APEC Albus Potter, Classmates and Elves. 2018 -2019-2020
APEC Ch 29 The Closing Ball
More additions and corrections by Deb and Diane, plus one really stupid mistake they both caught me on. As always, thank you.
Saturday morning Jesus Rios and Ginny Wang found Rose and Scorpius, who were with Cleo working on the castle. The three were working with Galadriel and her parents, Arwen and Elrond Lothlorien, teaching them how to change the decoration of the castle. Cleo was also learning about the Elf areas of the castle.
Jesus asked, "May we have dinner with you tonight, Rose, Scorpius?"
Rose replied, "Sure. Just you two?"
Ginny Wang replied, "We would like the Elves working with us, the two Chinese Elves, and Elf from Jesus's school, to have dinner with us."
"No parents?" Rose wondered.
"My parents will not be there," Scorpius laughed, making a face.
"My mother will probably eat with adults she is trying to work with," Rose sighed. "She is almost always working, unless my father can get her away on holiday."
"I think our parents are going to be eating with other adults," Ginny added.
Rose did not think that Gabrielle would want to eat with her again, but she was not sure if Gabrielle's mother would want to eat with her. From some of the discussions at the table Rose felt that Gabrielle's mother was very ambitions, and wanted to become friends with Rose because of how important her mother was.
"You can invite your sister Maria, Jesus," Rose suggested, "and Ginny, invite your cousin Harry. That way if someone we do not want asks to eat with us I can say we are eating with Harry and Ginny." Rose laughed.
Ginny Wang shook her head. "Sometimes it is awkward being named after Mr. and Mr. Potter."
"Jesus is a common Spanish name, but people see it spelled and pronounce it in English and it sounds funny," Jesus added.
Cleo received a note as they were finishing on the castle. "Mum Potter wants you, Rose and Scorpius, to come to the Regent's quarters once they are dressed for the Closing Ball." She told Rose and Scorpius before putting the note into one of her more discreet pockets. Rose was thrilled that they had gotten them to work in Cleo's skirts and dresses. It helped her not look as… well frumpy as she normally did.
Saturday afternoon the person who dressed Harry and Albus walked in with two of the witches who dressed Ginny and Cleo, along with the woman who washed and fixed their hair.
"What do you do when we are not here?" Ginny wondered.
"This week we have been working with the Magi who have been here for the ICWW, but normally we work with one of the clothing stores here," one of the dressers replied.
"I have clientele for my hairdressing," the one witch added. "I can charge more money because I am the hairdresser for the Regents."
"Jane, you are going to have your hair washed and styled, and then we are going to loan you a dress for tonight," Ginny told her young charge. "You are going to be eating with and staying with Rose and Scorpius."
"Yes, Mrs. Potter," Jane replied. She had become more comfortable being in this castle over the last week, but all the pomp and ceremony still intimidated her.
Cleo arrived with Rose and Scorpius, who were both dressed for the ball. Scorpius was in what Rose thought was an extremely handsome Muggle suit.
Rose wore a dress that emphasized her thin but feminine shape, having matured noticeable in the two years since Rose and Scorpius had first met.
Harry greeted the three young Magi. "Scorpius, I do not think we are welcome in the dressing rooms of the girls. Albus should be out shortly, and then we do what men have done for years, we wait for the women." Scorpius laughed as Ginny rolled her eyes and swatted at her husband who easily ducked her swat as he swooped in for a kiss. When Albus arrived, the men left with a dignified (not running because of Ginny sending a stinging hex at a laughing Harry) retreat.
Rose and Cleo entered the dressing room just as the hairdresser was finished with Jane. Cleo gushed, "Oh, Jane, I love what they did to your hair. It is not fancy. It is just you, but a nice you."
Jane looked in a mirror. Her hair was not all that different, but it wasn't quite as dull, and it did have a little more body. It was just a nicer version of her natural hair.
