Record keeping time: This is more of a filler chapter setting up for the big ones coming up. I will say that Dolores is going to make an appearance rather soon, much earlier than in the original timeline. Again, I am skirting around the main characters for now, and focusing on some of the other characters in the story. So, to those who dislike Dumbledore, please don't dislike him too much here.

Notice also that most people assume that Alex and Delane are 'weak' wizards. That is an ace in the hole for them for now.

Three things: Albus is only somewhat of a pain, but not really in the overall scheme of things. The way he played Harry will be dealt with. But remember that all of this is new to him and he is adjusting, considering the fact that he has tendencies of being an evil chess master.

Second" Umbridge is as dark as it gets without being a Dark Lord in herat, herself. Alex knows this and his approach to her will be… different.

Lastly as you read this story you will see references and hints of another story, an as of yet incomplete story involving the Addams family. Xander and Wednesday could have been a thing, but she was a bit too much for him and this man dealt with Anya! Plus, the timing was wrong, and you know how that goes…

So please enjoy and on with the story.

Master Xander

Chapter 30

Hogwarts-Great Hall

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore carefully scrutinized how the small halfling-muggle's attempts to pass the ring to the exotic elven queen, (a wise thing to do) failed. The old man found himself pleased that the female creature didn't take it. The power and corruption inherent in the ring would have been disastrous for all concerned. Apparently, the ring thrived on the cores of magical beings. Any wizard or witch in possession of the cursed article would no doubt fall victim to its corruption. The mere thought of such an abhorrence existing was too much. Fantasy or not, impressionable young students shouldn't be exposed to such ideas.

This film was fantasy (or was it?).

Still, it contained too much information. He wasn't properly informed about its contents one way or the other. The Deputy Headmaster wasn't clear on the subject, or perhaps, he hadn't listened carefully enough. The film was half over, but the mere thought of further revelations that could be revealed galvanized him into action.

He sat at the room's rear, not wishing to distract the audience and because he wanted to keep his hat on. Plus, he loved watching people's reaction as much as watching the entertainment), and wasn't pleased. Slowly, the elder wand slid out into his waiting hand. He wouldn't dare obliviate everyone, but he could stop the film from continuing. Muggle electrik-things were easy to confuse and no one, not even Mister Harris and Miss Delane, would know what happened. The elder wand's magic was undisputed and completely undetectable when controlled by a master such as himself.

Dumbledore cast a silent charm, intending to short-out the system. It would be attributed to accidental magic by someone. Those things happened all the time, and muggle devices were notoriously fickle around magic.

The film continued without interruption.

Surprised, he tried it again with a touch more power. Again, nothing.

It should have worked. The lectrik-lighting power, whatever they called it. Should have been disrupted, thereby blowing out the power source, which wasn't magic. That much he knew, or he would have sensed it. But he needed to be sure. A quick, invisible screening spell left him shocked.

"Merlin's blood!" he whispered.

All of the related devices were protected by a shield spell unlike anything he had ever encountered before. There were at least six other charms and wards he'd never seen protecting all of the equipment. All of them were unknown to him. His own spell hadn't bounced off the equipment, but simply slid off. The shield wasn't a deflection charm, but something different.

Sighing, he relented and got comfortable and munched on this American popcorn treat. He'd forgotten whom he dealt with. The American wizards were masters and warriors. Naturally, they would have protections guarding their properties and unless he wanted to confront them in front of everyone present, there was nothing he could do. The elder wand should have had the power to overwhelm those defenses. It most likely could, he acknowledged, if he wanted to go all out. Now it was too late to do anything about it and from Harris's smirk, a disappointed Dumbledore knew he had tried.

Perhaps a friendly duel to test him in the future would shed light on the extent of Harris' power and abilities.

He would have to have a talk with them and later, he intended to ask them if they would share the spells that protected their property. It was completely unknown, and very intriguing, and he was always interested in learning new magic.

Minutes later, the headmaster was entranced once more by the events happening in the movie. The subtle magics of that age appeared evolutionary and gave credence that this represented history and not just some muggle's imagination. He would ask for details about the movie and the truth of its origins later. Surprisingly, he discovered that he would enjoy the challenge dealing with Harris after the tournament was over.

That Sunday morning, Narcissa Malfoy ordered the house-servants to prepare a special breakfast that included most of her husband's favorite dishes. She wanted to prepare him for the upcoming conversation, and a good breakfast always lightened his mood.

