Bajor was four days from Earth at high warp. By chance, it was the US Sutherland which would arrive carrying Prince William. That ship was captained by someone who was a proud Scotsman – Harry was comfortable trusting Captain Forrester, a descendant of members of the Black Watch.

Harry immediately contacted someone else. "General Krim."

"Sir Harry Potter. How may I help you?" the man asked sardonically. Harry suspected that was his default tone.

"I have a very important person arriving in a few days to check over operations in response to what has been occurring. I need to ensure their safety."

"And the name of this important person?"

"Prince William Windsor, Heir to the Hereditary Throne of Great Britain. His father is Charles VIII, the man that holds my oath."

Krim nodded thoughtfully. "I see. What plans does this Prince William have?"

Harry sighed. "Prince William is answering for King Charles' concerns for his people, who are helping to ensure that the reclamators stay running and successful. Everything they are doing is in Bajor's interest and yet anti-Bajoran sentiment causes people to target them. How can cleaning the soil of Bajor from the poisons left by the Cardassians be detrimental to Bajor or Bajorans? Prince William will be inspecting and then will wish to speak to the Provisional Government once he has determined the proper course."

Krim nodded grimly. "And you need …."

"I will need members of the Bajoran Militia who will not collude with anyone to allow 'mistakes' to slip through. My interest is Prince William's safety is absolute and I will act with up to and including deadly force if he is threatened, even if it's an 'accident'."

Krim gave him a piercing look. "Are you making a threat?"

"No, General. I respect you too much. I am making a plea: Do not allow circumstances to require me to act. Please. If you have any question as to how serious I am, please talk to the Emissary about how far I will go. Ask him what being a Knight of the Thistle means."

Krim gave him another long look. "Very well. I will begin to make arrangements and I will contact Commander Sisko to answer questions I have."

"Thank you."

"Krim, Out."


Over the next days, Harry did as much as he could to make certain that everything would be safe. The Royal Engineers were pushed to make certain that everything they had to do was completed and the Bajorans who were doing maintenance could handle normal operations.

Harry was curious about something and made time to see the head of the Institute. "Dr. Redro. Can you explain something?"

The Bajoran woman who headed the Botanical Institute looked at him with interest. "If I can."

"Why was the poisoning of these 350 Kilometers so devastating? It's a small area of farmland, really, when compared to how much farmland is on Bajor as a whole."

Redro Urjea nodded and considered how to answer. "You're right. It's not a significant percentage of land. However, these particular sections of land were responsible for feeding large numbers of Bajorans. The grain produced was also used to feed large herds of Tirak, as well as providing a portion of material reprocessed as fertilizer for other crops. The particular areas poisoned caused another 3000 square kilometers of farmland to drop in productivity. We've worked on decentralizing the grain production – but the lands that we're recovering are particularly suited to feed a major portion of Bajor. The people who own these lands also have a high level of influence – which of course makes the government pay more attention."

Harry didn't understand everything, but it sounded significant. He could see how suddenly losing that much land could provoke a crisis, even if it wasn't so much that it caused famine.

By the time William arrived, Sixty percent of the reclamation was completed – 210 Square Kilometers. The remaining 140 would take longer because the smaller pieces were what was left. But the Engineers could return to Earth a few weeks ahead of schedule if things were handled properly.


Harry was present when the USS Sutherland docked. Commander Sisko was also present with his entire command staff in dress uniform.

Captain Forrester had security personnel enter first to make certain it was safe (Harry nodded approvingly to himself) and then the Prince entered the station.

Sisko let Harry lead. "Your Royal Highness, Welcome to Deep Space 9." Harry gave a half bow.

"Thank you, Sir Harry. You do know that bowing went out of style centuries ago, right?" William asked with humor.

Harry gave a small smile, "As I told your Royal father: Blame it on my primitive upbringing. Highness, let me introduce Commander Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Deep Space 9 for Starfleet and the Emissary of the Prophets for the Bajorans. Commander, may I introduce Prince William Windsor of the Royal House of Great Britain, Heir to the Hereditary Throne of Great Britain."

Sisko shook William's hand. "He could have just said 'This is Commander Sisko of Deep Space 9'."

William gave a small grin. "Sir Harry grew up at a time where Royal protocol was more important, and widespread. It is a form of respect, so we have nothing to complain about. My father said: Let him act as he sees fit. It's less of a headache that way."

Sisko looked at Harry, who took the gentle gibe with amusement. "Possibly. Anyway: This is my command staff." He introduced the others.

William greeted them all cordially. He then turned and said, "Captain Forrester, you have my thanks and the thanks of my father. You can rest easy now that I am in the hands of Sir Harry and the command staff here."

Forrester shrugged. "I'll be waiting in system until you go back. I might as well give my crew some time for shore leave."

William rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me. I'll likely see them hanging around where I'll be, watching everyone around me."

Forrester protested, "I can't control what my crew does off duty."

Harry piped up, "Yeah. He can't control what his crew does while off duty as long as it violates no local laws or regulations, right?"