The hairdresser looked at Cleo's hair, took out the two big plaits, and washed the hair. She asked Cleo, "Would you mind if I made two smaller plaits to go over your shoulders in front, as well as the two bigger ones in back? I have some silk ribbons to weave in them as well as the beads."
"Please. I loved the way my hair looked last week. It was so colorful, so interesting," Cleo replied.
When she was finished, the hairdresser had turned Cleo's hair into even more of a statement. The two modest in diameter but long plaits in front were festooned with brightly colored silk ribbon and colorful beads, woven in an intricate pattern. The two big plaits in the back were even more colorful, with flowers in them as well. On top the tiara was held in place not by some invisible spell but by being woven in place.
Cleo wore a dress similar to the one she wore for the Opening Ball, with colorful embroidery, looking somehow at the same time elegant and like a peasant dress. The white background of her dress contrasted beautifully with her chocolate complexion, highlighting that she was neither black nor white, clearly of very mixed heritage. Cleo had a tendency to bounce instead of walk, and when she did the plaits bounced with her
Rose's sense of style tended towards subtle understatement, and Jane's hairstyle and dress appealed to her. Cleopatra, on the other hand, did not look natural in subtle dress. Jane looked at Cleo with eyes wide opened, still surprised by how Cleo looked.
Jane whispered to Rose, "Cleo is very, … very, …, very Cleopatra, isn't she?"
Rose laughed. Trying to force Cleopatra into a subtle or refined appearance was an exercise in frustration. Finally Rose confirmed, "Yes, Jane, she is very Cleopatra."
The seven Magi walked to the ballroom on the main floor of the castle. The ballroom had been radically transformed by magic. Normally the castle was built around a large atrium. The main floor of the castle had been transformed into one large room, with a floor over what was usually the atrium. The atrium continued up to the next two floors, however, giving the room the appearance of having two balconies surrounding it. This gave the castle room a banquet space for all of the witches and wizards who came to the International Conference of Witches and Wizards, all their families, plus other key families from Switzerland and elsewhere. All the Elves, house elves, Goblins, plus some metal working dwarves and Elf-Goblin mixed beings who were at the separate meetings held during this ICWW were there, with families and others.
Harry, Ginny, Albus and Cleopatra were led to a waiting room just off the entrance to the ballroom.
Rose, Scorpius and Jane entered the large ballroom and were led to their table on the main floor. Jesus and Maria Rios were there, along with the Elf that had taught them Elfish, Sprite LAWW, the LAWW indicating that he was attached to the Los Angeles School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ginny and Harry Wang were there, along with the two other Chinese students, John and Marcy Chang, and the two Chinese Elves, Jiao Xian Jing and her cousin Jia Xian Jing.
Rose introduced Jane to the people at the table.
Rose asked, "So what have you guys learned this summer?"
Ginny Wang started to complain, "Chinese myths of the origins of magic do not have any of the Christian mythology of Original Sin."
Scorpius wondered, "What do the Chinese Elves know about the origins of Magic?"
"We know we were betrayed by Qin Shi Huang!" Jiao Xian Jing all but shouted in his excitement. "Too many records from before that missing or destroyed. Besides, we are not in Switzerland where Regent Harry Potter lets Elves spend time and money investigate their history."
"There is some consternation that the headquarters of the Magi is in Switzerland and not in China," Ginny Wang added. "We think there is more of the Chinese history in the caves here, caves that we cannot get into yet. There may be some more information in The Mountain of the Dementors, what No-Maj call K-2, as well, but of course we cannot go there either."
The Chinese Elves and MELL students from China shared more of the stories and myths of the origins of magic in China, as well as the stories of how the Elves helped Qin Shi Huang and his predecessors establish the first Chinese dynasty, and how the Elves were betrayed.
Harry, Ginny, Albus and Cleo were told there may be a bit of a wait while everyone else was seated.
Harry and Albus watched as people came in, commenting on people they knew.
Cleo looked at Ginny, telling her, "You are real pretty, Mum Potter."
