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For copyright and disclaimers, please see chapter one.
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16 – Week Thirty Five, Third Year
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Sunday, April 15, 2001:
Hogwarts, Great Hall, Ravenclaw table: 08:25
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"You're looking awfully pleased with yourself this morning," Arthur said as Mattie poured another cup of coffee. He liked the smell, but thought anyone who actually drank it had to be crazy.
She yawned, "Professor Croft and I just walked Professor Carstairs to the flat from the Cauldron for her 'sabbatical'," she said. "Personally, I don't think she'll last six hours."
"Huh?" he grunted as he sat down.
Sprink took over, explaining the details with considerable relish, Arthur frowned. While he felt that Carstairs had no business calling herself a teacher, he was concerned. "Who have you got watching her?" he asked.
Mattie cocked an eyebrow, "Professor Croft will check on her, if she makes it that long."
"I mean who's watching her now?" he asked.
"Nobody," she shrugged.
"That's harsh," he said, pouring a glass of milk. He sipped, "I know London isn't Gotham, but without a wand, how is she supposed to defend herself?"
"The same way muggles do," Mattie answered.
"Really, mate, the area she's in isn't a crime area," Charlie said. "Soho's got some odd blokes, that's part of what makes this fun. Just some of the people she'll see on the streets ought to rattle her, but worst case, she goes back to the Cauldron. If she doesn't want to go walkabout, all she needs is to spend all day at some place like the British Library. Unless she eats steak every night, she should wind up with a few quid in her pocket, too."
"So she's defenseless, clueless, in a hostile environment and an easy target. That's roughly the equivalent of dropping my sister Teela in Crime Alley with one arm tied behind her back with a clear plastic bag full of money tied around her neck while she has amnesia."
"No way, mate!" Sprink accused. "We're not trying to get 'er killed, just to open her mind a bit. You've never had a class of hers! It makes me shamed to call myself a witch. B'sides, you and Mattie are muggle born, I figured you be glad at the chance."
Arthur raised his hands, "Nothing wrong with giving her an attitude adjustment. You lot have given me a few of those. But if Carstairs doesn't survive the experience, how can she learn anything?"
"You worry too much," Mattie said. "Would I have proposed this if I thought there was any sort of risk? All she needs to do is spend the next three months in the corner pub!"
"Which is in a gay neighborhood," Charlie said with a smirk.
One of the twins picked up a carrot and did a Chaplinesqe "Not that there's anything wrong with that..."
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Monday, April 16, 2001:
Paris, President's mansion: 08:57
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"This plan to seize the starship will work?" the President asked. "You do not know what went wrong before. Have you even found the previous team?"
"A transmitter washed up in Calais. We think they are being held in a fortress in Dover," the smartly dressed general said. "That is where three are broadcasting from."
"Could they have found the transmitters?"
"Non, my President. They are very low power; indeed, they are powered by the body itself." The general smirked, "A triumph of French engineering. However, we can only account for four, including the one that washed up. He may have been eaten by a shark."
"The English bastard said there were no fatalities."
"He may have been telling the truth," the general said dismissively. "The other two could have died of their injuries after capture. In any event, we believe this crew will succeed. Two of them are top rated pilots; they can fly anything from a helicopter to an airliner. The other four will provide security, while a sniper team provides cover and takes out the guard."
"The guard – I do not like the idea of simply killing the old guard."
"This is a war, a war for the very future of La Belle France. One old man against that?" The general waved this off. "We can always offer a few francs compensation after our victory."
"Very well, operation Victory Flight is approved."
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Monday, April 16, 2001:
Hogwarts, History class: 09:19
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"...and Miss Tonks," Professor Lupin said, finishing the roll. "Now then, we're going to deviate a bit from the syllabus, recent events have necessitated a change. We're going to be discussing a style of warfare called a 'cold war'. Can anyone fill us in? Mr. Adams?"
"Sir, the Cold War was the conflict between the Yanks and the Russians after the Second World War."
"Good, but incomplete, Mr. Adams. The generic definition of a cold war is a state of conflict that is not military action but instead is economic or political. It can also include spying or surrogate nations. It might also involve military aid or guerrila war." He waited while notes were taken. "There are several ongoing cold wars at the moment, can anyone name one?"
One of the twins raised her hand, "Greece and Turkey?"
