Chapter 9: What even is that?

"What even is that!" Cyrus yelled after the entire group exited the Peverell Pensieve.

"That is solid proof that the blood curse is more of a bug problem. Gramps is the search done?" asked Harry.

"Just five minutes again as I work through the translations. I managed to find drawings of twelve different creatures, and they came from the Black Library. They are creatures that are attracted to necromancy. What I found were accounts of how people died, nothing more. The Black tomes possess no names for these creatures. It seems that one of the Blacks many centuries ago had Luna's gift."

"Alright. Well, the question becomes how did the creature attach itself to Astoria? Why some people and not others? Is the magical core clean mum?"

"Yes son, nothing there. I have no idea as to what is the issue?" Priya replied.

"I can sense some kind of enzyme in her system. It seems to be in her bloodstream. Wait…..what if the blood curse means that something in her blood attracted the creature?" asked Hermione.

Priya then began to quest into the child's bloodstream and she found that all the cells were healthy. Hermione then began to wonder if the blood rituals that were famous with the various Dark Lords relied on some type of magical component in the blood. Harry's eyes tuned out everything else on instinct. Suddenly the Dagworth-Granger house magic began to flare and Hermione could see some type of magical trace. Hermione began to understand that the entity that she had detected was never a physical thing, but some type of magical energy. As she quested, the link pointed her to Cyrus as she deactivated his shield and she began to probe his body. Priya who was feeding off Hermione's House magic began to flick her wand as she adapted her poison drawing spell into drawing out the foreign magic. Soon enough, there was a black, inky shadow that was squirming at the end of the wand. Cyrus had felt some pain as the foreign magic was removed. Harry merely summoned his wand by intent while Hermione non-verbally modified the Protego to hold magic, like a container. Harry then poked his wand into the field, and yelled calmly and casually:

"Fiendfyre!"

Cyrus was shocked as a small, controlled explosion flashed before the foreign magic was terminated. He was quite aware of how dangerous the spell was, but to see it used with so much finesse? Ophelia's eyebrows were arched in surprise before she ruefully smiled. Harry had taken on an expression, that reminded her of Lilly Potter's characteristic frown when she focused on casting spells. It seemed as if her friend was back from her grave at that singular moment. Cyrus felt his house magic flare, as it manifested. The Greengrass tree which had a missing branch suddenly corrected itself. The tree began to bloom and while this occurred, Priya wasted no time in drawing the foul magic out of the little girl, before Harry and Hermione assisted in combusting the taint. The Greengrass family tree began to sway almost as if it was under a slight breeze, and Hermione had now begun to administer a potion that she made purely from cold water, vervain, rue and holy basil. The shields were enabled on everyone.

"Here, drink this. This will help with clearing any damage that the curse left behind." Hermione instructed Astoria.

"Harry! I got something! The creature feeds on magic to shift itself from a corporeal form to a physical form. Only when they are in a physical form, they can have offspring. The creature makes an agreement with a Dark Wizard. They will torment the descendants of an enemy, as long as a lure is placed via a blood ritual. The lure can be inherited also. I think we just pulled out the lure. " Invictus replied.

"Where did you get this information?" asked Harry.

"Cross reference between the Weasley history and the Delacour archives. Somebody had cursed one of the Weasley ancestors many centuries ago. In the final days of his death, he revealed how the 'giant talking leach' taunted him. I searched for "imaginary creature" in Gaulish and found the rest in the Delacour archives. The creatures generally leave the host when it has acquired enough magic to become physical."

Some type of poison began to circulate in Astoria's system, and Priya who had heard the alert on the bracelet, began to draw the poison from a small incision while she instructed Invictus to deal with the new issue:

"Gramps, dial Camilla and ask her to bring blood replenishing supplies. The creature is trying to poison the girl, which means that it can understand our conversations and it is probably getting….."

Abruptly, the creature manifested itself and attempted to skewer Cyrus with the ominous stinger on its tail. As the man attempted to move, the creature's tail merely hit the tall, bearded man into a corner of the room. The shield flared and it protected him from physical harm. Astoria's jugular was now open and Priya had managed to patch it in a split second. The girl had lost a lot of blood and was now unconscious. The creature snaked its way to the far end of the workshop and it began to taunt Cyrus who had gotten up from the floor.

"I killlleeeedddddd youuuuuurrr ennntttiiirrre line, weshhhh, yeshhhhhh puny human, I fed and I grew oveerrrsssss the lasstssssssssss thousanddddsssss years. I will feedddssss on…..."

There was an unholy screeching as the beast was now in pain. Harry had summoned the Peverell Battle magic, after cutting off his mother from the mind link. He was now throwing lightning bolts from his hand. Ophelia and Cyrus looked on, as the boy's eyes glowed an unearthly green. Gone was the boy, as Harry's entire demeanour had changed. He was fearless, and his body seemed tensed and ready for war.

For them, who were seeing his abilities before their very eyes, it almost seemed like the legendary Merlin had returned.

Harry had practised to manipulate the flow and the forking of the lightning for many evenings. Now, he directed it in controlled bursts, as he wanted to keep his energy usage manageable. Harry's reflexes were sharpened, and the short momentary energy bursts seemed to hound the animal into staying in the middle of the wall. Hermione had apparated at the weapons rack and had grabbed a small object before reappearing some distance, as she threw the sword handle at Harry. In her hand were a pistol and a sword. William had trained Sirius and Remus sufficiently in protecting VIP targets as beginners, as they huddled around Priya and the rest who were standing behind the elf cradle. With the rifle trained on the creature, they guided Luna and Ophelia to a deployable barricade. Cyrus now had his wand out and he was throwing every type of curse that he knew.

This creature had killed many of his ancestors. This creature had killed generations of Greengrass women.

As the creature continued to be pinned under the lightning bolts, Luna and Ophelia from behind the barricade occasionally ducked out cover to lay down some bombardas and other choice spells. Ophelia had gotten a severing charm in and now, the creature was missing the tip of its stinger. Luna had exploded many of the creature's scaly pannels off its body. Now Sirius, Remus, Kreacher and Mipsy were protecting Priya, and Camilla had been apparated in by Grace. She was now attaching blood banks and was administering blood-replenishing potions to the girl. Priya continued to draw out the poison, but the girl was still losing her pulse. Camilla was quite aware that the Storm-Lord and Storm-Priestess were fighting some kind of horrendous creature, but she silenced her curiosities, as she trusted the men and elves with the artefacts to continue to protect her.

