Chapter 2: Dobby the House-elf

Dobby the house-elf was aware of his master's plot, to injure innocents at Hogwarts. While he was bound to the Malfoy home, he always tried his best to interfere with his master's plans as he was "a very bad man." Students were in great danger for the following academic year at the castle, and the elf pondered about what he could do.

Dobby often remembered the discussions that occurred at his home. Many of the former Death Eaters visited Malfoy Manor, regularly. The rape of Eleanor Bones had demented him. The recollection of the matter involved sniggering – Lucius had shared her with Jugson and Yaxley after putting the woman under a body bind, and a silencing spell. Then, her husband was made to watch before he was tortured and killed. Another night, Dobby overheard as Lucius Malfoy joked about the random citizens that he and the others had crucioed for giggles. And then, there was a string of random Muggle killings that he and Bellatrix had done, in remote parts of the country.

One night, Dobby called out to Lady Magic and asked how he could help, as he was a gentle soul. And then he knew – almost as if Lady Magic had answered him.

While he could not share his master's secrets, he could disrupt his plans - it was an exploitable loophole. From then on, Dobby worked tirelessly towards compiling his personal information, which had little to do with the explicit instructions or secrets of Lucius Malfoy. The elf had been commanded to leave the premises to run errands only if absolutely necessary. Then, he would make himself available to Draco at Hogwarts. As a result, Dobby had planned his daily responsibilities where he would he could walk slowly through very populated areas and listen to rumours. His Gringotts visits were followed by stakeouts at the Hydra, and he regularly purchased items from far-off groceries. The Malfoy family preferred not to interact with their house-elf and his chores allowed him to disappear. Some days, he even managed to stay at Hogwarts for extended periods – his excuse was that he was learning new dishes for the Malfoy home, even though he was quite aware that the Malfoys did not like to eat new things.

Dobby was saddened about the passing of Harry Potter. Most house elves considered him a hero. They understood that the Dark Lord would have exterminated the elves, eventually.

Dobby had heard the rumours from some of the other elves at Hogwarts. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ronald Weasley had attempted to challenge the Dark Lord. Then, the Storm-Bringers had arrived and murdered a possessed Professor Quirinus Quirrell. The diminutive creature decided to look for the Storm-Lord and Storm-Priestess, who he thought could "kick bad master in his privates, very very hard, again!"

Dobby willed for his magic to take him to the Storm-Lord and found himself very surprised. He was now in an open field and knew that there was a house, nearby. The warding scheme however, was something else. There was an invisible barrier that could not be penetrated. And it was elf apparition-proof. Whatever this was, it had to be new. Dobby began to attempt to penetrate the field.

Dobby had tried for weeks to get past the ward and it had been futile. Not even Hogwarts was this secure.

When he wasn't busy, he often tried stakeouts. To his dismay, nobody ever left the house for a walk - not that he could see the house, but nobody ever stepped outside the ward. As he probed the wards, he concluded that the size of the property was ten times larger than Malfoy Manor. The only thing he had managed to detect was many large powerful objects that made thunderous roars as they passed overhead, and they were too fast to follow. Dobby gave up and decided to track down Neville, Luna or Ronald.

Even these houses seemed to be running this type of ward. He had been foiled again.

Dobby hunted for his targets in public when he was not busy at Malfoy manor. His targets seemed to visit many far-off places via apparition. One minute he would be on his way to finding them, and then they would instantly disappear to some other part of the country. It was almost like they were untraceable. Dobby was also aware of the dataslate, and this was an annoying issue. Wizards were not sending letters via owl, and when he had tried to sense the magical charm that was being used in the data slates, he was greeted by a complex set of numbers. Dobby had never encountered such protection, not even on the most difficult of wards. There were thousands of neverending numbers.

He continued to follow his charges, and one evening at Peverell Manor his world became black as something hit him in his head.

Now Dobby was in a bright, metallic room and he could not apparate out. And worse yet, he was staring at another magical creature that seemed to be his size. However, it wore some type of armour and there was an intimidating stick being pointed at him, as he awoke from his unconscious stupor.

"Whos be you?" Dobby asked.

"I am the primary Head-Elf of the Storm-Lord. We were aware that many individuals are looking for my master. But after so many repeated attempts, I thought you could explain your spying." Tipsy replied, through her mask, with the vocoder distorting her voice.

"Yous a house-elfs? Yous have clothes and armors! Hows?" Dobby asked as he found the concept to be utterly preposterous.

"My master made the agreement that we, as his elves would wear and eat the best. I was repaired and made whole again. My master understands such complex magic, easily. Yes, I own clothes, weapons, jewellery and many other things that even Wizards do not own." Tipsy replied.

She understood that the entire affair would be exhausting.

"Dobby wishes his masters was nice. Dobby's masters is cruel and a bads mans. Dobby cannot says the names. Dobby wants to tell his secrets. Great danger is comings to Hogwarts! Students will be harmed! Can yours masters help?"

"Are you working against your Master? I thought that was not possible?" Tipsy asked.

"Dobby asked Lady Magic to helps him to save lives. Dobby cannots directly do anythings. But Dobby can do small things to helps. Dobby wants to helps your masters. Dobby doesn't wants anyones hurt. Dobbys masters lefts loopholes in instructions?"

Tipsy wondered where she had heard that name before, and then it became crystal clear.

"Oh great, you are legally blonde's house elf?" she enquired, exasperatedly.

"Legally….blonde?" Dobby asked, totally perplexed.

"Sure. Lucius Malfoy. And his wife is skunkhead Narcissa Malfoy. And finally Shirley Temple, the young death eater in training. Draco Malfoy."

"Dobby cannots says anythings?" Dobby replied, quite surprised at how accurately the other elf had guessed his most guarded information.

"Do we look like we need confirmation on that? Look, let me get my master to have a word with you." Tipsy replied.

Tipsy disappeared to pass along the message, and Dobby continued to wait in the brilliantly lit room. Now he was pretty scared. The Storm-Lord already knew his master's business? But how?

"Oi Harry?"

"Yes Tips?"

"Gramps and Mips figured out the blip on the radar. It is Dobby. Yes, that Dobby." Tipsy replied.

"What does he want?" Harry asked.

"He believes that we are unaware of the item that Lucius plans to deploy on some poor person. I think you should assure him that we are working on it, but without giving him any pertinent information. Careful, your winning personality can make any elf sob," Tipsy replied, with a smile on her face.

"Oh hush. You were all so jelly when I met you the first time. Look at you now, such a little bunch of riots." Harry joked.

"Just pleasing my master. The reality is that you prefer us to be as rambunctious as yourself, yes?" Tipsy sassed Harry.

