The Dragons Return

by viningc

Harry had a war with Earth but he had been given the gift of a lifetime, a place where his dragons and riders would be unconditionally safe. This story continues the trilogy by Bobmin356 and Alyx started at: /s/7591040/18/The-Queen-who-fell-to-Earth

21. Chapter 21: Evolution

Chapter 21: Evolution
Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Nov 4, 2030, 0900...
Harry walked into his office many months and one hour after he'd left it.

"Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Not much can happen in an hour," said Daniel, rolling his eyes. "Did you get everything accomplished you wanted to?"

"I think so. Only time will tell."

Daniel rolled his eyes at that comment and left the office as Harry sat down and began going through the day's reports. Sometimes it only took a short break to give him enough energy to get back to his paperwork.

Pern, Nov 4, 2030, 1000...
Harry had wanted to make the trip to Pern for Aymn and his group memorable, so he had left detailed instructions as to the manner of their travel. They had all been loaded into the Tour Egg with its floor rug firmly in place. Once airborne, they had been flown up to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and given an astronaut's eye view of their home planet. This had the effect on them that it did on almost anyone who saw it, it humbled them to realize how small they actually were when compared to the far greater homeworld.

After they had been suitably humbled by their new revelation, the jump to Low Pern Orbit (LPO) was initiated so they could watch their new home approach. This gave them the opportunity to start to get a feel for the vast unsettled areas between civilized areas as the 'pilot' in command pointed out the few inhabited areas. Spath's Weyr and Hold were pointed out last, as that was where they were going to land.

Instead of landing outside the Hold, however, the pilot initiated another jump so they ended up inside the Weyr at about Level 11 to give them a dragon's eye view of the interior of the hive-like Weyr. The Tour Egg slowly landed so the door faced Harry and Chekiath waiting for them. Aymn looked at the muscular young man with the huge dragon behind him and instantly had a flashback to that night, all those months ago, in the Ministry of the Interior.

When the door opened and the boarding ladder dropped, Aymn was the first off the Egg. He stood staring intently at Harry as the other members of his group gathered uncertainly at his back. Harry looked back at Aymn calmly.

"You were never really a demon, were you?" asked Aymn, slightly unsure of himself. He knew his friends were standing behind him, anxiously waiting for the same answer.

"No, Aymn, as much as some people like to think it, I am not, nor have I ever been, a demon. I am a wizard, just as are you and most of your friends, I just have a little more training than you do."

"Are you the reason why we got so much training on Earth and why we were treated so well?"

"I'm the reason you stayed on Earth as long as you did. There were reasons why you could not arrive any earlier than you did, but that cannot be discussed, with anyone. Since you had to wait to come here, it only made sense to give you extra training while you waited. Would you have preferred to just eat and sleep the entire time!"

"Of course not! We learned a lot, even Mona, and we all loved flying with the dragons. Will we be able to continue learning and flying while we are here?"

"The dragons you flew with have already changed places with some Pern dragons. They enjoyed your flights together as well and want to continue. As far as learning more about magic, you can continue learning as much as you wish." Harry looked at Aymn's companions. "Are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh, sorry," stammered Aymn. He gestured to a mature woman standing to one side and said, "This is Shafira. She ran a local produce stall and gave us a lot of free food over the years we've known her. When we told her we would be leaving, she decided to tag along. We would have been a lot worse off if she hadn't been so willing to help us."

Harry reached out to shake her hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shafira. My name is Harry. Did you have a family of your own back on Earth?"

"No, the last of my family died during the last terrorist attack in Riyadh. These urchins were the closest I had to family left. When they told me they were leaving, I had to come with them."

"Well, hopefully, things will be a little more peaceful here, but also more dangerous if you don't pay close attention to your surroundings."

"Yes, we all went through the lectures about the different plant and animal life on Pern. We had dangerous animals and insects in Saudi Arabia as well. It should just become a matter of learning what to watch out for."

"It will help that there should be nothing dangerous inside the Weyr. We also have a 'Zoo' set up just outside the entrance showing some examples of our dangerous plant and animal life. We found we needed something people could see up close before they took the threat seriously." He then looked at Aymn again.

Aymn pointed to a middle-aged woman and said, "This is Mona. She joined us last year with her two sisters. She quickly became our leader."

"Mona," said Harry, nodding to the woman. He noticed that her magical aura was relatively undeveloped. "You must have only recently realized you were magical."

"Yes. It was quite a surprise to find out that I am capable of performing magic. Even now, I find it hard to focus my magic to do what I want."

"One of the things you need to do is visit a wandmaker to see if you can get a wand more suited to you than the training wand you are currently using. If we cannot find one on Pern, we will have to go back to Earth and visit Ollivander's. That goes for any of you capable of performing magic."

"Thank you, Harry. I will look forward to learning what I can."

Aymn pointed to the third adult and said, "This is Bahar. He was our leader for years until Mona joined us."

Harry nodded his head to Bahar and noticed no magical aura at all. "You must have wondered about some of the children you were caring for when odd things happened around them."

"I was raised on the streets of Riyadh and knew no other life. When I got too old for my old gang, I decided to start one of my own. I gathered younger, unattached children that had no place else to go and tried to find places where we could at least sleep safely. We were little more than a gang of beggars until Mona arrived. She was able to find a more or less permanent place for us to stay and made us a family."

"You will be able to stay together as long as you like while on Pern. We already have several different groups of 'extended families' who prefer to stay as close as possible to each other."

Aymn quickly introduced the rest of the group, all children younger than him. There were Mona's two sisters, Mariam and Maibe Fakhoury, both witches; two brothers and two sisters, Mina, Dods, Habiba and Urbi Hadad, all magical, though one of the brothers, Dods, was a squib; two unrelated muggles, Nannosa Aswad and David Totah; twin sisters, Naima and Sally Atiyeh, both magical, but Sally was a squib; and another untrained witch, Mosi Toma, and wizard, Bassam Abboud.

"Mona, I'd like to introduce you to Amelie Roberts, our Weyr Headwoman's assistant. She is the assistant Headwoman for Spath's Hold. She will show you to your quarters and tell you where you can go to eat. Don't worry about any baggage you may have brought with you. As soon as you are assigned quarters, your baggage will be placed inside."

HMP Erlestoke, November 10, 2030...
Snape had finally managed to achieve a level of comfort and respect while in prison. In fact, his imprisonment bothered him a lot less now than it had initially. Most prisoners knew enough to leave him alone and those that didn't spent most of their time in the infirmary. The primary example of a prisoner who just couldn't leave him alone was Otto Monsooni. At least once a year, he still tried his best to destroy his enemy. Otto was probably the only reason Severus kept in shape. And while Otto was getting visibly older, Severus hadn't seemed to age a day since he was first incarcerated.

Most of the guards knew him as someone to rely on. If there were problems, he invariably sided with the guards, not because he necessarily felt they were in the right, but because it caused him the least amount of stress. He could handle the prisoners, he had no control over the guards except what their own goodwill afforded him. Severus' main problem with the guards was that they were not assigned to the prison long enough for him to develop a useful rapport with any of them. Even the Warden was routinely replaced with someone new who then had to learn how to handle Severus Snape to receive the least suffering.

Some of the guards and a few of the savvier prisoners even came to him for financial help. He was one of the few prisoners allowed almost unrestricted access to a computer and the Internet. In fact, after he had helped the warden and several of the guards with a particularly lucrative stock purchase and later sale, he was allowed to have a private computer in his cell. He was also moved to a double cell at the far end of one of the quieter cell blocks and not forced to have a cellmate. This gave him, and any guards wanting to consult with him, a certain level of privacy.

One such prisoner was Cole Carr. The Prosecutor had tried to send him to prison for murder, but the key witness had never shown up for the trial. All they were able to convict him on was tax evasion, which only put him in jail for four years. It was during this time that he got to know Snape. He convinced Snape to help him with some investment for a share in the profits. Snape's share was to be 10% net and it was lucrative enough that he agreed to continue helping to not only grow the fund but to hide it as well. During the final three years of his imprisonment, Carr not only gained all the money back he had been required to pay as a fine but had more than tripled it. He was better off by over five million pounds.

Snape agreed to handle the fund but never told Carr about the hidden links he had to the fund. At any time he wished, he could drain everything into his own accounts. He was even careful to never take his 'cut' out of the fund, so it would appear he was doing his best to grow his own portion. In fact, he was using Carr's fund against his own, much larger fund, to increase both. By now, Snape had over 20 million pounds squirreled away in various accounts. Each account was created using fictitious account information, known only to Snape, and each account was maintained to be roughly half what would trigger any investigation. Anytime any account threatened to grow too much, he transferred the maximum safe amount out to a newly minted account somewhere around the world.