"Pri, no pulse. You know what to do!" Camilla interjected.

"Ah, crap. Not again. Crucio!" Priya replied. She began to undo all of the temporary modifications to the girl's core, as she merely slashed the magical connections that she had made with her wand. Invictus began to boot the drone, in the hope that he could offer assistance. Priya looked at the unconscious girl, as she began again….

"Crucio!"

The creature had never encountered a Fiendfyre bolt, and it screamed as Hermione nailed him in his left eye socket. As the creature gargled, Hermione transmitted the thought of the sword travelling in the air. The beast had decided to use its front mounted pincers to gut Harry and Hermione, as it prepared to finish off the pair. That was when the benefit of sharing the same awareness became advantageous - Harry had already apparated mid-air and collected the sword. Before he had decided on his next apparition location, Hermione relayed her intentions, and suddenly ideas were bouncing between the both of them. They knew what to do. Instinctively. Grace who was connected to Harry was already priming a lightning bolt, as she prepared to attack. Hermione yelled to the rest of the people in the workshop"Hold off, we will deal with this" as the onlookers observed a set of small rapid apparitions. The blinks were so fast, that it seemed only like a set of blurry multicolour flashes. Suddenly only red-coloured blades were sweeping across deadly arcs, as plasma met flesh. Now blood was spurting everywhere. The creature had lost its secondary and tertiary head and most of its body. Hermione then lined up a charged pistol bolt into the creature's right compound eye socket. Harry after lopping off its pincers instinctively collected Grace's lightning bolt as he redirected it at the creature. He now held the disabled and smoking creature in a claw grip with his magic. Then, he dragged the upper part of the torso towards Cyrus, with a long bloody trail staining the floor. Cyrus pointed his wand at the creature, and Harry casually said:

"Any last words, creature?" Harry asked. His voice was not that of an unsure young man. The voice was firm and fearless. A soft crucio was heard, and there was a coughing noise, as Astoria had rejoined the land of the living. Cyrus and Ophelia were perplexed how an unforgivable had fixed their daughter, but at this point, they realised that all rules were out of the window. The creature understood that it would die, and it did not attempt to attack Harry and Cyrus. Its funny multicomponent mouth clicked and gargled horrifyingly before it spoke to Harry and Hermione.

"Yittle Merlin. Yittle Morgana….Yessss, a good deathsss, challenge…..strongsss…..powerfulllssss…youssss are notssss orinaryssss no…I fought them many centuriezzzz agooooooosssss…..even more powerful yousssss will becomeesssssss! Morgana could see us! And she killed many likes meeee….Youzzz will makkkeeesss mmuuchhh bloooddd runssss, we will comeeesss…"

The creature then gurgled and the small mandibles contorted in a horrid manner, as the last bit of life left the creature.

"therezzzz much darknessss insss the worrrlldddd, and we will ravagggeee your kinnnnddddd, as we alwayzzzzzzzz hasss…..we will always feddddssssssss on yourrrr magic and bloodssssss!" the creature whispered in its dying voice.

"Correct. Some things happen at the cosmic scale and we can do nothing. But you have other concerns right now." Harry replied. Then, he flourished the red blade in a clean arc. As the sizzling sharp noise was heard, the head of the creature rolled off to the side. Harry and Hermione were now covered in sanguine blood that smelled of iron, and Sirius and Remus came over to examine the creature.

"Mipsy, the usual. Call the rest. Get the floor cleaned up, but siphon the blood into a container. Sirius and Remus, I want this creature stored away for dissection. Toss it into the old freezer. All the pieces. Levitate everything don't touch one bit of it. Use some of the containment devices. I am off to get a shower. I want a full checkup to ensure I have not been contaminated. And after, well Hermione can get a check over, too."

Harry walked off to the shower as all the house elves stored the blood in containers. As Harry walked by Astoria, he stopped and patted her head before he said:

"Well short stack, love that beautiful crop of all black hair on your head. Nice. I just killed some kind of walking freak show, so I am off to get the blood off me. Luna thank you for your services. Grace will carry you back."

"Sure. I am going to tell Ronald and Neville if you don't mind, this was pretty exciting. I am just letting you know, that there is a creature somewhat like this, attached to Professor Quirrell. It will require your investigation."

"Ah, crap. So he has a blood curse too? Alright. Mione just keep an eye out, when I am done you can get changed."

Cyrus and Ophelia were now hugging both of the healers as they whispered a reverent "Thank You." Astoria looked healthy and it was clear that whatever she had been suffering from was completely done. Camilla who was looking at the dismembered creature as it was levitated, commented in her thick French accent:

"I change my mind Pri. You do live in a lunatic asylum. But we saved a life today, so no complaints."

Sirius patted Cyrus on his shoulder as he teased the Greengrass family.

"Told you Harry was efficient. One blood curse was removed with about three hours of work. Remus, that has to be a record?" Sirius joked. Cyrus and Opelia came to appreciate that Remus had immensely enjoyed the small fight within the shop, with the wolfish smile that was plastered on his face. Sirius and Remus suddenly burst out in laughter, and Cyrus found himself smiling. What he had experienced within the last fifteen minutes would be a rather indelible memory for the rest of his life.

"Is life always this interesting, here?" asked Cyrus.

"Wait until you hear what we have planned tomorrow," replied Sirius.

Ophelia realised that her husband was right - fireworks were going to be set off in the Wizengamot and she was not surprised. After all, they had suspected this and Cyrus began to wonder what exactly the group of the oddballs had planned. Ginny Weasley, who was curious about the ruckus asked, "Er, what was all the yelling about? Did you guys get into a fight?"

"Kinda?" Hermione answered as she grabbed a chair wandlessly with her hand, and collapsed.