"Keep pushing it, and I am cutting your bonuses!" Harry warned jovially before Mipsy burst into a full belly laugh at the server rack. Harry grabbed one of his smaller facemasks and went into the double-walled, titanium dungeon. He passed through and locked the secondary door, before he opened the main door and found the abused House Elf looking at him.

"Ah. Dobby! A pleasure to meet you. Do you know who I am?" Harry asked.

"Are yous the Storms Lords?" Dobby asked cautiously.

"I am. Why don't you have a seat?" Harry offered, fully aware of the fiasco that would unfold. Dobby had cried for ten minutes straight before commenting that he had never been asked to sit down by a wizard, 'like an equal.' Harry gave Dobby a piece of his mind:

"I don't consider your master to be a wizard. He is a lump of blonde dogshite! My elves are my friends and I love them very dearly. However, we have our secrets to keep, so I will not reveal anything else. I am aware of Lucius' plans. As for whatever might be dangerous, perhaps I want the challenge of killing it dead. I have already killed some of your master's friends…." Harry replied casually. Dobby gulped at the threat, and the Storm Lord's huge arms did not help.

"But hows you knows?" Dobby asked.

"A Wizard never reveals his secrets. However, I would like to thank you for your initiative. You might be the only decent warm body in the whole of Malfoy Manor?" Harry replied, amused.

"Hows your wards so strong? Dobby doesn't understands? Here is safer than Hogwarts? How that be possible? Dobby cant cross the wards either, its a solids wall!"

"Forcefield generator powered by a fission reactor. We advanced Ward's strength and characteristics with Muggle Mathematics. I have things that your master and even the Dark Wanker cannot comprehend. Return home, and resume your duties. We will handle it."

"How did Dobby end up in this room, sir?" Dobby asked, genuinely curious.

"You were given a gun butt to the head!" Harry laughed casually.

"Oh. Sirs, you are scaries people. Master is afraids of yous, although he wonts admits it" Dobby replied, as he scratched his head.

"We like it like that. The real test is if young Draco will change. I will have to kill your master one day. He is a bloody rapist. And anything that gets in my way, is dead. I pray that young Draco will change and that I might spare him, but I am not holding my breath." Harry replied, quite casually. Dobby did not seem the least bit sad when he replied, "Dobby will nots stop good sirs. Master is an evils man. Dobby woulds like to go, sir?"

"Have a good day Dobby. Not to worry, all will be well. Come here and hug me, as you will probably never get one from anyone else." Harry said, with genuine concern in his voice. Dobby approached slowly, and then gingerly hugged Harry after he ascertained that no trickery was involved. He burst into tears, and Harry held him for some time. After he had quieted down, Harry then held his hand and explained:

"Elves are creatures that need large amounts of magic to be healthy. You can either get the magic by gratitude, or by wandless transfer of energy. I am going to give you a very large dose of magic to help you along as your body seems broken and in terrible condition. And yes this is a piece of elf lore that I discovered. I am good with wandless magic."

"Okays sirs?" Dobby answered, not wanting to believe what he had heard. Harry took his hand and squeezed it gently, before focusing his core and letting a tidal wave of energy surge into Dobby's body. The elf's features became softer, and his bones and other parts of himself felt nourished. Most of his injuries were repaired, and the elf shook his head while he reoriented himself in his environment.

"Sir is very strong. Dobby hasn't had magic like that in his entire life. My head feels less….fuzzy?" the elf replied, as he tried to shake off the stupor that had temporarily lifted.

"Correct. Your ability to speak and think depends on magical nourishment. I can only do more for you if you are out of Lucius Malfoy's service. And yes, I know I am the greatest wizard ever, I was already given a sweater by my elves." Harry insisted, after patting Dobby on his back.

"Thank you. How can sir be so kind?" Dobby replied with tears in his eyes, very solemnly.

"I received much abuse as a child. I know what it feels like. I do not want that for anybody. 10/10 for your effort, this afternoon. Don't worry to track me down, I will eventually come to you. Off you go now!" Harry replied brightly as he left, and he toggled the controls on the external access panel on the dungeon. A Protego shield flared into existence around the titanium box as it was transported to a far-off place. Then, the containment module opened.

Dobby wondered about the Storm Lord. Perhaps he was spying on bad master Lucius? But would that be enough? He made up his mind. He would warn Neville Longbottom, the most powerful wizard at Hogwarts about the plot after school resumed at Hogwarts for the new term. Little did the elf know that Neville and his friends were already on the lookout for Dobby after the elf had been transported away.

Harry and Hermione had gotten successful admission to Imperial College. The Deans at the university were quite surprised at the requests that were made by the oddball pair – both of them wanted to write as many courses as they could manage. When the university had expressed concern about their hectic schedule, flashing the chequebook caused them to reconsider everything.

"Mr Peverell, that contribution is rather generous?" the Dean insisted. Two million pounds was not a little bit of money.

"Contribution? More like I am buying my way in. But the issue is that I am genuinely talented. Because I can keep the bill collectors at the door, I am here for my academic fulfilment. So is Hermione, my sister. Yes, she is adopted, it is complicated." Harry insisted.

"I see. Well, that is fair enough. What else do you hope to do here?" the Dean asked.

"I don't have time to get involved in social activities. I have my business to run. Aerospace Engineering as the Major and Material Sciences as the minor. I am already experimenting with Boron Nitride Nano-composites. Your university bought a lot of my Graphene Nanoflakes in any case. Invicti-Graphene is my product. Under the brand Peverell Industries?" Harry replied smoothly. Now, the head of the materials department was watching on, rather impressed.

"Fascinating, we had a lot of luck with it. We surmised that some revolutionary process was being used to manufacture it, and that if the process was tweaked that we could get more desirable characteristics. We are impressed with the consistent flake size and the little to no contaminants." The materials department head clarified.

"Thank you. That is a trade secret, but I might consider putting it under the open-source licence after I have milked the market. Look, you can't blame me for being a capitalist. But if you become friends with me, who knows what I can supply as an informal agreement…" Harry teased, hoping to leverage his facilities.

"That would be welcome, Mr Preverell. Besides the self-study, any other arrangements?" the Dean asked. Harry knew he already had them in the bag.