Early on, he had found an interesting-looking stock having something to do with a new form of power generation. Initially, he had invested because it looked like a good way to lose some of his excess earnings. He had quickly learned that, in fact, it was a phenomenal earner and had caused him no end of headaches as he had to quickly create hundreds of new accounts to hide his newly gained wealth. It was now his biggest profit maker. One which he never told about to any of those asking for his help. It would generate too much interest in what he was doing.

He now felt he had a good nest egg that would help him when he got out of prison, as long as he was careful. What he now needed to do was decide what he was going to do with the rest of his life once he got out. Out of sheer boredom, he discovered chatrooms, forums, and other forms of social media. He was always careful to mask his true identity; he was sure that if his activities were discovered his Internet access would be quickly terminated. Through his new social contacts, he found one in particular that looked promising. He would cultivate it to see where things went.

Nylah Harper was thirteen and newly pregnant. Severus found her on Facebook and immediately took a liking to the shy young girl. He told her he was a British ex-patriot, named Brad Harper, living and researching in Australia. He didn't know all that much about Australia, but he was sure she didn't either. If she started asking too many questions he couldn't answer, he could always drop the account or 'move' to some other part of the world. He told her he was 20, single, and not looking for anything but an acquaintance. Since all her friends had left her when she got pregnant, she was lonely and immediately started treating him like he was her best friend. If he hadn't been in prison, he could have easily found her and she would have quickly disappeared.

As it was, Snape was easily able to determine her physical location based on information she freely provided. When she let it be known that she was really afraid because she had no job or place to live other than her parents' house, he arranged for her to 'win' a contest that gave her a thousand Australian Dollars. She was ecstatic. Snape 'suggested' different things she could do to grow her money and she acted on his suggestions, though not to the amount he would have preferred. Slowly her net worth grew as she carefully invested the money she had 'won', and, shortly after her baby daughter was born, she moved into her own apartment.

By now, Snape was able to have a more direct impact on her life. He had full control over her banking and investment accounts. Without her knowledge, he started making slight adjustments to her investments which invariably ended up earning her more than they lost, slowly gaining her a financial independence she had never dreamed of.

Snape didn't know why he was helping her, but it got to become a habit. Slowly, she came to trust him more and more. When he suggested she hire a Nanny and finish her education, she did, going to a new school where no one knew her. He arranged for her to get documents that showed she was living with her brother and arranged a surreptitious watch on her to keep her safe. 'Brad' eventually even sent her money to help support her and her daughter. He told her he felt like she was the sister he never had. She ate it all up and came to love him for all he did for her. Snape couldn't do anything right now, but at least he would know someone when he got out.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 22, 2030...

Harry kept a close eye on all the eggs … and on a certain house-elf. Dronth had told him that he sensed something different about this young house-elf. This was Joddy's second time on the Hatching Grounds, helping bring food to the new hatchlings. Dobby and Tisky, his parents, were so proud of him they almost forgot they were also helping.

There were 90 eggs on the sands this time and that meant there were almost 200 potential riders hoping to impress. Harry watched as they jockeyed for position every time an egg started to hatch, yet they all gave way to the dragonettes as they single-mindedly made their way to their riders. The candidates tended to bunch up in groups until a hatchling started moving towards them and then their training took over and their groups reformed into a single line so no one was behind anyone else.

Midway through the hatching, one of the hatchlings started going the wrong way. A bronze was going towards the feeding pens but he hadn't found his rider yet! Harry decided he'd better follow the tiny dragon to see what was going on. There were no humans young enough to impress anywhere near the feeding pens.

As they progressed, Harry would call out warnings to people as the hatchling made his way into the area so no one was injured. Just then, Joddy turned with a slab of meat for the next hatchling, looked into the eyes of the errant hatchling, and promptly sat down, stunned.

"He says his name is Solionth!" Joddy said in wonder. "He says he is my dragon!"

"Well, Joddy, I think you should give that meat to your new partner unless you want someone else to get it," said Harry, almost laughing at the shocked house-elf. He saw Dobby and Tisky standing nearby, just as shocked.

"Dobby, Tisky, please help Joddy and Solionth to a Hatchling cave so they can get settled and start bonding properly," urged Harry. He just knew that Hermione would take this as justification for their stance that house-elves were just as good as humans.

'Cheki, would you let Hermione know what just happened, please.'

'She already knew. She was watching too.'

'Harry, this proves we have been right all along,' sent Hermione, excitedly. 'House-elves have become more independent and forceful, probably because they have been attending school with other species. It's no wonder they are starting to do other things that everyone thought only humans could do!'

'Selanth, would you please ask Hagrid to make sure Joddy knows he is not to answer any summons from anyone other than his dragon while he is in training. There areplenty of other house-elves that can take care of any summons he gets. Right now, he needs to concentrate only on his dragon.'

'I will let him know, Harry.'

'Solionth, please do not allow anyone else to summon your Rider as a house-elf. He is now a Rider and you are his primary responsibility.'

'Yes, Weyrleader, I will make sure to keep him close.'

Harry just smiled. He couldn't think of anyone who deserved to impress more than the son of his favorite house-elves. He turned back to continue helping with the rest of the hatching, knowing he would hear all about what happened from Dobby later.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 25, 2030...
The entire planet seemed to be celebrating! Hagrid had been forced to ask Harry for help. Harry had then asked Dobby to limit the house-elf visits to Joddy to no more than 5 at a time. It seemed like every house-elf wanted to see the new Dragonrider personally. Harry and all his friends had been telling the house-elves for years that they were just as important as humans. Now that there was a house-elf Dragonrider, they had actual proof.

Harry just shook his head and wondered when all the fuss would die down. Solionth had to be the most pampered dragon, ever. It seemed like there was always a small crowd of excited house-elves clustered around Joddy and Solionth. Solionth didn't have anything to complain about, but it had to be confusing for Hagrid when he found himself teaching so many house-elves. Finally, after watching a few sessions where some of Joddy's visitors actually left or arrived during a lesson, Harry had to put his foot down.

"Dobby."

"Yes, Harry?" asked Dobby as he popped in next to Harry.

"Dobby, would you please pass the word to all house-elves that no one is to visit Joddy during classes or training sessions. I can understand the excitement, but they are interfering with a Dragonrider learning how to care for his dragon. They are welcome to visit any other time that Joddy and Solionth allow them to visit."

"Yes, Harry. House-elves should not interfere with a Dragonrider."

Harry almost laughed at the emphasis Dobby placed on 'Dragonrider'.

Spath's Weyr, Dec 23, 2030...
Harry watched with pride as the latest graduating weyrling class mounted their dragons while their escorts hovered in the air high overhead. Against all odds, Joddy had been made Lead Wingleader for the entire super-Wing by popular demand of his fellow graduates. He walked tall and self-assured. Already, he appeared to be an entirely new species. He was firm and decisive, no longer a slave to others' desires. He was the leading edge in the blade of freedom for all house-elves. Joddy was no longer a house-elf, he had evolved into the first truly free Elf.

Hermione was so happy that Joddy was now an elf and not a house-elf Harry didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't due to anything she had done. He, seemingly alone of all the Dragonriders, knew it was actually the slow, sure evolution resulting from the initial release of the dragons' intelligence. As he watched Joddy give the arm pump command to jump aloft, he saw a little bit of the future of the Dragon Nation. Dragons were meant to fly with intelligent partners. Now there was an elf, who was to say that, after a suitable length of time, they couldn't be joined by other intelligent, humanoid species. After all, Hagrid was a half-giant and bonded to Selanth, Joddy was an elf and bonded to Solionth, why couldn't the bond evolve to include goblins and possibly others as well?

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, June 1, 2031, 0800...
Harry was nervous.

It was the morning of May's 52nd birthday and he had a special present for her but wasn't sure how to present it. He didn't want to hurt her feelings but knew she needed this particular gift if she was to have any future happiness. She had become increasingly withdrawn and depressed over the last year. Not even Trath had been able to bring her out of her funk. Hermione and all three dragons knew about what Harry had created with Neville's help, and they all felt it should help.

May had been sleeping in one of their suite's spare bedrooms, so Harry and Hermione went in, dragged her out of bed and into the bathroom for a shower. Harry and Hermione switched off washing May. While one was working on May, the other washed themselves. Hermione scrubbed her back and arms while Harry washed her front and legs. Hermione started shampooing May's hair, while Harry rinsed. After everyone was clean and toweled dry, Harry cast a drying spell on them all so they could get dressed for breakfast. Hermione left for their bedroom to get dressed while Harry gently cuddled with May before he allowed her to get dressed as well.

