Chapter 41 – Exploring the God-Ribbon To Vanaheimer
Our next task was very touchy. I felt an outburst of relief from both Harry and Percy when I voiced this concern. It was not a complimentary response. I got the distinct impression that they both expected me to just blunder along on the previously planned trip along the God-ribbon to Vanaheimer, enlisting Odin's help to do whatever necessary to prevent the Vanir from using that pathway to our world. That impression was quickly crystallised.
"Thank Merlin! I feared that you wouldn't be willing to give diplomacy a chance. I am trying to prevent a Vanir civil war. Do you realise how many innocent people die in a civil war? Way more than even the number you and your Questers have killed. I can put our relations with the various Vanir factions in enough of an equilibrium that they can grow into a stable peace. I'm sorry, but I really thought you were going to lead your troops into battle at the junction of the God-ribbon and the Village Vana. That's the obvious entrance from Vanaheimer, isn't it, just like Jerusalem makes sense as the stepping off point for Earth. And, you plan to bring Odin. You saw how much the Miomor faction detests Odin. All the factions share that belief in common. You just don't realise how easily you could ruin all the good diplomatic work I've been doing, both in Jerusalem with the ICW and the Vanir prisoner and on Vanaheimer with the representatives of the other factions. I believe that with time, this matter can be resolved peacefully. Many Vanir clearly hate Odin. I hate to have to say this, but apart from the Keepers, they don't seem to like you much better than they like Odin. At least the prisoner seems to respect you and Hermione. We need to convince the Miomor faction that your, really our, interests differ from Odin's. We need to project a helpful, rather than a frightening image. I don't know if the Miomor faction is any more able to cooperate with your preferred Keepers and Council than the royals are. I'm trying very hard to save lives. War would be terrible for all of us. I am glad that you seem willing to stand down and give me a chance to work the magic of diplomacy."
Okay Percy! "You are babbling. I didn't realise that a little bomb unnerved you so much. A diplomat in a possible war zone must be braver than that. Now, you're just showing off for Harry. He wasn't present for the diplomacy part of the interrogation. He doesn't know that you had virtually no part in it. It was Hermione and me. We advanced diplomacy. I leave it to you now, but don't you dare take advantage of the situation. We both know that I did the right thing in asking Harry to think like the Minister and go to a safe place. You know how un-Harry that is and how upset Harry still is with me because of that and now you're trying to drive a wedge and curry favour. I won't have it. I won't let you paint me as some deranged killing machine. I am trying very hard to be a good Mother and Light Guardian priestess.
"I won't seek a fight with the Vanir; I will try my best to keep Odin out of this, but I'm not standing down. I will explore the God-ribbon. I will encourage my husband not to strip our home defences, but I will take as many aurors, soldiers, and spiders as he thinks appropriate. I don't know if I will take Odin. I suspect I will have to. I certainly will come prepared for a fight, but I don't plan to enter Village Vanir or to fight the Vanir. I do intend to prevent other Vanir from travelling the ribbon to our world. That is part of my responsibility. I am more of a builder and negotiator than a fighter. From the start of the Quest, we have slaved in largely unpleasant surrounding to improve magic. I've used diplomacy. I've had to. There was no chance if I determined to fight every God or Goddess we met. Unless one of us was in a coma for most of our time in Jerusalem with the prisoner, Hermione and I did a lot more diplomacy than you did. We did it quite well.
"I agree that you and Callista need to be the ones to actually enter Vanaheimer. You will travel by the front door, by way of their Great Black Stone pyramid. You can set up shop either there or at Government House. You are far better able than I am to get the diplomatic lay of the land. I will sit at the back door with a large force. As far as the Village Vana goes, our birds and spiders will have to do the exploring. We'll make sure nobody back doors to our world and get a better feel just what the God-ribbon is like and whether anything about recent Vanir history can be learned from it, as we could if it were a normal ribbon. We'll exchange messages through Yggdrasil every day and we can both report back to Harry the same way. Is that fair?"
"That's fine. I didn't mean to insult you, but somebody needed to tell you that you do fight too much and that you and Odin entering Vanaheimer is not going to help things. I thank you for your diplomatic help with Evrrd. I hope you realise that he does not speak for his Captain and that I will have to begin negotiations anew." He stuck out his hand. I shook it. More awkward than even the worst of the Minister Dad hugs.