"Projects with Ms Granger if we have the same course code. I am not accepting randoms for group work. And if I am alone individual assignments. Although, I do think we might end up studying at home. If some exams are easy enough, we might just write them directly. By the way, do you want to see a joke project that I did? I have a model aircraft that is completely actuated by my muscle bundles. Microcontoller driven. I did the engineering, and Hermione did the fibres. How about we take my little black case for a test drive and…"

Two hours later, the dean along with the department head for Aerospace Engineering had called Harry and Hermione to discuss some of their personal projects with Master's students across various departments. Hermione had described how she had built the polymer from scratch. Harry elaborated on the weight reduction via the Boron Nitride doped polymer, the generative design choices, and the pathfinding algorithm for the auto-pilot of the model airplane.

"Bruv, you think we can go to person sized? You and blue hair over there might be a Bachelor's admission, but you got mad skills!" one of the students joked.

"Person sized? Maybe? I can sponsor the machining, for the simpler parts. I have a well decked out machine shop. Do you know anybody who is good with AutoDesk Dreamcatcher? I have a Lasertec 12 SLM on the way?" Harry asked.

"Oi, we got a new sugar daddy for our research projects!" another girl yelled from the back, and suddenly everybody was laughing. Harry and Hermione grinned as they considered that perhaps University days would be the best time of their life, outside their magical experiences.

Clementine had gotten around to hosting the dinner that she had promised. She found herself proud and dismayed that Harry and Hermione had decided to teach themselves what they needed to know. While only the conversation was informal, their table manners had been impeccable. Harry and Hermione were quite comfortable, they had managed to teach their friends enough to get by easily in France, without any noticeable blunders. Neville and Ronald did not know enough French to have rather detailed conversations, but the girls had taken well to learning the language. Hermione and Daphne seemed very comfortable and Harry was somewhere in the middle.

"Well, so much for teaching you. If I didn't personally know you, I would think that you three were French. As for the rest, only the mispronounced words and the British accent can tip off our locals." Clementine explained as she appraised the evening.

"Well, Fleur and Gabrielle are similarly talented at English, and they understand enough of our idioms. I can remember the first time I heard Fleur use the expression, 'hit for six', and I did a double take. She knows about Cricket now, she is British enough by my standards!" Harry giggled.

"Fred and George introduced us to the sport. They insisted that it keeps their beater skills sharp. They have many French fans at our school, no different to how many Hogwarts students love some of our players too. My friend Esme, thinks Charlie is very…handsome."

"I might be interested?" Charlie laughed, as his cheeks became red.

"I will let her know. Maybe Harry and Hermione can open up the messaging selectively for just the pair of you?" Fleur teased, cheekily.

"You see? Our innovations have caused lovers all over the world to meet! Arent we good people?" Hermione joked.

"I wonder if we should release the messaging feature and allow people to chat from all over the world. I would like it if we could make it safe. Sadly Fleur and Gabrielle, we have met pedos and other unsavoury folks. They do exist." Harry commented as he scratched the stubble of a beard on his cheeks.

"Maybe Harry, you can get Gringotts involved. Let people pay them a fee to verify their identity, against a drop of blood. I am talking about vault level verification. And maybe compulsory, nudity filtered videochat isn't bad as a selectable feature? No catfishing?" Ronald replied.

"Ronald again is a bag of excellent ideas. Hermione? Daphne? Think you both can manage?" Harry asked.

"I already have most of the programming done. Daphne completely rewrote the virtualisation container, recently. We can host a Gringotts module and she can integrate that." Hermione suggested.

"Well, we will roll out the global Instant Messaging for Christmas or earlier, if we can manage. Anyway, I hope the lot of you are ready tomorrow. We doubled the size of the obstacle course, over the last two days. So far William, Fleur and Percy rule the roost. They smashed through everything." Harry explained.

"The five of us aren't done with you lot yet." Neville explained as he challenged the others, as the de facto leader of what Harry had named, "The Fantastic Five" as the dinner that night progressed. Clementine was satisfied – now an invite to a formal dinner would be an excellent test of their table manners. It was expected that the conversation would not be this casual, but Clementine based on what she had seen, was not too fussed.

Combat training on the obstacle course occurred in the afternoon after morning classes for most of the holidays. The combat focused on differently sized squads taking on difficult objectives under the equivalent spellfire of at least fifty Aurors. Now the participants were training with a medium version of the nano-laminate armour, along with shields and guns. Most of the participants were already using the jetpacks very creatively. They were also outfitted with slimmed down custom muscle weaves, complete with non-newtonian shock absorbers.

William or Bill as he was better known, was the leader of the "second squad" which comprised himself, Fleur and Percy. The "third squad" included Nymphadora as the team leader (who insisted on being called Tonks) along with Charlie and the Twins. Finally and to the dismay of the rest, Ginny, Astoria and Gabrielle were the last fire team and they were called the "Baby Squad."

"Alpha squad" was the unofficial designation for Harry, Hermione, Remus and Sirius, when they participated in the war games. William enjoyed scoring their performances, as he delivered a scaled down version of the S.A.S special forces training. While Sirius and Remus were anything far from Special Forces material, they would suffice for well trained by the standards of the Wizarding World, as they barely ever used tactics and strategy. On the other hand, Harry and Hermione with their rapid magical development were easily on par with Special Forces commandos because of their enhanced strength and their rather unfair weapons and armour package. After all, they could shrug off bullets and become invisible. Hermione and Harry were not too far off from Olympic athletes, as they pushed themselves and forced their brains to learn at exponential rates.

Harry's ability to do tactical evaluation had improved greatly. The first mission at Cassius Manor had been difficult for the boy. After that day, he continuously studied many historical battles, so he could utilize the strategies. He also depended not only on himself, but he leveraged the knowledge and sensory experiences of his entire squad, through his battle link. Hermione's ability to cover large distances as a scout, allowed Harry to plan ahead on the obstacle course. Remus was now a walking hulk and Sirius had a body shape you would associate with Bruce Lee – not heavily muscled and bulky, but it seemed like a good balance between all of the characteristics. Harry had suggested that Herald's magic was slowly augmenting Sirius as his motions became almost like a Cobra.

Even Cyrus and Reginald were putting on muscle mass, and Daphne and Tracey had been traumatised when Ophelia and Amy had suggested privately within their homes that they owed Mr Granger a nice cheque with the "fantastic results." Astoria who had become openly rude had yelled, "Daphne if you think I am a brat, too bad if another is possibly on the way. Oh, they aren't sleeping much now…."

Ophelia and Cryus had just grinned at Daphne, as she stared at her plate that morning awkwardly.

Daphne was now at Harry's birthday party, and the group were in the seventh week of their holidays. The previous day had been Neville's birthday party. The entire group had taken part in the Hot Wings challenge.

To Harry's dismay, he had lost.

