Sir Harry Potter quite enjoyed the masked annoyance Dukat felt from having missed Prince William. He accepted the bottle of butterbeer from Quark and sat down. "Letters and communications sent to Prince William Windsor of Great Britain, Earth, - and even King George Windsor - can be forwarded by any Federation facility you may wish to contact."

Dukat gave a mocking smile. "Thank you." Then he asked, "What are you drinking?" with a tone of curiosity.

"It's something recently available from Bajor called butterbeer; it isn't like your kanar there: It has a very small alcohol content. It is not a drink to intoxicate, it is a drink to enjoy, warm or cold. I quite like it."

"I've never heard of it," Dukat said.

"We'll have to correct that, my treat." He looked over at Quark. "One warm butterbeer for Gul Dukat. Also give him one cold. I'll pay for both."

Dukat watched the Human even as the Ferengi bar owner delivered too cups with two bottles. One was warm, one was cold, as advertised. Dukat tried each. "Oh. That's very good. I'm surprised I have never heard of it. It is alright cold but the warm is quite good."

Potter smiled. "Yes. I imagine warm would be pleasant on a winter day. But it's chilly here for a Cardassian … you prefer temperatures ten to fifteen degrees warmer. That's why I thought of the warm first."

"I will have to get this programmed into my replicator," Dukat commented.

Potter tsked. "Something about it doesn't replicate well. You can recreate the chemical formula, but for some reason the taste is absolutely destroyed when you try. It has to be manufactured, though it does store exceedingly well I am told. It's a product of the Paqu, on Bajor."

Dukat savored the rest of his Butterbeer. "I see. I will have to order some."

"Quark is an approved supplier, but his cousin Gant does most of the distribution off Bajor." Nog had given Gant's name to Harry and Harry had given the name to Mullinbok, who was helping his pseudo-granddaughter negotiate trade. Nog got a very small percentage for having provided the name.

It came out of Harry's cut of the profits so no one complained.

Gul Dukat spent half an hour trying to learn more about Harry but he was able to dodge giving any specific details.

Harry still planned on killing him. He cast a spell on a Cardassian uniform decoration. He wanted to see how useful that would be. It took guts and only worked because Dukat had no knowledge of how Harry's magic worked. But this was a good test to see how far he could track a spell.


Over the next weeks, tensions between Bajorans and non-Bajorans increased despite every effort to stop it. Deep Space 9 was a haven but that wouldn't last forever.

Quark's bar stayed busy with all types; it was where most visitors went.

One day Harry was there and noticed there was a very attractive female who seemed to be flirting with Quark, and Quark seemed to be buying into whatever she was saying. It was curious because she seemed to be trying to leave.

Harry narrowed his eyes as he saw something pass from one to the other. And from that distance it looked like a Bajoran's ear jewel. Ear jewels were distinctive to those who knew them, even if Harry couldn't really tell them apart.

Harry knew that they used to indicate caste, much like the Indians before the British took over lived in castes. But the Cardassians had suppressed that system. It was the only thing Harry considered of value with the Cardassian occupation.

It wasn't nearly enough to make it worth it.

Harry had a feeling that what he had seen had importance and so he waited until Quark was not busy. "Quark."

"Sir Harry," Quark said.

"Let's see it."

Quark looked confused. "See what?"

"The Bajoran d'ja pagh that woman handed you."

Quark took a long look into Harry's face and then motioned him to a quiet area. "Why are you so interested?"

Harry glanced around. "Honestly? I am a trouble magnet. Things happen to me and around me. When I was a teenager I was ignorant and blind. I had to learn to recognize it so that I didn't have to keep killing people who came after me when I ignored it; it took years to settle down after I started noticing. Now I have a finely honed sense of trouble, usually when things have large and/or catastrophic lines of importance attached even when they aren't obvious."

"And the earring handover stirred your bump of trouble?" Quark asked with some humor.

"Yes," Harry said grimly.

Quark was about to make a joke but decided against it. He pulled the earring from a pocket. Harry admired that Ferengi still had pockets. "We need a Bajoran cultural database." Harry said.

"Why?" Quark asked suspiciously.

"These usually have family name, and other information. There is a sigil on that earring. And it's more elaborate than some, so it is meant to be worn by someone of importance. Where did it come from?"