After they sat down at their dining table, Harry pulled out three large potion bottles with their names on the bottles. He handed Hermione and May their bottles and turned his around so they could see his name on the bottle.

"May, Hermione, I'm hoping you two could help me with an important experiment. There are three bottles here, one for each of us. The contents are stasis controlled until decanted, so the contents will stay as fresh as the day it was brewed. The contents of each bottle have been specially formulated for one of us specifically to help alleviate any of the aches and pains caused by growing older. It includes cures for many of the common maladies we might expect to encounter as we grow older, so we should expect to gain extra energy and stamina after taking a dose.

"Right now, I am going to recommend we each take a single spoonful to see how it affects us. The potion is quite powerful and concentrated, so any dosage will be quite small, hence only a spoonful instead of drinking the entire bottle. Neville helped me develop this and one of the things we tried to do was ensure it was pleasant to take, or at least not as nasty as most potions. Are you willing to help me with this?"

Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically. She already thought she knew what was going to happen and thought her "medicine" was only a placebo. May looked doubtful, but eventually gave in; after all, it couldn't make her life any worse.

After both women agreed, Harry conjured three spoons, passed them out, and poured his dose into his spoon. Once all three of them had their spoons filled, Harry led them in taking the dose.

"Tastes fairly pleasant, especially when compared to normal magical potions," said Hermione. May took her dose and just nodded her head in agreement.

"May, I've got a shopping trip planned for after breakfast," said Harry. "Is there any place special you would like to go to, or will Paris do? I have to warn you, I have a reservation at a fairly fancy restaurant planned, so you will need something really nice to wear when we go out to dinner."

At first, May looked pleased. Then her face fell. "Oh, Harry. I just have too much to do to be able to leave. Why don't you and Hermione go?"

Both Harry and Hermione looked stunned that May would say such a thing. It had always been Harry's tradition that he would do something special for whoever's birthday it was. Harry looked at Hermione and she shook her head slightly in agreement. They were going to have to act decisively to overcome May's depression.

"May! I'm really surprised that you think you could get away with saying something like that," exclaimed Hermione, angrily. "You know better than that. Harry needs this as much as you do and I'm not going to let you duck your responsibility to him!"

"May, I've already coordinated this with your staff," said Harry, reasonably. "I reminded them months ago that you would be taking some time off during your birthday and possibly longer. They have been quietly making sure that your schedule is clear for this entire week and they are well aware of all your responsibilities. Daniel is here and can get in touch with us if we are really needed, no matter where we are."

"No, I must ..."

"No, you mustn't," said Harry and Hermione in concert. Harry continued, "You have been unhappy for far too long about something that doesn't bother either of your other partners. We are going to make you enjoy yourself, even if we have to forcibly kidnap you!"

May looked startled at their fierce assurances and slightly pleased that they seemed to still care about her. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take just one day off.

"Alright, I'll go, but I want Hermione to come along. If I'm going to have to buy new clothes, I want someone along I can talk to about them."

Harry smiled to himself as they finished breakfast. For his plan to work, he needed all three of them together while the potion acted on them all. He would be administering slowly increasing dosages over the next few days and they needed to be in fairly close proximity for certain aspects of the magical potion to work properly. He could have had them take it all at once, but then the effect would have been noticeable. He wanted it to happen slowly enough that May was pleasantly surprised when it was finished.

Joensuu Weyr, Finland, Earth, June 1, 2031, 0900...
Right after breakfast, Harry insisted that May ride on Chekiath with him, and the three Dragonriders and three dragons jumped to Joensuu Weyr, NW of the city of Joensuu, with the Joensuu Airport between them. Harry had let them know a week prior that they would be arriving, so they would have plenty of time to ensure The Weyrleader Suite was ready. The Suite overlooked the beautiful lake where the Weyr was located and was warded so that muggles weren't even aware it was there.

The weather was pleasantly warm during the day, allowing for swimming and other water sports if desired, while the nights were cool enough and the latitude high enough that insects weren't a problem, so the windows could be left open to allow a refreshing breeze to blow through making for very comfortable sleeping arrangements.

They would have been closer to Paris if they had stayed at Campbeltown or even Hogwarts, but they would have been constantly bombarded with requests for visits or invitations to parties, dinners, or even just political appearances. Staying at Joensuu, they were only about 1,700 miles NW of Paris and could still be there in less than 3 seconds once they had jump coordinates … and Harry had sent a message asking for someone to get a good set of coordinates for them before they arrived.

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, 1200...
By prior arrangement, the three dragons landed in an out-of-the-way area of the Charles de Gaulle Airport where a limo was waiting. Harry knew their dragons would be uneasy if they got too far away, but also knew there was little room where a dragon could easily stay close. While they were putting on casual clothes over their Stealth Suits, Harry discussed the problem with Cheki.

'Cheki, I know you all want to stay close, but it is really crowded here and there are high tension power lines all over the place that you could accidentally clip which would be disastrous for the inhabitants of the city. Why not switch out with two of you staying here and the third following at a discrete altitude. If anything happens, the others can be there within seconds.'

'I don't like it, Harry. There are too many people we don't know.'

'I know, Cheki, but we are trying to help May. We won't take off our Stealth Suits or our Dragon Pendants, so there isn't anything that could really hurt us in the time it would take for you to arrive anyway.'

'I guess, but I still don't like it. Why couldn't you go shopping on Pern!?'

'Because it needs to be so different from what she is used to that she will look back on this time with fond memories.'

'I still don't like it.'

By the time Harry was finished talking with Cheki, they had removed their outer flight suits, leaving just the inner Stealth Suit. Their helmets were stowed in their belt pouch, the gloves retracted, and the suits disillusioned to be seemingly transparent. Their flight suits were then quickly replaced with casual clothing that wouldn't have been out of place in any city on Earth, and they were ready to get into the Limo. Just before getting into the vehicle, Harry looked at Cheki.

'Please, Cheki, this is really important to May. If you must ride on the roof, please make yourself lite enough that your weight doesn't affect the car. None of us want her to stay so depressed.'

Cheki looked at him with his eyes showing his distress and sent, 'Alright, Harry.'

Shopping in Paris...
The Limo attracted a little attention, but not as much as he'd thought. There were other Limos cruising the streets of Paris, other people with money wanting a secure and serene passage through Paris traffic. In Harry's case, it wasn't about money, it was about not knowing their way around and not having the time to find out.

They picked up a guide, Monique Verier before they left the airport. Once she thought she understood what they were after, she took them on a mini-tour of the shopping establishments in central Paris. Monique started out by trying to show them some of the more economical shopping centers. Normally this would be exactly where Harry would want to go, but not today. Her initial misunderstanding was that she was showing around a mother with her two children, but Harry quickly corrected her.

"Mademoiselle Verier, we have a reservation at the Epicure tonight at 1930 and I wanted to get something exquisite for Madame May and Madame Hermione to wear there. I am not worried about the cost, so, please take us to more up-scale establishments," explained Harry.

"Bien sûr, monsieur. They will also wish to have their hair and makeup done before arriving. Clothes without proper hair and makeup would be most embarrassing, no?"

"Yes, that is an excellent idea, just try to take us where we can find what they want as soon as possible."

They visited Chanel, Elie Saab, Givenchy, and Hermés. Hermione and May would spend time looking over what was offered and usually purchase something, but May just didn't seem interested in any of the dresses they were shown. They ended up purchasing gifts for others, accessories, or just souvenirs, but no clothing.

Finally, at Christian Dior, May found something she liked. She started to look for the price, but Harry stopped her. "If you like it, let's get it. It's part of my birthday present for you. I want today to be perfect for us all."

As she was having the dress fitted, Harry took Hermione aside, "I want you and Monique to pick out dresses as well. If she is helping us, she deserves to reap the benefit. She may be young, but she has been consistently cheerful and helpful. I'm sure we would never be able to complete our quest without her help.

"Purchase everything you will all need, no matter how small. I want May to remember this week with happiness."

Hermione just smiled at her Harry and hurried off to gather their tour guide in and start looking at dresses. She made sure they all had underwear and accessories that matched the dresses they were getting. At first, Monique was reticent about them getting anything for her until Hermione explained that she would be going to Epicure with them and she wasn't going to embarrass them by going in what she was currently wearing!

While shopping for dresses, Hermione persuaded Harry to get a tuxedo. They all got shoes as well, but Harry, Hermione, and May would actually be wearing the magically disillusioned boots of their Stealth Suits. Harry wasn't about to take any chances.

