Chapter 46 – Percy

We drank enough wine with dinner that we felt it best to sleep over, rather than Apparate in a half-drunk state. Like our own Ministry, Danny's department had small apartments at their headquarters for use by agents during extended operations. They weren't presently in use, so we crashed there. I bunked with Barb. We said a few words of mutual congratulations for the truly great work we had done over the past two days and then I fell into stupor sleep. It was almost noon when I awoke. A quick wash and an even quicker breakfast, then it was a group meeting to decide what to do next. We could Apparate straight home or there was a city tour on offer. We opted to spend the next four hours as tourists. Before we began the tour, I messaged Harry and Percy. I told Harry that we would be delayed in order to view Jerusalem. I told Percy that we had very important new intelligence on Frijjo, including descriptions of over 500 key Vanir and Frijjo's invasion plans for Earth and Asgard.

When we arrived home, Harry, Tony, Percy, McGonagall, Odin, and Callista were waiting for us. Harry had recalled Percy "immediately, to discuss new information, which might completely alter the negotiating strategy." Having received my message, Percy hadn't been caught completely by surprise. He had his own large pile of papers.

Harry wanted this discussion to take place in his office. Apparently, he had been worried that if he didn't catch us in the pyramid, we would somehow elude him. We Apparated to Harry's conference room, where Ellie and Dad joined us. It quickly became obvious that Harry and most of the others had spent the whole time we were away studying the pictures and documents we retrieved from Frijjo's fortress. Percy and Callista, who had arrived just a couple hours before we did, were still studying the documents. I watched with great interest as Percy found a person on Frijjo's list and then searched for that person in his own notes. When he found a match, he checked it off on both lists and then compared the mini-bio information. As the rest of us collected coffee, tea, and pastries, Percy had a good fifteen minutes to continue this comparison. He reluctantly ceased his efforts, when Harry called the meeting to order.

"The Questers brought back a trove of new information. Now we know for certain that Frijjo entertained the possibility of invading us, right up until the moment she died. This notebook in invaluable. It shows us how one of the leaders of another world analyzed our strengths and vulnerabilities. The ribbon-between-worlds was the invasion path which Frijjo viewed as still open and still a strong possibility for success. She viewed the Hogwarts pyramid as practically invulnerable. Now we know where we need to focus additional effort. I'm glad that Ginny and her team agreed to build a circle in Jerusalem and completed it so quickly. I think Greece must be your next target. Now, my Deputy Minister wants to share a few thoughts."

"Yes, I think the Questers must focus on our world. That's how the Quest began and it's still what is most important. It makes no sense to build a circle on Vanaheimer or to give them more purple diamonds and improved magical technology. There are still a hundred allies of Frijjo alive and participating in the Vanir power struggle. Doubtless others from other factions will wish us harm, once they secure their hold upon their fellow Vanir. It seems a society which both feels very persecuted and sorry for itself, but also feels an almost divine right to rule all of what they call 'Odin's worlds'. They are a danger to us. I hold out hope for Percy's diplomacy. It will be a plus to avoid a bloody civil war among the Vanir. I wish the Vanir peace and prosperity. Until I am convinced that they no longer have dreams of conquering Asgard and Earth, I do not wish to see them achieve the level of magic on their world, which they view as their birthright."

"That's not fair!" Percy objected. "The Vanir I've met with have their quarrels amongst themselves, but I sense a strong desire for reconciliation and peace. It has been difficult to gain their trust, given the actions of Ginny's Questers, but I am making solid progress. An interim government, followed by fair elections, is a real possibility. I do not think the Vanir harbor dreams of invasion."

"Oh grow up, Percy!" McGonagall's tone was more than mildly dismissive. "You're not a truth teller. Neither is Callista. You have no way of knowing whether those who sit across the table from you tell you the truth or reveal their true ambitions. We have already had quite a few Vanir factions try to invade our world or attack our diplomats: Frijjo, Gna, Miomor, the royalists. What are the odds that everyone in your transition government will bear peaceful thoughts towards us?"

"Ginny and her Questers invaded their world!"

