Chapter 28 Reporting What We Learned

My Questers had the week off and so did I. Harry greeted us on our return. I was about to give Harry a brief report, when Ron spoke up. "We should meet at the Ministry first thing tomorrow. There's a lot to report and discuss; you have decisions to make; but everything went well – Percy, Hermione and Ginny all did great. I think Percy and Callista can go back, after our meeting and consultations."

Harry pronounced that "great news!" Had Ron slipped into the role of Harry's Shacklebolt? Would that be such a bad thing if he had?"

We returned to our house and straight to bed. A quick romp and then a very deep sleep. I was totally exhausted. Who knew that drawing could be such hard work? Well, drawing while never knowing if guards were suddenly going to show up behind you and start firing curses. I had been totally revved and on watchful alert the whole time we were on Vanaheimer. It takes a toll.

We met in Harry's conference room at the Ministry. A decent breakfast was supplied. The cast of characters was a bit of a surprise. Of course there were the four of us, plus Percy and Callista, but also Cho, Viktor, McGonagall, Shacklebolt, Wood, Ellie, Neville and his mother, Tony, Stewart, Mrs. Toms, Professor Sturluson, Hermione's 'uncle', Baalak, King Gobbledygook, Cotto, Firenze, Unstaad, and Aagog. The room was full. Harry got right to business.

"Well Percy, did you get us an acceptable deal? Do we have friends on Vanaheimer?"

"I'm convinced we have friends we can work with. The negotiations went amazingly well. I think we can work with the Council and the Servers. The Councilpersons are elected, you know. The remnants of Frijjo's group will go along. Mar Lev seemed reasonable and says she can speak for the group. It is a very small group. The strongest group in the capital is what's left of Miomor's police and guard. The Council will meet with their leaders today. They are military organisations, so what the leaders agree likely will stand. Frijjo and the Questers considerably weakened the royals. They're in hiding for now. I don't know how much of a threat they will be. They are truly hated by the groups I negotiated with and those groups say that the Miomor loyalists are also anti-royalist. It will be next to impossible to compromise with the royalists. They believe a royal must be the absolute ruler." He then repeated the words of Arti, which I had conveyed to Council.

"Callista and I have done what we can do for now. We must wait and see what Council and the Servers can achieve. Ginny was correct, keeping food flowing from the countryside to the capital is a very big problem. It should be okay until Odin's gold and silver are spent. That is just a month away. They seem willing to have the Questers return to Vanaheimer to help them restore the magic. The Servers confirmed Ginny's version of events that Frijjo, not the Questers, was responsible for almost all the deaths and that the Questers fought in self-defense. She reported how Frijjo and Ginny argued about Frijjo's slaughter of the captives. None of those I met with were very upset about the deaths of the royals. They called Ginny's recitation of Arti's words 'all too typical of our royals. They just want us to submit.' They are not interested in closer ties with Odin. The Vanir people still view him as largely villain. When Ginny returns, she is requested to bring no spiders larger than Aagog and no bombs."

My initial reaction was severe agitation. I did not appreciate all the cautions and critiques of our Quest from Percy. Then again, perhaps he jumped up to tell the tale of the negotiations, because I had infringed upon his prerogatives as ambassador. He had been chosen by Dad, not by my husband. Perhaps that also was a sticking point. I decided my best approach was just to smile and let it pass and not get wrapped up in rebelling against the Vanir's view of the proper role of females. Callista had more difficulties in that regard than I did. I led the Quest and had a very tight relationship with the Servers. I didn't know what resources Callista had available, beyond her intelligence.

I wasn't side-lined for long. Tony demanded a detailed accounting of all Hermione and I had observed and done. Even though his request was a tad abrupt, I welcomed it. Was I that starved for attention and validation? It did seem strange that Harry never asked me whom I thought had to be at the meeting and who couldn't be there if he expected us to answer all the questions put to us. Had he discussed the attendee list with Percy?