"Rionoj, an old friend of mine, told me it was given to her by someone on Cardassia IV. She was told to pass it back to Bajor."

"Which means that it's likely recognizable to many people." Harry thought about it. "Do you know someone who has access to a Bajoran database that can locate family names?"

Quark smirked. "I was going to use it as a bargaining chip with Major Kira. She would know."

Harry snorted. "She'd bop you and just take it – she would consider you having a Bajoran's d'ja pagh offensive - unless you had your own and that would likely still offend her. If you want to see profit from it, let's find out whose it is first." Profit was the only way to get Quark to listen.

Quark made certain the bar was taken care of and then rejoined Harry. A call down to the Institute and calling in a favor got them access to the right database and Harry was logged in. "Okay. So how would you describe this sigil?"

Quark and Harry didn't understand Bajoran fully so it took time. Finally, they got a hit. "This says the sign is for the Li family. And the last head of the family is … someone named Li Nalas." Harry looked over at Quark. "You ever heard of a Li Nalas?"

Quark had an odd expression. "Li Nalas? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Who was he?"

Quark put his hand to his face briefly in to show suffering. "I got tired of hearing about him. He was in the resistance. People would tell stories about him – inspiration to all of them – yada yada yada. Disappeared about ten years ago. But the stories kept up. I had to shut people up before Cardassians would overhear and start busting up my bar to stop it."

Harry's insides froze. "This came from Cardassia IV?" He held up the earring.

Quark stopped his bellyaching and said, "That's what she said."

Harry looked at it. "Does this look like it hasn't been worn in ten years?"

Quark looked at it. "No. No it doesn't."

Harry sat down. "The question is: Who do we tell?"

Quark snorted. "I say we don't get involved. Send it to Major Kira anonymously. I'm certain she'll be quite interested."

Harry had a sudden thought. He'd try something he planned on trying later. "Keep quiet about this for now. For your trouble, DOBBY!"

The elf appeared. "Dobby. Take a case of different liquors from our storage and deliver it to Quark's storeroom. Bourbon, whiskey, rye, include an extra brandy as well." Dobby nodded and popped out.

Quark looked at Harry. "That's quite generous of you." He didn't do a large business with the old-style Earth spirits but some truly did enjoy it and paid well when it was available. Having another case on hand would be profitable.

Harry shrugged. "You could have told me to mind my own business, but you listened. I imagine you listen better when the man talking provides a means of visible profit."

Quark gave a wide Ferengi smile. "You seem to understand me so well."

Harry chuckled and left, letting Quark get back to dealing with normal business.


Harry went to Commander Sisko the next morning. "Commander. I would like permission to take a runabout out to practice a few maneuvers. I've already requested the Glen Lyon be available if you need a ship on hand." Harry needed a small ship.

"Why do you need the runabout?" Sisko asked.

"Well, the runabout and one of the crew licensed to evaluate pilots. It's a part of the certification process."

Sisko considered it. "Who would you suggest?"

Harry appeared to consider it. "Major Kira, maybe? She's been upset over all the crap happening back home, the graffiti here … maybe a few hours to supervise away from the station would be a break for her."

Sisko peered at Harry. "There's another reason you want Major Kira."

Harry tried to stop it but smiled. "Yes. I do think I can get her cheered up. But it's a surprise. Prince William and King Charles were happy with her assistance when William was here."

Sisko chuckled. "I think she enjoyed tweaking the Council of Ministers. But in the interest of good relations … fine. I will inform her immediately and the runabout will be available in one hour for a maximum of sixteen hours."

"That should be fine," Harry said.

An hour later Harry was waiting on Landing Pad A. He had already placed four plates on different corners of the runabout. Each plate was made of titanium gold put into a particular structure. That particular alloy was four times harder than titanium itself according to the metallurgical database. It wasn't as strong as duranium, but it didn't need to be on this mission.

Testing had shown that for some reason titanium gold was more effective at holding the magic for wards than some types of marble. Harry had stumbled onto it because the Federation database included the increased magnetic properties of the alloys compared to the base metals by themselves. That wasn't always a good indication for magic, but in this case it was fruitful.

Harry had been trying to create a set of ward stones to put on a ship. Gold wasn't often used because it was too malleable, despite being magically conductive. It was also considered too valuable and thieves would steal things made of gold. Harry could imagine a "ward stone" made of gold being stolen just for the metal.