"They did no such thing. They were invited by various Vanir governments. They went to Vanaheimer to build magical circles, in order to better the lot of the Vanir people. They did not fight unless attacked. They, we - I was with them - were attacked because the Vanir were treacherous and hid many dangerous secrets, including modern circles and an alliance with Dark Gods. Your ambition has caused you to go native, Percy! Your thoughts should be focused upon the safety of our own world."

"Is that this government's view of my diplomatic efforts?"

"I said that I supported your diplomacy. However, you do frighten me when you are so overly trusting of the Vanir factions. I trust the Servers. I know the royals are rotten to the core. Ginny will support me on this. I don't know why you see her as going to Vanaheimer to murder poor, innocent Vanir. I was there. I assure you that was not the case. Ginny has bent over backwards to avoid killing. You owe your sister and her Questers an apology. I can only conclude that you are jealous."

"No, I am not jealous! I feel a lack of support for the very solid diplomacy I'm engaged in. First, I had to play second fiddle to a totally befuddled Prudence. Now, I'm looking over my shoulder, wondering when the Questers will do something to upset the Vanir I'm negotiating with and throw my negotiations into turmoil. I am negotiating among groups of Vanir who have members who were killed by my sister. That makes my job extra difficult! The main thing we bring to the table is that the Questers will build a modern circle and repair the White Columns. Now they intend to renege on that. Where does that leave me as negotiator? Ginny has hobbled my diplomacy at every turn."

"No!" I packed so much heart-felt indignation into that one word. "We did not kill. We used stunning curses, while all around us were killing. We fought only when there was no other choice. The royalist faction attacked the pyramid twice and would have slaughtered the Servers. We couldn't allow that to happen. If you cannot see, accept, and deal with reality, then you won't ever be much of a diplomat. You are all too willing to believe the lies that the Vanir tell about your own sister and your own people. it really is kind of despicable. Hermione and I have tried very hard to be good Light Guardian Priestesses and the Mother and Muse. We try very hard to avoid killing even obviously bad people. You really couldn't do a much better job of turning me into an enemy."

"It's really very simple," Odin addressed Percy. "I am the sponsor of the Quest. The Questers traveled to Vanaheimer, because I asked them to. They went to build magical circles and to fix the shattered White Columns. Yggdrasil trained them to do that. They did not go to kill. They strongly complained to me that Frijjo had killed prisoners, whom they had stunned. Frijjo admitted as much. Your sister and Hermione saved Frijjo's life. That was a favor to me. They didn't trust Frijjo. Frijjo misled us all. She was able to keep her worst schemes secret. First Miomor and then the royals tried to kill the Questers. Why do you deny them the right of self defense, using non-deadly curses? When they did kill in the chamber of the White Columns, they had no choice but to use powerful curses - they were fighting Gods. The bomb also was unavoidable. The Vanir can cry about the damage, but they secretly invited dark Gods to live with and fight for them. That had to be stopped. You speak like a fool."

"Please, enough!" Callista sounded frightened. "Percy is frustrated. Negotiations haven't been going great. So many Vanir factions believe that only they are the rightful leaders. Percy is right that we are seen as untrusted outsiders. Percy doesn't really mean what he said about you and Hermione."

"This is the second time he's portrayed us as crazed killers. I won't have it! I've faithfully sent reports of the secrets we've discovered, directly to Percy. I'm done."

"Perhaps we should adjourn. Percy hasn't had a chance to more than skim the documents that the Quester

s brought back. That puts him at a disadvantage. Let him have a chance to learn what the rest of you have learned, then we can talk more rationally and unemotionally as equals."

Callista made sense but needed to realize "the Questers found these documents, but we haven't had a chance to read them. We have lived much of what is described in them. Hermione and I have only skimmed them. We had to rush off to build a circle in Jerusalem."

"We'll meet again in a day," Harry announced. "I want Percy and Callista to stay. We have things to discuss. I also have grown very tired of Percy treating my wife like a wanton slaughterer. I know that to be a lie."