I look like a heavy middle-aged mother, which is what I am, Ginny thought to herself, but what she did instead was smile at Cleo and thank her for the compliment. "Thank you, Cleo. The costumers do a great job of dressing us. I love what they did to your hair."
"I like it too" Cleo responded. "It is colorful and fun."
Ginny had to admit that Cleo's hair was very colorful.
"How long have you been coming to these balls?" Cleo wondered.
"Twenty years," Ginny reflected with a sigh. "Twenty years ago the Battle of Hogwarts was a year behind us, I had finished at Hogwarts and had been recruited to play for the Holyhead Harpies. I was eighteen, almost nineteen, and it just felt like I was beginning to live my Happily Ever After dream with the man of my dreams.
"I was pretty, too. Short, but curvy. Most of the girls at Hogwarts were not happy with their shape, but I thought I was just about perfect. Girls who were flatter on top were jealous because I had plenty of bust, and girls who were too big on top were jealous because I wasn't too big. I had nice hips and a thin, flat stomach. When I put on weight it all went to my tummy and hips, and then when I took a potion to get a little bigger on top it worked too well. I need to work hard to be happy with who I am right now."
"I think you are pretty, Mum Potter," Cleo insisted. "What could be better than looking like a mother?"
"I love being a mother," Ginny agreed. "Most of the Weasley women gain weight when we have babies, though, and we look like mothers."
"What could be better than having a baby and looking like a mother?" Cleo wondered.
"Seeing them grow up to be good, happy adults," Ginny responded. "You do not want them to stay babies. There have been parents who came through the Domestic Affairs houses on Grimmauld Place with handicapped children, children who never would grow up. It is so sad. Some could not take it, and left, leaving others to raise the mentally handicapped children who would always be children. Usually it is the fathers who leave and the mother who has to raise the child, but not always."
"But you did live your dream, you are living your dream," Cleo insisted. "You played for the Holyhead Harpies, and then you became a mother."
"I am happy," Ginny confirmed, "really very happy, but I had no idea how hard, how difficult some of the last twenty years would be. I loved the danger in Quidditch, but I was hurt often, and eventually hurt so seriously that I am never going to be able to fly again. That is why my balance and hearing are bad, because of a career ending Quidditch injury."
"But then you decided to have a family," Cleo eagerly suggested.
"I thought Harry and I would plan our family, but then I found out I was pregnant when we were studying in San Francisco, and it took me a while to believe it, and to be ready for it. In some ways only Minerva was planned. Well, we planned Lily too, but she has ended up being a difficult child. Life just happens sometimes. I am not complaining. I really love my life.
"I'm not a Christian, unlike Harry and Albus, and I guess this is not in their scriptures, but Harry has given me a saying that makes sense to me. 'Humans plan and God laughs.' Even when our dreams come true, it is seldom the way we think."
The Elves John and Mary Rivendale, the head Elves, their daughter Arwen and her mate Elrond, along with Galadriel arrived in the holding area, along with Thorin Oakenwand and his grandparents, the Head Goblin Zefenslot and his wife Mutneset.
"Elves and Magi are serving, working together," John commented, looking out a window at the gathering. "There is much consternation and dissent. The Elves are wary, the Goblins suspicious, and some of the Magi are ready to revolt. Magi and the Elves working for them are seated at the same table, at times with a Goblin and his wife."
"Magi, Elves and Goblins eating together?" Harry exclaimed. "Who's idea was that."
"It is time," Galadriel stressed. "The prophetesses say it is time."
Cleo added, "Galadriel and I talked about it, and it is time for all the sentient beings to know each other and become friends."
"Civilly acquainted if not friends," Galadriel thought out loud.
"You still want to march in together?" Harry wondered.
"Elves have waited too long for this," John noted. "The chance to change the order of things comes along only once in a few centuries. This is not the end, or even the beginning of the end of all the changes that are going to be needed. It is not even the end of the beginning. We are going to have to march out together soon, before everyone is seated, and speak, and hopefully prevent a riot."