As they were coming out of Christian Dior, Cheki, warned, 'Harry, there is a man watching your group a little too closely. I think he might be thinking he can grab something and run when you aren't paying attention.'

'Thanks, mate. Let me see him through your eyes.'

As Harry looked, the man made his move … only to be stopped by Monique, who had also seen him. She wasn't able to slow him down for long before he knocked her down and grabbed for some of the bags, but it was long enough for Harry to arrive and grab him by the arm in an iron grip.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," growled Harry to the startled thief. "I believe you owe this young lady an apology before the gendarmes take you away."

The thief made the mistake of trying to hit Harry in the face and immediately broke his own nose. Harry stepped out of the way of the blood fountaining from his face and put the man in a full nelson to keep him under more positive control. Hermione helped Monique up and checked her for any injuries as the police belatedly arrived. Initially, they didn't believe the man was a thief and were trying to arrest Harry for attacking the man.

'Cheki, would you show yourself to these gendarmes and explain to them what happened, please?'

When Cheki faded into view, Monique squeaked and would have fallen again if Hermione hadn't held on to her. One of the policemen did faint and his partner froze as Cheki replayed exactly what had happened. By now, there was a widening clear area around them as the traffic stopped and the pedestrians gave them a wide space due to the unexpected appearance of a huge dragon in their midst.

"We are Dragonriders here on holiday, monsieur," said Harry, calmly. "We have no need nor any reason to randomly attack someone. I'd be willing to bet that this man has an accomplice somewhere nearby that is probably shaking in his boots right now. If you wish, I would be happy to question this man, find out what his accomplice looks like, and you can capture two for the price of one. Or, we can just turn this one over to you and go on with our holiday.

"Whatever we do, it WILL NOT take more than a few more minutes," added Harry forcefully.

'Cheki, can you see anyone nearby looking like they wish they were anywhere but here and like they know this "gentleman"?'

'Yes, Harry, across the street, an older man is trying to hide behind some signs but still see what is happening.'

Harry performed a quick surface legilimens on the would-be thief, got an impression of his partner, shoved the man into the policeman's hands, and took off across the street. Fortunately for Harry, the accomplice was blocked by the gathering crowd more than Harry was and he was able to catch him quickly. After a short and painful, for the accomplice, struggle, Harry dragged him over to the two gendarmes who had, by now, been joined by four more.

"I will be by your station later tonight to press charges against these two," said Harry. "If I find they have been released, I will have to find them again and bring them up on charges, along with those who released them, to an international tribunal. If you are afraid that we might disappear before then, feel free to send two of your friends here along with us until we have finished our business.

"In any case," added Harry, showing his diplomatic passport. "You have no authority to hold us."

By now, all their purchases had been loaded into the Limo. Harry held the door for the three women and then looked questioningly at the gendarmes. One of them stepped forward and gave him a small card.

"This is the address of our poste de police. We will hold these 'gentlemen' until midnight. You have until then to press charges. Au Revoir."

Relieved that his bluff had worked, Harry climbed into the Limo and Monique gave the driver the address to take them to next. Cheki faded from view and quickly jumped on top of the Limo. 'It is really hard traveling this way,' Cheki thought to himself. 'I'm really too long.'

Carita, Luxury Salon, 1530...
Finally, with their new purchases, Monique led them across town to Carita, a Luxury Salon where the entire group was whisked into a private area. Once Monique explained to them what was needed, they even sent out for a specialist to come in and take care of the women's makeup so they wouldn't have to go anywhere else. Again, Harry insisted that Monique be taken care of as well since she would be accompanying them.

Monique had suffered a scraped knee and hand when the thief knocked her down. May spread some salve on the scrapes and put bandages on both after which, Hermione cast a surreptitious healing spell on Monique. Now, more than ever, Harry, Hermione, and May felt she had more than earned this treat after going out of her way to stop the thief.

After the women were finished getting 'beautified', they requested the use of changing rooms and they all got dressed. Monique never was able to figure out where they put the clothes they had been wearing.

Epicure, Restaurant, Paris, 1930...
Taking the scenic route to 112 Rue De Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Le Bristol, Paris, they finally arrived at the restaurant, Epicure, where Harry had reserved a room for their evening dinner. They made quite an impression on the surrounding crowd as the Limo dropped them off at the main entrance. They were escorted to the private room Harry had reserved and immediately served a sweet wine as well as glasses of sparkling water.

Harry had been watching May, and she was starting to enjoy herself. She also now appeared to be slightly younger than she had this morning. It might be because of the expert makeup that had been applied, but Harry knew that wasn't the entire reason.

The four of them enjoyed a leisurely, vegetarian meal. Harry had thought May would enjoy something different, at least once. While they were dining, Monique admired the Dragon Pendants she could see on the other two women. Harry reached into his pouch, pulled one of his copies from its depths, and presented it to Monique, "In appreciation for stopping an attack on us and the theft of our property."

At first, Monique didn't want to accept, but when Harry explained that she could use it to call for help if she were ever in trouble, she accepted it. They all realized that she had put her life in danger because of the vast number of such criminals in any metropolitan area. Even as he was presenting it to her, he was talking to a small Peruvian Vipertooth who agreed to help keep a close eye on their new friend. Harry asked the dragon to wait for them at the Police Station.

Poste de Police, 2200...
After their meal and on their way to the police headquarters indicated on the card Harry had been given, he requested that a wing of Aurors and their support dragons meet them when they arrived. When the Limo pulled up, they were all arrayed, in precise formation, in the square in front of the station, visible to any who were out and about at that hour. Everyone, anywhere within sight was looking too, when they landed, the dragons made sure they weighed enough to make the ground vibrate heavily. Even some of the police in the station were looking at them worriedly.

The first thing Harry did once they arrived since they had plenty of time before midnight, was take Monique over to where the Aurors and their dragons waited. To one side sat a much smaller dragon with smooth, copper-colored scales, black ridge-markings, and short horns on its head. Harry led a hesitant Monique over to this dragon.

"Monique, I am pleased to introduce you to Kelilth, a Peruvian Vipertooth who has agreed to be your bodyguard and friend. If you ever need her, just grasp the Dragon Pendant I gave you and call to her. Since you live in a built-up area, I asked for the smallest dragon possible, so she could fit into many more areas than one of our larger species. Kelilth is a young dragon, only about eleven feet long right now, so she should be ideal as your protector.

"After you have talked to the police inside, I think she would like to 'talk' to you and get to know you better. Kelilth, this is Monique Vernier, our Tour Guide who helped to protect us from a local criminal. You might like to think of her as a Harper because she knows the local history and where to go to get the best products and information for her clients."

'Greetings, Harper Vernier. I look forward to getting to know you better. May you find peace and shelter under our wings.'

Monique gasped and said nervously, "I can 'ear her in my 'ead!"

Harry explained a bit about dragons as they walked back to the Police Station and its nervous policemen. When they got to the station, they were split up to be interviewed in separate rooms. As Harry entered his room, an older policeman, obviously in charge, entered right after him. After Harry had finished answering all the routine questions and the official interview was over, the older policeman turned off the recorder and motioned for the younger man to leave. Once the door was closed, he turned to Harry.

"Monsieur Potter, I am Senior Police Commissioner Lefeuvre. I would like to apologize for the initial misunderstanding of our patrolmen. They were reacting to seeing one man holding another aggressively and leaped to the wrong conclusion. They have been instructed to be more careful in the future. I appreciate your forbearance in dealing with them."

"I appreciate the apology," replied Harry, politely, "but I feel I must also apologize. We were here to celebrate a birthday and were on a tight schedule. We couldn't afford to be delayed at that particular time."

"Since your initial encounter with our foot patrol, I have done a bit of research on you. You have quite a record of fighting injustice and helping to right wrongs, which makes me wonder why you would feel the need to bring in such a large force we find ourselves facing in the square outside our building."

"My apologies again, Commissioner Lefeuvre. Those are not there to attempt to intimidate the Paris Police Force. On our way over here, I thought you might like a little help cleaning up some of your criminal elements, such as we encountered tonight. They are part of an elite force we have trained specifically to capture and interrogate just such elements and follow the chain of command up as far as desired. They are here to help … if you desire it."

Commissioner Lefeuvre sat back at this statement and thought carefully about the offered help. "And how would we go about this effort?" asked the senior Policeman.

"If we could be granted access to the two men captured tonight, we have specific means of questioning that gives us absolutely verifiable truth from those questioned. We would question each of them one at a time, with one of your officers present, and take a video recording of the entire process. With proper questioning, we would find the next link in their organization and could then dispatch one or more teams to bring in the next layer for questioning. If your officers don't mind flying on dragon-back, we can combine forces so that pairs of officers cooperate to go out to capture the next ones to be questioned.

