"Do you still call yourself a hero?" Lac asked Harry.
Harry easily resigned to being straight up with the older elf. The guy was reading his mind either way, and trust is usually built on honesty. 'I never have called myself a hero. It would be wrong of me to even entertain the idea.' He thought openly.
"But you saved your world; you vanquished an evil no other could compete against?" Lac stated as a question.
'No, it was every little bit of support I received that saved my world. Had I not had that, I wouldn't be here today asking you to help us save it again" Harry internally replied.
"Your humble attitude is heart-warming but a bit too sentimental don't you think? The facts of your defeat of Tom Riddle are clear to see, but what you claim is that the support you received gave you the power to defeat him. Is that correct?"
'I had the power he knew not. From my dad and my mum's sacrifice literally saving my life, to the many father figures I've had willing to protect me and dying for it, and to the support of my best friends who went through all the pain alongside me because they understood the lengths friends should go to. A wise man once told me that love is the best form of defense and most dangerous form of attack. Voldemort only understood the desire for power; the more powerful he could make himself the more desire he had to go further. He was obsessed with power, but neglected only one kind. He was incapable of love so he didn't bother to use it; underestimated it on countless of occasions. So of course it was love that defeated him, it was only me who delivered because I was destined to' Harry could tell he had impressed the elf, but he hoped what he responded with didn't come across as too elaborate. Harry felt what he was thinking sounded more like an audition for something rather than a straight forward answer, but Lac doesn't comment on this.
"So in your opinion do you think if you hadn't have been destined to face him, and someone else understood love as much as you, that Voldemort would've still been defeated?" Lac asked.
After ten seconds of thinking of an answer and trying to think of it as diplomatically as possible, Harry was forced to resign 'Well not anyone, I suppose they would've had to have been a very competent witch or wizard. There were many people who knew love that were lost in the war'
"So very humble, but so insufferably modest." Lac half-smiled. "If you do not call yourself a hero, why are you here trying to save your world...again?"
'Because no one other than the Order will.'
"Isn't your Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt? Has he done nothing?"
'Nothing decent, nothing actually helpful. He's actually benefitting from people not having magical abilities' Harry reported.
"What makes you think that?" Lac clearly knew and likely agreed, but he just wanted to hear Harry's answer.
'Because people look to their government in these times and have no choice but to trust them. So the Minister gets away with any lie and manipulation he wants and no one batters an eyelid. I've experienced that before and know when a person enjoys abusing their authority.'
"That's interesting, very interesting. Because I have a very reliable source telling me that your Minister isn't as powerless as he appears. Are you aware of this?"
'Yes.'
"He had his powers taken just like you correct?"
'Yes.'
Lac sighs and his features harden "Then it's evident the answer can be found in your own universe, and that you coming here and telling me that you have no other choice...is quite frankly, a lie."
Harry didn't know what to think to try and correct him, because the elf was very much correct. There was an option back home that they could take, and Harry couldn't provide a logical enough reason to convince Lac that this is the choice they had. 'You are not the only choice I admit, but you are our best.'
"Is the answer already not simple enough? You find where your Minister regained his power from and you go and do the same. Why do you choose a lengthier expedition to get unnecessary information, when the ideal solution is much closer to home?"
Harry felt heavily scrutinised and it affected his ability to think. He finally came with a strong argument 'It's not as simple as you make it sound.'
"Why not?"
'Because the loss of power is only half of the problem. Our world doesn't need to be restored, it needs to be repaired. The livelihood our society had before was a lie that we were too blind to see. Too prejudiced, too old-fashioned, too close-minded. We took what we had for granted and abused it on top. Restoring our magic does nothing except put us back the way we were. I've experienced and seen myself the change that this has occurred in all of us, it's about appreciating something now that it's gone. It's about recognising our mistakes and rectifying them. We need a way to show people that magic doesn't make us superior and that's not going to happen if we're given the magic back on demand. That's why we're going to these lengths, so we can prove that there are some who do deserve magic, and convince those who have given up to fight for it.'
"I'm sorry, as grandiose as your words are they are simply not convincing me. It's apparent that you are clasping at straws. I don't even see how you're even able to convince yourself. This is an excuse, not an explanation. We will take this into account when making our decision; you'd best hope it doesn't cost you our audience. Farewell for now, Mr Potter' Lac grimly dismissed him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Granger house, 24 Dalken Street, England
8 hours after arrival
Every crevice of Pansy's face was wrinkled in disgust as she discarded the horribly stringy food back into its pot. "Hermione, this stuff is ghastly. It's not even edible."