Harry received a call on his Magic/Muggle Mobile from Hermione, saying, "Harry, you or someone needs to come out and say something. The seating arrangements are not meeting with universal approval. A couple of tables are in open revolt."
At the same time both an Elf and a Goblin appeared, urgently talking to the Elves and Goblins.
Galadriel spoke in a commanding voice, "We go. Harry and Ginny on the right, John and Mary on the left, Zefenslot and Mutneset in the middle, no one in front. Arwen and Elrond follow. Cleo and I are next to each other, with Thorin next to me and Albus next to Cleo. We march out like we are in command."
People were still coming in, but the group entered the back of the hall, and at a nod from John a mixed Magi and Elf band started to play a march. Per Galadriel's instructions, the group marched from the entrance of the hall all the way to a raised platform at the rear of the hall that had been prepared for them.
When they arrived at the platform everyone took their places, Harry helping seat Mary as Zefenslot helped Ginny and John helped Mutneset to their seats. Galadriel walked out in front of the table, and motioned for everyone to sit down. She put her wand to her throat, and then waved it across the room. Everyone sat there, silent, watching. People would later say that the wand was impossible not to watch, and that it radiated power.
"This is the first wand," Galadriel proclaimed, in a voice that was at the same time quiet and powerful. You could hear a pin drop in the large hall, the silence was so profound.
"This is the first wand, not made on Earth. I am the first Elf to wield it in centuries. Why, and how I became the heir of the wand, is between the larger community of beings descendent from the first High Elves. To become the next Queen of the High Elves I need to mate, and to mate with the one who properly wields the wand made for my consort when High Elves first came to Earth. That wand is properly wielded by Thorin Oakenwand, the grandson of the Chief Goblin Zefenslot and his honored mate Mutneset. That mating will happen this week."
A few Goblins arose as if to protest, but Galadriel pointed her wand at them, and Zefenslot stood and glared at the Goblins as only a Goblin could glare. The Goblins reluctantly and sullenly sat down.
"Thorin and I cannot govern alone, but only with the heirs of the first two wands made for the Magi. We are still missing a wand and the fulfillment of some prophesies.
"Elves, listen to me. You need to talk to the people you are working for. Magi, talk to your Elves, but also listen. Most Elves do not want the kind of freedom that involves being thrown away, but a loving and mutually beneficial relationship based on respect."
Galadriel took her seat, and appetizers appeared on the tables, as a few stragglers finished filling the hall.
Animated and occasionally borderline violent discussion broke out at most of the tables. At a few tables the beings just looked suspiciously at each other. Halfway through the meal wands were drawn at one table, and then at several more tables. Galadriel and Cleopatra rushed out to the front of the table and yelled together, "QUIET."
"HONESTLY," Cleopatra huffed, as she put her hands on her hips scolding them. "You are acting like spoiled children."
Most of the Magi felt like a mother was bawling them out. A number of wands were put away, and several Magi and Goblin males looked at their females ashamed at what they had threatened to do.
Albus whispered to his mother, "I'm not more powerful than Cleo, just more in control."
"In control of both of you?" Ginny wondered.
"Usually." Albus admitted. Cleo could be scary at times.
Ginny looked at the two females. Galadriel was dressed in a white and silver dress that somehow complimented the unusual silver wand that she held. The silver wand looked powerful, like it was made of some unearthly substance that was stronger than any mere earthly metal, and Galadriel looked like a powerful High Elf of old, an Elfish princess of immense power.
Cleopatra, in contrast, looked like a goddess of the hearth, more of this earth, of fertility and abundance and everything good about being human. If Galadriel was the power of the other, Cleo was the power of your mother, a powerful earth goddess.
Harry and Zefenslot stepped out to meet the young females in front of their banquet table.
"We have twelve teams consisting of Magi Aurors," Harry started, before turning to Zefenslot, who continued, "and Goblin Enforcers. Six of the teams also contain an Elf Negotiator."