"By morning, we would probably have most, if not all, of their organization behind bars."

"You are operating under a slight misapprehension," said Lefeuvre. "There are not two criminals, there are now three. One of their compatriots entered the station earlier dressed as a policeman and attempted to have them released into his 'custody'. He made a minor procedural error, and we apprehended him as well.

"We are set up in this room for videotaping interviews. Why don't we start with the first one right now? I have been fighting this particular headache for some time and have a standing authorization to crack down on them whenever the opportunity presents itself. I think this is just such an opportunity."

They quickly interrogated the three prisoners. Commissioner Lefeuvre was particularly interested in the Veritaserum, but Harry explained that it was a controlled substance requiring careful training to administer it. What he couldn't tell the Commissioner was that he also used legilimens to enter the mind of the person being questioned so he had a better idea of what questions to ask. That wasn't something a normal policeman would be able to do.

They quickly had over 50 people incarcerated and more and more police were being called in to help.

Poste de Police, June 2, 2031, 0200...
Harry had long ago sent the women back to the airport. He had instructed Hermione to rent a room for them at a nearby hotel and asked her to explain to Monique who they were, why they were protecting her, and how they would be able to help her if she ever decided to emigrate to Pern. He was glad he had sent them away. It looked like this was going to take a while!

Rue Baudin, Paris, France, 0210...
Policeman Georges Bossuet had been paired with someone named Jude Cook and a huge beast to bring in the next name on their growing list. The trouble was, the next name on the list, Gilles Thibodeau, was a name he knew better than to cross. He was one of the men he reported to regularly! He had to think of something to do to get out of arresting one of his bosses.

As soon as they landed and he had his feet steady under him, he grabbed his nightstick without even thinking, and swung it as hard as he could.

'Lookout, Auror Cook!' sent Kullith, but it was too late. The nightstick impacted the protective field near Auror Cook's right ear and immediately rebounded into Policeman Bossuet's head, knocking him out cold.

Cook looked at the downed Policeman disgustedly and said, 'Hold him in place in case he comes to while I'm busy, please, Kullith. I'm going to collect our next guest and it looks like we will have two to take back instead of just one.'

Poste de Police, 0230...
There was quite an outcry from the policemen present when Auror Cook brought back policeman Bossuet unconscious. Initially, everyone thought he had been attacked. After Kullith told Harry what had happened, he ran his hand through his hair and turned to the Police Commissioner to explain.

"Commissioner Lefeuvre, I need to give you a demonstration before I can adequately explain what happened. It appears your man, Bossuet, is a mole in your police department for the very same criminal organization we are attempting to capture."

The Police Commissioner was astounded but had seen too much good happen tonight to allow himself to do anything other than at least listen and observe.

"If you would, Sir, please call in one of your stronger policemen."

Once the man had been called in, Harry turned to him and said, "I want you to gently hit me in the stomach. Not hard enough to hurt, but just hard enough that I will know you have hit me."

The policeman, not one to take half measures, tried to hit Harry a lot harder than gently, unfortunately for himself. As the policeman lay on the ground, doubled over, trying to catch his breath, Harry turned to the Police Commissioner and said, "We all have a force field generator that turns impacts against us back on whatever launched the attack. Monsieur Bossuet tried to hit Auror Cook over the head with his nightstick. From my little demonstration here, you can imagine what happened.

"I have a feeling that by the time Monsieur Bossuet recovers from his concussion, if he does, we will be long gone. I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling the other man we brought in, Gilles Thibodeau, must have been fairly high up in the organization and was paying Bossuet for inside information.

"We will probably get confirmation when we question Thibodeau. In the meantime, you might consider placing a guard on Bossuet and cuffing him to his bed. When, or if, he awakens, he might not want to stick around."

Poste de Police, 0520...
They now had over 150 prisoners, including three policemen from different areas. Commissioner Lefeuvre was ecstatic that they had captured so many with more than sufficient evidence for major convictions. He was also outraged that so many of his trusted men were not quite as trustworthy as they should have been! They had also found and raided two warehouses full of stolen property. Tonight was a good night for Paris.

Even now, Harry was questioning a woman who appeared to be the person ultimately responsible for everything. He was absolutely flabbergasted. She had impeccable credentials and social standing. He wondered how long she would survive in prison.

Hotel Scribe Paris Opera by Sofitel, 0600...
Cheki dropped Harry off out front of the hotel and Harry made his way into the lobby. When he walked in, still wearing his Tuxedo from last night, the receptionist must have recognized him, as he handed Harry a room key and gestured for a porter to take him upstairs. Harry was so tired, he just followed along.

When he got upstairs, the porter opened the suite for Harry and left. Harry entered only to be confused by which room he should go into, so decided to just snag a blanket, take off his Tuxedo, and collapse on the large, comfortable-looking sofa.

Hotel Scribe Paris Opera by Sofitel, June 2, 2031, 1130...
Harry was awakened by soft female conversation and cautiously looked over the back of the sofa to see Hermione and May talking with Monique. He carefully got up, wrapped the blanket around himself, and went into one of the nearby bedrooms. There he quickly showered and dressed in his normal clothes before going out to see if there was something to eat.

As he exited the room, May walked up to him and enveloped him in a fierce hug. "Hermione told me what that potion really does. Thank you so much for yesterday, I really needed it!" she exclaimed. "You aren't completely off the hook yet, though, I expect to get to sleep with my loving husband again soon."

Harry smiled down at her and noticed how much younger she looked already. The potion he and Neville had created seemed to be working quite well. From looking at himself in the mirror after his shower, he knew he now looked several years older than he had yesterday morning, so it appeared that everything was working as it should. Even Hermione looked a little bit younger. He was a little confused by Monique being in the room though.

May saw his look and answered his unasked question, "We felt with you turning out all of Paris last night to find those responsible for the attack on us, she would be safer here with us. How did it go?"

Harry sat down at the table to eat some of the fruit and pastries as he told them what they had found. Monique was amazed they had been able to find and capture so many criminals so quickly.

"It's not really surprising," explained Hermione. "Once our Harry starts following the trail of criminals, he doesn't like to stop until he has cut off the head. Now we know you will be safe, at least from that group and you have Kelilth to protect you from others if you need it."

"By the way, Harry, we took her out for a flight last night. I think Kelilth and Monique are going to enjoy their friendship," May said with a smile. "She has learned what some of the advantages are to having a dragon for a friend."

Paris, France, June 2, 2031, 1300...
May wanted to see more of Paris, but not from a Limo. After checking out of the hotel and enjoying a leisurely lunch, they treated their Tour Guide to a view of Paris rarely seen by anyone without a dragon. Monique was outfitted with a Passenger Flight Suit, complete with her first name on the right breast, and they took flight on their dragons. Monique would point out a special point of interest and they would fly closer to take a better look.

Every once in a while, they would land to see something up close. When they did land, they kept their helmets thrown back but maintained communications with Monique using the wireless earbud and microphone available with the suits. Invariably, when they landed, they were mobbed by tourists and locals alike, wanting to know who they were, why they were here, what they wanted, were they aliens, could they take pictures, all sorts of questions. Some were a bit alarmed when they learned that three of the visitors normally lived on a different planet and were just visiting, others were intrigued.

Usually, Harry remained aloof unless approached by children. Then he would call one or more of the dragons down and introduce them to the children. If the space wasn't very large, he would call down Kelilth and ask Monique to join them. When the children learned that Monique lived near Paris, they really became even more excited.

One of the times they landed, a group of young school children on a tour from Germany gathered around and Monique was amazed that her three 'guests' were able to interact as if they were fluent in the language.

"Here, Monique, put this earring on instead of one of yours," said May, offering Monique one of her Dragon Earrings. Once Monique put it on she was amazed! Instantly, she could understand what was being said and be understood.

"This is wonderful!" gushed Monique. "Where can I get one of these?"

"You cannot," replied May. I am giving this one to you for all the help you have given us during our visit. I cannot think of anything more useful for a Tour Guide than to understand and be understood in any language."

"But it must cost a fortune! How can I thank you?"

"Do not concern yourself. It is but a small token for us and I want you to have it."

Harry pulled an extra full helmet out of his belt pouch and offered it to Monique. "If you are going to fly with Kelilth much, this will give you better protection and has more functionality than the soft hood you have been wearing." Before he gave it to her, he ensured that any proprietary functionality was turned off and only operable remotely under command mode from a Weyrleader or Wingleader. He then showed her how to make sure it was sealed properly, how to access the satellite phone, bring its list of stored phone numbers to call, and how to add new numbers. He also showed her how the HUD worked and what some of the readouts indicated.

