LoDK
The Legacy of the Dark Knight Saga
Jamie Prosser and the Fourth Champion
Chapter 19: The Unexpected Task
Disclaimer: This is solely a not-for-profit fan activity and does not intend to infringe on copyrights held by Time Warner, DC Comics, Bloomsbury et al, and JK Rowling. Any characters who are original to this work remain the property of the author.
A/N: This story diverges significantly from accepted canon for the Harry Potter series from the outset, as in addition to the crossover elements, there are several deviations from the books that will be covered where they fit into the narrative. The timeline of the DC Comics elements borrows heavily from Young Justice (2011), but adds elements and characters from the comics, and relocates the series to the late Sixties and early Seventies rather than the New Tens as screened and is heavy on 'legacy' and original characters as a result.
A/N: Unless stated otherwise, the action of this story takes place in the run up to and during the 1997-1998 school year (305 "Anno Secreto" or "Year of Secrecy") parallel to the events of Deathly Hallows in canon. The year code "AL" is also my own invention and stands for After Liberation, counting the years after the Justice League's ending of the "Apokolips War", my as-yet unwritten take on the events of Young Justice Season 3 (Set late 1973 to April 1976).
The Orchard,
Royctonshire.
9th December, 1801 GMT.
I'm glad the trials are over, thought Ginny, as she struggled through some maths homework. It'll be good to get back to normal. Now, how does this algebra thing work again? She racked her brain for a couple of minutes and then eventually gave up and reached for her maths book. It didn't take long to find the right section:
In algebra, letters are used to stand for values that can change (variables) or for values that are not known (unknowns). A term is a number or letter on its own, or numbers and letters multiplied together, such as - 2, 3x or 5a^2. An expression is a set of terms combined using the operations +, – , x or /, for example 4x − 3 or 5x^2 – 3xy + 17. An equation states that two expressions are equal in value, for example 4b − 2 = 6.
For example:
For the following problem - Pens are sold in packs of 6 and rulers are sold in boxes of 10. A teacher buys p packs of pens and r boxes of rulers. Write an expression for the total number of pens and rulers bought. Firstly, assign letters to the items: p for the number of packs of pens and r for the number of boxes of rulers. There are 6 pens in each pack, so the number of pens bought is 6 \times p which is 6p. There are 10 rulers in each box, so the number of rulers bought is 10 times r which is 10r – the equation for the number of pens and rulers bought is 6p + 10r
Okay, that makes sense, decided Ginny, and turned back to her homework. So, if John is n years old, Kim is three years younger than John and Vanessa is half Kim's age, then the expressions for each person's age would be… She immediately wrote 'n', in the box for John's age, then moved down to the second box, after a moment writing 'n -3', then paused and completed the question by writing '(n-3)/2' in the third box.
She was about to move down to the next question, when a shout from downstairs broke her concentration.
"Kids, you might want to see this!" yelled Alanna.
"Coming!" replied Ginny, then put her pencil down and headed for the door.
"In the living room!" Alanna told them as she and Eddie met at the top of the stairs, a glance to the side showed that Danny was only a few steps behind.
When they reached the living room, Ginny noticed that the big television was tuned to the BBC News. A mousey-brown haired man in his fifties – the channel's political editor if Ginny's memory served – was on the screen. "The police have yet to release the full details, but we understand that the attack took place in the early hours of this morning, and that neither Mr Ttab or his daughter Alizia have been seriously injured, but that both have been taken to hospital for observation…"
"Alizia Ttab, that name sounds familiar…" pondered Ginny. "Wasn't she the one that found Zoya Zeagon?"
"I think it was her bodyguard, actually," suggested Eddie. "Her father's a - somewhat divisive - 'alien rights lobbyist' if I recall…"
"That's right," agreed his mother. "He's running in a by-election. If he gets in, he'll be the first non-terrestrial MP in Britain."
"I'm guessing that ruffled a few feathers," suggested Ginny.
"I'd say so," agreed Ginny. "I wonder if any groups have claimed responsibility?"
"A firebomb isn't the Ulfhethnar's style…" offered Eddie.
Ginny agreed that the berserker group were typically more 'direct'. "Seems more like Oostermaand 82 or the Awal al Naasu to me…"
Eddie nodded. "Or just random yobbery, but that seems a bit coincidental…"
"A bit too coincidental for my tastes."
"Shh…" hissed Danny.
"We go now to our local correspondent outside Steel City General…" stated the BBC presenter. "Do you have any further details, Ian?"