Last night, he asked about her outing in passing but he really hadn't shown any true interested other than to ask if Dumbledore was there. Her husband's preoccupation with Dumbledore and his lack of what was happening at Hogwarts irritated her. She needed to discuss what she'd seen, and the implications that could change the preconceptions about the muggle world.

At the end of the movie presentation, and after Harris and Delane had fielded several very relevant questions, a slightly shaken Dumbledore smiled and thanked everyone for coming. He acted like his usual, confident self, but she could see he was disturbed, and she understood why, which was just one of the reasons why she needed to talk to her distracted husband.

The food was prepared, the breakfast table properly set, and smallish house servants departed. None of them wanted to be around their master, who still remained in a snit ever since Dobby was taken from him. His rage hadn't cooled, and he continually expressed his anger towards all of the house elfs.

The fact that all of his favorite foods were laid out before him hadn't escaped his notice. Truth be told, he enjoyed this little game with his wife. It always happened when his wife required his attention. Grabbing a piece of sausage, he glared at his wife and waited for her to begin.

"Did you know that muggles have a significant amount of knowledge of magical history that we don't?" she started.

That surprised him. Enough so that he put his sausage down to listen. "Muggles? They know about magical history?"

"Oh, yes," she answered. "Professor Harris tried to pass it off as muggle entertainment, which was, by the way, quite impressive. But I could tell he was lying when I spoke to him afterwards. He spoke about his village in California." She winced. "It's a dreadful place where muggles and wizards co-existed and fought together to survive against the dark forces and vampires that infested Sunnydale. That is the name of the village. He was quite explicit. He spoke about ancient vampires that destroyed it. And how he and his friends fought against them and saved the world."

Lucius laughed at the absurdity. "Impossible. Vampires are dangerous, but that they could try to take over the world is absurd. And you believed him?"

She shivered. "He showed me his memory," she said. "Those vampire things were monsters."

Her husband could hear it in her voice. She was frightened and obviously believed the American. And it gave him pause. "How much information did you get from him?"

Narcissa suppressed a smirk. She had his attention for a change. "I've obtained more information than I thought I would get. Severus's information was correct. Professor Harris grew up muggle and didn't know he was a wizard until his mid-thirties. The village's supreme wizard placed a spell on the town, suppressing witches and wizard's power and their heritages." That made her shiver. "I could see that he is heavily influenced by his muggle upbringing. He rarely uses his wand and I agree with Severus. He is a weak wizard, but he is smart. But that is something we can discuss at a later time. The moving picture show brought several disturbing yet fascinating points to my attention. There is a magical history we know nothing about. They had ancient Dark Lords in those times and they had demons and elves that we've not seen before. And there were different types of muggles, more types than we knew of, and all of them were aware of the magical world."

He didn't question his wife's belief in what she was telling him. Therefore, he believed her, even though it sounded like a fantasy tale.

"And Professor Harris knew of dark lords?" he asked.

"Yes. He fought one in his village," she answered. "Sunnydale village was turned into a lake. The majority of muggles never knew what happened, but according to Alexander, there are some who do and they keep watch. They're called Watchers."

"How creative," he snipped. "And the American magicals allowed these muggles to retain their memories?" He was furious at the very thought. "That is irresponsible!"

The woman shook her head, disagreeing with him. "According to him, the wizarding authorities would try to obliviate their memories, if they could find them. However, he then told me something very disturbing."

Lucius saw the look of concern on his wife's face. "Tell me, please."

"If we enforce our authority on them, then there are other magicals that will defend them, and it would begin a magical war."

The man scoffed at the very notion. "I don't believe other magicals would dare defy us. The goblins wouldn't dare start a war with us. And other magical creatures don't have the power or numbers to resist us, if we were to impress upon them our will."

"No, husband, I have the impression that he was referring to muggle magical creatures that we aren't aware of."

He shook his head in dismay. This was absurd. "If there were muggle magicals, or muggles able to use abilities like us wizards," and here, he all but sneered at the possibility, "what power could they actually have? If they exist, wouldn't they be under the authority of the Wizarding world leadership? The Ministry should be made aware of this."

Thinking about it, he decided not to rush headlong into the fire. He needed more information before he decided on a final course of action. "Perhaps I should go to the Ministry and do some research. If it is true, I don't want the Ministry trying to cover it up before I can find evidence of the validity of what Harris is saying."

"Lucius, the Ministry may already be aware of this and are keeping it a secret," she suggested. "If the wizarding world, in general, knew of this, there might be an upheaval in the magical world. If it's true, then that war might make the goblin-wizard war look feeble in comparison. Or, the Ministry might sanction us for having such information. We would be liable."