Neville was now the 'Hot Wing King'. Daphne and Tracey who did not have a high tolerance for capsaicin had almost died during the contest. Cyrus and Reginald had sniffed the Hot Wings and had decided it was better to spectate. The entire night had been full of shouting, between the cheers of "Nev-ille!" and "Har-ry!". For burly looking teenagers, both of the competitors had cried like little children.

Daphne had given Neville some exotic magical plants after consulting with Lorna, who was her "snakey advisor" and fellow Slytherin in Harry's motley group. Lorna as the cantankerous aunt had helped Daphne pick out "the perfect present for Harry." When Harry received his gift the following day, his face possessed one of the biggest smiles Daphne had ever seen. She has chosen a Darth Vader t-shirt and a Death Star plushie, and she was rather happy that he adored the items.

"Oh Private Greengrass, you did your research. This one is making the second Thunderbolt." Harry replied while he gave her a tight hug.

"You are welcome!" Daphne replied. Harry seemed to take delight in small things and only cared for ostentatious weapons and tools. His wardrobe was surprisingly spartan and very minimalistic. Harry had skipped off to a corner partition, where he slipped on the item of clothing behind the partition. Hermione sneakily teased Daphne and said, "Trust me, he loves Darth Vader. He even practices the mannerisms for the intimidation factor in his room!"

"Is he good at it?" Daphne asked, genuinely curious.

"Too good. He should pick up acting. He has the talent for it." Hermione replied as Harry made his way back to the workshop area.

Ronald had managed some merchandise from Harry's favourite bands, and Harry had appreciated those too – he still liked the metalhead look and sometimes and it was good to have extra pieces. Hermione had given him blade servers. Luna had chosen to give him a portrait of himself, in full battle armour with his halberd.

"Oh, this is fantastic. I look very imperious!" Harry laughed.

"That was the most difficult part of the painting. You don't look too threatening when you are smiling with us. I had to imagine what a serious face looked like?" Luna explained.

"Maybe that is a good thing?" Harry replied.

Harry as always, had cut the cake with his mother, earlier that evening. Neville had given Harry miscellaneous supplies for his machines, and Fred and George had brought some of their magical fireworks and prank items. The best one had been a "Warlord Peverell" that had lit up the night sky.

"Oh, I love this one boys! Thanks!" he said, as he hugged the twins.

"Anything for our favourite Warlord!" both of them replied, as they both hugged Harry. Fred and George considered Harry to be their older brother, even though they were well aware that Harry was approximately the same age as Ronald. After all, he had supported them with their ventures and running a joke shop was no longer impossible. Harry also loved helping the twins with some of the manufacturing issues, as the twins were no longer set on launching their products locally. The twins were planning to go international, after all. As Daphne looked around at the small motley group of people who she considered her new social group of seven months, she listened to the newest development.

"And don't forget in a couple of days we have our race in the Forbidden forest. Firenze has shown Hermione the track a couple of weeks ago, and since then she has been practising." Harry explained.

"Think you can win?" Neville asked.

"Firenze was impressed by my speed. He told me that usually there are always a couple of surprises along the pathway. I have developed a unique trick to deal with that, and I have to thank Aunty Priya for that. Never underestimate Harry's mother, ever." Hermione insisted. Everyone noticed that Hermione looked rather smug, and Priya was smiling.

At a successive dinner two days later at Delacour manor, Clementine evaluated Harry, Hermione and the Fantastic Five under completely formal dining conditions. Many of Clementine's friends and customers were present, and they were required to play the part. Only after the dinner was over, did Clementine express her comments:

"Well done, all of you. You were all excellent. I think I will arrange for Harry and Hermione to meet our Prime Minister when it is possible or necessary. You can handle yourself, well enough. Luis and the rest are on a mission tonight, and the guns and the new armour have been beneficial. France never had much magical crime, but many people use here as a gateway into the rest of Europe. We have eliminated a lot of black market trade."

"Thank God for that. We have been hearing of the insurrection brewing in Bulgaria. Right now they are trying to come to an amicable settlement. If they don't, you know who they are going to send. And we have to arrive at that place, we are not taking any prisoners." Harry explained.

"And you should not. Not with those who you have run into. Anyway, business has been good. Luna has been making a lot of bezants, and she has been learning quickly. Child, did you see anything new last week in Sweden?" Clementine asked.

"I saw a lot of new things. The veil creatures have their own eco-system. I will have to talk with Mr Scamander. If Harry and Mione could build something to help others see them, that will be nice. In the meanwhile, I have been working on the children's book. Tracey has a talent for storytelling, and we like where it is going…"

"Excellent. Well, safe travels. Tell Grace and Daffodil, I asked for both of them." Clementine replied as the group transported back to England.

The "Baby Squad" was tired of being teased by everyone else at the obstacle course. They decided that the issue needed to be dealt with seriously and they produced a solution, that was the next evolution of their potato gun.

The rest had been surprised when Ginny and Astoria had defeated the stun turrets with an improvised steam cannon. She had repurposed old pieces of Harry's projects, which included a protego containment field to hold steam at a superhot three thousand degrees centigrade. A machined iron sabot had guided a titanium spike into the main cannon. The apparatus had been mounted on a tripod and remotely fired under an invisibility field. Remus had laughed during the demonstration, and Harry realised that he had helped with the fabrication. Ginny's skills with fabrication were growing rapidly, but she was still a small girl trying her best to handle dangerous power tools. Remus had offered to help, as he considered Ginny and the twins to be his manufacturing apprentices.

The titanium spike had wrecked the main stun cannon, as it had bypassed Harry's enhanced protego field. Astoria had melted styrofoam with gasoline and made an improvised but highly effective napalm-styled Flamethrower. It was used to totally obscure the targeting systems on the drones. Gabrielle on the other hand had quite an arm, as she lobbed grenades with a lot of accuracies.

"Well…..shit!" Harry exclaimed before he and Hermione laughed for quite a while - the smallest group, with the youngest participants, had not cast many spells and they had been the most destructive that particular morning on the obstacle course.

"Moony, this is your doing. You have interns for the demolition squad then?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. They love explosions. They like watching videos of bombs?" Remus laughed as Sirius realised that this was his 'prank of the week', and it was pretty good.

"As long as they are safe, it isn't a big deal. We have been thinking about projectile weapons but we were busy with other things. Mione, we have to fix these vulnerabilities. Imagine napalm on our muscle weave?" Harry pondered, as he shuddered. Hermione's eyes took on an utter look of panic, and she considered that she was adapting the anti-blood splattering system for all types of fluids and substances, that very evening.

"Did we do good?" Astoria asked.

"Best performance ever. You actually destroyed something that Hermione and I built. And we build for the damned apocalypse. 11/10. Gabrielle, great arm you got there."