"You think a Pot Noodle is bad, try eating muesli." Ashley replied, cringing as she upturned her spoon and dumped the horrible collection of ugly food particles back into the bowl.
Hermione snapped and turned around. "Well I'm sorry! Stealing doesn't come naturally to me as much as it does you two clearly! Next time you can try robbing the corner shop and I'll stand back and watch you both fail!"
"Alright chill out, I'm grateful overall...but couldn't you at least have got some bread or something?" Pansy responded.
"You have so many suggestions now, and yet who was it who refused point blank to do exactly what I did?" Hermione was slamming drawers in irritation. She stormed out the room immediately after throwing a tea-towel harshly down on the table.
"What's got her wand in a knot?" Pansy quietly said.
Ashley sighed and swatted Pansy's arms, not too hard that it was uncalled for but enough to initiate a whelp in pain. "Do you have to be so...Slytherin?"
"Hey, I resent that."
"Tough. Pansy, you are only on a trial so you'd be wise not to push Hermione's buttons, especially the wrong ones" Ashley warned her.
"But you did the same thing" Pansy defended.
"Yes and the big difference is I shut up afterwards. Also Hermione is well...lenient on me."
"You mean bias" Pansy corrected with folded arms.
"She trusts me, with her life. Whilst I may get a harsh word in my direction every so often, I'm reassured to know she isn't going to blast my arse into the street if I piss her off. You don't have that security, not just because you're new to this set-up but because of the things you've done to her in the past. That doesn't go away overnight, and you don't want to go skating so freely on such thin ice." Ashley explained.
"All I did was comment on the selection of food, I didn't exactly call her a Mudblood" Pansy huffed.
Ashley shook her head disbelievingly "How are you so blind you can't see it? Take your stupid Slytherin goggles off and really think about what Hermione did. She robbed a shop. This is a girl who wasn't comfortable to steal whilst on the run with Potter and Weasley with little to no food; she told me she couldn't allow her conscience to be cleared if she didn't at least put the money on the counter. Hermione has just betrayed one of her core values, and is clearly guilty as sin for doing so. So the VERY last thing you could've done was reprimand her on a trivial matter like 'why didn't you get bread or something'".
Pansy dropped her shoulders in defeat "Alright, I understand that now...but if you know better than me, why did you mouth off about the muesli?"
"I was not mouthing off, I was just replying to you. Although I admit, I did act without thinking. But that is why I shut up."
Pansy thought for a long time before she voiced "I wonder why she has so much of a problem with stealing. I know it's wrong but needs must. You wouldn't even get a week in a Ministry cell for shoplifting."
"It's not the point, to Hermione giving up on your morals is giving up on your humanity. We may not see much in stealing but Hermione strongly does." Ashley clutched at her cup of stolen coffee and added "Besides I don't think it's just the stealing that's getting to her."
Pansy gave a relieved sigh "We finally address the Hippogriff in the room. Well, come on then, pray tell me what you think."
Ashley glanced back out the room to check if Hermione was likely to return, she whipped her head back around and said "I don't think she was completely honest when she said she was comfortable in us being here."
"How do you know?"
"The long stares at nothing, the way she can't seem to sit down for even a second. She hasn't gone upstairs to cool off, she's gone up there to cry. In a minute I'm going to check on her and she'll already look like nothing happened, no evidence of her stress whatsoever. She doesn't want us to know that she doesn't want to be here" Ashley assured her confidently.
"Why wouldn't she want to be here, this is where she grew up?" Pansy confusedly returned.
"Exactly!" Ashley cried, covering her mouth guiltily afterwards when she realised that was a little too loud. "She doesn't want her memories tainted because of Kingsley, he will show up eventually. Likely he'll come after a well-fortified plan or manipulative scheme, and Hermione will see him attempt to destroy everything she grew up loving about this place. The disconnect this place has to our world has never really been breached, until now."
Pansy commented "She doesn't need to hide that from us, I can perfectly understand that."
"She has her prideful reasons" Ashley answered as simply as someone who wasn't Hermione could work out.