It was now noon, and Luna was recounting the entire affair to Neville and Ronald. Invictus had even sent a copy of the footage to Clementine, as it represented another solid piece of magical lore that had been uncovered. Most of the information after all, had come from the Delacour archives. Harry was listening to the Hogwarts staff meeting on the intercom as he showered and cleaned himself properly. While he had vanished away the blood on his skin, there was a certain comfort as the hot water cleaned away the perspiration. When he was done with his shower, he changed and buzzed Hermione on her comms. Hermione then proceeded to get changed after showering. Priya spoke to Cyrus in the workshop, after she had checked over the pair for contamination.

"While Astoria seems fine, I would prefer if she stays at the Manor for the evening. I need to monitor her, for any unexpected changes. We did an entirely new type of procedure, and the type of magic we were weaving was very dangerous. Come, have a seat with me and let me explain. Camilla, come along you will want to hear this…..."

Camilla nodded and the Greengrasses found themselves sitting once again. Sirius had asked Molly to prepare a couple of hamburgers, and Astoria found herself surprised when Ginny Weasley appeared with a small bag. Priya who was very affectionate hugged the redheaded girl and began to pinch her cheeks in a manner that was very reminiscent of how she troubled Harry. Ginny giggled and waved to Astoria, before giving her the food. Mipsy and Kreacher brought some small refreshments as Cyrus began to explain his curiosities:

"I do find myself curious about the type of magic that was utilised earlier. I have never seen wand work like that! Even more curious, was that I heard an unforgivable being used, and somehow Astoria is well? All I understand is that you brought her back with Crucio?"

"Yes, correct. Let us start with the type of magic we were casting. Harry has been attempting for a while to implement an advanced form of occlumency called battle meditation. It would allow a group of people to share sensory information so that they could fight like a pack of wolves. Just imagine being able to toss a weapon or position yourself, without the need for any verbal communication. Almost like it was a reflex, that is built into your body. I think we saw a fair bit of that not too long ago." Priya explained.

When Cyrus heard this, he whistled and scratched his chin. "Even the idea of such a thing is truly revolutionary. How did he come upon this idea Ms Singh?" asked Ophelia.

"He read about or saw it in some muggle movie, and probably decided to create it with magic. That is a common occurrence around here. All those pictures on the wall are muggle novels and cartoons. The other thing is that Harry has also studied the last war systematically, and he generally tries to do the exact opposite of the Death Eaters. For example, Death Eaters believe in psychological terror tactics with their ornately decorated masks? Harry designed a featureless mask. The Death Eaters like to taunt and play with their victims? Harry isn't interested in a conversation. He generally kills first and asks questions after. The Death Eaters like to work in small uncoordinated packs of three, four or five? Harry is hoping to have a primary squad of four or five, working in perfect cohesion with full-on military-style tactics. The Death Eaters like traditional short range approaches? Harry likes everything unconventional and long range. Some of their heads were taken off at impossible angles, and they could not return spell fire on Monday?"

Ophelia was now smiling. Harry was not her son, but she was proud of him and his sister, too. And she was happy for her little girl. She held Cyrus' hand, and he squeezed her hand back affectionately, as he continued with the enquiries.

"I see. It makes sense. I understand his superiority on the battlefield. His sword is certainly impressive. And I take it he succeeded? It looks so from the sword work and the apparition we saw earlier?" asked Cyrus.

"Yes, he did succeed with the Battle Meditation. But not just for fighting. Before the fight, I was able to use Harry's and Hermione's House magic through the link. It also seems I have my personal brand and they were also able to use it. We worked together to remove the curse. Harry believes that in giving, one receives. Harry once joked that we all produce our best talent at this place, under pressure."

"That is fantastic. What exactly did the procedure entail?" asked Cyrus.

"We reshaped her magical core to accept magical energy from an external device. There is no spell name for this process, it was only my intuition. I needed Harry's eyes to see the issues. Hermione's magic was able to sniff out the lure, and I would not be surprised if Daphne has inherited a lure. We will ask Luna to check her over, just to make sure."

"That would be appreciated, Ms Singh. Yuletide or Christmas as you call it would be appropriate. What happened next?" asked Ophelia.

"I had to draw out some foreign magic from your bodies. That was a custom poison drawing spell I developed. I had no idea I could draw off magical issues too. I modified that on the fly because I was honestly scared. Finally, the Crucio? That spell along with the other two Unforgivables were originally First Aid spells." Priya explained.

"First Aid Spells?" asked Ophelia.

"Yes. Created by Lucretia Peverell. So yes, the Unforgiveables belong to the Peverell lineage. And because they were developed for medical purposes, that is why they are unblockable by the Protego. They are not combat spells. The Crucio was meant to restart the heartbeat. I have also developed some custom intent modifications to enhance the functionality. I know what part of the heart produces the signal for the pulse, so I targeted that. And that particular knowledge did come from what I know of Muggle anatomy. That in conjunction with my new spells won me the award."

"We are truly blessed that we could benefit from your combined expertise. My wife – she had guessed that Harry was very much Lilly's boy too. She made a bet that if Harry found out that Astoria was suffering, he would immediately get to work. I can't complain. I am happy and I understand that I will offer something as repayment. Life debts are involved in any case." replied Cyrus, who was a little nervous.

"Well, nothing for me. I am happy that she is cured. My next step is to refine this research and make this a common treatment. I consider that to be repayment. As for Harry, oh he will want something, but it won't be anything to put you at a disadvantage?" Priya replied. Ophelia began to pray to Lady Hecate that Harry would ask for Daphne's hand through a marriage contract. But then, he didn't really seem to be pureblood? Harry was more concerned with being…Harry. She would see how things would play out?

Sirius then came over to the coach, as he presented Ophelia and Cyrus with dataslates and communicators.

"What are these?" asked Ophelia.

"Ah! There are advancements of the original devices that broke me out of Azkaban. The smaller bits are called communicators and they fit into your ears. They hide themselves, and even clean the area too, and remove the sweat. Barely feel like they are there. Our kids at school can communicate with each other no matter where they are located in the castle. Daphne and Tracey were given communicators this morning, and they had a nice interhouse chat with Neville, Ronald, and Luna. They even managed to get their Charms homework done."