"Thank you. I played a lot of ring toss with mother as a child!" she exclaimed brightly, in French.

Meanwhile, Tracey was whispering to Daphne, "Er, can Hogwarts handle the two of them?" as they looked at Ginny and Astoria.

"Sure. The castle will survive. But can Draco deal with that kind of firepower? I hope she blows him up into little bits. And then, I will ask father to raise her allowance?" Daphne replied, with a small smile on her face.

In a previous conversation, Harry had asked that Magorian only protect the forests. The centaurs didn't need to get involved in the upcoming Wizarding War, as Harry insisted that he would manage.

"I do blame wizards for the stupidity of the last war. If the Ministry idiots come by, shoot first and ask questions later." Harry explained. There was a nod from the rest of the centaur heard.

"And I appreciate that Lord Peverell. But The Dark Lord has done….necromancy? That merits a new discussion. Perhaps we will not take part in the initial confrontations, but if there is a final battle we will come to your aid. If you lose, who do you think he will come for next? We are not fighting for the magicals of Britannia. We are assisting a friend of ours, who is a friend to the Centaur people." Magorian replied, without hesitation.

"You honour me much brother. I suppose the promise upon my magic, gives you the necessary assurances. Thank you. Of course, Voldemort will come for you. And he will come for your young ones. He loves to kill children in the cradle. I am aware our people do not have good relationships." Harry countered.

"I have seen much wisdom when we discuss matters of the mind. When I first debated you, we immediately knew you were a scholar. And I think your friends respect us now, because of your discussions with them. And from these small actions, we will make progress. I will continue to speak to King Ragnok on the issue. He has been adamant that you work for the good of all." Firenze replied.

"I try my best to be honest. But I have had to resort to deception. I am playing Albus Dumbledore in the long term. He sent my three friends to battle that monster. What the fuck was he thinking?" Harry enquired, as he passed his hand over his face.

"I cannot say. As you say, sometimes blood is the cost. He does not want to confront the issue." Magorian replied as he scratched his chin.

The morning of the Centaur race was here, and it was the beginning of August.

A small area had been set aside to receive their guests. Harry and the others had arrived in the Forbidden forest via gunship. As the new supersized Thunderbolt-II set down, it was accompanied by King Ragnok's gunship along with two of the trainers that had been built for flying lessons. Today was a historic day for the involved parties. Harry had promised upon his magic previously, that if he was victorious in the war, he would forcefully abolish the stupidity of "near-human" intelligence categorisation at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures. He would also push for Goblins to carry wands if they so desired. Finally, he would seek full integration of Werewolves, Veela and other 'part-creature individuals' – the term had been agreed upon as neutral and preferable. Magorian considered today to be the day that would bring about great change in the future. He had felt the boy's magic, and he had been genuine. And while Magorian distrusted most wizards, he understood that Harry and Hermione's upbringing in the mundane world had tempered a lot of their personalities.

Harry had spent many afternoons in the forest, while he demonstrated his innovations. Magorian soon realised why a magical oath had been necessary. His implements were far ahead of anything else. He had even freely offered any type of construction materials that the Centaurs had desired. While this morning was the day of the great race, construction was already occurring underground.

Daphne, who was following the instructions on the navi-com or navigation computer, was pretty proud to fly the trainer. There were seven others in her gunship. Ronald had volunteered to be her gunner for the stun cannon, and her other three classmates had merely relaxed and enjoyed the sightseeing. The three parents were the extras today, and Opelia and Cyrus were proud to see their daughter fly. Reginald was convinced that despite the jetbikes, they all needed flying transport that was this comfortable.

Sirius, Remus, Priya and William had come along – all of them wanted to see Hermione in action. William Granger mused that now his world was filled with Dragons and Centaurs, as the young creature excitedly flew out of the gunship, and began to look around and smell the air. As he looked at his 'T.V. Buddy' he remembered how the young creature had chosen her name after Hermione had related the humorous event.

"Mum?" the dragon had called.

"Yes, love?" Hermione answered, over the spinal link.

"Can you tell me the name of this flower? I have decided on my name, I would like to be named after this flower," the young dragon insisted. Hermione took a small walk, to find the reptile had destroyed a wild patch of flowers, as she rolled around in utter delight. She loved the smell very much. Hermione laughed as she explained:

"Oh, this is a lovely name. Your name is Daffodil, then?"

"Thanks. I hope when I can fly better you will accompany me? And when I get big enough, maybe a harness on my back?" Daffodil suggested, hopefully.

"All in good time sweetie. After the war is over we can fly all over, casually. For now, all of your training is focused on the war. I guessed you loved How to train your Dragon?" Hermione enquired, as she thought about how intently the dragon had stared at the workshop flat screen.

"Yes! You were made for the air. I want you to fly me the way Hiccup flies Toothless! I saw your flying machine. I don't think dragons can fly that fast, though?" Daffodil wondered, as she subconsciously drew upon Hermione's knowledge

"Well, we know a fine engineer who can fix that. If you want to fly at supersonic speeds, fine by me. With the correct shielding array and an extra source of thrust, very doable. A miniature jump drive is not out of the question either." Hermione mused.

"Uncle Harry is the best! Want to play catch, if you aren't busy helping Neville's parents?" Daffodil asked, excitedly.

"Never too busy for you. Whenever you want to play, you come and tell me, regardless if I am working. And I promise we will try to find your sire and your dam. Somebody stole you away, and that was how I got a hold of you" Hermione recapped. The dragon often looked upon Hermione's memories of her arrival, and it was something that the dragon cherished.

Daffodil nodded, as Grace landed nearby. After some communication, both of them decided to race each other around the manor. Hermione began to realise that while the dragon was childish, there was an ancient magical presence in the young creature. It hinted that her intelligence had always been there and that it merely needed to be drawn out.

As Hermione exited the aircraft, she began to help Harry unpack all of the armour and weapons that they had brought along for the Centaurs. Molly and the others had packed some items from the kitchen for everyone, and the increased seating accommodations allowed the Thunderbolt-II to function like a personal Learjet. Arthur and Sirius assisted Harry as King Ragnok set his ship down. King Ragnok was pretty happy with his gunship – he had settled for a Mark-I Thunderbolt, as he considered that he wasn't fulfilling the role of active missions in the field. The landing pad had been completed at the top of Gringotts, and King Ragnok openly enjoyed the rumours that began to spread around the other Goblin enclaves.

Gringotts England became known for using cutting-edge technology. And his primary consultants remained a mystery to the others. There were only whispers about the Artificer and the Priestess.

