Tom and Gellert bully Credence into doing his home-assigned work because the Hogwarts tests just aren't bringing out all of Credence's ability, and then they head out for the day to the research labs with lunches Harry packed them.
They get to the Department of Mysteries and shuffle around their neighbouring offices getting things ready before heading out to meet the Unspeakable.
"You're late," the Unspeakable states. "Not late enough, we'll wait another twenty minutes."
"We're already fashionably late though," Tom points out.
"Yeah, and I've decided we're going to be irritatingly late," the Unspeakable argues even as they take the paper bag Gellert hands them. "What is this? Tell Harry he needs to stop packing me lunch, I'm not one of his little strays."
"You don't have to eat it," Gellert says and makes to take it back.
The Unspeakable is not an idiot so they stare Gellert down and don't react. They pause like that for a while, bag still in the Unspeakable's hand Gellert wiggling his fingers.
"Great, we've wasted another minute," Tom mutters. "What shall we do next? Talk about girls? Oh, sorry Gellert, I suppose you can talk about boys."
The Unspeakable is confused. "You're both like seven, do you even have a sexuality?"
"You were literally at my birthday party this year, what do you mean seven?" Gellert complains.
"By the way," Tom says, leaning in. "You can just not come to my party; I've told Harry you're gluten intolerant too, so don't expect leftover cake."
"That is a dirty lie and I would duel you if you weren't three years old," the Unspeakable declares. "Gluten intolerant? Bite your tongue, boy."
"I'm eleven," Tom sighs.
"Eleven months," the Unspeakable scoffs. "Every time I look at you, you get shorter."
"I'm almost as tall as Harry now."
"That's a low bar."
The field of yellow daisies were picked as a meeting point, a sea of flowers turned towards the morning sun, a breeze rippling through like waves of a golden ocean. They didn't pick this spot because of the picturesque beauty but because they could lie the trackers and defence system under the petals and leaves.
The guests have already arrived, a small cluster of witches and wizards standing tall as the wind makes their outer robes flair like wings but their hair stays perfectly still with styling charms.
There are only four guests present and three are just mandatory department overseers that the Unspeakable can deal with in necessary. The fourth is the woman the Unspeakable doesn't like, British-pale and stick thin but she's got height, with brown eyes and dirty blonde hair.
A woman from the Ministry, wearing a blandly polite smile and pencil skirt, steps forward to greet them but the Unspeakable walks right past.
"Sorry about being late," the Unspeakable says despite having spent the last ten minutes in a dumb argument about what height would make the boys real adults. "So we don't waste any more of your time, Tom would you mind getting started right away?"
Tom barely bites back the urge to pointedly waste time by tying his already perfectly laced shoes because this is about being obedient and making the Unspeakable look in control. (Tom will make the favour he's getting in return be just shy of crippling to the Unspeakable.)
"I'll set it up," Tom says and steps around, crunching across flowers - a small part of him planning on grabbing a handful on the return trip for Harry, since Harry doesn't like flowers but does like when he knows the kids think about him.
Gellert engages with the Ministry officials and acts all cute like he's just here to support his little brother, giving them the run around when they ask in depth questions. Both because they've been warned about talking too much with the tall woman in ear shot and also because the project just isn't finalised and no one here has signed magical-based NDAs on purpose, so they can spread the word just a bit.
Tom is more focused on reaching the site, a squat cylinder buried under ground about the diameter of Tom's shoulders. Contained within is all the parts needed for the transportation gate, including the runes circles for safety, tracking and destination as well as the alchemical components for draining a bit of magic from every person who enters for rather nefarious purposes but mainly to power each transportation.
Tom left some other bits and bobs unburied because this is supposed to be unfinished, and all the parts sort of half lead towards transportation but never quite fit correctly together so all the information the guests have gleaned from quick diagnostic spells earlier won't get them very far.
He built the cylinder base with materials to stop magical influence with barriers layered under for extra caution so he's not worried they'll actually get anything from this demonstration.
Tom crouched beside the exposed components and goes through a whole charades about putting things together and fiddling with bits, sparking magic with his wand, waiting for Gellert's signal.
Gellert chats happily to the Ministry officials, dismissing them one by one as holding the position through nepotism, barely competent, and trying to steal their work respectively. None are threats. Gellert keeps them to the side now that he's sorted them out and instead turns on the real reason they're here.
"And you are?" Gellert asks the tall woman with a charming smile.
The woman stands next to the Unspeakable, not talking and not bothering to watch Tom either – she knows the parts are just a red herring. She peers down at Gellert. "Priya," is all she says, a very common Indian name and is absolutely not helpful.
The Unspeakable scoffs, loudly.
"And what brings you here, Priya?" Gellert continues lightly. "I'm making houses soon. Would you like one?"
Priya just looks down at him searchingly, trying to figure out what his part in all this is.
"Don't mind her, Gellert, she likes to think she's better than others," the Unspeakable says, overtly aggressive, not the 'you're trash to me' drawl but genuine anger.