"I can see the benefit. Why did Harry decide to provide them with such a device? I just happen to be curious, although I am thankful." replied Cyrus.

"Harry left the clue because he wanted to see if your wife would locate us. And when she was finished, you were going to be pulled into our plans, anyway. He always suspected that the Greengrasses could work against Voldy under a neutral banner. When Harry got the news about Astoria, he immediately messaged me this morning and told me that the timetable had been accelerated. If you had approached us later about the blood curse, there was no guarantee they could cure Astoria. So it was good that things didn't go according to the plan."

"I don't think any of the Neutral houses want anything to do with the Dark Lord. But a lot of us didn't trust Dumbledore, during the last war. We believe in cooperation, and the Unforgiveables have a taboo associated with it. But now it doesn't matter. Nobody was brave enough to kill Death Eaters until Harry arrived. The neutrals as of right now believe that Harry has worse things and that he is Dark Lord."

"I know. Harry likes to do the whole 'I am here to kill the fucking boogieman sort of deal'. And that perhaps is his biggest prank. All of his ideas are established, non-magical ideas that were just enhanced in the right way. So there. As for the communicators, Harry believes it is important for everyone to be friends. He believes that many of the Slytherins are perfectly fine, and merely the ability to communicate is what is stopping them from getting rid of the hate. I am sure your wife understands this, all too well." replied Remus, who was suddenly walking over to the couch.

"Not surprising, he is Lilly's boy. I miss her so much. I do hope she is proud of her boy. He has no idea how much like his mother, he is!" Ophelia joked.

"I think she certainly is pleased. Daphne offered Neville a temporary alliance yesterday morning – she would tell him about the discussions within Slytherin's house, and he would teach her a lot of the magic that those two were responsible for drilling into him, during the holidays. Neville turned down the offer but forcefully suggested just a friendship. He said that his two extras were a good trade for her extra, if you get what I mean." Sirius commented.

"Ah, Sirius. Very bold of him. And the other 'device' is what you call it?" asked Cyrus.

"Ah yes, this is a data slate. The idea is to give all students the functionality to purchase books on such an artefact and eliminate the trunk weight. All your books in the palm of your hand. We also have search functions, indexes and bookmarks that will allow you to work efficiently. Essentially, it is a magical version of that nice computer system we have over there. Harry and Hermione have been working on this for about two months, but it has our best pieces in it?"

Sirius then took the assembled people through a small tutorial on how to use the items and explained some of the unique requirements that Harry and Hermione needed to learn quickly. Searchable text and indexes were the prime highlights, but other features included annotations and notes within the textbook page that could be toggled on or off. Text entry via writing with a pen or quill was also there.

"That is fantastic! Oh, I wish I had one of these as a student!" replied Ophelia.

"These are coming soon to the market. Now Cyrus, I can see that you are nervous. For what service that was offered here today, the custom is generally for a contracted marriage and a formally announced alliance at the Wizengamot. You will find that Harry nor I are the least bit interested in holding house Greengrass at ransom. I have an idea as to how to honour the life debt that Harry and Hermione will love, as they were complaining about it this morning."

"Which is?" Cyrus asked as he began to breathe easier. Ophelia was now disappointed and she was hoping that Harry would ask for a marriage contract – after what he had done today, she certainly considered the boy a good match for her eldest daughter. She continued to listen on:

"Harry had designed a mining system for the Goblins. That includes a gold mining cannon and some high-intensity lights along with other protective gear. King Ragnok auctioned off those devices that were deliberately made with replaceable parts to the other Goblin Enclaves. Now we are preparing for eventual replacement requests to come in, and we need someone to run the portfolio. We are also doing at least three similar sales within the next two years."

"Wait, Harry knows the Goblin King?" Ophelia asked.

"Sure. King Ragnok attended his birthday party which was held in a cave. That was the day he invented the rifle. Says it is the best birthday present he ever got himself. Made a couple million galleons from a gold dig." Remus replied, in a completely even tone of voice. Cyrus was now squinting his eyes, as he listened:

"So the cannons and all the other bits - the entire set of equipment sold for fifty million galleons and Harry and Hermione made an easy fifteen per cent on that. Each. The parts are expensive, and we have multiple sets lined up. At even a paltry ten per cent for running everything, you would be looking at five million galleons easily. And that is a single sale."

The room was now silent and Cyrus was suddenly confused as to why he was being offered such a lucrative deal, as repayment for a favour that was rendered to his House Greengrass. Their worth of a million galleons – that was a severe underapproximation! The Greengrass family realised that the pair had a different conception of business.

"This doesn't exactly sound like compensation? More like an opportunity?" Cyrus inquired.

"Correct. But for us, this would be great. Harry and Hermione have so many projects, that we are tasked to capacity. The complaint is that they aren't getting time to experiment and study." Sirius explained.

"Tell me more about this?" asked Ophelia.

"Remus does all the manufacturing, and we have another person who does the logistics. I manage the Stormbolt brooms and we have a new entire line of Quidditch products and brooms on the way for Christmas. I even bought the Chudley Cannons too, this morning. I am often tired these days, with just those portfolios."

"So, you are saying that by managing these portfolios, we will give Harry and Hermione more time to study? And this is what they consider to be a valuable thing? Although…..come to think about it, I believe I understand why…." asked Cyrus.

"Correct. It is total pandemonium. I even want to suggest that Lord Davis can pitch in and help us with all these portfolios. Maybe both of you can run the secondary things that we do here. Do that, and I think Harry will be pleased. He won't need anything else from you. We need help from trustworthy people, who will keep our secrets. And that has already been promised through your letter. This is advantageous, and you are the perfect candidate?" Sirius explained.

"I suppose he will go back and wrench on the Thunderbolt across there?" asked Remus as he joked loudly. Sirius was smiling as he nodded.

"The Thunderbolt?" asked Ophelia.

"Yes, that huge thing on the rack there. It is being designed for the war. The panels aren't finished – but you can look at the images on the wall. The first set of images are standard fighter jets. Those exist and are common. Muggle America uses then, 1200 mph easy."

Cyrus and Opelia were looking at pictures of the F-35.