King Ragnok's best marksman had taken the gunner position and the ship had been modified to carry Goblin sized weapons. King Ragnok enjoyed flying very much, and a demonstration of Hermione's skills had frightened the King, when he had arrived at Peverell Manor for a demonstration, some weeks ago.

"Harry, I think she is a bit…..insane?" King Ragnok said cautiously.

"Technically for fighter jet speeds, nobody on the planet has flown faster than her based on public records. And she is highly manoeuvrable. It seems as if the spinal interface loves her. For the others who aren't us, it has been a learning curve. Daphne is coming along quite well, so it is possible with enough familiarity to have our proficiency. For now, fly with the sticks." Harry had explained, that day.

King Ragnok exited his ship with the honour guard, as the other Weasleys, along with Astoria, Frank and Alice had exited the final trainer. Frank and Alice had regained much better use of their arms and A.S.L had become a great casual replacement for when Neville was not using the spinal interface. Soon enough the stalls were set up, and Hermione was now in her track gear, with her combat boots ready and laced up. The centaurs were rather large fans of the commerce and preparations that were made for the Olympics in the early days of Greece. They found the small items that were provided, and the presence of the crowd, to be a reinstatement of the old ways.

Magorian began with a small speech:

"Well met, Goblin King Ragnok and friends of Lord Peverell. I, Magorian have decided to reopen our borders once more, not to necessarily everyone, but to at least those who are honourable.

In the old days of the Greeks and the Romans, we roamed freely. We took part in public debates. We built cities, we painted and we designed architecture! We played music and we forged steel. We wove cloth! For many centuries we have continuously lost ground. We became hostile to Wizards. They were responsible for displacing us, and not recognising that we had a right to our society. I can remember when my weapons were drawn, and I galloped to confront young Harry over here. And I did believe that he meant us harm."

There were some smiles in the crowd.

"After speaking to him, I was pleasantly surprised at first. Then I realised that he had no prejudice toward us because he was not from the wizarding world. Not that the mundane world is anything far from perfect, but it seems to be improving. I was presented with a choice – grab the opportunity and hope that our people might rise into what we used to be, or close our society off. We are slow to trust usually, and I have only known the boy for a month. But he gave his word sincerely upon magic itself, and this assures me that he will try his best. Even that is a promise that we have not received, in a long time.

We decided upon his magical oath to take a leap of faith, as our ancestors would have done in the ancient days of Greece.

The Olympiakos was a tradition that we observed in ancient days. The Centaurs participated in the first fourteen stades where victory by speed of foot is honoured above all. As time progressed, we were not satisfied and we ran the dolichos. I was surprised when I saw that the mundanes honour the tradition and that it has become a worldwide event. And that the event was expanded to all the great nations of the world? We consider the lack of such aspirations among the magicals to be an indication of their decline.

Today we reinstate the old ways, in the name of friendship.

Today I will run against Hermione Jean Granger to determine who is the fastest in Gammarye Britannia, as a gesture of friendship. I understand that our thirty four hundred hoofspans equate to the modern ten kilometres of metric measurement. The pathway is beautiful and full of many scenic views. However, there are many obstacles along the path. Only magic that comes from the body and the senses may be used. No apparitions or wands are allowed. You may deviate from the path to avoid the obstacles, but you may not take an excessive shortcut. This run is a test of magic and wits, as much as a test of the body. I wish my compatriot the best of luck!"

The Centaurs were banging their bows and swords on their shields as Magorian took his position at the starting line. Suddenly the herd began to chat his name.

Harry began to yell. "Mione! Mione! Mione!" and suddenly everyone joined in. Daphne took a picture of Hermione's brilliant smile, and Invictus tasked many of the drones to follow the athletes. Two large mirror screens were brought for everyone's viewing pleasure. For the Centaurs, this was indeed welcome because it would allow them to watch the status of the race, as it occurred.

"RUN!" Firenze shouted as both contestants sped into the forest and the drones followed their progress.

Hermione frowned over the research about the Druids one evening, approximately two weeks ago.

She was retracing events from the Longbottom Grimore and was getting close to establishing a location. Some of the accounts depicted modern day Holyhead as the main site for a journey of enlightenment, that would teach one to connect to nature. She suspected that Anglesey or Ynys Mon was the better contender. Some of the records even suggested that the origination point was somewhere in Derbyshire. The oldest part of the Longbottom Grimore did not possess any written records – rather there were oral Gaulish narratives that the book spoke aloud. Invictus had to listen, and translate into English and the process was long and painstaking. Hermione would then pull apart the clues, and Percy was often her second brain in the operation. Even with the historical breakthroughs, Priya had noticed the frown on her face, which indicated that her mind was far off.

"Sweetie, what is the problem? Something else is bothering you. I know you too well." Priya asked.

"Oh, Harry made friends with the Centaurs. He volunteered me to run against Magorian. From some basic calculations, he can do sixty five kilometres per hour. That is bloody fast." Hermione answered.

"Harry made friends with the Centaurs? Anyway, why am I surprised? He is friends with everyone. How fast can you go?" Priya asked.

"Without muscle weave assistance and augmentations, about forty five kilometres per hour. And I heard that we have to beat obstacles on the path?" Hermione wondered.

"Maybe I can help you with that. I have developed a little trick to check on my patients. I know that you and Harry have impressive occulumentic barriers. What I do for short periods is to open my consciousness fully, and project my magic. It allows me to tell which patients need my help. I can pass by a room, and zone in on who specifically needs me. Maybe you can use that to detect the obstacles and avoid them?" Priya explained.

"How did you develop that skill?" Hermione enquired.

"I have combined much of my yoga with my magic. I imagine the magic flowing up my spine. The magic of the earth comes in when I inhale and leaves when I exhale. I blank my mind and practice listening with my magic. No sight, no sound. Only the magic guides my mind. Come, and I will show you some of the truly ancient breath exercises that my people have practised for a long time. Welcome to Pranayama breathing, I suppose…." Priya replied, as she grabbed a yoga mat, and tossed it at Hermione.

Hermione for the following two weeks sat outside before sunrise on a yoga mat, as she practised casting her mind out. After some days had passed, suddenly she could slowly feel the forest. She could feel the birds, as they chirped and she felt as if the trees spoke to her. Then she would take her morning run by herself as she temporarily boycotted the morning exercise regime with the others.

The next morning after Harry's birthday party, she was running and could sense the herd of deer that grazed on the periphery of Granger manor. She had been far away, but she could feel their presence as they went about their business. She had decided to alter her course slightly, as she continued to run the distance. Before she could change her direction, the animals who were far off had merely stepped out of her way as they sensed her intentions, from her projected consciousness. She began to replicate this occurrence every successive morning.