Professor Lupin nodded, "Another?"
"Mainland China and Taiwan?" the other twin asked.
Arthur asked, "The Koreans?"
"Another good example," Professor Lupin nodded, looking up as several students entered. One said, "Professor Dumbledore couldn't make it today, a scheduling conflict with a case, so Professor McGonagall said we should come here."
"Excellent. Please, find a seat, we're discussing cold wars." As they were doing so, Miss Bundy asked, "What 'tis a 'cold war', sir?"
"Essentially, a war fought without armies, but with spies, and propoganda, and by proxy," he replied. "They have flashed 'hot' on occasion, the conflict at the end of the 19th century flashed into the First World War, the Korean War in the 1950's was a hot flash of the US and Soviet cold war."
He waved his wand, duplicating several more handouts, "Please pass these back. What we fear now as a result of Miss Wayne's returning with not only a starship, but with detailed manuals, is another cold war between those that want to steal the ship for themselves, like the French and the new American President Luthor do, and the Queen's intention of lifting every boat equally. Therefore, we find ourselves in the very strange situation of being opposed to our long time ally, the Americans."
Miss Wayne raised her hand, "I would like to point out, sir, that not all Americans agree with President Luthor." She shuddered, "My family was, and are, not his supporters, despite what he promised, and then what he threatened us with. My mother walked out of a charity event when it turned out to be a fundraiser for him, she even demanded her check back, on TV." She grinned, "I have got to watch that video, Mom called Luthor a greedy, manipulative snake. The whole thing was horribly embarrassing for the Luthor people, and for Mrs. VanSykes. She still hasn't regained her social rank. In any event, we decided to go with people who we know and trust." She added, "With the close election, I would think you would be more opposed to the Luthor Administration, not necessarily the American people."
"A very good point," Professor Lupin agreed. "Having met your mum, I would like to see this video also. In any event, the French government having sent troops, a commando unit, to seize the ship, the Queen decided on an embargo of all starship-related technology and information. The American government, on the other hand, was a bit more covert about it."
"Covert?" Anne asked.
"Sneaky," Charlie said, and Professor Lupin continued. "This gave them deniability, they could always say 'It wasn't us!', and indeed, from what I understand, they had no official contact."
"So how do we know they were ordered in by this Luthor bloke?" Charlie asked.
"Their contact, a 'Ms. Jones', has been positively identified as one of President Luthor's twin 'special assistants'."
"Luthor is the type that doesn't like his underlings striking out on her own," Mattie said, "If this was either Hope or Mercy, they were acting as his cutouts."
Harry Spencer, one of Remus' regular students, added, "The fact that they had no official ID and no uniforms means they're throwaway troops. Standard procedure for this Luthor bloke." He grinned at Mattie, "You're not the only one talking to your family."
"I'm sure we all are," she replied. "My regards to your Aunt Sarah. Great game you played, by the way."
Professor Lupin rapped his knuckles on the table, "Quidditch after class, please. What does all this mean for you?" He sighed, "For the Yanks, and unfortunately for those of us close to them, it means an increased risk to your personal security, and that of your families." The twins glanced at each other, and at Arthur. "As my friend Alastair Moody is fond of saying, 'Constant vigilance!' and he may be a paranoid old bugger who hexes his dustbins, but he's alive to do it."
He looked around the class, "Let's go over when its legal for you lot to use magic in public. Very simply, it's in protection of yourself or someone else from lethal attack. It is not to be used on the Tube when someone harasses your girlfriend or boyfriend. That's when you can use the martial arts Leftenant Martin or Miss Wayne's been teaching." He smiled, adding, "Thank you for resuming them, by the by," and she nodded.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2001:
Hogwarts, Muggle Studies class: 13:01
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Professor Harry closed the door, grinning at Professor Croft, who was standing at the lectern, taking roll. She finished, returning his grin, and said, "Right-o! New class policy, together we're going to turn you lot into convincing muggles. Can anyone tell me why?"
"They outnumber us?" Sprink asked.
Harry nodded, "Good reason. Anyone know what the last official wizarding census was?"
Abby Michaels said, "Last I heard, about fifty thousand in the UK, including squibs."
Lara leaned over the lectern, her preferred style of lecture. "Close enough. We're a fairly small lot, the last muggle census I saw had them at sixy million or so. Doing the math, that's roughly a thousand to one. Whilst I have heard of a few wizards practicing openly, they're dismissed as stage performers. However, we need to do a better job of hiding in plain sight."