"The newer drawings are of a fictional advancement of that real aircraft that doesn't exist yet. They exist in muggle science fiction books and other things, like cartoons and movies. Harry decided to take well-known engineering practices and magic and build the future, right now. That frame uses a combination of magic and standard muggle jet engines at the same time. When it is finished, it will look exactly like that picture, and it will be ahead of whatever is either its magical or muggle equivalent."

"How fast does it go? Faster than the Stormbolt?" Astoria asked.

"Harry is hoping to do at least 1400 mph per hour, but if I know him, he will push for more."

"Did you say 1400 mph?" Cyrus asked.

"Oh, that isn't too fast. SR-71 on that poster over there made 2200 mph. That is the record Harry is trying to beat. For you, this is news because your knowledge about the Muggle world is outdated by at least a century. As you work with us, you will figure it out. Ah, look the both of them are here."

Harry and Hermione sat down and Sirius began to explain his idea:

"Harry, as you probably figured, the discussion of Life debts came up. I was merely suggesting that Cyrus and Lord Davis can run some of the more exhausting projects. I also think Authur might be a good fit to work with the logistics, as he has a talent for tracking a lot of simultaneous projects. I know you and Hermione need time to experiment and Imperial College is not going to be easy business. I am trying to help both of you get those shiny degrees because everyone including me, wants that for both of you?"

Suddenly Harry and Hermione's faces lit up and the Greengrass family realised that this was some large burden being lifted off their shoulders, which was quite unusual. That alone was truly a case of novelty. Their most precious resource was time.

"I think that we can hash the details over lunch. That is an arrangement that would satisfy both Hermione and I. How much per cent did you offer?" Harry asked.

"Ten per cent between each between both of them," replied Sirius.

"Nah, do fifteen each. Include Uncle Authur. Hermione and I will share the remaining fifteen per cent down the middle. Ragnok and Bloodaxe are looking for other opportunities as they can't fill their coffers anymore before it becomes a problem with the other Goblin Kings. The money is coming from the other foreign Goblin Enclaves, so I want us to bite as much as we can, out of it. Lunch is in an hour. Sirius work out the details, I have the new test engines to install so I will not be available. I want to take a lap around the manor by this afternoon. Hermione has to do some adjustments to the runes and the avionics."

Harry walked off casually, as he yelled at the elves:

"Oi you lot, I have a trolley with the five engines. Bolt them all down, while I tune the geometry on the test engine. We will connect everything, copy the engine geometry and we will see how it performs? And pizza this evening for everyone!"

Cyrus began to appreciate that Harry's elves were technically trained as large complex large components hovered into the air, and a whole cacophony of power tools was switched on. Hermione began to stack several copper plates into another assembly, and it looked like she was building something with the runes.

"As you can see, they are really that busy. In the meanwhile, Cyrus and Ophelia can put these in your ears and you can chat with Daphne and Tracey. I am hoping you will vouch for us, and speak to Lord Davis, as I think he would love to speak to his daughter too. Here, let me help you with that…." Sirius replied.

After the earpieces were in, he tapped the option on the dataslate and Cyrus tested the waters as he buzzed Daphne.

"Daughter, Tracey, hello?" was the sentence that Daphne had heard on her earpiece before she answered:

"Father it that you?"

"Yes, my dearest. Your mother is here too."

"Father! Mother! This is amazing. Wait, how did you get this artefact?"

"Yes, I would like to know. Neville claims that he knows a guy who can get my drumkit to school!" Tracey butted in.

"We met the person and we are under oath. I received your last letter, but I would like to hear what has occurred lately at Hogwarts. I understand you and Tracey were responsible for saving two people?"

"Yes. I like that Slytherin got some good recognition. The Headmaster wants to speak with all of us, a little bit later. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ronald Weasley were also involved."

"Yes daughter, we heard the story in passing. We have momentous news – truly good news. We will have to talk about it, during Christmas, it is complicated. But tell us how the events happened anyway?"

"Well, what happened was…"

Daphne explained as Tracey joined in to fill in the blanks. As the Greengrasses listened, Tracey immediately picked up on the lack of probing questions. To her it seemed obvious – they already knew everything. Whoever was Neville's powerful friend, was interested in reaching out to the Greengrass family. Tracey began to wonder if the Storm-Lord and the Storm-Priestess were Neville's friends. How could they be that good at magic? And who else could manufacture such artefacts? Tracey decided that she would say silent for now, as she observed the trio more closely.

Maybe he might want to publish the first book of her novel?

As both of the girls explained the events, they browsed the menus. Neville had advised her and Tracey to skip lunch, as he was bringing the "grub."


Within the staff room, the following conversations continued:

"Finally, as we are done reviewing the upper years, are there any comments about our first years?" Albus Dumbledore asked his staff.

"Well, I think our three most outstanding students for the year are Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ronald Weasley. They generally come to class, already perfectly capable of executing their spells. I honestly considered skipping them to the fourth year classes." replied Fillius.

Now the rest of the teachers were paying attention.

"I came across a study session in the great hall, where they openly helped each other to get the spells right. Neville has great skill with the Defence spells and Luna is very good at Charms. Ronald seems to be in the middle of both of them, and he gets help with what he needs. I have heard from the others that he is very good with potions. He has been helping a lot of the upper year students." replied Minerva.

Snape was now fuming.

"He certainly managed a solid Protego above the greenhouse. I believe Neville taught him! Headmaster, there are Ministry employees that cannot do the spell that fluidly. I don't understand how he lined up that Bombarda, one bit. You can see why I wanted him for Hufflepuff! He is a good boy, he is helpful and he works very hard. Too hard, in fact…" Pomona replied.

"I think that whatever has occurred to bring them together, is truly a good thing. They do everything in the name of friendship, and for that I applaud them. Anything else of note with the other students?" asked Albus.

The room was silent.

"Excellent, let me tell you what I have discovered about the broom sabotage. I do plan to interview the brave students who attempted the rescue but of great concern is…"

As he droned on, Harry asked Invictus to record the rest of the conversation. Harry then began to shape the internal dimensions of the jet engine with the Protego field. As he looked at the load cell, he quickly found many arrangements that could work, and he began to slowly iterate the design based on some calculations that Hermione had attempted. Finally, when Harry was satisfied, Hermione began looking over the rune work, as they began to test all the thrust bypass valves. Then the flight control surfaces were summoned into shape from the emitters, as Harry double-checked the main hydraulics for the small carbon fibre canards and the emitter pivots.