"All someone has to do, if you feel the discussions at your table are getting out of hand, is to stand and a team will be there," Zefenslot announced.
Harry added, "The International Aurors' Association is working with the Goblins to have teams of negotiators associated with every government."
"It has turned out to be hard in some countries, where Elves are especially badly treated, to get Elves on the teams of Aurors and Goblins," Zefenslot admitted. "Occasionally there may be Goblin wives instead of Elves, or both a Goblin wife and an Elf, on these teams."
Harry informed the group, "Either Elves or Magi can call in a team if there is a conflict. Goblins can call in a team if they can see a conflict between Magi and Elves. We are not looking to make people happy, although that would be ideal. We intend to maintain peace."
After a brief pause, "I, for one, want to finish my dinner," Cleo snapped. "Behave yourselves!" She glared at the room in general before flouncing back to her seat.
The four beings went back to finish their dinner. Occasionally discussions would get heated at a table, and an Auror/Goblin team would intervene. If the team could not restore peace, the team would look at the head table, and a couple of times both Galadriel and Cleopatra arose and stared at the offending table, which was enough to restore civility if not peace.
As they were finishing pudding, Harry looked at Ginny. "Now for a nice quiet dance."
Ginny burst into laughter, almost losing the dessert in her mouth.
Tables were magically re-arranged, and as music started people started to mingle. It was not surprising when Harry saw Joseph Marie DuMond Jr. stomping towards him, the rest of the families and what Harry guessed were the families' Elves following.
"Who is going to compensate me for the loss of my house elves?" Joseph demanded.
Cleo marched right up to Joseph, her wand out, and pondered, "Are you so unsure of your masculinity that you have to own other beings?"
The group that had been seated at the head table giggled.
Joseph had a tendency to judge people by their wealth. He started to yell, but was distracted by Cleo's hair. Joseph was a jeweler, and just by looking at the tiara he could tell it was as close to priceless as it could be. What shocked him, however, were the decorations in Cleo's hair. Instead of glass beads, they were jewels of the finest quality, sprinkled casually through the hair, not gaudy but just rather naturally fitting in with the hair and profusion of color. He could see more than two million Galleons worth of jewels.
The cognitive dissonance between the casual but powerful earthiness of Cleo and the staggering value of the jewelry, both natural to her, was hard for him to process.
"Go and negotiate with the Elves who have served your family, and still will if you will fairly employ them," Cleo ordered.
Joseph and the rest of his entourage slunk back to their table. Ginny whispered to Harry, "Joseph almost said 'yes, mother' to Cleo."
It was Harry's turn to break out in laughter.
Ginny sat down, her balance becoming more problematic. Mitzi was next to her with a flash, and with her was her mate Fritz, the head of finance for the Potter/Weasley Elves.
Ginny looked around, trying to judge what was going on. By pretending to be "just" a Quidditch reporter she escaped the intense questioning and petitioning that at times went on during affairs like this. Harry did share almost everything with her, and asked her opinion on almost every major decision if he could. Ginny was watching the interactions before her, talking to Mitzi who would remember every word Ginny said and write it down for Ginny. Mitzi would add her own observations. These notes were very helpful for Harry. Dobedo, who had joined Harry, did the same thing for Harry, both guarding him but also serving as a living recorder of what was going on.
Harry's main job seemed to be to adsorb a certain amount of anger, and deflect it. Albus was very much like his father, but he was also trying to somewhat control Cleopatra.
Cleopatra seemed never to get angry with people who tried to argue with her. She was full of unexpected observations, apparently observing sometimes hidden parts of people's character. More than one person, after confronting Cleo, beat a hasty retreat. Cleo was very nice to people who were nice or even neutral towards her, however, and she charmed way more people than she frightened.
It was not just the Magi who had a problem with what was going on. Many Goblins tried to argue with all the High Elf contingent. Goblins fought, and they could argue with Zefenslot and Thorin, the Goblins. Few of the Goblins were used to a powerful Goblin wife, and it was clear that many of the Goblins did not know what to make of Mutneset.