Hermione and I took turns telling the tale. It took an hour. It then took another hour to answer detailed questions from all present. Professor Sturluson once again was not bashful about asking questions. Some of the questions were worded as barely-veiled accusations, such as, "Wouldn't it have been better to have your mythology expert on the front-lines more frequently? As you know a bird did choose me. I think Odin likes me. Why are we waiting to inspect what Frijjo may have done in seid-space?"

That one had an easy answer: "I felt this group needed to know what we know as quickly as possible, so that we can take their advice. As you know, we can return to that section of seid-space days, weeks, years, or millennia prior to today's date. And yes, I realise how freaking scary that is when I say it like that."

Of course, that led to more questions, many having to do with the possible placement and use of bombs. Percy and I both strongly rejected the suggestion of carrying bombs. That would be and certainly would be seen as both a sign of weakness and an action of extreme bad faith. I proposed that the time had come to plan how we might repair our transporter. We also needed to consider the wisdom of repairing the Vanir's transporter and figuring out how to command it. This produced a cacophony of largely objections as 'way too dangerous' as well as encouragement from the usual persons who still wished to visit another world.

"I said start to think about, not to immediately do. We must find out what we can learn from Yggdrasil and Odin, before we stumble into a serious error. There is another thing to discuss in that regard. I mentioned the purple God-ribbon, and the supposed existence of an intersecting ribbon which connected to other worlds, but nobody focused upon that. I said that they must be guarded and explored. Exploration could be extremely dangerous. We must go in force. We must do this soon. The Acromantula can be our allies in this venture. Seid-space is far more their natural terrain than ours."

From their expressions, I could tell that neither Harry nor Tony had missed the significance of the purple ribbons. They apparently hadn't commented or questioned me on that point, because they didn't want this large a group for that conversation. Not my fault, guys, I didn't pass out the invites. My reading of their purpose was confirmed, when Harry mildly commented "we can't check everything all at once. Frijjo's edits or possible edits in our seid-space are the immediate issue. We can take this up later." I got a stare which punctuated that statement: take that up...LATER!

Of course, Baalak volunteered to help, saying he was willing to delay his departure to the spiders' new world, as needed. We all thanked him and that put that topic to rest. Baalak, supported by Aagog, discoursed on the friendliness, loyalty, and lack of danger to us from the spiders. I thought they did well and were sufficiently wise to fall silent, before they laid it on so thick that skeptics of spider motives, or those simply alarmed by their size and fearful of their bite, would jump to the conclusion that they were deceitfully trying to lull us into an overly generous trustfulness. I knew that Frijjo and Ron weren't the only persons with an inborn fear and loathing of giant spiders. It had taken my acquaintance with Aagog and her sister to quash my initial fear and allow me to see them as good friends.

Baalak wanted to meet with the spiders of the Forbidden Forest cave, pay homage to the cave, and, in general, see in person the tribe born from her eggs. She wanted to meet Hagrid and to say a few prayers at the grave of Aragog. Aagog and I agreed to transport her to the cave, after the meeting was over.

The meeting ended well. In fact, it ended very well. King Gobbledygook had finally thought of a Goblin technology, which would make my Questers safer and possibly even make us more proficient at the magical engineering work we still needed to accomplish. He produced an instrument of very shiny brass on its outer structure, with a trio of clear crystals suspended from silver wires inside the brass. There was a green crystal at the very top, much smaller than the clear ones. It looked like a cross between the Goblin tool for tuning magical circles and the Beauxbatons' instrument we used to determine whether either of the putative Joan d'Arc rings held residual magic.

"This is the finest instrument we Goblins can produce for the detection of magic. It should also reveal the locations of the ribbons you follow through seid-space and allow you to find any hidden entrance on Vanaheimer. We Goblins have met former Minister Weasleys' challenge to provide valuable technology to aid the Quest. This device can also be used to identify magical objects and even individuals with the ability to perform magic. It is our hope that it will be able to detect lies from the Gods and Goddesses, although we had no way to test that. We give you five of these, if you return to Quest in a week. This and our daughters are the Goblin contribution. I apologise again for my past errors."