"ASHLEY!" Hermione screamed from somewhere above them, and regardless of the coffee spillage now pooling on the table Ashley barrelled out the room up and up the stairs, followed by Pansy who was only a millisecond slower to react than the magicless girl. Pansy had her wand out whilst Ashley wielded the only hard thing she could swing that she found on the way there, which happened to be an umbrella.
Ashley barged the partially opened door and careened into the room ready to whack someone in the eye. Pansy was holding her wand out and spanning the room with it until she noticed what Hermione had screamed at.
Ashley was only focused on Hermione when she realised nobody was in here with her "Hermione, what happened? Why did you scream?"
Hermione was looking intently at what got her in such a scared state, sitting back against her headboard with her knees in her grasp. "It just...appeared. I was sitting here and it just appeared."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ashley" Pansy said, trying to direct her attention to the new thing she was staring at.
Ashley swung round and eventually found what the other two had already been staring at. Her mouth hung open comically as she read the message of fire:
'YOUR ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED IN GLOBORIA'
"Miss Lovegood, how important is magic to you?" Lac asked the blonde girl, who had no qualms in answering internally.
'Magic is merely a power, and some humans have genetics that help them use it. So its science Mr Lac, no more or less important than you and I.'
"So are you less motivated to restore magic than your friends because you don't deem it as important?"
'Personally yes, but it's not about me Mr Lac. My friends find it important enough so I follow them with the same level of motivation.' Luna truthfully answered.
"So you don't care whether you get your magic back or not?"
"I care Mr Lac, but if it's deemed impossible by the people who desperately need it then it's about adjustment. I prepare myself for both scenarios" Luna assured.
"Are your friends aware of this viewpoint?" Lac enquired.
'I haven't revealed this to them.'
"Why?"
'Mainly because it doesn't matter what I think. I want to help others be happy.' Luna thought simply.
"This is a very lonely perspective Miss Lovegood; this thinking of others over yourself is quite unhealthy. It's instinctual for a voice to be heard, because we don't get satisfaction if we don't ask for it. Sometimes it's important to think of yourself, it's your happiness and not your friends." Lac informed.
'I'm happy if my friends are, that's where my happiness comes from' Luna responded in a beat.
"Will magic make them happy? Will it make you?"
'I can't answer that on their behalf, as for me I can always find something to make me happy.'
"There's certainly no shortage of heart in this group...but there sure seems to be a lack of brains" Lac stated openly. "Thank you Miss Lovegood."
Ministers Office
Roughly ten minutes after the fire message at Granger home
Parkinson senior knocked once upon the office door and heard a disgruntled "Come in". Parkinson slipped inside with a paper folder in hand and closed the door behind him "Minister, there's something you need to see".
"We've got enough problems Parkinson" Shacklebolt replied gruffly, staring down at a transfigured map. He was sat in behind his desk whilst Lucius leant over him from the side. "Granger has disappeared".
"But your tracking charm sir?" Parkinson enquired with concern.
"Is no longer tracking" Kingsley continued off his reply "But I can't see why?"
"She's clearly managed to hide it Minister, there's no other explanation. It may explain why we were getting inaccurate readings yesterday and earlier today" Lucius supplied.
"Inaccurate readings are easily achievable, but not showing up at all can only be completed by removing the charm" Kingsley explained with a frustrated tone.
"Where were they last seen Minister?" Parkinson asked.
"The readings were showing in Oxford, we whittled it down to three streets: Anderson Road, Mary Lane and Dalken Street. But there hasn't been a reading for ten minutes now."
"Dalken Street? Sir, I believe that's the street Granger grew up in" Parkinson informed, happy to add what appeared to be valuable information.
Lucius did not agree. "That information is hardly helping now is it? She may not be there at all now."
"It's always best to check Lucius. I'll send a team to check out the place, once I've figured out how to find Granger again" Kingsley said looking over the map.
"On the subject of the tracking charm Minister, I'm pretty certain I've found out why it's disappeared. I believe she may have met another person with their magic intact, and they are helping her" Parkinson informed.
Kingsley looked up with a snap and bellowed "You wait until now to say this! Well, what else do you know?"
Parkinson handed over the folder and said "Miss Granger's accomplices were caught on Muggle surveillance; the other cameras had glitches on so it's apparent they were obscuring them with magic. But they missed one."
"But how," Kingsley mused whilst flipping through the screenshots "we didn't authorise any liaison with Muggle Police forces?"