"Alright, it all looks good. Let us eat something. Look, the Wizarding world has any number of flying carriages. The carriage floats with a levitation rune array and flying animals are used to drag the thing along. No reason why our stuff won't work?" commented Hermione.

"Yes, I know. I am excited Mione. Alright yes, let us eat. Let me get the rest of them."

Harry now found himself accompanied by everyone, as they went off to the kitchen to have lunch.


At Hogwarts, Neville was checking in on his two new Slytherin friends.

"Daphne?"

"Hmm?"

"How did the chat with your father go?" asked Neville.

"By Hecate, that was amazing. Are our houses in an alliance?" Daphne asked.

"Openly? Nah. I know all the details, and when you do find out you will be rather pleased. Probably for Yule we might get the details. As for you Tracey, about knowing a guy?"

"Yes?"

"He said he will work on something. Anyway, what do you guys want from the menu?" Neville asked.

"Well I want the hot wings that you like so much, and the Chai tea I have never had before, and….."

It became obvious that Daphne was a dainty eater, and Tracey ate in quantity.


Tracey and Daphne had been given specific instructions on where to go, to avoid the other Slytherins. When they arrived through an alternate passageway that seemed to end at a random broom cupboard next to the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower, both snakes began to appreciate that the trio knew the castle rather well.

"That one is neat! You realise they know where our common room is located?"

"We know every common room in the castle?" replied Luna, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, as she held her wand in her hand. The other two boys appeared and Daphne and Tracey realised that if anybody unexpected had appeared, they would have been taken out quickly.

"Are you guys always expecting to get attacked?" asked Daphne.

"Yes. There has been at least one death recorded on the school compound fifty years ago. The cause was never found. So you never know what is lurking inside this castle?" answered Neville.

"Who?" asked Tracey.

"Myrtle Elizabeth Warren or as she is known now, Moaning Myrtle. About fifty years ago. She now roams the school as a ghost. There is no Ministry report on why that occurred, it looked like a cover-up. But there is something here. And we know because we made it our business to find out?" replied Luna.

Daphne and Tracey were now silent. Neville merely flashed a V shape with his two fingers, as Ronald and Luna assumed positions behind the girls. Neville began to lead, and the girls immediately understood that they were being actively protected as they walked in the middle of the triangle towards the Headmaster's office. Neville's head also seemed to swivel as he checked every possible vantage point, and the girls appreciated that even under a surprise attack, the group would be able to respond effectively. When Neville arrived at the Headmaster's office, he yelled:

"Maltesers!"

The massive Griffin stone statue suddenly began to rise out of the alcove, as a spiral staircase was revealed. Neville nodded to Ronald and Luna, as they continued to climb the stairs slowly. When they arrived at the door, the trio put away their wands, as Neville and Ronald held the door open for the three remaining girls. Albus Dumbledore was reading a book, and he closed the tome and placed the item on the shelf, wandlessly.

"Ah, our young heroes. Welcome. Please have a seat."

Albus summoned a small desk and placed the chairs under the desk. Neville and Ronald ensured that the girls were seated before they made themselves comfortable. Ronald proceeded to hand Albus a new menu and explained:

"Afternoon Professor from all of us. New menu today. Mum says it is on the house. Is there any issue with Neville's elf bringing the items to the office directly?"

"Oh thank you, Mr Weasley. No, not at all. How far is the food coming from?"

"London. We have an arrangement for a floo courier into Hogsmeade. Then we can get Neville's elf to get it here. You can ask mum how it works she understands the arrangement."

"Quite Clever my boy! I would not mind selectively opening one of the floos to her business place. Normally the internal floo is used to help us get around the castle quickly, but I can make adjustments. I do trust your family enough to make a connection. Truthfully, Minerva and the other head of houses have….requested this of me?" Albus replied before he laughed.

"Oh yes sir, that will be welcome! We aim to please, and to please consistently?" Ronald laughed. Tracey observed as the Sorting Hat suddenly shook himself, and was looking on at the group. Then he grinned before quickly he began to carefully observe the interaction. Suddenly, she felt like she and Daphne were the inexperienced snakes in the room, for some off reason.


Astoria was now attempting to play table tennis with Ginny, as Harry and the rest of the individuals listened at the kitchen table. Now Cyrus and Ophelia were tuned in and they realised that Harry was truly devious – he was listening in to the private conversations with the most powerful wizard in the world.

"That is a manipulation tactic – he wants to snoop around Molly's business. What should we do?" asked Hermione.

"Simple. Show him the kitchen, and let him think he is making progress while we control the situation right under his beaky sized nose. Let us set up a small dining room where the professors can have a meal. The place next door is for sale, as they moved to another location. And we are going to have a listen in, during all their conversations. Sirius?"

"Making the call Prongslet!" Sirius replied as he messaged Lorna to organise the finer details. Cyrus and Opelia were surprised at how Harry seemed to suddenly become quite a Slytherin, after being so much of a Ravenclaw for the morning. In fact, he seemed utterly devious when he wasn't being nice. Even somewhat ruthless. Cyrus and Opelia realised that he had resorted to such behaviours because his world had demanded that of him, sadly.


After some idle chat over the next twenty minutes, where Daphne and Tracey described their first week at school to Albus, Snipper appeared with the orders. As the food containers opened, Albus began to press with the questions:

"So Neville, do you have any suspicions about who did the sabotage?" Albus asked.

"I do. But I don't think it will be good to follow this suspicion. It will be a waste of time." Neville replied.

"Oh? Please explain why, my boy?"

"I know it is Draco Malfoy. I take it you are familiar with the sonorous charm, yes?"

"Certainly so, Mr Longbottom."

"Great. Just apply it to your ear and intent modify it towards making your ear more sensitive to sound. Amplification of the sensitivity of the ears, essentially."