She began broadcasting to the animals as she ran through some of the woods, "Speedy Gonzales coming through!"

Hermione had not shared her discovery with Harry or anyone else. No, she pushed ahead and began to formulate a plan in her mind – she would not able to sustain the highest speed, but perhaps she could sustain the highest average speed, by announcing herself to the animals and feeling for magical presences that indicated the presence of traps. Her strategy was simple – medium speed and steady would win the race.

As the drone tracked Hermione, suddenly the Centaurs who assumed that Hermione was just a normal human, were flabbergasted as to how quickly she could run. And more perplexing was that instead of taking small optimised shortcuts, she chose to run longer distances. Then Firenze began to laugh, as he realised what was happening:

"I understand her method! She is running longer distances at more consistent speeds. Magorian has to slow down, and she is taking longer, flatter paths with fewer turns." the centaur laughed, as the others stroked their beards thoughtfully.

"But how are there no animals in her way? Are they letting her pass?" one of the younger centaurs asked.

"She has become a forest-kin. She senses them and speaks to them. She announces herself. She is one with the forest, and the forest is helping her. She understands Mother Gaia." Firenze replied.

Hermione imagined the magic flowing with her breath, and the magic flowing into her soles. Magorian knew a lot of shortcuts in the forest, but every time he slowed down to take a corner, Hermione just pushed through the straight paths at breakneck speed. Magorian possessed an impressive acceleration and deceleration time, but Hermione was just consistently powering through everything.

"Well Uncle William, that is a new record. She is running at 55 kph on average and occasionally bursting to 65 kph. Mum, what did you tell her?" Harry asked.

"Only how to breathe, and channel the magic. And how to cast magic and sense the environment. I use it to check on patients in the ward. She is using it to avoid obstructions." Priya explained. The other spectators who were looking on, some distance away were surprised.

"Holy hell, she can probably outrun the damned Hogwarts Express by now?" Tracey commented.

"She is going a bit faster than her usual speed. She discovered something. And to think she doesn't have the muscle weave on – I want to see her running that fast, fully armoured. If I was on the opposing side, I would be terrified." Ronald suggested.

"How about Hermione running with everything off, ronnyboi?" Tracey teased.

"If it happens, not telling in any case. You will have to consult Daphne to finish the rest of your books," Ronald answered cooly and calmly. Neville and the rest winced, as Ronald had a small grin on his face.

"Ouch. That hurt my feelings. Playing for the English Quidditch team is getting to your head. You are a little too confident these days!" Tracey smirked.

"Meh!" Ronald replied.

Magorian was surprised when fifteen minutes later he found himself staring at Hermione, at the finish line. She had completed the entire track before him. Her face was red as a tomato, and she was drenched in sweat. The centaur laughed as he realised that even though she was a mere foal, she was strong.

"Best wishes to the victor. This was a challenge, I enjoyed." Magorian answered as he grasped her arm at the elbows.

"Thanks, Magorian. I am hurting all over. You made me work for it." Hermione gasped.

"How did you manage this victory? I am no easy opponent." the centaur replied.

"I took the longer route and used my magic to alert the animals in my way. I avoided all of the traps that were set on the original route. I can't run as fast as you, so I avoided slowing down. I can only surpass you for very short periods." Hermione explained.

"Fascinating. I suppose we have a long trek back?" Magorian commented.

"No. Hold my hand, we are going via my transporter," Hermione insisted.

She pressed a button, and Magorian was now at the starting line. Hermione was soon taken into the air and given a shoulder ride by Harry and the other four who were too happy that their friend was now, 'the fastest woman in Magical England.'

The rest of the morning was spent as Magorian met the other parents and 'students of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.' Many of the centaurs were fascinated by the food items and Firenze had decided that coffee was his new best friend.

"I can give you access to the beans. You can grow as much as you want. And I would be happy to provide a market for it if you want financial compensation for your efforts?" Harry had explained to Firenze.

"I will speak to the women. We have been cut off from the mundane world and we have not been able to trade for anything. This has been one of the reasons why we considered living under the English magicals to be slavery." Firenze elaborated.

"We are doing away with that nonsense. I will continue to provide you with composites and other things, gratis. No different from how Invictus Peverell provided much of his gold to start the Wizarding economy. I have a friend named Lorna who is good at negotiating deals and sourcing materials. Whatever you need, she will provide." Harry explained to Firenze.

"Perhaps a demonstration of the weapons is in order?" Magorian requested.

"Oh, that is the best part. Hunting will not be a challenge. It is a case of instant death for the animals in the forest." Harry explained.

The next hour was spent as Harry and Hermione revealed the new toys. Now the seniors in the centaur herd were carrying superconducting collapsable compound bows, rifles, swords, halberds and thick nano-laminate armour that had moulded to completely enclose their bodies, complete with auto summoning shields.

"Perhaps you can show up at the Wizarding Liasion office, all decked out. I think that would be one of the best ways to upset them." Daphne had suggested to Firenze, as they trialled the weapons.

"That is a brilliant idea, Daphne Greengrass. I will continue to speak to King Ragnok as they have agreed to build our residences underground, to escape prying eyes. But one day, we will have to reveal ourselves. And we will be armed." Firenze replied.

The rest of the morning was spent as the Centaurs familiarised themselves with Cyrus, Reginald, William and all the others. Many of the female centaurs were only too happy to talk to Priya as they showed her medicinal herbs and other indigenous methods for healing. Daffodil explored the trees, and Ronald had a shoot-out competition with Tracey just for fun. When the activities were over, the visitors left and the centaurs were wondering if a yearly rematch was necessary, if only to have an enjoyable day.

It was now late into the evening, as the sun had already disappeared.

Hermione was happy about winning the race, and also saw today's actions as a movement towards equality for all beings. As she packed up her bag, she apparated to Longbottom Manor. Neville had made some headway with his plant experiments, and she was curious to see what he had discovered. Hermione after the pain reduction potion did not have any potioneering breakthroughs for a long time, and she somehow felt that this evening was one of those "Hail Mary" days.

"Hello, Neville!" Hermione brightly replied as she apparated into the Longbottom Greenhouse.

"Ah, it is our new celebrity. The fastest woman in magical England." Neville teased.

"Oh hush you. But thanks. So what do you have for me?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes, I solved your problem…partially?" Neville suggested although he did not seem too sure of himself.

"Which problem is that? I have a lot of them!" Hermione joked.

