed even Moody.
Ron was able to train some of the best because he was one of the best himself. That was part of why the aurors gave him so much trouble when he had to work with them. Harriet confessed to Percy that they resented Ron leaving for the private sector both for the feeling of abandonment and jealousy that they weren't in his place. With Moody retired the only one Ron ran into on the field that didn't give him grief was Tonks.
"I was worried if it went on for another ten minutes Ginny would fall back on bad habits, hit them with a bat-bogey hex." Ron sounded frustrated which Percy understood.
During the previous Quidditch season there had been a freak accident during tryouts that Ginny got caught in the crossfires of. It was a very close call. Had things gone a little differently the family would have been gathered around her grave rather than her bedside. It was enough for Ginny to decide it was time to retire. As she put it she didn't want to risk her life for a sport when there were more import things to risk it for.
After negotiating out of her contract Ginny planned on signing up to be an auror but was persuaded to join Harriet instead. At first things had been going well but then there started to be some behavioral issues. Ginny was older than most of the other recruits. She was also familiar with many of her superiors having interacted with and even trained with them in the past as many were former DA members. After Harriet Ginny had been the best in the DA. Some of the feelings from that carried over. Ginny was good, very good. Because of that she felt she was too good for basics and working her way up. In some ways she was right as her skills did put her above others but in experience she was lacking. The restlessness in not meeting her full potential was getting to Ginny. Her restlessness had gotten to her supervisors who had handed her up to Ron to be his personal problem.
Ron sighed. "She's brilliant. Takes to everything but protocol like a champ but she's managed to clear herself for field duty," Ron announced with a frown.
Together they made their way up the stairs.
Percy hesitated. "Do you think she's ready for that?"
Ron frowned harder. "It wasn't my call to make. Conflict of interest and all that."
'That is a no then,' Percy thought.
As they reached the landing Percy called, "Winky."
The house elf appeared. "Yes Mister Percy sir?"
"If you could keep an eye on door and let us know should anyone arrive?"
"Of course Mister Percy sir," Winky told him before popping away.
With that taken care of Percy led Ron to the conference room door.
Giving a perfunctory knock Percy waited to be called in before opening the door to allow Ron through and then himself.
Conversation around the round table which dominated the space died as attentions turned on them.
John was the first to speak. "Ron. Any news?"
Nodding and smiling to the various people in the room Ron answered while making his way to his seat. "Not the kind you're hoping for. Whoever it was not only knew how to keep from being captured and to stay untraceable by seers but they also knew how to cover their physical tracks. Not a single impression or fiber found. The only good news I can report is the aurors are gone and control of the area is ours again. I've got the scene secured until you order its release. When your ready to check it out yourself you'll be able to without getting pestered for an autograph," he teased Harriet.
"Thank you Ron," Harriet told him sincerely.
He nodded. "They wanted to know if we had any suspicions. I gave them the usual spiel about anyone out to make a buck. I lied, said we'd let them know if anything raises flags but I definitely had a name in mind that I kept off my tongue."
Harriet's smile dropped and tension spread through the inhabitants of the room.
Looking around the table Ron declared, "I don't think I have to say the name as I'm pretty sure you all're thinking the same."
He was right but they were all hesitant to agree. All but John. "No, I don't believe you do."
Hesitantly everyone around the table nodded.
"We don't know it was them," Harriet said with authority, "and so long as we are without evidence I would prefer we not go naming names."
John was giving Harriet a look at her declaration but it was Ron who spoke up against her assertion. "Oh come on Harriet."
She gave him a firm look but between his bullheadedness and years of friendship he was immune to it.
Ron shook his head. "Wakandans. It was the Wakandans and we all know it even if we can't prove it."
Harriet's lips pursed. "Ron," she said warningly.
Leaning forward on the table Ron pleaded the case.
"They have an appointment scheduled with you for today and yet despite their usual routine being to deliver their King onto foreign soil only hours ahead of such meeting, they showed up yesterday with not only the King and his usually contingent of Dora Milaje but also the Prince. The Prince who in all likelihood is the latest Black Panther who if the reality matches the myth, would certainly be capable of attempting a break in with the skill we saw last night. Who else would have the motive and means of hiding themselves so well even you can't get a feel of them."
For a moment tension the tension built between them as they stared each other down before Harriet spoke.
"You do realize where you're sitting don't you," she challenged.
Ron flexed his jaw.
"This house is hidden completely even from my eyes when I'm not in it. We utilize these same protections on ourselves and all of our facilities. It is only thanks to these protections that someone would need to break into the campus in order to find out what is going on there rather than looking in from beyond. The knowledge and skill to do it may be rare but it is not unknown. Yes, the Wakandans hide themselves from sight but so do we and so too could others."
With Ron and Harriet still staring each other down Ron delivered his counter argument. "The Wakandans have literally built their Kingdom on vibranium. The foundation of their entire peoples depends on it and for the first time there is a threat to that monopoly and the protections it offers. We are studying it. We're creating an interest in it and with that interest comes an interest in them. If I was their Head of Secrecy, I'd rightly be worried about loosing that advantage. I'd want to know just how far our research is coming."
He had a point. When Percy had heard about the break in his first thought had been the Wakandans for those very reasons..
The Kingdom of Wakanda was seen by both the magical and muggle world as a small unimportant nation. The truth as Harriet had learned and revealed to them was far from that.
The majority of the Wakandan nation was of magical blood. That was a population size nearly unheard of through out all of history but this impressive fact was overlooked and dismissed by the rest of the nations due to that fact that they were seen as no better than a collection of squibs.