Odo volunteered, "No weapons on the station except for station security personnel. But we will keep an eye out to ensure that no one interferes or attacks our guests, no matter their status."

Harry pulled out an item. "If you would put this on?" He handed William the item.

It was a gold bracelet, the standard of House Windsor engraved into it. "What purpose does this have?"

Harry watched with satisfaction as William finished putting the clasp on. "It provides the magical equivalent of a scattering field to prevent transporters locking on to you. You can disable it by pressing your coat of arms with your opposing thumb, which will disable the field for 30 seconds. It also has a magical tracking charm in case someone attempts to kidnap you. My elves and I can find you if we are within a certain distance. You can take it off – but only you. It is otherwise unbreakable."

William's eyebrow rose. "Any other feature?"

Harry thought about it. "Oh! It will get warm if something poisonous gets close by – I assume you use this hand to eat with."

"Yes. Anything else?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. It provides some protection against spells, but I don't know if that has any bearing on phasers or disruptors – probably not and I'd rather not test it. But with no Wizards or Witches around other than me, and with me and my elves being loyal to the Royal Family, it really has no true bearing in this dimension."

William considered that all. "What if I'm unconscious and I need to be beamed out as an emergency measure?"

Harry paused. "Let me think about that. There is an emergency portkey charm possible. A portkey is a device to move someone. That can be set to be activated when the wearer goes unconscious due to poison or trauma. But there's no base here to direct it to."

Forrester, who had been listening, asked, "What's the range on this portkey charm?"

Harry shrugged. "In testing it during our trip to the Klingon Homeworld, Dax and I didn't test it between the surface of a planet and a ship in space. A portkey can travel thousands of kilometers but it isn't pleasant. The trouble is I don't know if someone moves through the air or through subspace during the trip. I do know there is a definitely sense of movement, unlike a transporter. You feel the entire distance but it does seem shorter."

"Does it have to be a person that is moved this way?" Sisko asked.

"Yes," Harry said with regret. "You can't just portkey supplies without a live person traveling with them in some way. Such a thing wasn't developed because the Goblins would have gone to war to stop wizards from having such a system. When we did test on, testing it between a planet and a ship would have to put someone at risk – something I wasn't willing to do."

"I see," Sisko said.

William was curious, "Why would there have been a war for making such a magic spell?"

Harry snorted. "The Goblins were our bankers. There would have been far too many ways to abuse it in trying to commit robbery at their bank. It's like the Federation and the Romulans about cloaking devices. Would the Federation actually use it against the Romulans? Probably not. But the Romulans don't like the idea of it even being possible. Thus that treaty."

The Federation officers didn't like being reminded of that treaty – it had been stopping them for over fifty years.

Harry didn't inform anyone that he had been working on a rune system which would make a ship effectively cloaked. Since he had gotten his texts into a computer, he had been working on a modified unplottability ward which should be effective. Having computers with the processing power to do the heavy probability math sped things quite a lot.

The trouble, he found, wasn't installing a ward. The trouble was how to make it able to turn on and off without a complex set of spells or rituals. But it wasn't something he wanted to talk about with anyone until he got his ship.

William peered at the bracelet. "I will wear it. Worst cast scenario, I will have to be saved by you."

"Or my elves. During your visit, Dobby is on call for you. If you need anything, call out to him," Harry said.

William's eyes lit – he liked the elves. "Thank you."

Harry chuckled. "Don't thank me, thank him."

"I will."

Sisko asked, "Would you like a tour, to be shown to quarters or would you like to get to work on what you are here for?"

William became more serious. "While I will want a tour of the station, it is likely best that I sit down with Sir Harry and anyone else he thinks required to determine what steps I will need to take."

Captain Forrester was left with Sisko and Major Kira, the rest of the command staff went back to duty, and Harry led William to his own quarters. Dobby was called and tea would be waiting. Two security officers followed Harry and William – Harry had vetted who would be allowed to watch the Prince from his own time in security.

Harry and William had a long discussion while Winky and Dobby served tea and then a meal.


The next morning William would visit the Botanical Institute and see the work that was already done.

Dobby made certain that Prince William's quarters (right next to Harry's by special dispensation) were completely prepared after Odo, Harry, and Dobby all checked to make certain they were safe. Harry had also put wards up.

His wards had been tested against Aliens by setting them up and then starting a rumor about riches to be had for the taking. Anyone intending harm, even those who were normally considered Psi-Null or unreadable, ended up not being able to find the quarters or being distracted. Different races reacted to different wards.

That was one of the main reasons he needed to test his planned wards for his future ship. A sufficiently diverse crew theoretically might be able to overcome together what a ship with only one race could not. It was annoying that there were races seemed to be affected by magic differently. How the computers of others ships might register ships under such wards would also be a factor. It was a minor concern but a concern nonetheless.

The Sutherland had arrived mid-afternoon local time and William wanted to get on local time quickly. As such after dinner he asked, "What is there to do around here?"