"I don't expect you to be seen in public with Kelilth," said Harry, "but there are Dragon Museums around the world where you may find out more about us. I would encourage you to visit any of them, with Kelilth's help. Just tell her where you want to go and she will control how you get there. Just make sure your helmet is properly sealed before you go flying."

'Kelilth, I do not want you to be seen with Monique locally. It might put her in danger to do so.'

'Yes, Weyrleader.'

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, June 2, 2031, 2300...
The dragons landed at the out-of-the-way field where they had originally landed, so they could say their final good-byes to their new friend.

"But how am I to return these fine clothes?" asked Monique.

"You aren't," replied Harry. They are already paid for, my wives have their own, and I don't think I would look very good in them, even if they fit! I think you will just be forced to keep them. If we ever meet up again, perhaps there will be another time we can wear them. Until then, wear them as you please. They are yours as a gift from your grateful tour members."

Monique grabbed Harry's head and pulled him down to her level so she could plant a kiss on each of his cheeks. While he was still flustered at what she had done, she rushed over and repeated her actions with Hermione and May.

"Thank you, so much! You have been most wonderful and I will never forget all you have done for me!" enthused Monique. "If you are ever in Paris again, I would be honored to do whatever I can to make your stay more enjoyable."

"You might also consider visiting us," said May. "You showed off your wonderful city, let us show off where we live. If you ever wish to visit us, just let Kelilth know and she will know where to take you."

'Kelilth, as much as we trust her, she will still need to go through the normal process at Dragon Isle before she comes to visit us. It is mostly for her own safety.'

'As you say, Weyrleader.'

With that, The trio of Dragonriders said their final good-bye and lifted off to return to Joensuu Weyr.

Joensuu Weyr, Slightly after 2300...
'Why don't you go for a soak in the hot springs at Disko Island, Cheki?' asked Harry, as their dragons gently dropped down to a gentle landing. 'You must be feeling cramped and kinked from being curled up so tight on top of that Limo almost all day yesterday.'

'We might do that later, Harry, but if your consorts are feeling the same as mine, you aren't going to get much sleep, at least not right away. We are off for a shagging flight, enjoy yourselves!'

As they walked into the Suite, May rushed over to him, plastered her body up against his as tightly as she could, and gave him one of her sexiest kisses. 'I think I will, mate, I think I will. You guys go enjoy yourselves as well.'

Harry turned returned all his attention to his aggressively amorous wife.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, June 12, 2031...
Harry still looked relaxed after his extended holiday/ birthday present for May. After Paris, they had spent an entire day at Joensuu simply relaxing and enjoying swimming and sunning themselves on the beach. From there they had taken guided day tours of Italy and New Zealand.

After New Zealand, they had planned on going to Australia, but a panicked call from Premier Stanislavovich of Russia had them going there to personally arrange for additional Dragon Power Plants in exchange for exclusive rights to Russian Oil. After their mutually beneficial agreement was officially signed, the Premier had insisted he act as their tour guide for a quick overview of the beauties of Russia. It didn't hurt that he really wanted to get to ride on a dragon either.

On the last day of their vacation, they had spent back at Joensuu Weyr again, just relaxing with each other and recovering from their whirlwind mini-world tour.

"Do you have time for an unscheduled visitor, Weyrleader?" asked Jeofrey through the new, magic-shielded intercom that Daniel had installed while he was gone.

It took Harry a little while to remember what he was supposed to do, but, finally, he pressed the right button and replied, "Who is it?"

"It's Master Trader Bermorg, Sir."

"Send him on in," responded Harry. He hadn't seen the old Trader in a while and was curious about how his plans were progressing. He rose from his desk as Bermorg walked through the door and shook hands with him.

"I won't take up much of your valuable time, Weyrleader, but I just had to come in and thank you for all your help in getting started. Your idea of giving shares to everyone working on the harvest really paid big dividends. Everyone there wanted to work and everyone got more than they would have as a paid laborer.

"We had 500 people who harvested, processed, and shipped over 30 tons of numbweed. At 5 Galleons a pound for processed numbweed, the average earning was 600 Galleons a person! Even after paying all the overhead required to keep the operation going, the average income was 550 Galleons a person. And now we have more than enough operating reserves for next year.

"I already have more than enough people signed up for next year's harvest, while this year's participants are getting ready to spend their hard-earned bounty. My family and I have decided to live permanently at the Minor Hold on the Numbweed Plains. There are enough other traders who want to get an early start on next year's harvest that we will have plenty of company.

"I don't know how to thank you enough. We went from being Master Traders to being humbled by your huge advantages. Now, I can rightly say that my wife and I are Master Traders of Pern. With our share of the harvest and our percentage for acting as Trade Liaison, we could retire and live in luxury for the rest of our lives. Instead, I think we will continue to work to help bring the rest of Pern up to a suitable economic level. We will also continue training the rest of our family to take over when we must retire."

"I'm glad everything has worked out so well, Bermorg," said Harry. "You have helped solve a problem I have worried about since we realized we were not alone on the planet. If there is anything you can think of that I can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Weyrleader, but I think we are now well on our way to financial equality," said Bermorg as he prepared to leave. "I've already heard all sorts of fantastic schemes about how people are going to take advantage of their newfound wealth.

"Good-bye, Weyrleader, and thank you again."

Harry watched Bermorg leave with a feeling of satisfaction. It hadn't cost him much to help the old Trader, but it had made a world of difference, not only to him and his family, but to the rest of Pern as well. He was more than satisfied with the way things had turned out.

Spath's Weyr, Children's Day, Mar 10, 2032...
Harry was sure that Tegan was doing her best to organize all the children into a "Turn Harry's hair grey" union. It was her tenth birthday and already she had caused more trouble than he had ever remembered any other children causing when he was younger.

One of the newest activities offered during Children's Day perfectly exemplified that fact and it was all Harry's fault as Hermione succinctly pointed out. He was the one, after all, who allowed Tegan to order all those old Western Videos from Earth to store on the Weyr Server.

Their latest craze was rodeos.

It would be bad enough if only the human, elf, and goblin children had been interested, but, for some inexplicable reason, the young centaurs seemed to be fascinated by the images of cowboys riding wild broncos. Harry had been called to the school when a young goblin had been injured when he and a centaur friend had decided to try to start an impromptu rodeo. When he arrived, Tegan was in the line to try to ride a centaur. He had promptly banned any such activity until he had a chance to talk to Bane about it.

Bane, after watching a few of the videos, didn't understand why any child thought they would be able to stay on the back of a centaur determined to buck them off. Initially, he was against it but finally agreed to allow some of his colts to try if he and Harry could agree on a few ground rules and safety options.

They started by fencing off an appropriately sized area between the central gardens and Spoke Tunnel 6, which led to the Hatching Grounds. Then they carefully warded it with special cushioning charms which would only take effect very close to the ground for someone falling. They intentionally made the charms slow to take effect in the hope that if the 'cowboys' got hurt enough, they would lose interest. Hurt was ok, killed or even severely injured was not.

Then Bane added a special boot the centaurs were required to wear that would push biological matter, like a rider, off to the side rather than strike it. All centaurs entering the arena were required to wear the boots. He also insisted that any centaur participating must wear some type of harness that the rider could hold on to. Saddles were optional but a harness for the rider to hold on to was not. If they were going to play this game, then they needed to submit to the indignity of wearing the proper gear. Both Harry and Bane were pleased when all the older centaurs immediately lost interest.

After watching several 'practice' sessions, Bane determined the amount of time a rider had to remain on the centaur's back to be considered a winner. Bane declared 10 seconds to be a reasonable time, given that the rider could hold on with only one hand. If the rider and the Centaur lose contact, the Centaur wins, if the rider is still holding on and more or less on the centaur's back at the 10-second mark, the rider wins.

They rounded out their requirements by firmly stating that matches would not be allowed to take place unless a fully qualified Doctor and Weyrhealer were both present and rematches between the same centaur and rider were not allowed on the same day.

Harry, Hermione, May, and Mary all looked on with growing nervousness as Tegan clambered up the side of the gate and settled on Eymoth's back. They watched as Bane carefully checked over both centaur and rider before giving the OK for the ride to start.

A loud whistle sounded and Eymoth immediately started bucking and twirling, jumping and bucking, anything he could think of to remove the rider from his back. Tegan, for her part, hung on with grim determination. She hardly moved from her place, which immediately made Harry suspicious. He let his magical senses ease out towards Tegan but stopped when he saw Bane shake his head at him.

"Harry, you are going to be in so much trouble if she gets hurt!" exclaimed Hermione, as she watched the contest between a tiny little ten-year-old girl and a huge brute of a centaur.