He then demonstrated one of the advantages of this new design: it could be oriented in any direction. The Beauxbatons ' device had thinner wires and had to be held vertically. "I can't know this without experimenting on a God or Goddess, but I suspect that this device will aid in truth-telling one, such as Frijjo or Vili. I assume that to evade your truth-telling and Veritaserum, they must perform strong magic. This device should detect that spurt of magic when they lie. It is at least worth a try."

I thanked and hugged King Gobbledygook. It sounded as though this new tool could be a great help to the Quest. Anything new, which Odin, Vili, and the Vanir hadn't already considered could prove a very useful surprise, if whipped out at the proper time. The other attendees also congratulated the king, and on that happy note, the meeting broke up. Well, the meeting almost broke up. Tony and Mrs. Toms wanted to discuss the problem of the friends across the pond. This part of the meeting was limited to Tony, Stewart, Mrs. Toms, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Shacklebolt, Mrs. Longbottom, Viktor, and me. Others wanted to stay. Tony had to point to the door to get Professor Sturluson to leave. When the door was finally closed Harry announced "our plan has worked great, so far. We need to plan the next steps. We can't expect everything to go this well in future.:

"No, we can't! We've been very lucky," Tony underlined Harry's statement. "The friends across the pond have withdrawn half of the extra agents they sent to investigate the mysterious magical people present in our society. However, the bear has joined the investigation, so our farce must continue. The friends are speaking to Hemerocallis as we speak. I trust that will go well. He certainly has been very well prepped and has no memory of that prepping. His future stories will be totally from his imagination, if your Madam Bones keeps the promises she has made. We've bought a little time, perhaps only a very little time. That brings me to the need to plan for what to do in the event of a major loss of secrecy. I want to speak to the ICW and explain the difficulties of maintaining strict secrecy. I know that Harry and others from your government plan to visit ICW headquarters in a week. I'm sure you'll make a very logical and forceful case for what must be done, but whatever you say cannot possibly have the same impact as a formal address by members of a non-Magical government. I also think you miss a major opportunity in not including French and German Wizards in your delegation. They are less hidden than your citizens. You also must take your wife, Hermione and Cissy Montaigne to that meeting. They move in nonmagical circles better than you do. I believe that the other magical societies on our world must be let in on the secret of the other magical worlds. Ginny can take them there. One last thing: Professor Sturluson wants to visit seid-space; so, do I. Please make the necessary arrangements."

That ended the meeting on a gob smacking note. Harry began a bumbling response, but Tony told him: "best to think about it for a day, or a week, and get back to me before the Quest resumes. It's not as big a step as you think. The worst members of the foreign communities have met Odin. Introduce him to the best. I'll see you soon."

Hermione and I Apparated Baalak and Aagog to Hagrid's hut. I was thrilled to see Fang walk out of the new hut, albeit with a slow, halting walk, to join Hagrid in greeting us. Fang was noticeably friendlier than normal to Hermione and me, but very wary of Baalak. Hagrid declared himself 'fit as new. Madam Pomphrey, and of course you and Hermione, fixed me." He led us to Aragog's grave. I could hear Baalak's thoughts in my mind. I heard a repeat of many of the anguished thoughts for a lost child, which I heard from parents after the Battle of Hogwarts. On a whim, I said a traditional Light Guardian prayer for a lost child. Both Aragog and Baalak were beings out of time. Profound grief from a spider present in a world many millennia after she should have died, on a world where her kind were never meant to be. On a whim, I asked Hagrid if he could hear Baalak's thoughts.

"Always could hear the spiders, even when Aragog were no bigger than yer hand. Of course, Baalak must meet her children. She is where my egg came from. It is honor to meet Aragog's Mum."

We met each spider in the colony. They called Baalak 'the great one' and 'the beginning'. I took the opportunity to count the spiders. There were sixteen adults, twenty older juveniles who were bigger than Aagog, six Aagog-sized, and sixteen smaller than her. Fewer than I would have guessed, although probably half of the clan were now on Asgard or in seid-space. Introductions complete, Baalak asked to be Apparated to Asgard to meet the other half of our Acromantula clan. She asked our spiders if they missed their nest mates on other worlds. "Yes," Aagog's mother answered him, "It is a great comfort that we are at least able to exchange mental messages. I don't know how I would have coped, with Aagog off on a dangerous Quest to other worlds, if I didn't have that link to know she was alive and safe."