Harry considered it. "Well, there are games at Quarks, we can see if there is a holosuite free, or you can have an early night." Harry thought of something. "You could stay in and see a film from my World."

"How many do you have?" William asked curiously.

"Thousands. Of all types. This world was far more limited because consumer entertainment technology stopped progressing about 1990 or so. That was when things started to get really diverse in my timeline. And even in the time between WWII and the Eugenics Wars were far more limited here because governments were much more intensive on hidden research. This got us out into space, but my timeline didn't make it far and was far more limited. I'd be surprised if they made it into space by 2050 or even 2100."

William considered it. "Okay. A movie night sounds pleasant. What film?"

Harry laughed. "I'll call up a list."

William was shown the list and, as expected, it was far too much to really parse out. However, a film showing comedy and religion settled on something called 'Dogma'. Harry had never seen it either, but confirmed it was in his database.

Harry called and invited the command staff and Captain Forrester and his first officer.

Winky provided popcorn and the movie started in Harry's film room in his tent.

Right at the beginning, Nerys had a question. "What's a platypus?"

Harry looked around. "I've heard the name. Anyone know details?"

Only Keiko, who was there with Miles (Molly was with Jake as this was rated for adults), knew the answer. "It's a strange animal that lived on Earth until the radiation of World War III killed it off. It laid eggs, had a bill like a large bird, was venomous, and lived in the water."

"Why is that so strange?" Julian asked.

"Because it was furred and was a mammal."

"No!" Julian said. "That seems … impossible?"

Harry paused the film and flipped through his computer records. Finally he called up a picture and showed it on the large screen. Everyone, even Keiko, was shocked. (Keiko had heard about it but never seen it.)

Harry had never seen a picture either. "That is strange enough to be magical but it wasn't in any book I ever read."

Sisko asked, "So you'd never seen it either?"

"No. I heard about it, heard about it being strange, but it was unimportant to me." Harry shook his head. "It is funny looking though."

William said, "That it is. Can we go back to this movie then?"

Harry started the film over.

The film was amusing but Harry had to explain several things about Earth culture from the time period. The religious aspect of abortion was hard for some to understand, though Major Kira understood right away. Abortion was frowned upon on Bajor – heavily.

The Federation recognized the many different cultures and their beliefs. It was a matter of extremely strict privacy and no one, no one, could change that. It helped that contraception was extremely easy, incest was extremely rare, rape was also very rare (within Federation society), and many races needed medical intervention to breed together. Threats to the mother's health due to pregnancy were usually easily handled by the medical procedures of the twenty-fourth century.

All of this contributed to making abortion an extremely rare procedure.

Harry had to look up Wisconsin. All agreed that it sounded quite … boring.

What freaked Harry out the worst was the similarity of one actor to his old Potion's professor – attitude and all. He tried to put that out of his mind.

Still, it was a success and everyone was a bit sad when it was over.


Early the next morning, Harry and William went to the Sutherland. They were using one of the shuttles to inspect land that had been cleaned. Harry, who was given permission to pilot, landed and William spoke to several farmers who were now working the cleaned farms.

Most of these were extremely friendly, though there were one or two who seemed to express a covert hostility in their manner. Not that covert actually, Harry mused as he recognized the emotion. Perhaps it was better described as suppressed hatred and hostility.

Jado, Harry realized, had a true covert hostility. He acted friendly and proper but one could feel the hatred he was hiding behind his politician's mask. Harry warned William about the man when they were outside of the hearing of the security officers and the other pilot that was with them.

After being flown back to the ship, they transported to the Institute. The Sutherland's scanners verified that William's bracelet prevented transport. However, a pattern enhancer set might, the transporter chief emphasized might, be able to overcome it.

William was inspecting one of the reclamators that was being serviced under the watch of one of the Lads. "How much time do they spend being fixed?"

Engineer Samuel Cordon smiled and said, "It's not about being fixed, Highness." Highness, for some reason, could be used casually and no one blinked. Harry had always been curious about why. "It's about proper maintenance so they don't have to be fixed. The residue has been corroding the holding tanks these machines have, so we added a coating, which unfortunately has to be re-applied regularly. We could have replaced them, but other than the one aspect the holding tanks are perfect. Making new ones with materials that wouldn't react would cost too much time and energy. All it means is that they have to be cleaned and coated regularly and it's not a problem."

"What's with the open panels?" he asked, looking at where two Bajorans were inspecting an exposed circuit.

"Training. The machine is down, there's no reason the local engineers can't use the time to learn these types of circuits. Federation is a little different than Bajoran and the experience is valuable."

The pair (plus security) visited a machine in use – it was an awesome sight. Three Bajorans were working the machines and one of the Lads was supervising. They moved to another machine.

As they were watching, however, something went "poof" and an explosion occurred. William said, "We need to get there, Sir Harry."

"No," Harry said with certainty. He hit his badge. "Potter to Sutherland. Emergency. Beam William Windsor back now." He looked at William. "Hit your bracelet."

The prince reluctantly did as requested and once Harry knew he and his security was safely gone Harry apparated to the location of the explosion.