Harry and I Apparated home. Harry immediately put water on the hob. Then a long snog, while the water began to boil. Harry insisted upon making a pot of tea, even though I told him it wasn't at all necessary. A pot of extra strong black tea might be welcome, but I could smell enough of the dried leaves which Harry had tossed into the pot, that they were Hermione's personally created, calming Witch's blend of wild herbs and flowers. I don't know why, but the whiff of this blend caused me to snap "I don't need to be calmed. Why do you assume that I need calming."?
Harry placidly replied "I thought you were pretty hard on Percy. You accused him of being a coward. I think your last comment gives me reason to suspect you aren't calm yet. I admit I was upset when you pushed me to leave Jerusalem, but you were right and I'm well over that. I do still have flashbacks to the time right after I beat Voldemort, everybody thought they needed to protect me, at what I saw as unacceptable risk. I'm past that. I'm mostly calm, but I think Hermione's tea will be good for both of us."
"I may have lashed out at Percy, but he talked as if I were some sort of crazed killer, who would rather fight than talk or think. I did do very well with the prisoner and Percy did almost nothing. He did show off for you at my expense. I am beginning to get along with Yael very well. I can do diplomacy and thinking. I'm a Light Guardian priestess, at least I'm trying very hard to be a better one. Percy wasn't at all fair to me."
Harry nodded his agreement. We took our tea to the sitting room, placing ourselves side-by-side on the sofa. The tea was calming. We each drank two cups, then found ourselves snogging on the sofa, and then shagging on the sofa. All the tension between us was totally gone. Harry was fully my Harry again. I wanted to ask him whom I should include in my travel party and how we should respond to Vanir leaving Vanaheimer on the ribbon, but I also wanted him to be able to get to sleep. He could help with my problems over breakfast.
I checked in with our Black Stone as soon as I awoke and found it had a message for me. We were invited to breakfast at Cissy's castle. It was all very mysterious. Her only comment, apart from "a great breakfast at 9:00 A.M. was that this was "important" and "we have a lot of important tasks that we need to divide among the willing hands." It sounded like a plea for greater involvement and a new adventure, but Cissy's message carried an undercurrent of fear. I nudged Harry awake. I needed to know if he knew of new problems here at home. Cissy was usually a fearless adventuress. If she was worried, I was worried.
"There are things happening, which need mine and the aurors attention," Harry admitted. "There are always things happening. I promise that I am not keeping some big thing from you. The Ministry has its normal level of minor emergencies. The neo-Death Eaters have been kind of quiet since we arrested Barnabas Cuffe. The friends across the pond seem less interested in sleuthing around Britain in search of a great magical conspiracy. It's summer at Hogwarts. Neville has a catch-up program for the older Muggle-born, but they're all very well behaved. My budget is coming in right online. Not a peep about Slytherin. Unfortunately, not a whiff of a trail to follow to rescue Mr. Ollivander. I'm hoping he died during the kidnapping. If Slytherin has controlled his mind for this long..."
I received a Stone message from Hermione, saying she and Ron would be right over, if that was okay. I replied that she needed to give us fifteen minutes to dress. When I opened the door Hermione asked "What? Was Cissy just feeling especially needy today or is there a problem of which we are unaware?"
It was clear that Ron also had no idea what major problems Cissy wanted to talk about. It sounded as though Cissy had pulled a McGonagall and taken it upon herself to call an 'all hands' meeting. There were so many ways that could go badly awry. I was worried enough that I sent an urgent Stone message, the kind that blares in your head and you can't possibly ignore, to Cissy. Could we come over at once. We all felt the urgency of finding out what had spooked her, before she just dropped it on the table in front of her many breakfast guests.
Of course, we could come right away. There would be almost no food. It was still an hour and a half until breakfast would be ready, but she thought a small advance meeting was a great idea. When we arrived, I saw that her Muggle servants were absent, and two Elves and two Witch servants were attending to breakfast. There was a very large table set with two dozen places.
"Invitation list!" Hermione demanded. She took a quick glance at the list. "What were you thinking?"
She passed this list to me. Harry and I read together: Potters, Hermione/Ron, Arthur, Viktor/Cho, Percy/Callista, George, Luna and her father, Adrienne, McGonagall, Neville, Mrs. Longbottom, Director Shacklebolt, Aurors Wood/Barb/Bill, Ellie, Cotto/Catta, King Gobbledygook/Tendra, Firenze, Aagog/Baalak/Boldgog, Scathach, Cantring, Pegasus, Margaret, twins. Wow!