"The shop owner contacted us sir, this shop was owned by a witch in secret who claimed they robbed her shop" Parkinson answered.
"Wait, I recognise that face." Lucius stated.
Parkinson rolled his eyes and said knowingly "I noticed that face as well."
"Pansy Parkinson, what is she doing with them?" Kingsley quizzed the girl's father.
"My...daughter, broke contact with me months back sir. Just after the incident."
"Merlin's Beard, what could you have possibly done to her to make her friends with the Mudblood?" Lucius was half-amused and half-amazed.
"This is of her doing! She was insufferable ever since her last year of Hogwarts; turned her back on us and humiliated our family every chance she could." Parkinson spat coldly.
"I'm sure she didn't need her antics in order for you to look like an imbecile" Lucius mocked.
Parkinson was in the act of withdrawing his wand threateningly when Kingsley affronted his right hand man.
"This still brings about yet another problem; did you say there was an individual who still possesses their magical abilities?" Kingsley addressed Parkinson senior.
"Yes sir. According to the shop owner not only is my daughter a traitor, she is still very much a witch."
"How is this possible?" Lucius unhappily returns.
"We've already seen one possibility Lucius, why is it not plausible for there to be another?" Kingsley replied rhetorically. "That definitely explains how quickly we lost Granger yesterday and the wards that we couldn't bypass. And then she took the other two to her abandoned home in Oxford. But where is she now? Only I can remove the tracking charm, not Miss Parkinson."
After a long moment of contemplation Shacklebolt looked at Parkinson and ordered. "Go find the Helmsworths and go to 24 Dalken Street. If they're still there, arrest them. Look for clues if not. We have to find them and fast."
"Of course Minister Shacklebolt".
"Mr Malfoy, I've been most eager to speak with you"
'Saving the best until last' Draco responded internally.
"Your team seems to think not, you haven't got the greatest reputation by any means" Lac informed Draco as if he didn't already know.
'My team are a bunch of idiots; I don't need to prove myself to them'
"But you do to us. Are you remorseful Mr Malfoy? From your actions as a spoilt child to your participation in the war, is there any guilt whatsoever inside of you?" Lac asked him.
'Of course'
"What are you most sorry for?"
'My allegiance'
"Who were you allegiant with Mr Malfoy? And I mean truly, who was it that you follow every demand or request of, even if it was originally a request of someone else?"
Draco looked down at his hands 'My father'
"Why did you look up to this man?"
'When I was younger he was ruthless, his own master, people used to shift to the side of a hallway when they saw him approaching with his cane in hand. He brought dread, not through violence even though he could've, but through his influence and the power he held not just socially, but mentally. That changed when the Dark Lord came back. He became a lackey, a servant. He had nothing original about him anymore; he was barely in the Dark Lord's inner circle and he was lucky to still be a Death Eater after the failed prophecy mission. All his influence was gone; if he walked down a corridor after the Dark Lord's return every person in that hallway would attack him on sight. He sold out. But the worst thing he did, the absolute worst thing, was make me be a Death Eater. Instead of keeping me away like my mother tried, and any parent should, he embraced me into the Dark Lord's ranks. I had no choice because defying him meant defying the Dark Lord. He was running my life in a way I didn't want it to be run, my own father did that.'
"Did you not agree with your father's ideals?" Lac questioned.
'Once upon a time, he taught me to be like I was. He told it in a way I couldn't help but agree with, and reciprocating was easy because I learnt from him. But when he changed, I finally started seeing everything he taught me revealed to be lies. And then he tried to teach me that the Dark Lord was going to kill people, and torture people. He tried to teach me that that was okay because we'd be the ones to put Muggles and Muggle-borns in their rightful place. I've been a bully and an evil maggot at times, but I've never wanted to kill, torture and terrorize' Draco explained.
"So you are not to blame for who you are?" Lac asked dubiously.
'I'm responsible for a lot that I'm ashamed of. But when a choice is taken away from you what else can a boy do. I watched someone I used to despise scream her lungs out, watched as her pain impeded her of any control; but the one thing she could control was her willpower. She had strength I was envious of. I felt like her for a long time, but I didn't have a torture curse on me. It reminded me I did have a choice, and it's those who try to take it away from me that are my real enemies. My biggest regret is that I hadn't realised that sooner, and that it had to see something like that in order to work it out.'