"That's why we asked you lot to come to class dressed, and equipped, as muggles," Harry said. "That is the first thing that draws the eye, your style of clothing. The Japanese have an expression, 'The nail that sticks up is hammered flat.' Don't be that nail."
"Observe our style of dress," Lara said, moving from behind the lectern. "We're both dressed for a shopping trip to London. The first thing you'll notice is we are not wearing robes. What's another?"
"Professor Harry's not wearing boots," Abby said.
"Correct, I'm wearing trainers," he said, "Lara, on the other hand, is wearing boots, but they're a muggle style. What else about her?"
"Long jumper, and tights," Sprink said. "Looks nice."
"Thank you, Miss Tonks. I see you've had some experience with muggles yourself," Lara said. Raising her voice, "We'll inspect you, then we're going shopping in London. Your assignment is to buy something muggle, under twenty pounds in cost, and come back. You'll need to write a report of at least two pages telling us why you bought that item, and your experiences. Ladies over there, gentlemen over there with Mr. Potter."
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After a suitable amount of transfiguration, Professor Harry passed out a folded bill to each. "This is a muggle twenty pound note, worth about four galleons," he told the class. "The bit of steel wire is called a clip, or paper clip. On the inside is a business card for the Weasley's shop on Knockturn. That's your emergency portkey, hold it, think 'Weasley', and it will pop you there. Try very hard not to use your wand, you'll be in groups with at least one person with muggle experience. Miss Tonks, Miss Wayne, will you each take a group?"
They nodded, "Good," Professor Harry said. "Try to use the Tube, you've got blue Oyster one-day cards for the fares and a map. Don't lose them, please. Charing Cross station is down the street from the Cauldron, there are plenty of small shops. Return to the Cauldron by five PM, you might see that on a clock as 17:00. Floo back to the entrance hall. Any questions?" As the started to leave, Professor Harry asked, "Miss Wayne?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Please limit yourself to twenty quid, hmm?"
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"Oh, my!" Anne said. "'Tis a castle?"
"A music castle, my friend," Mattie said, grinning as she ushered Anne and the others into Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly. "We'll meet back here at 4 o'clock, all right?"
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"Welcome to Virgin. Do you have any preferences for music?" the clerk asked Anne.
She blinked, "I have always liked madrigals played on the lute, and thought bards singing Francesco Landini and Jacopo da Bologna were very nice."
The girl blinked, "Madrigals? Oi, 'aven't heard of that one. I think we've got lutes in with the strings."
"I would like to see one, please. I have not played for... quite a while."
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"Sorry, luv, no lutes, they're custom made. What about an acoustic guitar?"
"Can she try one?" Mattie asked, holding a Jennifer Lopez CD. The fellow shrugged, motioned Anne to a stool, and returned holding a slightly battered guitar.
"Parts of the madrigal reflect the emotions of the music," Anne said, "A quick flow of notes for happy," she demonstrated, "Dropping a chord for sad." She played a few more notes, then returned the guitar, thanking the clerk.
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"What did you get?" Mattie asked the others as they rode the tube to Charing Cross.
"We clubbed up, five CD's for thirty pounds!" Abby said happily. "What do we play them on?"
"The computers in your common rooms will play them, but you'll need headphones," she replied. "Other people might not like your taste in music, and can you imagine what Madame Pince might do?" The other Hogwarts students shuddered. The car slowed and stopped, she added, "Here's our stop, Charing Cross. Don't forget to swipe your Oyster Cards."
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Wednesday, April 18, 2001:
Hogwarts, Transfiguration class: 13:01
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"Good afternoon, everyone," Professor Chang said as she walked behind the lectern. "Did anyone email me their homework since this morning?" A couple hands raised; she added, "Those who haven't, please pass it up. Now, who had trouble in turning their button into a needle?"
Tomas raised his hand, Professor Chang smiled, "Let's give it a go, shall we, Mr. Ramirez?
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"I do not understand why this is so difficult," Tomas complained, and Julie patted his back. "I'm having trouble too, and I had all summer to practice," she admitted. "I'm just lucky with that one."
"Even your sister has problems with Transfig," Ami Bones said sympathetically as she joined them. Looking carefully around, she whispered, "I'm having trouble with Potions, I guess I'm not a very good Slytherin."