"Are you sure you didn't miss somebody?"
"You mock me, but somebody needed to make sure we all met, before you rush back to Vanaheimer. There are problems here. You are all way too busy and I can help. Not all positions of importance are Ministry positions. Ginny is the Mother of the Future, Hermione is Muse, Neville is headmaster of Hogwarts, Mr. Lovegood edits and publishes the most important Wizarding newspaper, George is a prominent businessman and inventor, and I am Lady Montaigne and a Director of Gringotts. We all can help to influence Wizarding society to move in the right direction. If you want to make a lasting change, and I know you do, then doing so much yourself is guaranteed to, please, hear me out – it's guaranteed to not work. We need a better plan than just running around in response to emergencies and doing whatever Odin tells us to do. I loved my time Questing and want to return, you promised that, but it is silly to just do what others, not even others in our own community, task us to do. That is what caused much of the Quest trouble."
There actually was more than one problem of which we were unaware. "I'm sorry to be overly dramatic, but there are things I need to tell all of you, and I wanted to tell you away from prying ears. The number of potential Questers and guests has grown so much, since last I was with you. Who is Yael? Is she magical? No, Wait, let me list the things you may not know about: I don't know how, but somehow my father got this message to me. It's genuine, I can tell it's his handwriting. Then, Margaret tells me that the twins' parents are once again pressuring them to come home 'just for the summer.' Fat chance – if they leave Hogwarts, the parents won't allow them to return. The twins are wavering. They aren't comfortable around all the older students filling the school. They know a quarter of them, but the rest are from the over-flow school. There is a more immediate problem: the twins complained to Margaret that they are tired of feeling responsible for, while becoming increasingly frightened of, Steven Lester. His magic is very powerful, his self-control is very weak, and he isn't especially socialised. He's a spoiled brat, to be completely honest about it. That part is just relaying what Margaret will tell you, but I've spoken to her more recently than you have.
The second part is equally bad: I received a message from my father. I don't understand how he could manage to get a message past the aurors and to me, but he did. The message says 'I don't know that I care to wait as long as I promised. That was an agreement with Arthur. Arthur is gone. Perhaps I'll take my revenge much sooner.' That chilled me. I don't believe father is an intelligent man, or all that sane, but he does have feral cunning. I'm quite sure he also has hidden resources and allies. I doubt his threat was idle. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hear a lot. I know Harry is very worried about a leak. This second problem convinces me that my father has succeeded in bribing an auror. That auror may be your leak."
"I thank you for that alert. I will ask Director Shacklebolt to re-vet all the aurors who have guarded your father. I know with the rush of small emergencies, that long-standing issues like the twins and the Lesters don't get my consistent attention as Minister. I know they are too important to drop. I imagine it's a lot for Neville to handle. That's a reason why I was happy to have you spending some time back at Hogwarts. I realise there is much to discuss, but I'm not happy about discussing it in front of such a big group."
"Why? They have a right to know. We've all supported you. I think you do a good job, but you are still a loner who wants to solve the current problem yourself. You don't seem to understand that problems aren't solved forever, just because you fixed them once. I know that my father will always be a problem. I always wonder if my brother will return and if he will still be a problem when he does. Margaret and I always worry about the twins and watch out for them as much as we can. I've had a lot of other activities, so most of this has fallen upon Margaret. Neville can't be obvious about specifically watching out for two students.
"You need to put a person or team in charge of each problem and have them report back to you. That way you have time to do what you need to do, and you stay up to date on all the important problems. It will also reduce fights within the family. If the job and the problems destroyed Mr. Weasley, who understands the Ministry better than you do, they will also destroy you if you can't figure out a way to survive. I'm feeling that neither you, nor Neville, nor Ginny is making proper use of my abilities and resources. I know Margaret agrees. The 'go to Hogwarts and pitch in if you think the twins or Steven need help' is sort of weak. I considered inviting Fran Lester to this meeting but thought better of doing so without asking first. She isn't clearly friend or foe. She'll help us or oppose us, depending upon what she thinks is best for Angela and mainly for Steven. The troubled child gets the most attention, especially if the child is male. I know that from my own family. You also should know that, as Lady Montaigne, I talk to Tony as much as you do. He's worried about the Lesters. He knows them well. He says that the parents will not sit passively, while you adopt a solution for their children. They don't see their children as a problem in need of your solution. Hogwarts is determined to keep parents at a huge distance. You've got the mother at Hogwarts much of the time, but the husband complains to Tony twice a week."