Tom decides the conversation can only go down hill from here and stands up, activating the transport gate. Massive orange rings spread out over the sky to encircle the party of seven and blotting out the sky with an orange top, no runes or ritual circles, that's kept in the cylinder – this is the user-friendly side of things, all the complicated parts hidden away.
There's only one other gate active right now, and the large name [Test 2] floats in the air in front of Tom. He selects it with a finger and one ring above lowers to the ground, encircling everyone as it drags down a cloudy orange barrier.
There's a pause, and then the bottom ring lifts up and the orange top lingers above, waiting for the next command. Everyone is now standing at the test 2 site, which is several patches of empty grazing fields with hills in the distance.
No sudden motion, no possibility of getting lost, capable of transporting huge cargo loads or animals, very stable ground, and best of all it can be used by anyone.
"Select the gate site and go," Tom says simply as he backs away from the middle where the name [Test 1] is hovering.
"How big can the area of transportation be?" Priya asks.
"We're working on some lingering issues," Tom says instead of saying well how much magic do you have.
"My turn!" Gellert cheers and ducks off towards the distance where a crude monolith sits, one panel side open with, again, fake parts exposed.
Tom starts in on the introductions with Priya, stringing along the other easy three. Priya hardly pays him any attention and doesn't interact with anyone else either. Halfway through Tom's sentence she walks back towards the gate and transports herself back, testing it.
Tom cuts a glare towards the Unspeakable but the cloaked figure is already moving to follow. Priya seems the kind to dig up the cylinder and crack it open, she must have quite the power backing her if she's acting like this and the Unspeakable can't do anything.
The Unspeakable goes through the gate, Tom vaguely entertains the other three with lies about his work, and the Unspeakable returns with Priya. Gellert stops playing around and activates his power source without any warning.
The ground -dirt and sparse patches of grass- rise up and fall away, flaking off waves of earth that bubble and rise up, blotting out Gellert's figure in the middle. They forms shaky outlines of buildings, lined up side by side on a quaint street, and then the inside settles and the outer facades slip around, slick, and form straight but a bit lumpy mud walls. The street in between settles into a packed dirt road.
This is far from what Gellert can actually do but to the observers, a little eleven year old boy just raised an entire block of shop fronts with nothing more than a simple control panel in the centre of the long road. Thirteen second storey shops, different sizes and widths.
The three Ministry officials start praising the Unspeakable for their work as they walk around, inspecting the buildings, chipping off some mud wall, peering in through gaping squares where windows would be if Gellert bothered to polish off his little shopping centre.
Gellert does demonstrate easily growing one shop into a three storey, shifting windows around, nothing a particularly skilled witch or wizard can't manage but all the more impressive that Gellert isn't even holding a wand.
Priya stands near the gate where she had just arrived, eyebrows furrowed as she looks over the instant street. She looks back at the gate, still active with its orange circle hovering above.
This is transportation and housing for constant, everyday use. This is capable of growing a city, moving one, disappearing people, hiding fugitives, tracking anyone, shifting streets and commercial cargo, can be set up anywhere from a field of flowers to an empty patch of grass.
Priya looks at the Unspeakable in shock while the Ministry officials poke and prod at the monolith Gellert stands beside and the three don't understand what this is, what this can be.
This is complete control.
"Yes, buildings can be shifted at any time for construction of defensive purposes," Gellert tells one man.
"The gate can be set up indoors though I wouldn't consider it financially viable," Tom answers a woman.
"The wards are built in and can be edited," Gellert points out.
"The gate can be sectioned to transport people to separate locations at one time," Tom explains.
"Of course the Ministry will control it," Gellert promises.
"Yes, the Ministry will regulate all of it," Tom agrees.
The Unspeakable gestures to the boys standing in a small kingdom of their own design. "I want you to look at that, Priya. And I want you to be scared."
"I didn't know they were this good," Priya admits.
The Unspeakable pauses. "What have you done?"
"I like to be on top of things," Priya says carelessly.
"Drop whatever face you're wearing and answer properly," the Unspeakable demands.
Priya only laughs. "You have your little projects, I have mine. You know how it is." Priya looks back at the gate again, much more admiringly this time. "I caught you sniffing around those muggles before."
"You're backing them? That's why I couldn't get anything?"
"I'm keeping an eye on them," Priya corrects. "Time travellers can be tricky business. Well, I'm sure you would know." She smirks and it pulls at her fake skin a bit wrong. "Pity you're wasting their potential though."
"The boys are mine," the Unspeakable says darkly.
"I'm just putting the offer out there," Priya says casually and turns, walking towards the cluster of people around the monolith.
Harry is walking down the street with groceries, past the muggle neighbours (the spies that ran off and the house has been empty ever since) and it only just hits him where he'd seen the Indian woman at the restaurant before. It was a while ago, when he was visiting the muggle couple, just as she was leaving the house.
Harry glances at the house as he walks past, wondering where the muggles are right now. Oh well.
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A/N: Posted two new hp fics recently; a marauders as mermaids (with far too much lore), and one with a mash of dark lords + marauders + harry being Done.