"I do," confirmed the other reporter, a grey-haired man of a similar age. "His spokesman made an announcement a few minutes ago that Mr Ttab sustained only minor smoke inhalation but was otherwise uninjured and is expected to travel to the Children's Hospital to be with his daughter in the morning."
"Did she say anything about his daughter's condition?"
The other man nodded, "She sustained burns and smoke inhalation. Her condition is described as 'serious, but stable'. "
"Do the police have any leads?"
"DI Cutter released a brief statement shortly before Mr Ttab's spokesman, they are investigating it as hate crime, but as yet no group has claimed responsibility."
"Thanks Ian," said the presenter. "And now to other news…"
The three kids turned away from the television and instinctively drifted towards the stairs down to the Game Room.
"Do you think…?" Danny began, but was cut off when his brother's commlink beeped an alert.
"Yep," replied Eddie, somewhat unnecessarily, then bounded down the stairs. "Let's go!"
"Right behind you, Eddie," said Ginny, and hurried down the stairs almost as quickly.
Danny followed them and was just about able to say that he'd tell Alanna not to 'hold dinner' before they disappeared in a flash.
****
The Watchtower,
Earth Orbit.
1305 EST.
"Recognised Darkclaw B136, Recognised Protector B147," declared the computer as they reappeared on the Watchtower, immediately they headed towards the meeting room.
There were a number of familiar faces present from the League – Big Ben and Impala, a Green Lantern and one of the trainers, Rachael Feldmann – plus a handful of Team members, Eddie and Ginny slipped into empty chairs between Rachael and Typhoon.
Once everyone was seated, Big Ben rose to his feet and took Supermartian's usual place at the head of the table. "Thank you for coming, Supermartian would have been here, but he's tied up on other business with LexCorp."
"I assume as Green Lantern is here that it's about the Ttabs?" asked Eddie.
Impala nodded. "What we're currently keeping from the media is that – while no group has claimed responsibility – a known member of Oostermaand 82, Adam Haerig, was arrested on a drunk and disorderly charge in Steel City two days ago. As he's never implicated in any specific activity, he was questioned, paid his fine and was released…"
"But you suspect that if one of them is in the area, there are others?"
"That's the theory," agreed Big Ben. "Skybolt is heading over the hospital to consult with the medical team at SCCH about Alizia's injuries. However, the Graxosian Consulate has requested that the Justice League review the circumstances of the attack - and both the SCOPE commander and the Home Office have agreed - so Matthew and M'Bumase will be heading down in the morning to question the Ttab family's bodyguards, none of which were present at the time of the incident."
"That's a little weird, isn't it?" asked Ginny.
Big Ben nodded, "That's why the security team has been suspended and transferred to SCOPE's regional headquarters in Wakefield for questioning."
"So, who's taking over guard duties now?"
"Spartan teams have been deployed to both hospitals, and protection officers are taking over driving duties at least until the election," replied Big Ben. "However, her father is concerned that this might not be enough to protect Alizia if someone tries to target her." Big Ben replied. "So, I have agreed to deploy an undercover squad to increase security."
"Are you taking volunteers?" asked Ginny.
"Given your knowledge of the city from the Slasher investigation, we were hoping you would be amenable?"
Ginny nodded. "Can you sort out something with school though?"
"I think so," said Rachael, in response to a look from Big Ben. "You haven't any official work experience yet? Since you started regular school?"
"Nope," Ginny agreed. "I've mentioned I did some work as a journalist before that… but obviously didn't go into detail because of the Statute of Secrecy."
"I can work with that," Rachael confirmed.
"Alright then, Green Lantern, Impala and Protector, with Kid Martian and Nighthawk providing overwatch will be Alpha," declared Big Ben. "Bijali, Darkclaw and Shadowfox… I'd like you to keep yourselves available to act as Beta Squad at public events."
"Can do," confirmed Eddie, and the girls agreed immediately.
Big Ben turned back to Ginny, "How soon can you be ready?"
Ginny paused to think for a moment, "We'll be a few days?"
"Probably?"
"I can be ready to go with Green Lantern and Impala."
"That'll be fine," agreed Big Ben, then glanced at Rachael. "I imagine that it'll take at least that long to get you out of class?"
"If we want to avoid causing a fuss…"
"Kid Martian, Nighthawk, can you deploy now?"
"Yes, sir," confirmed the Thanagarian teen and the Martian agreed a breath later.