Oh!
Harry contacted Shacklebolt and Wood through the Stone. I didn't eavesdrop. I want both the Stone and Harry to think well of me. At the end of the message, Harry did very excitedly vocalise "that's the guy I want you to focus on. He may be both the leak and the traitor who helped the former Lord!" Harry turned to the rest of us and explained "the former lord was basically guarded by three rotating aurors. When Arthur resigned and I became Minister, most of his personal aurors were reassigned, because McGonagall only wanted one of them. One of these aurors ended up guarding the former lord. I think he's our man. If I can trouble the three of you to be truth-tellers after we finish Cissy's breakfast..."
Cissy seemed relieved that Harry was beyond criticising the calling of this huge breakfast meeting. In fact, Harry announced "I think the cast of characters for breakfast will be alright. We can cover the twins and Lesters lightly and have an after-breakfast meeting where all the Lesters and the twins can participate. At breakfast, I just want to hear Margaret's view of the problem, but not discuss it. I do want to discuss a better way to teach the older students what they need to know. Neville and Deputy Minister McGonagall have thought a lot on that problem and have a solution which makes sense to me."
Shacklebolt arrived for breakfast with Wood and Mrs. Longbottom. "I'm saving the final interview for you and your truth-tellers, but I'm convinced we've got our man. Bill has gone to search his home. It's been a glorious start to the day."
The breakfast food was truly excellent. I have no idea where she found it, but Cissy had the best ham I have ever tasted. The omelette contained crab, with the same spices as the Goblin crab cakes. The crepes contained asparagus and were slathered in a super-rich pink sauce with a lot of sharp cheddar and a hint of tomato and basil. The orange juice had another juice added and was wonderful. The meeting began over coffee and a huge assortment of pastries. I ate way too much, but I was nervous how this meeting would go. I don't know why Harry hadn't just declared it too many people.
Harry as leader of the group, but with the support of the majority, declared the coming trip to Vanaheimer to be "not Quest. I think Ginny, Hermione and their Questers need to learn more from Yggdrasil and Odin, and then lead the exploration of the God-ribbons. The primary goal of the Quest is the acquisition of knowledge. This fits with that. Cissy needs to participate. She will benefit from what Yggdrasil and Odin can teach her. After that, and participating in the exploration of the ribbons, I need her back here. I realise that the Questers must briefly camp on the ribbon outside Vanaheimer, while their birds explore. After that, it's garrison duty - the natural job of aurors and the British soldiers. The spiders can be a huge help with that. Odin and Scathach can also be a huge help, but there are more important things for the Questers to do."
Harry lauded the diplomatic efforts of me, Hermione, and the Questers, but declared that the job of negotiating a transitional Vanir government must be up to Percy and Callista. The Questers had been forced to fight too many Vanir and had to stand by while Frijjo slaughtered prisoners. We wouldn't be welcome among many Vanir and part of Percy's job wat to make it safe for us to return among the Vanir. If that wasn't possible and a circle must be built, well, the Ministry did have magical engineers. Wow! I felt at least a little put down by my husband. The group thought I needed to give Percy and Callista a good head start with their diplomacy back on Vanaheimer, before I showed up at the back door. There was a danger of a large party of us being discovered at the back door, while Percy was talking peace. It would look totally duplicitous. I had to concede that this was a valid point. Percy should make it known that we wouldn't be building circles until their local politics was much more settled. I could show up at the back door a week or more later, but only the birds and spiders could enter Vanaheimer and they must be very careful not to get caught. It would be best if we camped well away from the ribbon exit to Vanaheimer. We did have the excuse that Vanir had, once again, come to our world, but these were very touchy times and it was best not to be overly provocative.
We would attend the second half of the meeting with all the Lester's, then off to participate in the interrogation of the traitorous auror. The group decided that we must learn what we could from him, then force him to go back to guarding the former Lord Montaigne and see if he was given any other notes to deliver. We could jail him for such a short time, even if he were tried and found guilty of his minor favors for bribes racket, that we might as well let him off with a stern warning. It was a solitary Gringotts cell for the former Lord, once the charade had played out. Cotto would question the Elf who served the former Lord.