That gave her husband pause. "Because they would make us scapegoats for their incompetence," he said, finishing her train of thought.

The Ministry lived to keep secrets. It would be foolish of him to go to the Ministry and simply voice suspicions, without proof. Of practice also, that his wife was privy to. There were strong rumors that the Dark Lord would soon return, and he would require this information. Voldemort would never tolerate another wizard attempting to claim supremacy over the wizarding world. And, if it were true, then the last thing Lucius wanted was to bring attention to himself and his family. Most importantly, how would the Dark Lord respond to this news when he came back?

"Did Professor Harris say anything about these so-called magical creatures or people that exist in the world?"

"He was vague," she said. Her husband nodded. "Going to the Ministry would not be wise. Besides, I believe he has more information that we need to be made aware of." She paused for a second as she reflected on some of the other things that Harris had told her. "There are several more of these movies that he has ascribed to the dark Lord Sauron. That Was the Name of the Dark Lord of Ancient Times addressed in the movie. I must confess, I'm quite interested to see how this series of movies ends. It might be useful for us in the future."

"I think I need to know more about this man, and the woman he's associated with. What is their relationship?"

Narcissa glared at him. "If you had read some of your son's letters, then you would have much of this information already. According to our son, he was once engaged to Professor Delane's older sister. Evidently, they are royalty. Professor Harris, because of his common status, was deemed an unworthy suitor. However, he, Professor Ceraine, and most of the Royal family remained good friends. And there's something about her…" She hesitated, trying to express the right words. "She's very exotic. I'm sure she has many suitors of her own, but Harris is not one of them. They are good friends, according to Snape."

"Is he sure?"

His wife smiled. "I believe so. As I said before, he is Muggle born, as is his lifestyle. I can understand why he was rejected, no matter what their feelings were for one another. According to our son, he is very strongly muggle motivated and rarely uses magic at all. Other than the use of his wand occasionally, he rarely uses any form of magic. That is understandable," she stated as she thought about it. "However, he does have one very interesting magical artifact. In fact, both of them have one. They have magical capes that allow them to float without the aid of a broom."

That captured his attention. "Very interesting," he mused. "Has he seen this?"

"Yes."

"Does he use brooms? Can he apparate?"

"Our son stated that Professor Harris hates using brooms to fly. He says that it's too 17th or 18th century. As for apparition, it is too cumbersome for his taste."

Lucius struggled to keep from smirking in disdain. "That means he is unable to do either, no doubt a result of his upbringing and lack of magical training."

"But our son says he's very strong and agile. He exercises in the morning when he's at Hogwarts teaching classes." She shrugged. "He prefers doing things the muggle way."

Her husband merely nodded once. That was expected when a wizard grew up muggle. It wasn't unknown for that to happen, and they were usually crippled, which explained several things about him. Half-bloods and muggle-born were always slipping through the cracks. "You said that there are more of these movies the professors will show his class? And the others?" he asked. "Will you attend?"

"I want to," she confessed. "I am curious and that is why, if you must seek any information, that you will be discreet. Minister Fudge might attempt to stop those movies being seen before I can see them at Hogwarts."

Lucius thought about that for a moment and then scoffed at the idea. "The man is more concerned about the tournament than he is about what is going on at the school, so you needn't worry about him. But you have a point. The contest is a feather in the cap of Britain and his focus is there. But there are others we should be concerned about if this becomes too controversial."

We are, however, somewhat protected," his wife noted. "The other two schools have a most favorable opinion of the movie, and several students are monitoring Professors Harris' and Delane's classes. It would not be in the Ministry's interests to interfere."

Bowing to his wife, he bit into another sausage as his mood lightened. "Well, since we are here and there are no pressing engagements at the moment, please tell me about this movie."

Narcissa brightened. She had his full attention now and intended to exploit the moment. "So that you will have context, I will start at the beginning. A very long time ago, there was a great war. Muggles and strange elven-muggles, completely unknown and unlike our elves and dwarves, gathered together to fight a powerful Dark Lord and his army. This lord gave magical rings to the muggles, dwarfs, and the elven creatures as gifts. But unknown to all, those rings were traps, a way to enslave all who wore them, because his ring was the one that rule them all. The dark Lord Sauron possessed the one ring and with it, he came close to ruling the world."

Lucius was enraptured, and instantly chilled to his soul when his wife described the ring and its ultimate purpose as it corrupted all who possessed it after Sauron's assumed death. The story hit much too close to home.

He could see why his wife was so interested in seeing the other movies. He wanted to see them for himself if he had the time…