"He's going to be in even more trouble if she doesn't get hurt and decides she thinks it's exciting," said Mary, Tegan's grandmother. "She will want to ride every chance she gets!"

Harry continued to watch suspiciously until the ending whistle sounded. As soon as the whistle was heard, Eymoth stopped trying to rid himself of his rider and calmly walked over to where Tegan's parents were sitting. As he stood next to the fence, Harry reached over towards Tegan. As he reached her, he saw Bane wave his hand and Harry felt the sticking charm release just as he gently lifted Tegan from Eymoth's back. Bane winked at Harry and Harry grinned back as he lifted the small, very dizzy, and slightly disoriented girl over the fence.

"That wasn't near as much fun as it looked in the movies!" exclaimed Tegan, once she regained her composure. "It was over too fast and I could hardly tell what was going on the entire time. I don't think it was as enjoyable as I'd hoped.

"Thank you for the ride, Eymoth, but I don't think I want to go through all that again!"

"I quite understand, said the young centaur. I didn't really like the feel of something on my back that I didn't want there and couldn't get rid of."

"Does that mean you don't want to go running anymore?" asked Tegan, with a look of apprehension on her face.

"No, I don't mind running with you on my back. We both enjoy that. It's being in a situation where I'm supposed to get you off and can't that bothers me. Hope I didn't hurt you."

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. Thanks again, Eymoth."

"My pleasure," replied Eymoth. They watched as he trotted over to the gate that allowed him to leave the arena.

"Looks like Harry managed to get out of trouble that time," said May, with a chuckle. "I guess kids, human and centaur, have more sense than we give them credit for."

"Excuse me for a moment," said Harry. "I want to go talk to Bane about something." Harry hugged Tegan and handed her off to May before turning to walk around to the other side of the arena.

As he walked up to Bane, standing alone behind the temporary bleachers, Harry said quietly, almost laughing, "A sticking charm? Where was that in the rules!?"

"It wasn't, but I wanted Eymoth to experience something he had little control over and I couldn't possibly allow The Weyrleader's daughter to get thrown off, now could I?"

"I'm not sure about the whole 'thrown off' part, but I could tell neither of them enjoyed the experience near as much as they'd hoped for. I have a feeling that this rodeo craze will last about as long as the 'Cowboys and Indians' phase did. I'm seriously thinking of hiding all those old videos. They've caused all sorts of trouble."

"Oh, I don't know," said Bane, thoughtfully. "They have given your children and our colts something common to bond over. While this generation may outgrow the videos, they will still be fast friends. We may need to dust off the rodeo trappings for the next generation as well, but I'm sure it will actually do more good than harm."

"In the meantime, I think we need to impose an age limit or a height limit from now on," said Harry. "Look at that tiny house-elf getting thrown around out there!"

The ending whistle sounded but the centaur continued with his frenzied gyrations, trying to dislodge his small passenger, with no effect.

"You didn't put a sticking charm on that one too, did you?"

"No, but it should have stopped by now, something is wrong. I think we will need to intervene."

Harry and Bane rushed over to the fence and both cast calming spells and Harry cast a spell which slowly caused the centaur to come to a panting halt. Harry and Bane rushed out into the arena to find out what had gone wrong.

Harry gently took the small, female house-elf in his arms as she was clearly too dizzy and disoriented to be able to walk. He carried her over to the gate out of the arena as he talked to her.

"Hello, I am Harry. What is your name?"

"I is Kaldy, Harry Potter, sir. Please, sir, yous shouldn't be carryings mes," said the embarrassed, but still slightly sick elf.

"That's alright, Kaldy. You aren't feeling well and I like to take care of all my friends. I will hold you until you are feeling better, just relax and calm down. You will feel much better soon enough."

The small elf slowly relaxed in Harry's arms as he approached where Tegan was being held in May's arms.

"What happened?" asked Harry.

"My friends said the ride would be fun. They didn't say it would be so scary! When the centaur started jumping around, I got scared and held on for all I was worth," said Kaldy, with a hiccup.

"Hermione, would you take Kaldy here so I can go find out what happened with the centaur? Kaldy, Hermione is very nice and will comfort you even better than I could, You could even talk to my daughter, Tegan. She just got through a ride of her own, so she might understand a little of what you just went through."

After getting Kaldy settled in Hermione's arms, Harry hurried over to talk with Bane.

"Hi, Bane, what happened?"

"She was in the middle of the line, waiting for her turn, when suddenly, without any warning this small weight landed on her back and she panicked. She thought it was a spider and nothing was going to stop her from getting it off her back and on the ground so she could trample it.

"She has calmed down considerably and is sorry she panicked, but I think I would have done the same. There are many fearsome creatures on this planet. Someone pulled a nasty trick on that poor house-elf and my filly. I would very much like to talk to them if they can be found."

"So would I," replied Harry grimly. "I'm just glad we had all those safety features active. That poor elf could have been killed and your colt would have been traumatized even more. I will do what I can to find out who they were."

Spath's Weyr, Dragon's Mast, Mar 12, 2032...
Harry had swiftly dealt with all the major Weyr problems presented today, now it was time to attempt to resolve a rather delicate matter: the pranking of Kaldy, the house-elf, and Sykos, the centaur. Bane, Ragnok, and Dobby were present next to him, representing the Centaurs, Goblins, and house-elves respectively. He could have represented the humans but had asked the human boy's parents and the goblin boy's parents to sit with their children. Jeofrey, Harry's Admin Assistant, was brought in, so he wouldn't freak out when the 'trial' started. Margret Sheppard was asked to act as Prosecutor so that Harry would be able to remain 'above it all' and step in if something went wrong.

Hermione had been pressed into service as 'Counsel for the Defendants', Harry would act as de facto Prosecutor, and Ragnok, with his Ax of Office, was to act the part of the Judge. They had all met a little over two hours ago to discuss how they would attempt to handle the situation. While everyone agreed that what happened was basically a prank gone wrong, Harry felt he needed to set a precedence to ensure something similar didn't happen in the future. They had gotten away without any deaths or even severe injuries, but they might not be so lucky in the future.

The eleven adults involved were all aware of exactly what had happened and had all agreed to a rough outline of events to be followed at today's 'trial'. Now it was time to get started and hope that it ended well. As normal, everything was being recorded and televised, which is why they had met earlier, to get their individual parts right for future generations to watch.

"Weyrleader, I bring in front of you for judgment, our last case of the day; the Attempted Murder trial of one Ewan Bates, a human child, and one Lurkar, a goblin child," said Jeofrey, formally.

Harry looked over at the two boys and saw the looks of shock on their pale faces. Ewan was almost crying, while Lurkar, though more stoic as befitted a goblin, was also noticeably nervous. Their parents, sitting behind them looked suitably concerned.

"As is my right, as Weyrleader, to conduct internal legal proceedings, I will allow this case to be tried here today, rather than referring it to the Planetary Judiciary at Red Butte. Since the defendants are both young children and of mixed species, however, I have decided to ask Mrs. Margret Sheppard to act as prosecutor for the case and have asked Chief Ragnok to sit in and act as our Judge. Hermione Potter has agreed to act for the Defense. Lord Ragnok, would you please take over the proceedings?" asked Harry.

Lord Ragnok took Harry's place at the podium and a high throne appeared for him to sit in so he could glare down at the two now terrified young boys over the podium in front of him. Even Kaldy and Sykos, who did not know what was planned, looked concerned. Lord Ragnok had no real exposure to human legal proceedings, but he had agreed to be prompted mentally by Polenth, who would be acting as a mental prompter. Hermione would be the main one feeding information to Lord Ragnok, but Harry would probably chip in a few times himself. Any time Lord Ragnok was receiving mental prompting, he just had to look like he was trying to come to some decision.

"Proceed, Madam Prosecutor," said Lord Ragnok, gruffly.

"My Lord, it is my intention to prove that the two defendants did, knowingly, enact a plan that would lead to the death of Kaldy, a young house-elf. I plan to ask for the death penalty."

"Hmm, death is good," said Lord Ragnok, nonchalantly.

The two boys were now beyond terrified. If they had been older, there might have been some concern they might expire from heart failure. The human parents also looked extremely worried, while the goblin parents simply looked ashamed that a child of theirs could bring such disgrace on their clan.

"I object!" yelled Hermione. "The Equality Oath that everyone takes will not allow anyone to 'knowingly, enact a plan that would lead to the death' of anyone."

"Sustained," said Ragnok, looking suitably disappointed. "Do you wish to rephrase your opening remarks Madam Prosecutor?"