Cissy said what should have been completely obvious "I have duties as Lady Montaigne. I must put in appearances in the Muggle world. So does Fran. She's a famous person and she's been away too long. Her children have been away too long. Her husband is extremely lonely and unhappy. The Lester's must go home and be visible. They must heal as a family." That obvious wisdom drove us to the proper conclusion. The group thought it best that all the Lesters return to their estate for the duration of summer break. Those of us who would meet with them were charged with making that happen. What to do with the twins was trickier. Going home must be prevented at all cost. They also couldn't go with the Lesters – Steven was getting on their nerves and Fran wasn't yet trusted to provide adult supervision of the twins. Cissy volunteered her castle, acknowledging that she was unlikely to be traveling with us for much more than a week. Margaret volunteered to man the castle until she returned. Ron volunteered to assist her.
The discussion on the older students was most interesting and showed me what a huge problem this was and how all the previously attempted solutions had been at least inadequate and most likely, very wrong.
"As headmaster of Hogwarts, I've naturally seen a lot of the older students, especially at the start of this summer. The essential goal of their education is to train them in the use of their wand, and thus, tame their wild magic. The very important goal is to teach them about our community. They must understand it well enough to feel a part of it, to feel loyalty to it, and to understand the importance of secrecy. They do not need to earn a living or live in our world. We've said we want to teach the members of our community to exist and blend into the larger Britain. Well, these newly magical older Britain's can already blend in. They have a lot to teach the rest of us in that regard. We've done well in taming their wild magic. We've done a horrible job of making them feel part of our community.
"What is required? It certainly won't require seven years to learn what they must learn. Professor McGonagall think two years at most, perhaps just a full year, including summer. They need to be able to experience the wonder of the magical world: the magical beasts, all the intelligent magical peoples, the whimsical beauty of Hogwarts and the Wizard commerce in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. They must visit the Ministry, observe the Wizengamot debate a law and judge a criminal case, read our newspapers every day, explore the subterranean Gringotts, set foot on Asgard, watch a Quidditch match, visit Durmstrang or Beauxbatons. If they have close nonmagical family members, they must not be torn from their families. We also must stop doing that to Hogwarts-aged students. As educators, we should not be in the business of shattering families. That also is a threat to secrecy. I've listened intently to Hermione's description of her problems. As headmaster, I've talked repeatedly to her parents. It's a wonder they didn't give us away or insist that Hermione never return to Hogwarts.
"We have prepared a twelve-month curriculum for adult, newly-magical Britons. Hermione's parents have endorsed it. It involves a lot of field trips; it involves a summer and one-month in-session at Hogwarts. The older students can be a stabilising influence. With just a seventh of the adults at Hogwarts at any given time, they won't swamp us. I have found a location in Diagon Alley, where two shops have gone out of business, to be the main school for adults. It is highly defendable, and I and others have strongly magicked it. The recent slaughter of adult students was an abomination which must not be repeated. The present satellite school in Scotland will be used only for the first weeks, until a student's wild magic is well enough under control to move them to Diagon Alley.
"We also have changes for Hogwarts, but I've talked enough, we should save that for another day."
As soon as Neville sat down, McGonagall sprung to her feet. "We want to avoid the problems Harry and Hermione encountered as new Hogwarts students, and that goes beyond clamping down on Slytherin bullies. We will have a one-week orientation session for new students and parents, when the parents aren't already a part of our community. Those students and their parents will be Apparated to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies and for the students to board the Hogwarts Express after that orientation is over. We will rename Mr. Granger's course as British Studies and will select a graduating adult student to assist him. BIG curriculum changes on the way, but I'll say no more for now. Well, I'll say one more thing, but I don't want to get into solutions until we've met with the Lester's and I've had a week to discuss what they tell us. I'll say this much: we need a Wizarding school for those with early wild magic. I've reviewed auror reports from the past decade concerning incidents of underaged magic requiring aurors to obliviate ordinary Britons. There were one-hundred-and-fifty-three such incidents, over half of which involved children already a part of our community. Ten of the individuals were repeaters, one girl four times - I won't name names, but she was an excellent student. Enough said for now."