"How to take the normal non-magical plants, and get them to grow at accelerated rates by making them magical. We might have to try a spinal link, so you can see the process of how I sing them into shape?" Neville replied, with a little smile on his lips. Hermione was silent for ten seconds before she regained her bearings.

"WHAT? But how?" the blue haired girl explained.

"In the same way that Harry can transfigure complex materials. In the same way that Luna can see all those creatures. In the same way that Ronald can track objects, and is packing on all those muscles. I found myself, and the biology lessons you gave me helped to focus my intent," Neville gently replied, as he pointed to a stack of textbooks that were on a far off table.

"House magic then?" Hermione confirmed as she considered that Neville did have Druidic magic as part of his heritage.

"Yes. My mother used to sing me lullabies as a child, and the magic in her voice comforted me, until the arrival of Voldy's fangirl. For many years when I was upset, I would go into the garden and sing to my plants. I don't understand how the magic works, but I can change the structure of plants. I just wasn't aware of what I was doing. The science helped me to quantify the changes. Every time I had a successful crop, I would take the seeds that were the offspring of the previous ones and grow them, and I would sing to them. That is why I was always good with herbology. Our plot of land supplies most of the kitchen vegetables. And as you know they are pretty big. Even yesterday, I took some notes from mum. She can sing to me in my mindscape, even though she can't physically speak."

"Well, everyone has their talent. I accused Harry of his obsession with scrap steel, and he told me I was a flobberworm authority. We aren't too sure how our House Magic works and we have been investigating that too. But the war effort is in our way." Hermione explained, as she sat down and prepared a spinal link.

"I know. I can guide my magic to strengthen certain parts of the plant. I was inspired by Harry's ability to suddenly become a brawler and thought that my plants needed some treatment like that. I started to strengthen root systems, xylem, phloem, and other things. Raised the chloroplasts count, and tweaked the gaseous exchange. I am honestly considering a mundane Agricultural degree. However, I can't modify anything by much. When I start to push more, my back hurts. Something is…..missing. That is all I know." Neville replied.

Hermione hugged Neville.

"Oh, I am so proud to hear those words out of your mouth!" Hermione beamed.

"Well, I looked to you for inspiration. Somebody has to grow the food. I began using my magic along with the nutrient solution and the hydroponic methods. For a couple of months, my plants were not supervised. When we got transporters, I would drop home to check on my plants. Some days the plants would tell me they needed more Nitrogen. Some days more Potassium. I could sort of sense them?" Neville replied as he handed Hermione a notebook.

"What crops did you have success with?" she continued.

"I know you want to hear we made progress with the wheat. Sadly, the crop cycle is too long. I will need at least five years to engineer that crop into its final form. I have gotten Soybeans, Lettuce and Tomatoes to grow faster. Onions too. I guess I prioritised the crops we use in the kitchen. I have seeds and plants ready. These will grow at least three times faster, I think?"

"Even that is a large amount of progress! If I had my way I would release these into the wild. But I am considering if some magical viruses and pathogens could affect non-magical crops. That is a complicated and necessary consideration. What if we brought a worldwide plague? I would honestly kill myself from guilt," Hermione replied.

"That…..I didn't think about that, Mione. Yes, we will have to be careful. It isn't as simple as growing them in the open. I hope I can help you with the wheat issue. I am looking into rice too, as we can probably use aquaponics for that. Was never a fish person really, but I am coming along fine. Anyway as for the method and my choice of song…"

Neville began to recite an old family Welsh prayer as Hermione gently melded her mind into the process. Now she could see the parts of the plants where Neville had enhanced their growth over every successive generation. Hermione was given a tour of the other crops that Neville was trying to accelerate. Later that night, Hermione hopped home for her case of nigari, as they took some of the freshly produced soy milk and coagulated the curds.

"This is really great! I could eat this if it was flavoured correctly." Neville replied as he spooned the fresh Tofu into his mouth.

"We got lucky tonight. I have failed a lot of times. Coagulating the curds is a skill that few people ever master. I am trying to get a bacteria to feed on the milk and produce the final product." Hermione explained as she made a quick Thai-inspired chilli sauce in the kitchen. Alice had stopped by at the kitchen, and ate a spoonful of the tofu with noddles, before giving a smile of approval.

"That sounds complicated by your standards," Neville replied, as he helped Hermione.

"Yes, I like to play with biochemistry. In the meanwhile, we can probably develop magical things to help with standard wheat production. Tell me how the entire process works?" she insisted, as she had noticed that Neville already had some small experimental patches scattered across his backyard. As she listened, she took the necessary notes.

She considered that as long as they could keep the unmodified wheat crop warm during winter, they could get significantly better yields. Keeping the pests out, and using magic to replace the back-breaking labour involved would make harvesting easy, without massive combine harvesters. What others did not possess, was a functioning magical fission reactor. Free power and mechanisation would help them get enough wheat for themselves.

"Time to expand the agricultural harvester system," Hermione thought to herself.

Hermione apparated that night later into the workshop and presented Harry with their next mini-project.

"We are going to grow healthy Heritage wheat grains. Good flavour. We are going to use our fancy magical reactor to give the wheat good frequency optimised light, along with warmth, and protection from pests and most of the waste will be extracted by drones and…" Hermione explained as Harry sketched possible designs.

Harry and Hermione began to plan the prototypes and decided to give Amy and Ophelia the job of operating the drones remotely. A simple test on some wheat stalks revealed that "Accio wheat berries" eliminated the need for threshing grain, and that "Accio wheat plants" extracted what remained afterwards, inclusive of the root system. A small arithmantic modification to the stored spell pattern allowed the test apparatus to look for a certain magical signature, and only summon mature wheat berries.

"Had you told me that tracking Voldy would have made us capable of wheat production, I would have laughed. But this is what we are supposed to do with magic. If we can boost the berry density, that would be great?" Harry laughed.

"I know. Neville is aiming to design wheat that has almost ten times the berry density, and he is optimising it to be a wet crop that works well with Hydroponics. He is 'borrowing' some of the features from rice grains. It might end up being a new grain, but as long as it is delicious that will work."

"That is wild! I like that he is using science to retune his House Magic. And I honestly think that Neville's contribution will be far more important than any weapons that we can build. Whatever expertise he wants? No problem with me!" Harry beamed.

"He needs about fifteen generations of constant magical modification to get the crop stabilised. If he succeeds, and if we already have established methodologies and equipment, we can just deploy everything." Hermione explained as she rubbed her hands.

"And then you will begin with relief work?" Harry enquired.

"But of course. Some of the world's problems should have been solved by magicals. If they won't solve them, we will solve them, won't we now?" Hermione giggled.

"We certainly will!" Harry replied.