Wow! How was that even possible? Unless... could the Acromantula tie into the Black Stones and use them to communicate between worlds?

As Aagog spoke to her mother, and her mother commented back to her, I trained the Goblin device on their heads. It lit up. Magic was happening. I scanned the cave with the device to see if other spiders were talking magically. They were. But... a lot more interesting. There was a bright spot at the rear of the cave. I lowered the device as I heard a cacophony of spider talk, much of it in alarmed pitch – at least that's how it seemed. I did sometimes pick up emotion from Aagog, but this was an overpowering surge.

"I thought too much of secrets," Aagog's mother confessed.

"Don't worry. Ginny is friend."

"Yes, I am." I spoke back to the assembled spiders. "I promise to mostly keep your secret. I am obliged to mention this to Odin, Harry, and Ron... beyond that it is our shared secret. It is a useful skill. I think it can help all of us. It makes you seem even more magical, which is a good thing."

"Good!" Aagog's mother told me.

"Ginny, Hermione, Odin and Questers are very good friends to us." Baalak told Aagog's mother, at shout volume, such that the entire cave of spiders could hear him. "Ginny saved all of us. Every one of us, now and very long ago. She help my brothers and sisters reach new spider world."

I knew they knew that I must have seen it, so I wasn't going to pretend otherwise: "That bright spot at the back of your cave – that's some sort of link or portal to seid-space, isn't it?"

"Yes. It allows us to speak with our brothers and sisters on Asgard and in seid-space."

"It's new. I think I would have spotted it, if it was here, when I borrowed your stones."

"We didn't need such a strong link before our brothers and sisters traveled beyond. Before, it was weaker God-link."

"Ahh. You must tell me about the God-link tomorrow."

"Would you like to examine the link."

"Please!"

Aagog and her mother led me to the back of the cave. Baalak followed us. I'm not a fool. I knew this might be a dangerous trap. I trusted Aagog and her clan. Still, I fully tied into the Black Stone. I sensed Hermione doing the same. I also sensed that Hagrid was totally unworried. This calmed me. I could be as brave and trusting as Hagrid. Still, I left a 'do nothing, but... this is the situation' message for Harry.

I raised the Goblin device to examine the bright spot at very close range. It was glowing less intensely than before. The glow was a circle, about two feet across, on the side of the lodestone. I tried to talk to and through this glowing spot. As I did this, the spot brightened. I thought harder, asking Hermione to help. The spot was brighter still.

You seek advice from me?

Yggdrasil! "I didn't know you were in regular communication with our spiders here on Terra."

I help all creatures who think and do good. That is my order.

"Thanks. I was just testing a link. It clearly works for me. I assume I can speak to the spiders through you and this lodestone. Why didn't you tell me that?"

You didn't ask and you have greater freedom of access now. Odin gave that order.

To the spiders: "You talk to Yggdrasil through the lodestone. How long have you done this?"

"As long as my people remember."

"Thank you very much! I didn't know at the time what a huge sacrifice your clan made, when you allowed us to borrow this stone for our Quest. If I had known just how great a sacrifice you made, I would have found some other way to get a lodestone. This truly is a sacred stone."

"You understand."

"Can I travel through this stone?"

"We don't know. We cannot do travel through it."

"I think you must be able to learn to travel through the Black Stones. Do I have permission to try to teach your daughter?"

"Yes."

We left the cave with Aagog riding in her customary spot upon my shoulders. "I am pleased we are all safe. Aagog was worried. All of my brothers and sisters obey Baalak" she whisper-thought to me.

"At least for now," Baalak whisper thought to both of us. "I will sleep in cave tonight. Tomorrow is soon enough to travel to Asgard."

Aagog came home with me. Harry took a quick look at Aagog, but plowed ahead: "What's the problem? I sensed it had something to do with the spiders. Aagog is still with you, so it can't be that bad."