Since Hermione had copied all of the documents, my crew and Odin Apparated back to our house to study and discuss them. As I studied Frijjo's mini-bios, it was clear that barely more than fifty Vanir made up the group whose support she could depend upon. Close to half of those seemed to have been purchased with Odin's gold and silver. The other close to six hundred names divided into close to a dozen factions, most of which didn't get along with each other, and agreed upon little beyond hating Frijjo and their determination that nobody associated with Asgard should have any role in even a transitional government. The Servers of the Great Black Stone were willing to work with her, would not oppose her presence in a transitional interim government, but did not like or trust her. At least that is how Frijjo thought she was viewed.

I read Frijjo's notebook where she recorded her thoughts about invading our world. I had missed it when I did a very quick partial scan, but she definitely had identified the ribbon-between-worlds as our major weak point. She thought that with a force of a hundred she could make some headway in an attack. Greece was identified as a particular weak point and an easy route to Durmstrang. Capturing Durmstrang would be a major victory and much easier than Hogwarts or our Ministry. She didn't think the time was right for an attack. She didn't even have a force of a hundred, let alone a hundred she could spare from her meager forces on Vanaheimer. I felt a chill when I read "I could raise a larger army if I could convince them how much plunder exists on Terra. A month's campaign and my soldiers would be rich beyond their wildest imagining."

There was a knock on the door. I opened the door and was confronted by a weepy Callista. I led her into the room. Just Odin, Ron and Hermione were with me. Callista seemed surprised that Harry wasn't present and admitted as much. "I thought Harry would come here as soon as our meeting was over. it was brief. Harry told Percy that he was very upset by Percy's continued attacks upon you. He said that the diplomatic mission to the Vanir was over 'for now'. Harry said he didn't trust the Vanir and was becoming less convinced that he could trust Percy. The Quest had always had Harry's approval. Before that, Arthur had approved it. Part of Percy's job was to support the Questers not to attack you. Percy doesn't really see you as killers. That's what some of the Vanir say when they want to steer the negotiations away from the emerging consensus. At first Percy said that this interpretation was false, the Questers had been attacked. As claims of the murder of good Vanir by Questers were raised again and again to derail the negotiations, usually by the representative of the royals, Percy stopped defending you and became frustrated. He does believe his job would be much easier and he would already have achieved success if the Quest had never come to Vanaheimer. But... he really doesn't see you as killers. He just spoke out of anger and frustration."

"Then he made the same false charge out of anger and frustration twice. He also is supporting those at the ICW who want to force us to build a modern circle in China. I am not convinced that this is a good idea. It is clear that Mr. Tsieh would be pleased if Hermione and I turned up dead. Percy is too eager to curry favor with Mr. Tsieh.

"You should know that I am not at all unhappy that Harry has sacked Percy. It actually makes me feel warm inside."

"Percy is sorry that he took out his frustration on you. He suffered as much from the Prudence fiasco as you did. He had a good Ministry position, which he enjoyed, before his father packed us off to Vanaheimer to be a buffer between Prudence and your Questers. It was a useless assignment. It was even more useless than your father described it, because he told a different story to Prudence and yet another story to you. Percy is foundering, he can't afford to be on bad terms with your husband... or you."

"Then he should apologize to me himself for twice calling me a killer and for standing silent when Mr. Tsieh suggested that it was Hermione or my responsibility to march to our death in front of Ve's fortress, to ensure that Vili was killed. I try very hard to avoid killing and I take my brother's accusation very personally. How else would you expect me to take it?"

"I don't know. I understand that you have been through a lot and are hurting. I know you are a good person. I think that is also true of Percy."

"I didn't expect to find you here, Callista." Harry had chosen this particularly bad moment to return. "I'm not going to change my mind on abandoning the Vanir mission. I think it has become counter-productive and that Percy has shown a selfish determination to produce a personal success at the expense of others in my government and of my government's interests. He has become as trusting of the Vanir he is talking to as Prudence was of Miomor. That isn't a good thing. You suggested that we take some time before discussing this further. I thought that a good suggestion, yet here you are, behind my back, continuing the discussion."

"I am not going behind your back. I respect you too much to ever do that. I am just trying to head of a feud between Ginny and Percy. That benefits nobody and can destroy Percy. I know he is behaving a bit irrationally, but I fear for my husband's future."