"Who's a good Slytherin?" Connie Koslowski asked as they waited in the Entrance Hall. "I'm just dreading the Summer Potion; we barely got through this year's. I don't know what I'm going to do this year."
"What's the 'Summer Potion'?" Julie asked.
"You lot don't have to do it, just we Slythies," Connie said. "Professor Snape has us research and brew a more advanced potion from second-year on, the house nickname is the 'Summer Potion'. Original, I know," she shrugged. "Any of you taller blokes know what the hold-up is? We're hungry, here!"
A towering Ravenclaw said, "The doors aren't open yet, don't know why."
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Friday, April 20, 2001:
Hogwarts, Transfiguration class: 14:47
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Mattie blew at her hair in frustration. "Why are we transfiguring a perfectly good duck into a soup tureen," she muttered. Her duck simply looked at her; the best she'd been able to do is render it mute. "Quack, damn you," she told the irritated duck, who reached out and tried to bite her nose.
"Problems, Miss Wayne?" Professor Chang asked.
"I think I have a defective duck," she admitted. "Can I go hide under my bedcovers now?"
"Now, now," Professor Chang said, waving her wand and resetting the duck. "Give it another go, please."
"Problems with the all-powerful Mattie Wayne?" Sprink teased.
"You've been writing fiction again, haven't you?" Mattie said. "I hate not being able to do this, it makes me feel stupid."
"At least you've not killed your duck," Charlie admitted. "I hope the elves can make something out of it." Sprink leaned over, "Soup."
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Saturday, April 21, 2001:
Hogwarts, Great Hall, Ravenclaw table: 08:17
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"G'morning, everyone," Mattie said as she sat, pouring her first cup of coffee. She sighed, then looked at Amy, "What do you have for me this morning?"
"For Ballycastle, several memos and a copy of the March gate transfers to Hogwarts," she replied. "For Arrowhead, your Aunt Lois forwarded several articles and press releases, as well as a copy of yesterday's Financial Times. Our stock is up again, both common and preferred."
Mattie took another sip of coffee, "Amy, you are a gem beyond price. Are you getting enough sleep? This is your OWL year, isn't it?"
Amy yawned, "Yes, it is. At least we have most of the back business beaten down." She yawned again, adding, "That almost rhymed."
"You're a life saver, let me help you out a bit," Mattie said as she booted her laptop. While she waited, she dialed her cell phone, "Good morning, Mr. Griplink, it's Miss Wayne. I'd like to do a stock issuance please, one thousand shares of class A Arrowhead preferred to Miss Amy Johnson." She jotted down some numbers; adding, "Please give her a fifty percent raise, also. Right. Right, yes, thank you. Bye."
She flipped her phone closed, then asked the watching students, "Okay, this is business class 101. What did I just do?"
"You gave her a very nice pay rise," Karen said from Slytherin, turning about. "I don't know about the stock, though."
"There are two general classes of stock, common and preferred," Mattie explained. "Common is what just about everyone buys, Arrowhead's common closed yesterday at..." she opened the Times, finding the listing, "... fifteen pounds, eight pence. If that was common stock, I just gave her £15,080. However, this was preferred stock, in our class A issuance, our first. Class A preferred carries a share price of... £70.6 per share, which makes this worth seventy thousand pounds, if she was foolish enough to sell it. Welcome to the Board by the way, Amy."
Amy blinked, "The Board of Directors? Of Arrowhead? But I'm your..."
Mattie waved that off. "We'll think up some fancy title later. What happens to stocks when a company grows?"
"The price goes up, and the board may split the stock," Karen said. "In which case, the thousand shares becomes two thousand."
"Unless they want to raise the stock price, in which case it's a reverse split, and becomes five hundred. Assuming the price of the stock on that day is £100, each of those two thousand shares is now £50, but there's more of them. Now, if the share price went up ten pounds that day, how much has she gained?"
"Twenty thousand pounds," Arthur said. "You're talking some very big numbers, Mattie. How big?"
Mattie took a sip of coffee, then slowly said, "Big enough to finance, or to start to finance, this great leap off the planet. I've sunk my entire inheritance, and my personal fortune, and the European holdings of Wayne into Arrowhead." She nodded at Arthur's laptop, "What's the current market capitalization of Arrowhead? That should answer your question."