"Alright, dismissed."
As they made their way back to the Zeta Tubes, Bijali slipped in beside Ginny, "Is everything okay with Harry? He's usually the first to volunteer for these sort of cases."
Ginny nodded. "No, he's fine. He's still busy helping Sirius settle in."
"Cool, give him my best when you see him."
"Will do," Ginny assured her.
****
The House of Mystery,
Hogwarts Grounds,
Scottish Highlands.
11th December, 1050 GMT.
His godfather's exoneration had resulted in more of a flurry of activity than Harry had expected, so he hadn't had a chance to look at his 'golden egg' until now. Constantine had made himself scarce so as to avoid questions of blatant cheating, but Black Orchid, Deadman and Sirius were present in the flesh, and Beryl and Zatanna were both up on screens.
"Everyone ready?" Harry asked. After receiving a serious of agreements, he turned his attention to the egg itself. As the message from Bagman had informed him, the 'egg' had a hinged split down the middle. Harry picked it up – it was as heavy as he remember so it took a moment to balance it. "Let's do this."
Harry dug his fingernails into the hinged groove and prised it open.
Slightly anticlimactically, the egg was… hollow, and for a moment Harry wondered if it was all a trick, when the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been playing the musical saw. "Shut it!" Sirius bellowed, his hands over his ears.
"Okay… what was that?" asked Deadman. "It didn't sound like much of a clue to me… a threat maybe…"
Harry's mood plummeted he'd been hoping that this was going to be easy…
"It's a language."
Harry looked up at Beryl. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am," said Beryl. "That's my 'thing' isn't it?"
"True," Harry agreed. "Do you know what it says?"
"I'm not sure," admitted Beryl, slightly chagrined at the fact. "It sounds a little… muffled. Distorted maybe?"
"Uhm… could it be Mermish?" suggested Sirius. "It sounds a bit some of the screeching that Remus would do when he was learning that back in school."
"That would make sense," Harry agreed. "I think there are some merpeople in the lake…"
"There are," Sirius confirmed. "At least there were when I was in school."
"I think we can go with that then," said Beryl. "Harry, Sirius, can either of you conjure something protect your hearing, Zee and I can lower the volume on our pick-ups."
"I can," confirmed Sirius, drawing his wand and pointing it at the nearest open bit of table. "Auriomanuleafors!"
Three pairs of pink, fluffy earmuffs – which reminded Harry of Herbology lessons of long ago – materialised on the table. Harry glanced at Sirius, a questioning glance on his face. "Really?"
Sirius shrugged, and picked up a pair. "Heh, they work."
"True," admitted Harry and picked up the second pair on put them on. Once Black Orchid had followed their example, Harry opened the egg again. As promised, the earmuffs deadened the sound to bearable levels. After about twenty seconds, Beryl indicated that he should close it up. Once he had, he tore off the earmuffs. "Well?"
"It's definitely Mermish," confirmed Beryl. "I'm not great with translating magical language, but I'm forwarding the audio file to the Conservatory, we should have something soon."
"Can you let me know as soon as you do?" Harry asked. "I can start researching general strategies for the obvious possibilities, but detailed information is always useful."
"Agreed,
" said Beryl. "I'll be in touch, Dungeon out."
****
Hogwarts,
Scottish Highlands.
1250 GMT.
After an hour of largely fruitless searching, Harry decided to give up the search as a bad job for the time being, and threw on his cloak and boats and headed up to the castle. When he reached the Great Hall, he was surprised at the constant hum of conversation he found, particularly as several of the giggling and whispering girls – none of which were wearing the 'Support Zacharias Smith, the Real Hogwarts Champion' that he'd traced to Draco Malfoy – shrieking with laughter as he passed them.
Deciding that he needed to find out what was going on sooner rather than later, he glanced around the hall, looking for familiar faces… His sister and her friends were apparently still in class, as he couldn't see them, but after a moment or two he did spot the Gryffindor seventh years clustered around the far end of the table.
By the time he reached them, his curiosity had risen even further due to hearing snatches about 'who do you want to ask?', 'what are you wearing' and similar.
Ron was the first to speak up when he slid into an open spot opposite him, "Hi Harry. How's it going?"
"Not bad," Harry said. "I just got a good clue about the Second Task, the egg speaks Mermish apparently. Jamie's mum's checking her sources for a translation. Anyway, I can't really talk about that… what I would like to know is… what's all the excitement about?"