Albus applied the charm and found himself being able to hear Neville who whispered

"Testing 1, 2, 3! Testing 1, 2, 3!" into Daphne's ear. Albus cancelled the charm and realised that Neville had repurposed a known spell to truly do something incredible.

"Fascinating! But is it advisable to listen to private conversations, my boy?"

"Certainly not! But Draco cannot control his facial expressions. Smugness generally means he has planned something. So far, Slytherin House put together an inquisitorial squad to hospitalise me during their Triumvirate, and I also know that Draco was acting on the orders of Lucius Malfoy. Heard him giggling to Gregory and Vincent. Jade Ethro and Henry Warrington were also involved. I heard it only five minutes before the brooms were up in the air."

"Ah. This is troubling news indeed. I take it you are aware we had assistance from other parties?" asked Albus.

"Yes. I don't think the Storm-Lord's Thunderbird should have attacked Draco however. Punishment was an issue for you to deal with. I am glad he saved our classmates, his faults aside. However, I thought that Draco would be more responsible. What do I know, I suppose?"

Albus smiled, as he felt sure that Neville was in his corner. The Sorting Hat was watching on intently, and Tracey saw the funny grin on the legendary hat. Tracey realised that Neville probably knew the Storm-Lord and she continued to stare at the food. In any case, the Headmaster seemed intently focused on Neville.

"Ms Greengrass, could you recount how you went about your rescue?"

"Sure Headmaster. So, I noticed the smirk also, and I decided to ask Neville on the suspicion that…..." Daphne continued to explain.


Harry had opted for Grace to transport serving containers directly from the kitchen, as Sirius discussed the details of the Gringotts portfolio. Harry and Hermione held their own conversation, as he discussed possible problems with Hermione:

"Think the Brayton cycle numbers will check out?" he asked.

"If my math is right, sure? Although Harry, you will just have to fly the thing?"

"I get the feeling you would make a better pilot than me, but I want to make sure it is safe. My neck before yours. Until I am sure about my own engines, you stay far from the flight stick."

"You build reliable stuff, not to worry. Too fussy. It will….be….fine." Hermione insisted, with emphasis on the pauses.

"Well as soon as we are done, I will get my jetpack on, and we can give it a whirl. Let us hope those canards and the new vertical stabilisers work. I also hope we have enough meat on the wing to get an adequate amount of lift. The shape isn't the best optimised for lift, it is more of a fashion statement honestly. Bad engineering 101 if you think objectively about it? We are doing form before function?"

"They were fantastic on the model though? Look, we love bling okay? I want our ship to look super cool!" Hermione giggled.

Cyrus who was next to the pair, looked on as they scribbled complex looking equations on their notepads, as Ophelia acquainted herself with some of the runic cheat sheets that Hermione had developed. Both of them began to appreciate that they were possibly looking at two of the greatest minds in magical England, as they were carving out history. Ophelia smiled, as she realised that Harry often spoke with the same excitement and mannerisms that reminded her of her deceased friend, Lilly Potter.


"Well Miss Davis, I am happy that the injury to your arm was not severe. Was the healing painful? You were the first to try the new pain suppression potion."

"None at all. The area was numb and totally painless. Whoever created that, deserves an Order of Merlin award, Professor!"

Albus now had a forced smile on his face.

"Well, it was wonderful speaking to all of you. It has helped me put together a complete picture. I do hope we will see more interhouse cooperation as time goes by. Are you familiar with Professor Horace Slughorn Ms Greengrass and Ms Davis?"

"He taught our parents. What about him, professor?" asked Daphne.

"He will be arriving tomorrow evening. He will be the new Head of House Slytherin from Monday."

"Oh, alright! Well, I hope that he might talk some sense into my housemates. While I like these three here, I want my house to win. And I want a fair win, but our lives have been hard lately?" Daphne explained.

"Yes indeed. I hope he might be able to persuade your housemates, Ms Greengrass. Mr Weasley, thanks for the items once again. I do have a soft spot for the tea."

"Perhaps we can provide the recipe? Maybe one of the kitchen elves at Hogwarts elves can handle it? I don't think that will be an issue. It is standard tea, with some Indian spices and milk. It is not hard to find or make?"

"That would be appreciated. Mr Longbottom, I appreciate your detective work, and I am surprised that you have decided to restrain yourself. It is…admirable. I do like your flexibility with the magic. I expect great things from all of you!"

"Thank you. I spoke to Percy recently. I do believe defensive magic is important. He has been breaking up a lot of the fights between Slytherin and Gryffindor, with well-timed Protegos. He has a talent for flicking them away. I think all of us will work on getting up to the point where we can flick anything away. Daffy and Trace…..you in?" Neville asked.

"Oh…..sure! Although I don't know if my housemates will approve?" Daphne replied.

"Not to worry we will find a place to use. Somewhere...secret?" Neville replied.

"Excellent, it is all settled. Ten points for everyone here, for interhouse cooperation. You may all go, this was an excellent session! I will continue to keep an eye out on young Draco and his friends as they recover. Thank you for your services towards Hogwarts, once again!" Albus replied. As the five students left, Albus glowed in pride as he considered that Neville was exactly what he needed, and he was already working towards being obedient and brave.

"Harry my boy, your sacrifice is appreciated. I am so sorry, Neville will have to take your place. All for the greater good. I wish you were here with us, things would have truly been different. The Dark Lord will be back, and great sacrifices will have to be made, to stop him. Neville will have to suffer…greatly. His friends will have to bear the burden too…." Albus whispered.

Little did Albus know, Harry had always been there, and he had been the ringleader of everything from the start. Ophelia and Cyrus were now looking at Harry, and his hands were up in the air, as he protested at the kitchen table before he got up.

Now Harry was speaking to Neville, as he collected all the plates.

"Nev? Excellent. Once again, he plans to sacrifice you and others." Harry insisted.

"Poor man, he has no idea what a bag of mad cats you and Lorna are! How was lunch, Harry?"

"Excellent? Maybe I am buzzing from the accomplishment today. Taking the model for a test flight. Strapping on my jetpack in case it all goes to hell. I will let you know how it goes, Nev?"

"Sure. Have fun Harry?" Neville replied before he hanged up. As Harry disconnected from the call, Neville who was now in his dormitory buzzed the girls:

"Daffy and Tracey, how do you like our grub, eh?"