"I think Frijjo's anti-spider attitude has the Acromantula worried that more of the off-spring of Asgard will turn against them. That might include us, as well as the Aesir and Vanir. They know that their size and appearance can make them inherently frightening as adults. It seems almost an inbred, instinctual fear in many, although Ron had that fear and overcame it. I've had nothing but good experiences with the spiders. Yes, a spider killed Frijjo, but the spider was guarding a vital spot in seid-space, which I asked her to guard. I'm not sure more than a handful of beings are truly sorry that Frijjo is dead. She betrayed so many of us, was extremely arrogant and ambitious, and tried to totally wipe out the spiders. She was angry they excluded her from seid-space, which is exactly what we asked them to do. She was extremely dangerous there and we have evidence of her treachery. I should have killed Frijjo, or at least allowed her to die of her injuries, but I was trying too hard to be a good Mother and Priestess. The spider sentry, whose name I don't even know, merely did what very badly needed doing, but she is big and scary looking, so..."

"Obligog!"

I turned to look at Aagog, who was sitting in the middle of one of our kitchen chairs.

"The spider's name is Obligog. Ginny is correct. She just did her duty. Ginny gave instructions."

"Okay, but what just happened at the spider cave?"

"I discovered a big secret and for a moment they were afraid that they couldn't trust me. They fear an attempt to wipe them out. They still feel guilty and vulnerable because they were tricked/persuaded/forced to help Voldemort attack Hogwarts. A Death Eater disguised as Hagrid appealed to them. The Giant king asked their support. A Death Eater Polyjuiced as McGonagall cursed them. They were fooled and they are very sorry. They made a tremendous sacrifice giving up their holy stones to help my Quest. Here is the secret you can't share with anybody else. Just you, me, Ron, Hermione, and Odin: the spiders can talk to Yggdrasil through their holy lodestone at the back of their cave. They can speak through Yggdrasil to the spiders on Asgard and in seid-space. I didn't ask, but I assume they can or will become able to communicate with the spiders on spider world. Baalak has assured them that I, that we, are friends. I think everything is fine. I know that you worry about me, but I really do believe everything is going to be alright with the spiders."

"Okay, I trust your judgment. I got the impression at the meeting that you were starting to doubt my judgment."

"I didn't understand why you didn't consult me on the attendees list for that meeting, asked me to give a full report, and then got upset about part of what I reported to that group. If you had said not to mention that, I surely would not have mentioned it. I would have preferred a much smaller meeting, where we could jointly decide how much to tell which specific individuals. Preferably just a four-person meeting."

"I had less than full choice about the meeting membership."

"You did for that meeting, but the two of us, or the four of us, could have decided what to say prior to that meeting. You can't order me to play back everything we learned on Quest and then object to what is included in that everything. I would have happily given you a complete private report. I sent all the important stuff to you before I returned home. If something was sensitive, you should have said so. You knew about the purple ribbon."

Harry glanced at Aagog, then said something to the effect of 'we shouldn't fight in front of the children."

We said good night to Aagog, who said she would sleep on the kitchen chair, and went off to our bed. No romp! There clearly were lingering tensions from the meeting. Harry rolled on his side, so that our heads touched, and he could very faintly secret whisper to me. "Sorry about the meeting. I would have whispered to you if I realised in advance that there were very sensitive topics. Tony can over-react. I should consult with you on the list of attendees. It was your report. It's just, I think Ron and I and others recognized, in the instant you said it, that what you said about seid-space and the God-ribbon meant that we would have to find a way to defend seid-space forever. That is a huge undertaking. I have no idea how we can do it. I think we also realised just how much future power over us we have ceded to the spiders. I wish I could trust them as much as you do. I have no reason to distrust them, although I do still remember and have nightmares about the Battle of Hogwarts. You are more familiar with them than I am. I do trust your judgment. I also do worry. Now I must figure out how I can keep the other leaders from becoming so worried about the spiders and seid-space that our whole alliance falls apart, while calming my own fears. It's going to be tough. I think Aagog and Baalak hold the key. I have one lingering fear that I've barely thought about all these years; it just popped into the front of my mind: we've had a thriving colony of Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest since before I came to Hogwarts - what have they been eating?"