Predictably, Hermione – who always liked to be the one with the answer to things – was the one to answer. "The staff announced the Yule Ball today. It's going to be held on the Saturday before Christmas."
Harry sighed, while things might a little better now, his previous experience of such events hadn't been great. "I suppose as one of the champions, my attendance is mandatory?"
Hermione made a face, "I'm not sure. But I assume so."
"You are going to ask my sister, aren't you?" demanded Ron.
"As soon as I get a chance," Harry agreed. "She's out on a case at the moment, but I'll try and catch her as soon as she gets back."
"Good."
Harry turned back to Hermione, "Has he asked you yet?"
Hermione blushed a little, "As soon as we left Herbology."
"Good," said Harry, deliberated echoing Ron's earlier response. "Have you asked anyone yet, Neville?"
The stocky, blond boy shook his head. "I might ask Hannah Abbot… we work together a lot in Herbology and she's always kind to me."
"Sounds good, Neville," said Harry. "You should go for it."
"Yeah, go for it mate," said Ron. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Neville straightened up a little at this. "You're right. I'm going to do it."
****
Burns Unit,
Steel City Children's Hospital,
Steel City S10
12th December, 1855 GMT
"Can you help Alizia back to her room before you go?" Chase asked Ginny, as she packed up the dermal regenerator after a treatment session. "I've got to get over to the ward for handover."
"No problem," said Ginny, then turned to Alizia. "Do you need a hand getting down?"
"I'm good," said the Graxosian and sat up, spun smoothly to the side and then eased herself into her wheelchair.
"Well done," said Chase. "Alizia, I'm going to get some sleep after the handover, but I'll see you in the morning?"
The girl nodded, and then signalled Ginny to wheel her out of the treatment room and across the corridor to her own. "Are you coming back tomorrow?" Alizia asked Ginny as she tucked the younger girl into bed.
"Officially, I've got the weekend off," Ginny said. "I probably owe Charley a visit, I hadn't seen her for a while. I could swing by later… maybe Sunday… if you want?"
"I'd like that."
"I'll be here Monday regardless," Ginny replied.
"I'll see you then," said Alixia. "Have a good weekend."
"I'd say you too, but…" said Ginny. "Hopefully it won't be too bad. Bye."
"Bye."
After leaving Alixia's room, she took the wheelchair back to storage, then after stopping off briefly to check in with Chase's 'other half' – who was undercover as a patient on the ward next door, then changed into her street clothes and headed outside.
*Anything to report?* asked K'oll, as she left the building and walked towards the nearest bus stop.
*Nothing relevant,* admitted Ginny. *Skybolt haven't seen anything suspicious either. I'm heading back to the Foundry to get some sleep.*
*I'll let you know if anything happens.*
****
The Foundry,
Steel City S9.
1945 GMT.
"Recognised Protector B147," confirmed the computer as the safehouse slid open to allow Ginny to enter.
Asshe did, she was assailed with some very tempting food smells, which surprised her a lot. Despite her mother's best efforts, she wasn't much of a cook, and neither were Kid Martian or Nighthawk who would occasionally swing by to rest between patrol sweeps, so they'd been living on rations from the safehouse's pantry for the last few days.
"Hello?" she called, as she edged quietly towards the kitchen area. "Is anyone there?"
As she got within arms reach of the prep table that separated the kitchenette and the comms area, the back of a familiar head appeared as he stood up from taking something out of the oven.
Ginny stopped, a little surprised. "Harry?"
Her boyfriend turned and flashed her his signature smile that never failed to get a reaction from her. "Ginny! You're right on time!"
"What are you doing here?" blurted out Ginny before she could stop herself. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."
"I wanted to tell you about a couple of things, and ask you something," said Harry, putting the pan down that he taken from the oven. "And I thought you mighgt like a break from survival rations."
"You know me well," agreed Ginny, taking advantage of his empty arms to slide in for a hug and a quick snog. "What did you make us?"
"Poulet à la chasseur and pommes de terre gratinées," Harry replied. "The chicken's ready, but the potatoes need a couple more minutes."
"Can I do anything?" Ginny asked.
"I've got everything under control," Harry assured her. "Have a seat and I'll bring everything over when it's done."
"I'll do that," said Ginny.
"Putting aside the fancy French names you threw at me, this is basically baked chicken and cheesy potatoes, right?" Ginny asked Harry, once they were ensconced in chairs with plates a few minutes later.
Harry shrugged. "You caught me. Do you like it?"