"It's currently..." Amy started, but Mattie raised her hand. "Let him find out." She turned to the others, "There are several reasons why I'm doing this, besides making boatloads of money. Can any of you tell me?"
"Survival," Charlie said. "There are all sorts of lunatics running about, what if one fired a nuke?"
"What's a nuke?" Anne asked, one of the twins leaned over to answer her as Amanda listened in. The other twin said, "It's not only nukes. There's biological and chemical weapons, too." She regarded Mattie, "Does this relate to the Clench virus attack on Gotham?"
"Partially," Mattie acknowledged, explaining, "Several years ago, a terrorist let off a plague weapon on my hometown, killing thousands. Thousands more died when an earthquake hit shortly afterward." She took a contemplative sip of coffee, "The government declared Gotham 'No Man's Land', and if you think it's exciting now, it was a thousand times worse then." Her eyes were hooded, "One reason for this is a self-sustaining genetic lifeboat for the human race. You forgot earth-crossing asteroids, Shaundra. One of those killed the dinosaurs, remember?"
She shook herself, "What's another reason?"
"It was worse?" Shaundra muttered, as Arthur stiffened in shock. "Ah, he's found out," Mattie said. "Tell us, Arthur." He swallowed hard, "Market cap is seven hundred and eighty two million pounds... That doesn't count research contracts or..." he said. "You're worth three quarters of a billion..."
"Not me, Arrowhead," Mattie said. "Including Ballycastle, by the way; another reason you lot weren't around to hear. Cassidy was born on Mars station; she slipped and let that out. In order for there to BE a Mars Station, there has to be the infrastructure to support it in the 24th century, which means we have to develop it NOW. Anne, you should know the third reason, we discussed it over breakfast."
"The sharpened stick," Anne replied, and Mattie nodded, "This system is repeatedly invaded, but we don't have the means to defend ourselves, and so we must develop those means, as quickly as we can."
"What about the sharpened stick?" Karen asked.
"The arrow evolved from a sharpened stick, to a straightened stick, through fletching and a metal point," Anne explained. "We must jump from the stick to the finished arrow, which we have in hand, even though we do not know the steps between. This is why the great amount of information Alfred has brought back, and the best way to develop that arrowhead is for us to... to..."
"...reverse engineer it," Mattie supplied. "Hopefully we can come up with the science behind it ourselves. That's why Arrowhead was formed, R&D with the universities like MIT, ETH Zurich and the various companies like PEMEX and Mercedes have expertise we don't. That's why the Crown and governments like Germany and Russia are co-operating."
"And some want it all for themselves, like the French," Karen said. "That's why Lady Sarah said we haven't time." She sat back, leaning against the Slytherin table and regarded Mattie. "You're dragging us into the future."
"Kicking and screaming all the way, which sucks," Mattie agreed. "Know what you want to study in University?"
"Business, but I'm not certain as to which part."
Mattie regarded her, "If you're interested in working with me, I could use your talents," and Karen nodded. "Excellent. Arrowhead is going to expand like crazy over the next few years; I need an HR person I can trust. Interested in that?" Karen nodded again, and Mattie extended her hand. "Welcome to Arrowhead. You're now employee #4, and you are the last direct hire I do. We'll negotiate your contract later."
"What do you mean the last direct hire?"
"It would not be ethical for me to hire any of you directly," Mattie said, waving at the group. "It would always be regarded as favoritism, no matter how qualified you might be. I can suggest to Karen that she interview someone, but that's as far as I go, the rest of you have to sell yourselves to her, she has to decide to hire and fire. Especially people that I'm close to, like Sprink, or Arthur," and he nodded.
"That makes sense," Arthur agreed. "Everything has to be legitimate and above-board. Family-run firms are usually poorly managed."
"Exactly. That's why Gringotts is on board for financial services. Not only do they help us make great boatloads of money, they also have the expertise to manage it I don't. My Aunt Sheila is an attorney, she handles the legal side, Karen will be working closely with her regarding labor law." She glanced at Karen, "The only requirement I have at the moment is fluency in English, clear communication is vital. Beyond that..."
"The moon, and space, are a different place," Anne said. "What 'twere crippling injuries here may not be there."
"Good point, Anne's spent more time in space than I have," Mattie said, Karen making a note.
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