The main meeting broke up. The four of us, plus Neville, Margaret, the twins, and McGonagall remained for the meeting with the Lesters. The meeting went surprisingly well. The Lester's heartily agreed that they should spend the summer at home. They liked the idea of a separate school for young Wizards. Angela felt she fit in well in Gryffindor and that she had learned a lot very quickly. Fran felt able to safely access her magic. Everyone felt that Steven was doing far better in properly calibrating his magic. They liked Neville's and McGonagall's proposed changes for educating magical persons identified in the general British populace. Fran felt that Steven was recovered from the shock of his new magic and didn't need her to be present as much. She wanted to work two days a week at the new underaged school so she could keep tabs on Steven and assure him that he wasn't abandoned by his mother.
Harry said that since Mr. Lester was listed in the New Start Society, that perhaps I should give him a good charging up in the pyramid oval and see if that jogged any latent magical ability. He mentioned our experience with Mister Filch. The senior Lesters were overjoyed by this suggestion and I didn't REALLY mind that Harry had simply volunteered the use of my, well really our community's, oval. It was something I should have offered myself. As Harry said we wouldn't interrogate the prisoner auror for about an hour, I offered to give Mr. Lester some time in the charging-up oval right away. I thought I had handled my short-lived pique well and that nobody had noticed. Then I received a Stone message from Harry.
I'm sorry if I upset you, but there is auror business and there is Quest business. I won't be the Minister forever. Before long you'll still be the Mother of the Future and I'll be Mister Mother. But your mother will tell you that at times the wife of the Minister has responsibilities. You are the expert at the Black Stone, its circles, and the charging ovals, but they really belong to our whole community, so as Minister I can suggest that we give Mr. Lester an experimental charge-up.
I apologised to Harry, admitting that at times I was too possessive of all things Quest related. Of course, I would cheerily show the Lesters around the pyramid. I understood that they were important, even though I shared some of Ron's views about how my family had been portrayed in Fran's books. Security of the pyramid was more Harry's responsibility than mine, although it was a shared obligation. I certainly didn't want to have the awkward-snog equivalent of the awkward-hugs I had become accustomed to with Minister Dad. That was a horrible thought. Harry had to return to the Ministry. In front of everyone, I gave him a totally unprofessional proper snog. Sometimes you just must be a little inappropriate in order to serve the more important good.
I gave Mr. Lester a forty-minute charge-up, while I showed Fran and her children around the pyramid. I then lent Mr. Lester one of my wands to test for the presence of any newly awakened magical ability. Cissy and I urged him on. There was absolutely nothing. I consoled him: "I don't think you are magical, at least you're not magical now, but you should also know that many of the Britons who became magical after we restarted other circles around here didn't show magic until a month after those events. We'll test you again in a few weeks. We just don't understand the start of magic in adults well at all."
Mr. Lester thanked me but was clearly very disappointed. Fran sympathised with him and tried to jolly him into a happier mood, as Hermione, Cissy and I prepared to Apparate all the Lesters back to their home. We lingered on their lawn for a few minutes. Mr. Lester appeared happier than he had been, when he couldn't produce magic. We wished them a happy summer.
I told Cissy "I'm sorry I was initially negative about the size of your breakfast crowd. I must admit that it all went well, and we accomplished quite a lot for such a short meeting."
Cissy gave me a big hug and did a little happy skip and dance, before the three of us Apparated to the Ministry.
We sat in on the interrogation of the auror, Oswald Filch. Yes, he was the brother of the Hogwarts' caretaker. He seemed awed by the situation he found himself in, facing three very young truth-tellers and being questioned by his Director and the Minister. His answers were completely honest. I think he knew at once that lying was futile and would harm his position. He didn't oppose what the current administration was trying to do in modernising our community. He had no allegiance to the original or to the neo-Death Eaters. He did have concerns about how many recent Ministers had not been elected to the position. He thought Harry quite young for the job but had nothing against him. He had a son who was a Squib. He needed money to get the boy off to a good start in the Muggle world. "He needed a proper education, didn't he? I'm not one to just chuck his boy out into the Muggle world. I've heard of The New Start Society, but that ain't for humble folks like me, is it? Not every Squib is as lucky as my brother was to snag a position at Hogwarts. It seemed harmless when I started selling information to Mr. Cuffe. Didn't say anything that Minister Weasley and my Director weren't practically shouting in the cafeteria and hallways. I wouldn't seriously violate my auror responsibilities. Lay down my life for the Minister, I would. Lord Montaigne was such a sad, broken man. Knew him when he were grand. He just wanted to send a letter to his daughter. I didn't see the harm in that. Couldn't know it were a threat, could I? I'm sorry. What will happen to me and what will happen to poor, nonmagical Albert when I go to prison. No fun going to prison when you've been an auror."