"Are you confusing naivety for cowardice?"
'Being scared doesn't make you a coward' Draco internally replied heatedly.
"It does when you are scared of doing the right thing. People have gone to war afraid of failure, not afraid of death. You appear to represent both to me' Lac stated plainly.
'That's because death equalled failure in my case.'
"So all the people your side killed on the winning side, did they fail?"
'No'
"So why is Draco Malfoy doing the same considered a failure?"
'Because I wasn't on the winning side, I will go down in history as a terrorist even though I've been spared of all convictions. That's my failure' Draco told him.
"No Mr Malfoy, your failure was being afraid to die instead of doing good. How can you claim to be a good person when you haven't proved you can do the right thing?"
'By being here and doing the right thing now'
"And who are you doing right by now; yourself or the world?"
Draco was silent, inside and out.
"Let's face it Mr Malfoy, if you're finding it hard to convince your team that you are trustworthy, what chance do you have in convincing us?"
Draco came stumbling out of the wall, his balance supported by Arthur's frame as the older man stopped his momentum. All the expedition team had been grilled and flamed internally; even insulted in some cases. Nobody wanted to share their version of the inquisition, all too preoccupied with their own shaming. And every last person came out of that dimension as dirt and scum. Even Luna couldn't feel very optimistic.
There were no delusions of them actually believing they'd be accepted; Lac appeared to have more than enough ground to claim that none of them were worthy. They also believed that they never had a chance. It seemed to them that Lac was trying to lure out their bad qualities and use it as leverage to dispel their request. It was unfair to disregard the value they did possess, but perhaps that was just the nature of a supercilious elf.
Five agonisingly quiet and uncomfortable minutes passed before the fire writing appeared again. 'All have been granted access to Globoria, please wait whilst King Cre's first servant is available to bring you through'.
This staggered each of them, some feeling the need to rub their eyes as if trying to clear their vision. They each struggled to come to terms with the fact that they've all been accepted, despite how poorly they felt their 'interviews' had gone. They didn't have much time to reflect either because the fire writing soon began to shift and morph until they were displayed with the fiery portal.
It was Snape who took the first step forward, but he soon retreated a few steps back when an extremely tall figure eased out of the light. The elf retained the golden hue of the portal as the near nine-footer stepped forward. He had grey crew cut hair that said he was borderline elderly, but his skin was smoother than his fellow elf Lac. Whilst Lac was dressed in Dumbledore-like purple robes, this elf was dressed like a Roman emperor without the crown.
He regarded every one of the humans, taking long and thorough scrutiny of each of them and moving onto the next person without as much as a release of breath. None of the group dared to speak until he inclined them to or did so himself.
Eventually the new elf held out his hand and, in another burst of gold, several wands identical to each other appeared. They were all ivory white with a black lace string at the base of the handle, clearly intended as a defence against the wands being dropped or taken. His voice was gruff and wobbly as he spoke "you will all need these if you're going to be any use to us. Do not stress about compatibility; all our wands work equally with whoever wields them, presuming they are magical and worthy of intelligent speech and action. Come on, let's not stand here procrastinating all day."
This triggered the humans into action and each one stepped forward to collect a wand. Even though the elf was holding his hand at his mid-riff height it was still quite a reach for the six foot or less humans. Once they all had a wand, the until-then-anonymous elf introduced himself. "My name is Gir, I am the King's first servant. I am authorised to take you through to our home world. Before we do I must inform you that under no circumstances are you to speak to anyone not affiliated with the king. That means you can only address and converse with the King's guards, compatriots and the royal family. In addition, whilst you are guests, leaving the castle grounds is forbidden unless escorted by the King, his compatriots or myself. There will be no tolerances for humans mingling with our villagers and townsfolk, is that understood?"
Once he'd noted their assurances he ushered the group through the portal in single file. Being the last one to step through, Gir clicked his gnarled fingers and the portal shone red. Immediately upon stepping through, the portal sealed and the markings Snape made were erased. The only sight remaining was an oddly too white and preserved wall.
An; Lovely Jubbly
I quite enjoyed this one, I hope you did too.
We're going a bit cold fors Grimmauld Place because a lot is about to go down in the next chapter.
So do your lovely reader biz and I'll love ya lots
Tbc...The Fates (For reals this time)