"The tea is to die for! I need a whole gallon of it, honestly. Everything was excellent!" Daphne replied.

"Thank you, Ms Greengrass. My mother is a savage in the kitchen. It also helps she is paired with another expert, who does the tea. Family recipe, closely guarded secret. Whenever you want to treat yourselves, let us know." replied Ronald.

"If you had told me, that we would get to see the Headmaster's office I would have laughed. Slytherins generally never visit the place!" replied Tracey.

"See, we are important. If you need any help with the homework, you can buzz us. We are going to relax." Ronald replied.

"Okey Dokey! Laaaater!" Tracey replied brightly.

Daphne and Tracey were now speaking amongst themselves. The comments included that as Slytherins, they had been allowed to make friends with other people within Hogwarts.

Daphne asked Tracey, "I wonder what father is up to? Who are we talking to?"

Tracey stayed silent.


Harry slipped on the polymer suit and zipped the affair tight before the polymer contacted. Now Harry's muscles could be seen, and Ginny handed Harry his helmet.

"Thank sweetie. I heard you are the new carbon-fibre technician. Love the dashboard!" Harry commented.

"It is so much fun! Please be safe, some of your stuff tends to blow up?" Ginny answered, to the surprise of the adults in the vicinity.

"Aww, thanks! You care if I stay in one piece!" Harry replied brightly.

Harry merely took a small leap and landed directly into the open cockpit of the frame, as he buckled himself in. Harry's voice was now amplified on the intercom, and the projector was showing a camera feed from the cockpit. Cyrus and Ophelia looked on, somewhat curious as they had never seen the construction of a flying implement. Hermione would have been the better choice to fly the prototype, but she decided she wanted to pay attention to the runic arrays. After all, this was the first time that runes were being used partially for flight control systems. That was no small thing.

"Alright starting the hovering thrusters…." Harry explained over the workshop intercom.

The main centre jet engines began to whirl and Harry adjusted the thrust to the minimum setting. The accelerometer took over and the three vented ports at the bottom began to dynamically adjust as the frame, to keep everything stable. Now the frame was floating about four inches above the stand. Sirius then opened the new electronic gate that had been installed, and for the first time, the Greengrasses came to appreciate the size of Peverell Manor. Astoria laughed because as far as she was concerned, Harry Potter technically did live in a castle. As the fourth bypass port was gradually opened up, Harry increased the speed and now the aircraft frame was running along the gravel track. Harry had augmented his reflexes, and he began to pitch the wings upwards as the canards and flaps flexed into action. He was now in the air, and the Protego summoned wings not only allowed the unit to fly, but it felt stable. Harry was somewhat surprised, as the design was unusual – technically he was flying a canard-based delta wing bi-plane. Harry had adapted the shape, and it seemed to turn easily.

"Harry, you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yep, flies great. I am going to open up the engine."

Suddenly a large howl could be heard and those who were watching from below saw the contraption, as it suddenly accelerated.

"Harry? Air traffic control? Keep the altitude down!" Hermione warned, but there was a smile on her face. Her runes had been done in quintuplicate to provide reliability, and they were firing off reliably. They also worked well with the electronic systems that Harry had built from scratch, and had partially sourced from another local company.

"Relax I am just seeing if I can push the thing…turning…turning…..coming right back at you…350….450….550…650 kph…. backing off…..coming in"

Hermione was greeted by Harry, as he approached the gravel runway. He then hit the reverse vent flaps open, along with switching on the air brakes. He suddenly deaccelerated, and he engaged the hovering flaps. Harry slowly approached the stand and gently manoeuvred the frame into position. As he cut the jet engines, the frame dopped with a heavy thud, as he waited for the engines to spin down. Then he jumped out of the cockpit. The elves along with all the people in the workshop were clapping, and Harry and Hermione took a small bow.

"Well Harry, how did it go?" asked Sirius.

"Like a charm. I only flew on the centre engine, with only some assistance from the pylon engines. I will make some readjustments. This will be our transport when we figure out all the issues.


Priya had not seen the Thunderbolt frame test fly. It was just a grounded project for her. She was still in the kitchen and she was preparing to go to France to deal with an emergency. She decided to check Astoria one last time, as she could not stay to observe the girl. However, the black haired girl seemed lively. Lord and Lady Greengrass had returned to the kitchen.

"Lord Greengrass, her vitals are fine. She just needs sleep and food, she will be fine. She won't need to stay all evening. I have to go off to France very soon to deal with a priority case."

"Thank you, Ms Singh, but after what you have done for my dearest daughter, I think we can certainly be on a first name basis. Cyrus will be fine."

"As long as you agree to abide by that convention with me also, sure. Please, Priya"

"Can I get a fancy artefact to talk to Ginny from home?" asked Astoria. Harry upon hearing this request, merely summoned a data slate and pair of earbuds wandlessly as Hermione snatched the tablet out of the air. She then assigned the name "Astoria Shortstack Greengrass" to the user name system, and then handed both devices to the young girl.

"There you go. Just don't pester your sister and Tracey too much." Harry suggested. Astoria nodded excitedly as she proceeded to hug Harry and Hermione.

"Can you be my bigger brother and sister?" Astoria squeaked. Ophelia and Cyrus smiled at how precious the moment appeared, and even Camilla who was looking on silently smiled. The big grins on Harry and Hermione's faces had truly made a moment worth remembering.

"Already done Shortstack. Sirius, about tomorrow?" mentioned Harry.

"Oh right. Cyrus and Ophelia, this is what I call a Harry-grade prank on the Wizengamot. Anyway, we are planning to….."

By the time, Sirius was done explaining the fiasco that was about to unfold tomorrow, Cyrus and Ophelia were openly scratching their heads. That such an outlandish idea could ever be conceived, was evidence that James lived on in Harry. Sirius Black would pretend to be a new unknown Lord Black, and he would turn everything upside down tomorrow. Cyrus agreed that he would speak to Lord Davis later that night, and he would host a conference call with Agusta, as they planned toward cutting a path for the Neutrals to move away from the duress of the darker houses in the Wizengamot.