Harriet's interest in Wakanda had come about due to Severus and the twins need for vibranium. They were close to discovering their cure for lycanthropy but every result wasn't quite right. They decided to experiment with using different types of cauldrons. Feeling they were on the right path Harriet acquired potions making sets made of a wide variety materials including one of vibranium. It had been ridiculously expensive to procure but as usual Harriet's intuition proved correct. While the trio had learned interesting things from experimentation with all the sets they had found the cure from brewing with vibranium tools and unfortunately only true pure vibranium would do.
Eager to begin mass producing a cure Harriet reached out to Wakanda as the only supplier of vibranium to trade. She expected them to be eager given that the plight of lycanthropy was known through out the world but the Wakandans were not so willing as she had hoped. They were barely willing to part with any vibranium at all. At the time Harriet had believed the Wakanda propaganda that the metal was rare having been harvested from a small meteor which had crashed onto their lands a millennia ago. She had been understanding of its rarity and been willing to pay a fair price but still the Wakandans traded only enough for a few sets.
Desperate as they were for the precious material John talked Harriet into looking for a black-market arms dealer who was reported as having stolen a stock pile of vibranium. He suggested that turning the man over to the Wakandans could garner good faith and if a portion of the vibranium couldn't be recovered and ended up in their potions lab it was a lose for the Wakandans that would save lives. Harriet didn't care for the ethics of such a plan but with lives on the line she had been willing to set her morals aside.
In looking for Ulysses Klaue they found a lot more than vibranium.
The man had quite the tale to tell about vibranium and Wakanda and the truths of the nation. He did not know about their magic but he knew enough to point them in the direction of people who could give them answers.
As Ron said, Wakanda was built on vibranium and the Wakandas filled their lives with it. Traces of the alien metal could be found in their very blood, and this was the source of their being viewed as squibs. While its people held as much magic as any other wizarding nation those of Wakanda struggled if not finding it impossible to direct their magic out of their body no matter the foci used. This kept them from practicing the magics which were considered so integral to the magical communities through out most of the world. Because of this they were seen as inflicted and weak, to be pitied and ignored, and that is exactly what the isolationist nation wanted.
According to Harriet's sources while it was true that Wakandan's could not direct their magic outward it aided them in other ways. Among their population was an unprecedented number animgus, metamorphmagi, seers, creature speakers like parseltongues, and so many more gifts. Outside of these gifts Wakandans were stronger, more magic resistant, and of better constitutions than their cousins from other magical nations being immune to many of the diseases that were their most common killers including Lycanthropy.
Not only that but due to their inability to enact their magic on the environment around them Wakanda had continued to progress with technology in a way no other magical nation ever considered. They not only kept pace with the muggle but moved far ahead of what anyone dreamed the human race could yet to be capable.
If the reports were to believed it was remarkable what all they achieved.
Percy would have found it aspirational if not for the fact Wakanda kept it all to themselves. The fact that they had caused some resentment from even Harriet who usually did her best to be understanding. The fact that they knew the Wakandans had a surplus of vibranium but were still withholding was making Harriet start to see them as an adversary against the greater good.
The more they studied vibranium the more applications they were finding for how it could be used not just to better lives but to save and prolong them. Among other uses since the werewolf cure Severus, the twins, and those they work with had found a number of potions that could only be brew successfully in a vibranium cauldron with vibranium tools. The latest of which was the one that had Harriet most desperate for get them the supply of vibranium they desired.
The potion was jokingly being toted as a possible fountain of youth. That wasn't so far off mark. Along with supporting good health the potion worked to slow the aging process. They couldn't say exactly how far extended someone's life might be but the estimate was decades for those already over one hundred years old and possibly a century or more for those under. Perhaps multiple centuries if started young enough. The catch was that the potion needed to be ingested daily for full effect. "Like a daily vitamin," Denise had compared it to.
With the brewing process taking over six months to brew they need needed far more cauldrons then they had if they ever hoped to supply even a fraction of the population with enough to see those extended years. According to Harriet's sources Wakanda had more than enough to supply them with the cauldrons needed to create enough to supply all the world and more with a daily dose. They had shared the prospect of what this potion could do with the Wakandans and still they claimed not to have the supply of vibranium. Still they asked an extortionist's price what small parcel of vibranium they were willing to part with.
Harriet was meant to meet with the King for last time today to finalize their latest agreement. An agreement that would allow them to make ten more potion making sets but no more. She intended to beg if she had to for even a single cauldrons more of vibranium but they weren't hopeful it would yield results. And as neither transfiguration or alchemy were able to replicate vibranium properties in full they were forced to take the scraps that were offered.
What they would be getting was no where near enough to produce at the level needed to see the best effect of what the potion could do. At most it would allow them to increase their yield enough to move towards offering the elixir to help patients suffering from what were normally terminal diseases to stay strong enough to fight and survive their affliction. Unfortunately there would likely have to prioritize who was treated as their simply wouldn't be enough. This would mean turning away those who might very well die without their help.
Looking around the table Harriet took in the faces of some of her most trusted before turning back to Ron.
"I'm not arguing with you," she declared. Holding up a hand she stopped Ron from interrupting. "I'm not arguing because nothing you said is wrong. Do the Wakandans have the skill to pull off what happened last night? Absolutely. Do they have a possible motive? Yes. Should we consider them suspect? It would be foolish not to, but we can no place blame without evidence and we should not close our minds to other possibilities. It is entirely possible that knowing at least part of the puzzle someone not of Wakanda chose now to act hoping we would turn our attention to the wrong source. We cannot dismiss all other possibilities for the one that seems most likely. We live our lives with magic. Given that we are surrounded by evidence of the extraordinary every day we would be the greatest of ignorants to dismiss any possibility for being unlikely."
Resigned, Ron nodded accepting her worlds.
"Now then," Harriet said turning her attention back to the table as a whole. "Shall we continue."