Here, gold wasn't that valuable. Also, the replicator had been able to crate the amalgam easily as it was sometimes used in some dentistry procedures, despite it now being uncommon. Ferengi still liked titanium gold fillings when they needed such.

Harry had created the four plates and attached them with sticking charms to the corners of the ship. He had a granite block he had "replicated" which was a master ward stone. It was one foot cubed and it would be placed when they were away from Deep Space 9. A tricorder had confirmed that the composite of the stone was flawless form a warder's standpoint.

Major Kira showed up. "You need some work on your qualifications, I hear."

"I do need help, and I appreciate your assistance." Harry gave her a friendly smile.

Major Kira nodded and entered the runabout. She noticed the two elves. "You brought your retainers?" People felt more comfortable with that then "your elves" for some reason, especially Humans.

"They'll be feeding us lunch. Otherwise, they're along for the ride."

"Well, I will let you pilot us out while I check the flight plan."


Harry nodded and they were soon off, flying toward some of the colony worlds on one side of the Federation/Cardassian DMZ. When they were far enough from DS9, Harry said, "I do have one thing I need to do."

Kira watched him curiously as he turned to the elves. "Dobby? Winky?"

Winky asked, "It is time, Master Harry?"

"Yes."

Winky and Dobby retrieved a bag and opened a panel. Kira asked, "What is that?" toward the stone the elves were putting in a storage container in the floor.

Harry stood up and went over to the stone. "It's a ward stone, specifically a master ward stone." Harry pulled his wand and cast a spell and pumped magical energy into the stone while the elves watched.

"What are you doing?"

"Master Harry is protecting the ship," Dobby said.

Harry stopped after about a minute. "Woah. I could use a pepper up now."

Dobby retrieved the pepper up while Winky pulled a book and quill out. Harry quickly took the potion and marked the book.

Kira noticed something change but didn't know what. "What did you do?"

"Can you perform a diagnostic on the ship?"

Kira did as asked but she was getting annoyed. Harry came back while it was happening. "I set up a ward to test something for my ship in the future," Harry said.

"What did your ward do?" Kira asked.

Harry grinned. "If it worked properly, it made it impossible to find this ship on sensors."

Kira's eyes widened. "You made the equivalent of a cloaking device?"

"I don't know. It's a standard wardset back home: Unplotability, notice-me-not, Muggle-repelling. Either we won't be seen or we'll be seen as a derelict."

"What if someone comes to claim the salvage?" she asked.

"The wardset exudes a 'not my problem' feeling as well. It convinces people who do notice that whatever they see is not for them to deal with."

Kira sat back. "Wow." The console chirped. "Well, we read as operating normally, though the computer reads a slight drain on the structural integrity generators."

Harry's eyes widened and then he grinned. "That's wonderful! I'm tempted to use an obscenity for emphasis."

"Why is that so wonderful?" she asked.

"That means that the ship is powering the ward instead of pulling from the magical people on board or from the environment, which would be difficult because it's space."

Major Kira's eyes widened. "Wow. That is good. That means you can use it without harming yourselves."

"Exactly right. Which makes our next step much more likely to succeed."

"Next step?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes. We're going to Cardassia IV." He was very matter of fact.

She looked incredulous. "And why are we going to violate the Cardassian border and go to Cardassia IV?"

Harry reached inside his tunic and pulled the earring from his pocket. "This is why."

Major Kira looked at it and then her eyes widened. She grabbed it to look at it closer. "Where did you get this?" Her tone was not friendly.

Harry said gently, "It was passed to a trader at Cardassia IV to be passed back to Bajor, which makes me assume that it's supposed to be recognized. I found it belonged to someone named Li Nalas. Considering it doesn't look like salvage from a dead man, I wonder if this Li Nalas is actually alive. The Cardassians are not the most trustworthy when it comes to Bajorans, so I want to go take a look, and possible rescue whoever this is."

Two competing desires were fighting in her. "We don't know if your wards actually will work."

"I know. But we have probes on board?"

Kira said, "Some of the simpler ones."

"Let's launch one, have it try to find us while we move away and then back, and then pick it up."

Kira said, "Okay."

The runabout launched a probe and, after making certain they knew exactly where it would be, the runabout left at warp four. They moved half an hour away and then warped back, picking up the probe.