Galadriel was such a powerful presence that almost all of the Goblins tried to stay away from her, but she stayed with Thorin, demonstrating that Goblins were going to have to talk to them as a couple. You could tell just from body language that many Goblins were horrified at the idea of Thorin mating with Galadriel.
A few Elves talked to Galadriel, but many more talked to the two Elf couples, John and Mary, Arwen and Elrond.
Ginny occasionally looked over at Jane, who seemed to be happy trying to disappear as people talked to Rose and Scorpius and the others at their table.
When it became clear that a slow dance was going to start Ginny nodded to Harry, and in that unspoken way good couples communicate indicated that she wanted to dance. Harry excused himself and took Ginny out to the dance floor, and they held each other close and danced.
"I'm still trying to process all that is going on," Harry admitted.
"We will talk tonight," Ginny suggested.
Ginny noticed Galadriel and Thorin out on the dance floor. They were good dancers, and looked natural together. Ginny didn't think she had ever seen a Goblin dance, although a few of the Elves had danced at some of the previous balls, and were dancing tonight. Mitzi and Fritz danced when Harry and Ginny danced, and were good dancers. Eventually Zefenslo and Mutneset danced one of the slow dances. They were not particularly good dancers, but it was obvious just from the body language and look of the faces of the Goblins that seeing the head Goblin dance with his mate was a shock.
"Well, that was interesting," Harry observed as he and Ginny sat on the side of their bed in the Castle in Switzerland.
"Just how important is Fritz, Mitzi's mate," Ginny asked. "Mitzi is very proud of him, but she doesn't seem to know what he does, except to do magic with money."
"I noticed that Elves were seeking him out to talk to him," Harry replied. "Did you hear what they were talking about?"
"I heard a couple of things repeated over and over," Ginny thought. "Living below your means, which I guess meant always having money left over the end of every month, and the magic of compound interest."
"Fritz knows money," Harry agreed. "We already have a couple of marginal businesses, farms and other businesses, that only survived because of the so called free labor of the elves.
"We have a farm in England that illustrates the power of finance. Ten years of being paid, with the Elves saving their money and the Magi not saving anything but going into debt, and the Elves have enough money to buy the farm from their former owners. If Elves are like Goblins, and Goblins can own property, then Elves can as well. That is only one of the problems we are dealing with."
"That's a problem?" Ginny wondered.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Harry replied. "Your former slaves owning what you formerly owned, the very idea causes some Magi to be angry and lash out."
"Are you going to meet with the children and Elves to talk about all this?" Ginny asked.
"Next week, after we are back in Great Britain," Harry acknowledged.
Albus and Scorpius were in the room of the girls, Rose, Cleopatra and Jane. Rose asked Albus, "What was going on up there? We saw one group after another talk to you and Cleo."
"A few tried to talk to me instead of Dad, but those people I just told that I was there to listen and learn, and I didn't think I had any authority to say anything. People complained, but they couldn't do anything about it.
"Other people asked if I was going to be King of the Magi, but I just said I didn't know if there was going to be a King of the Magi. Some people asked Cleopatra why she felt she had the power to say what she did."
"What did you tell them?" Rose asked Cleo.
"Galadriel told me to do it, and she has the first wand, and I just mostly did what I was told," Cleo explained. "People asked if I was going to be the next queen, and I said that I didn't know."
"There are Magi who are very insistent that the hierarchy of ruling has to be a King, then a Queen, then maybe an Elf or Goblin," Albus explained. "If you go by when wands were created, and which was more powerful, it would seem clear that the hierarchy is the First Wand of Galadriel, then Thorin's wand, then Cleo and me. I'm not more powerful than Cleo. But many wizards just do not want to hear that."
"Mum says we are going to meet and talk more about this week early next week, after we are back in England," Rose interjected, "It is late, and we need to go to bed. We all have to be up tomorrow morning."
At this the boys left the girls' room and went back to their room.
2020