"He needs to apologize to my wife. His comments were totally unacceptable. He is a very undiplomatic diplomat. I saw first hand why Arthur sometimes felt that Percy was willing to throw family members to the trolls to advance his career. I think that's what he just tried to do. It's incredibly stupid for him to think he can gain my support by casting Ginny as a wanton killer, but that's what he tried. I can't accept that."

Callista was actively weeping again as she left. "I'll talk to Percy," she promised Harry. "The Vanir seem toxic to the Weasley family."

"Have you studied Frijjo's notes about invading Earth?" Harry asked Hermione and me. We nodded 'yes'. "Then you know that you and your Questers need to be off to Greece as quickly as possible. I'm sorry to push you after your brother has just attacked you, but if there are Vanir who are of a mind to attack, recalling the diplomatic mission may spur them to attack. I will meet with the Bad Dude while you're gone. You are welcome to take all of the silver, gems, and other supplies you need. I fear that a circle in Greece may be needed very soon. I've talked to Viktor. He will help the Greeks defend against an attack from the ribbon."

"We should build a fortress on the other side of the Earth portals, to block an attack from Vanaheimer," I suggested.

"Yes, we'll do that. It will make life more pleasant for your garrison and they will be safer. Pick some members of your garrison to lead the construction. Viktor, Tony, and I are willing to furnish supplies."

Harry headed back to the Ministry, taking Ron with him. Odin commented "We all have our problems, many of them due to Frijjo and my brothers. I am sorry. I will help to build the fortress against the Vanir. I must go and see to my world's defenses. With more of us, and the new Aesir loyal to me, I think we have an excellent chance to defend ourselves. I promise not to turn spirit until this danger is past. I owe that to my own people as well as to you. Good luck to all of us."

Hermione and I started to pull together plans for a new fortress and for a circle in Greece. We immediately realized that it would take the rest of our lifetimes to build a fortress on the scale that Frijjo and Ve had achieved. Was that even necessary? We needed a space just large enough to hold a modern circle, a number of wand arrays and housing for a half dozen defenders. We could strategically place small bombs in front of the enclosure, for added protection. The whole affair could be very heavily magicked, with every protective spell we, Yggdrasil, or the ancient priestesses ever thought of. The charms Hermione had installed around the camps she shared with Harry, while they were on the run from the Death Eaters, could render the enclosure almost undetectable. Ron knew the spells the Order had employed to protect Grimmauld Place. We could also apply these protections to Frijjo's fortress. Neither fortress had to hold out for long, without reinforcement. We seemed to be zeroing in on a workable design. The less material we had to transport onto the ribbon, the better. Frijjo's fortress actually seemed way to big. What possible advantage did she gain from making the place half a mile long, when four or five rooms would do just fine? Perhaps we could save time and effort by shortening Frijjo's fortress and repurposing some of her construction materials.

We were hard at work on this plan, when I heard another knock at the kitchen door. It was Mom... and Percy. Percy certainly was hiding behind the women-folk.

As I opened the door, I admonished Mum "please don't try to speak for Percy. He is the person who insulted me. He needs to speak for himself."

Mum silently entered and sat at our kitchen table. Percy entered and remained standing. "I really am very sorry. I was feeling a lot of stress and allowed it to overwhelm me. I really do know that you and Hermione aren't cold killers. So many Vanir hurled that insult at me, so many of them said that your actions made ME untrustworthy - I have no excuse, it all just got to me. I really am sorry. I know both of you well enough to know that the Vanir lied about you. I should have just continued defending you. You certainly are worthy of my defense and that certainly was part of my job as ambassador. I went astray. Maybe I craved a success too much. I know you are angry and you have a right to be. I should have had your back, both with the Vanir and with Mr. Tsieh. There really isn't much to like about either the Vanir representatives, apart from the Servers, or Mr. Tsieh. Prudence just left me with a tremendous desire to succeed as ambassador. That's not a justification. I know that I was wrong. I know that I won't be returning to Vanaheimer as ambassador. I don't think Harry is sending a replacement. He is less happy with the Vanir than he is with me."

"Okay, I forgive you." We exchanged a very awkward hug.

Mum had brought two bottles of Witch sherry. I supplied glasses and Mum filled them. We all drank. I guess we all felt burdened by problems.

"I hate to see my family fighting." It was obviously true and the only words Mum spoke during this visit.