Margret looked at Hermione annoyedly, and tried again, "My Lord, I wish to amend my opening statement to 'enact a plan that would unknowingly lead to the death of Kaldy, a young house-elf.' I still plan to ask for the death penalty."

Harry looked at Margret and thought to himself, 'I don't think I ever want to play poker with her!'

"Defense Counsel?" asked Ragnok.

"My Lord, I plan to prove that the actions of the two young defendants were never intended to cause any physical harm. They were intended to scare Kaldy, but not to harm her in any way."

Margret presented her case and Hermione presented hers. Both used pensieve testimony from all four children and the adults who had intervened in what could have been a fatal occurrence. Margret was successfully able to prove that, had it not been for the magical safety charms enacted, Kaldy would have been killed. She also showed that the boys had a history of working together to prank others, though usually not quite so spectacular. She pointed out that their continued pranks could be considered a form of bullying.

Hermione was able to successfully able to prove that none of the boys' prior pranks had ever ended in any physical injury. She also pointed out that, in the past, when they had realized they had hurt someone's feelings, they had apologized on their own, so they should not be considered bullies.

Finally, after almost two hours of arguing back and forth, Ragnok called a halt to the testimony. He smiled a toothy, intimidating smile down at the two boys, and said, "I have heard sufficient testimony to make up my mind. Do you two have anything to say for yourselves?"

The two boys looked into each other's eyes, seeing their own terror reflected in his friend's eyes. Ewan had no idea how to respond to Lord Ragnok, so pleaded with his friend Lurkar to respond to both their parts.

"My Lord, we have been friends for some time now and are still learning about each other and about the differences in our cultures. It was never our intention to cause any harm. We were as horrified, or more so than everyone else when our joke went wrong. Today we have both learned that there are possible consequences beyond what we may think when we play a joke. For our new knowledge to be profitable to us and to the Weyrs and Holds, it would not help to execute us or there would be no way we could then show our understanding of our new knowledge," said Lurkar, as calmly as his shaking body allowed.

Ragnok switched his glare from Lurkar to Ewan, who squeaked, "What he said!"

Ragnok sat pensively for a few moments and then said, "From your own mouth, you have said you are learning about each other's culture. This is a good thing, but I feel you need to broaden your horizons even further." Ragnok turned to Harry, "Weyrleader, with your vast knowledge, is there any way you can suggest for these two miscreants to truly understand the Centaur and house-elf culture better?"

"My Lord, wizards have a potion called polyjuice which will cause the outer physical form of one person to mimic that of another. It usually only lasts a short time, usually only about an hour. Would something like that be suitable?"

Ragnok sat and pondered for a while and then asked, "Would it be possible to extend this change to a month and make the outer form be generic rather than specific?"

"I think that could probably be accomplished, My Lord. For it to be truly effective, however, Lurkar would have to be hexed so he could not use magic during the time of transformation. Ewan is not magical, so that would not be required of him."

"How long do you think it would take to create such a potion?"

"Probably no longer than a week, given all the required ingredients. We would need two strands of hair from several suitable donors, both centaur and house-elf as well. I think five different male individuals of each species would work."

"Then you shall have them," declared Lord Ragnok. He turned to glare at the two trembling defendants. "You are hereby sentenced to each spend a month as a centaur and then a house-elf. You will begin your sentence here in this room in one week's time. You are released into your parents' custody until that time and must appear at that time or I will seriously consider the Prosecutor's original suggestion. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Sir, Lord Ragnok!" exclaimed both boys, scared out of their wits.

Spath's Weyr, Dragon's Mast, Mar 19, 2032...
What Harry had created was more a magical spell applied to a potion than an actual potion. The polyjuice potion could not really be extended to do what they wanted to do, so Harry created a couple of polyjuice-like potions and used his magic to force them to do what he wanted. He had gotten a couple of hairs from the boys themselves so he could customize the potions. When they transformed, they would maintain their own basic features, so it would be possible to recognize them.

Kinny, the house-elf in charge of the construction crews, and Tinny were here to take charge of the two new 'house-elves'. They were going to have to have the two boys 'ghost' along with them everywhere they went since they wouldn't have access to any magic themselves. They would have the strength and stamina of a house-elf though.

The two boys and their parents came in as all the day's petitioners left, so they were alone, Harry turned to the two boys. "You both know what magically binding oaths are, right?" When he got an affirmative nod from them both, he continued, "When you drink these potions, not only will your bodies change so you will be like the species hosting you, you will also be taking a magically binding oath to act as much your host species as is possible within the limits of no magic. You will be required to live and act like the species you are emulating and learn everything you are able to in the short time available. Your first transformation will be to house-elves. Kinney is the house-elf in charge of all the construction crews and Tinny is one of his assistants.

"You will basically be tied to these two for the entire month you're transformed. They will be your role models and your caretakers. Learn everything you can, because I am going to require a report from each of you about all you've learned at the end of your month. After you have finished your month as house-elves, you will be returned to your own forms and given a week to write your own reports, no collaboration! After that week is up, you will return here, hand in your reports, and start your next transformation as centaurs. Any questions?"

When they indicated there were none, he handed each a potion with 'house-elf' and their name on it. A few minutes after drinking their potions, there were two new house-elves in the room that looked somewhat like the two boys who had just been there. Kinny and Tinny snapped their fingers and all four of them disappeared.

Harry turned to the parents and said, "I just hope this does some good." Almost in unison, four heads nodded in agreement.

Benden Weyr, Apr 11, 2032...
Harry didn't really know her that well, but, since he was instrumental in Juni connecting with another dragon and Zallia was Juni's Headwoman at Benden Weyr, he felt obligated to attend Zallia's funeral. Harry shook his head. She had only been 49 years old! Her daughter, Gayah, was taking over at 29. Hopefully, she would last a lot longer. Juni herself was 41 but looked like she had a long way to go before she left on the next great adventure. He would have to make sure they were going to be alright before he left.

Harry looked at the Spath's Weyr house-elves scurrying around building bleachers for seating and setting up tables for the refreshments afterward. He wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized a couple of the more awkward elves.

Spath's Weyr, Dragon's Mast, Apr 28, 2032...
Harry looked at the two boys with a hint of disapproval in his eyes, "You will have to do a lot better if you want to ensure Lord Ragnok is satisfied." At the mention of his Clan Chief's name, Lurkar stiffened immediately. He knew all too well what an unhappy Clan Chief was capable of and allowed to do.

"I got three pages from Ewan and four from Lurkar. Both had wide margins and extra-large fonts. It doesn't look like you've learned very much at all. My recommendation is that you use half-inch margins, twelve-point fonts, and provide at least 10 pages! What you have written is alright as far as it goes, but we need more. You have basically been living for a month as another species. You need to let us know all about it from your point of view. How do you feel about being so small and helpless? How do you feel being required to respond to anyone's command and like it as well? Don't just give us facts, give us insights, give us your personal feelings. Let us know what it's like.

"I will expect both reports from both of you after your next transformation. I hope they will be to Lord Ragnok's liking. I would hate to see all this effort wasted."

With that bit of 'encouragement', Harry gave them the second potion and watched as they grew to be centaurs with their own, recognizable features. After the transformation, they both froze. At least when they had been transformed to house-elves, they knew how to walk. They'd had the same number of legs and feet. Now they had twice the number of legs and no feet!

Ewan tried to walk by moving his front legs, stopping, and letting his back legs catch up. Lurkar almost fell over when he tried to move both legs on one side at the same time. Cifan and Sazran slowly walked around the two new centaurs so they could see how it was done. Slowly they got the hang of just walking and eventually were able to stagger out after their tutors.

Harry looked at their parents and just rolled his eyes. The parents, now more comfortable with what was happening, just shared a laugh before they all left.

Spath's Weyr, Dragon's Mast, June 4, 2032...
Harry had just finished reading both reports from both boys. Evidently, Lurkar had a significant impact on Ewan concerning a justifiable fear of Lord Ragnok. Both boy's papers had been at least ten pages each and were filled with information, insight, and not a little bit of humor. They were something that Harry would be happy to pass on to Ragnok and he was sure Ragnok would enjoy them as much as he had.

"Well, gentlemen, I think the reports you have finally turned in are suitable to be sent to Lord Ragnok. I can only hope he receives them as well as I have. If you do not hear from him within the next week, you may assume your punishment is over. Please try not to do anything like this again!"

After repeated assurances that they would be upstanding, model citizens, which Harry didn't believe for a minute, they assured him they would think really hard before doing anything that could conceivably hurt someone else, which Harry believed. After shaking hands with their parents, they all turned and left the Conference Room, relieved that their ordeal was finally over.

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