"Yeah," admitted Ginny with a grin. "Are you trying to butter me up for something?"
"Well, I hadn't seen you for a while and I wanted to," Harry replied. "But yeah… just a little bit."
"Go on."
"Well, it turns out that there are actually four events in the Triwizard Tournament, not three, and the surprise one is a 'yule ball' on the weekend before Christmas," said Harry.
"So, you need a date," said Ginny. "And you're worried about me coming to Hogwarts."
"I am," Harry said. "I know you came up for the First Task, but that was just a semi-random person in the audience… you'd be the centre of attention this time."
"I know," said Ginny. "But I'll be fine. I'll be there."
"Thanks, Ginny," said Harry. "Does that mean you don't need the chocolate cake?"
Ginny's eyes flashed. "Give to me or die, Potter."
Harry grinned, "Just kidding."
****
Burns Unit,
Steel City Children's Hospital,
Steel City S10
19th December, 1935 GMT
"Ginny!" squealed Alizia as a porter wheeled her out of the Children's Hospital and she saw Ginny waiting beside the patient transport ambulance that was going to take her home. "What are you doing here?"
"Doctor Jacobsen told me you were getting out today," Ginny replied. "I can go if you like?"
"No, no… I was just surprised that's all," said Alizia, then turned to one of the technicians. "Can Ginny come with us?"
"Sure," said the woman, Ginny wasn't sure, but she thought she might be a Roltikkon, her partner was definitely a Syvillian. "Have a seat, Ginny."
"Will do," said Ginny, then opened the side door and slipped into one of the spare seats and watched as the female technician wheeled Alizia in through the rear entrance of the vehicle and lock the wheelchair into place.
Once she was sure that Alixia and Ginny were secured in their seats, the female moved to a spare seat within reach of Alixia and sat down. "Let's go!"
"Got it!" replied the Syvillian driver. "One-One-Six-Seven to Control."
"Go ahead, One-One-Six-Seven," replied a disembodied voice, Ginny presumed it belonged to an Ambulance Service controller.
"We have the patient, plus one, on-board, departing Steel City Children's. Show us mobile to the Lexor at Isenberg Park."
"Understood, One-One-Six-Seven," replied the controller. "Follow your escort out of the ambulance bay."
"I see them, Control," confirmed the driver. "Rolling now."
*Protector to Z'orr, we're on the move,* Ginny told the rest of her team as the ambulance pulled out of the hospital grounds and turned onto Brook Hill Road.
*We have you in sight, Protector,* confirmed K'oll's mental voice in her head as they passed through Steel City University campus and onto the main route south into the suburbs. *I estimate that you will arrive at Isenberg Park in twenty minutes.*
*Understood,* said Ginny. *Keep sharp, just because they didn't try again at the hospital, doesn't mean they've given up.*
*Agreed,* confirmed K'oll. *And in transit is one of the most dangerous times.*
"Ginny?"
"What is it, Alizia?"
"Have you got any plans for Christmas?"
"A few actually," Ginny admitted. "My boyfriend's invited to a dance this weekend which I'm going to… then I'm going to my parent's for Christmas Day and then his family on Boxing Day."
"Sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun," said Alizia, sounding a little wistful at the thought. "I suspect that my dad's going to keep me in our hotel suite for the entire holiday."
Unless we can confirm that the threat's over that's probably true, Ginny admitted to herself, but aloud all she said was, "I'm sure he just wants to keep you safe."
Alizia didn't have anything to say to that, so she fell silent.
They passed the next ten minutes or so in relative silence, until the peace was shattered two massive bangs were heard and then the ambulance lurched to the side. "What happened!" yelled the technician.
"I'm not sure…" said the driver, desperately trying to keep control. "I saw a flash of red light…"
*Z'orr did you see anything?*
*Negative, coming around for another look,* reported K'oll. *Hang on, there's a man making his way out of the bushes… I think he might be armed…*
*Nighthawk…*
*Ready…*
*Protector, he's armed!*
declared K'oll. *He's taking aim at the ambulance.*
"Everyone grab hold of something!" yelled Ginny. *Nighthawk…*
*Deploying…* replied the Thanagarian, but he was just a little too slow as a second later there was a loud thud outside and the rear of the ambulance shook as if it had been hit a massive blow and the ambulance lurched to the side again, but this time the driver couldn't correct in time and it toppled over, landing with an almighty crash less than a second later.
Ginny's head struck the side of the ambulance and her vision quickly faded to black.