His tone became much more positive when it was explained what he could do to avoid prison, or even arrest. Yes, of course he would help the scheme. The Lord had betrayed his trust, hadn't he? He would do what he had to do. He was grateful that he would keep his job, even if he had to begin with less sensitive assignments. He was gobsmacked when Harry told him "I will insist that The New Start Society help Albert. We are becoming more open about such things. Cissy is now in charge of that society and I am on its board. Have no fear, Albert will be looked after properly."
"Of course he will," Cissy reinforced Harry's promise. "It is not just for the aristocratic families anymore. We've recovered a lot of illegal money from my brother, father, and the Malfoys."
Hermione and I had dinner and the night with our husbands, before we had to be off with the advance party to Asgard. I'm very sure that I convinced Harry there were no lingering hard feelings from our brief disagreement. He certainly convinced me.
The advance party to Asgard was limited to Hermione, Cissy, Ellie, Cho, Barb, Aagog, and I. Breakfast with Odin was speedt. He was very welcoming but hurried us off to Yggdrasil's library. We were all told the secret of repairing a White Column. The Black Stone of whichever world supplied the energy, through the White Column, to power and organise the repair. The Columns were self-repairing if supplied with the proper raw materials. Repairs required fine sand, powdered alabaster, a small amount of lodestone sand, and... a full third of the mix had to be powdered Black Stone. A Black Stone had the ability to shed a thin outer layer as fine powder. This process had the added benefit of keeping the Black Stone's surface perfectly smooth and shiny. Apparently, we had to mix the ingredients, pour them at the base of the damaged White Column, then enter the local Black Stone and persuade it that the injured White Column deserved to be healed, or at least that its people deserved to have a fully-formed White Column.
I asked Yggdrasil what must be done if, as was the case with the White Column under what was left of Azkaban, the column was destroyed and had to be created from scratch. Apparently, this was a very difficult thing to do - certainly beyond our present magical capabilities. Surely, we could find pieces of the Azkaban Column. The process didn't require all that many pieces and they didn't need to be extremely large. The more of the White Column which had to be re-grown, the more raw materials were required. Of course, Hermione had a piece of the Azkaban Column in her bag. It was an irregular piece about six inches in diameter.
It can work. I will teach you more. This will stretch your abilities. It would be most helpful if you found additional pieces. There must be a larger piece than that one.
Did the repaired White Column need to be on Azkaban Island? Could it be moved just a few hundred miles to mainland Scotland?
Harder still. The location of the White Columns are most particular. The spot must be most magical. It should be proximate to a ribbon. I fear to do such a thing is beyond your abilities. White Columns typically penetrate the bedrock. Isn't the base of your column intact? That buried shard could interfere with the creation of a new column. That mortally wounded White Column yearns to be whole. It is the dying remnant of a living thing, almost as live as your Black Stone, or even me. It will fight for life if you use your Black Stone to power the birth of a new White Column. Three White Columns on a world are one too many. I don't mean to steal thoughts from your mind, but yes, three side-by-side White Columns on Vanaheimer is most unusual and most dangerous. Perhaps that is why the Vanir do not attempt to repair their own columns. The Servers know many ancient secrets.
Yggdrasil gave us more lessons. We learned how we might force a recalcitrant broken White Column to wait its turn for repair. Our world might do well with three widely separated White Columns, although this was most unusual. In a pinch, a Black Stone could grow and bud off a White Column. Yggdrasil would teach our Black Stone how to do this. We would have to supply the raw materials and carefully remove the bud, to avoid damage either to our Black Stone or the new White Column. We were shown what we must do to silver the White Column into the bedrock. We would talk more. It was too dangerous to attempt this without further instruction. We might first try this trick with Yggdrasil itself. It was far more capable than our own Black Stone.
When the rest of our party, including a dozen soldiers, four large spiders, and ten aurors in addition to the full Quest team, minus McGonagall, arrived Odin Apparated all of us to the point where Frijjo had first led us onto the God-ribbon. We had Fawkes and seven ravens with us. We said hello to the spider sentries and marched down the ribbon in the direction of the God-ribbon-between-worlds. It was a stomach-churning, disconcerting walk, but we came to the ribbon-between-worlds after walking for only two hours. I had no idea where we were in time.