The scanners on the probe did not register the runabout after it had left. It did register when it was inside the runabout.

"That appears to be a success," Harry commented.

"So it seems."

Harry considered it. "Can we mask our warp trail just in case?"

Kira thought about it. "I wish Miles was here – he's better at this kind of thing. But I think we can modify our emissions to make it seem like we're a freighter, specifically a Lisseppian transport. They're common enough in Cardassian space."

Harry nodded. "Program it in, but keep an eye on it. This is the first time I've tried applying a ward to a ship. I wish I had time to test this thoroughly before needing it. The ship is small, so it should be okay. Ever since I was promised a ship, I've been planning on what I could do with it with my magic."

Kira said, "You know, this could be considered a violation of the Treaty of Algeron."

Harry snorted. "Romulans and cloaking devices?" Kira nodded. "Nope. I'm technically a foreign resident of the Federation, though my diplomatic status is recognized by Starfleet and the Federation. You're Bajoran – and Bajor didn't sign that treaty. It's a bit sticky because you're a protectorate, but there is an increased demand that the Federation leave Bajor. By law, Bajor isn't yet Federation. The Treaty of Algeron does not apply."

Kira looked at Harry for a long moment. "You know? You're showing a certain flexibility when it comes to following the law. It reminds me of my time in the resistance."

He chuckled. "I was a part of my own resistance. I know how it goes."


The runabout reached Cardassia IV. Scanning showed a labor camp with Bajorans, but there was a forcefield.

"What class of forcefield?" Harry asked.

"At least level four," Kira said with some despair.

"Not level seven or better?" Harry asked to be certain.

"No. Level four ... level five at best."

Harry sighed in relief. "Good."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I can apparate through them unless it's level seven or better. I can actually travel through unless it's level 9 or 10, but levels seven and eight will register my entrance and even, at eight, possibly damage me. We didn't test it much when I visited Earth, but we did some testing to see my limits. Charles thought it would be in my best interest to know." He didn't mention that his elves could move through even Level 10, though it would hurt them. Elves had always been more magical than Human wizards.

"So you can enter the camp?" Kira asked to be certain.

"Yes. Dobby and Winky will enter the camp after me - I'll call them."

She looked over to the elves, who looked at them with interest. "Why them?"

"I'm going to land the ship at a distance. After I cast a few portkey charms, I'm going to fly to the location of the Bajorans on a disillusioned carpet while wearing my invisibility cloak. I'll land as close as I can and then call the elves to come to where I am. They can pop in invisibly, attach the portkeys to all Bajorans, and then pop back. I can apparate back as well. And then the time based portkeys will start activating. There can't be twenty – we're getting about twenty life signs total and that includes Cardassians. So anywhere from twelve to sixteen? I can take care of that."

Kira shook her head. "Your magic is outside of my experience. It comes across as strange."

Harry smirked. "Yes, it is." He became more serious. "Be ready to launch immediately after the portkeys bring them and we load them in. You'll have to fly while the elves and I make certain the Bajorans are not further damaged."

Kira nodded. "Okay."


Harry and Kira carefully landed the ship forty kilometers away – the portkeys would take a minute but no one was expecting it. "This will only work once," Harry warned. "In the future, if any details get out, they will work out ways to stop me. I'm tempted to obliviate the memories from the people we're rescuing so that they can't tell anyone how they were rescued."

Kira protested, "That isn't right!"

Harry sighed. "I know. I said I was tempted – not that I would."

They finally landed under the cover of some trees. "The carpet, Dobby." While the two waited, the elves got the materials ready. "The hardest part is that the elves don't like fighting. They aren't as limited as they were on Earth, but by culture Elves were taught that it was wrong to attack anyone especially in self defense. I'll be watching in case I have to attack to save them. If that becomes necessary we're going to have some problems."

Harry looked around and, once his bearings were set, he cast twenty portkey charms set to go off 90 minutes after he cast the spells. The portkeys were small pieces of cloth that could be slipped into clothing by the elves without anyone noticing.

Soon, Harry donned the cloak while Kira looked in shock. The elves took it in stride. He left his head uncovered. "I'll be calling soon – fifteen minutes or so."

"We'll be ready, Master Harry. We will arrive hidden," Winky said.

"Good." He covered up and flew off.