Chapter 51: Can't he have one Peaceful Afternoon?
The six teleported to the entrance hall of the Buckingham Palace, Loki taking Draco and Neville while Harry took Hermione and Luna. Though after the landing, Harry swayed a bit.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked concerned.
"Yeah, it's just that teleport with you two was a bit more strenuous than I anticipated," Harry replied while straightening up. "Don't worry, I'm alright."
"Okay," Hermione said, but her concern was still audible.
Luna and Neville looked around curiously, taking in the stylishly antiquarian furnished hall in. To the left and to the right stairs lead up to large double doors, which either lead to corridors or other rooms though they couldn't see because the doors were closed. In front of them, another set of stairs lead to a large staircase. The walls were all white with golden ornaments, while the floor was covered with a royal red carpet. To the side stood dark wooden chairs and benches while in niches stood several different statues. In a large vase, a massive bouquet stood on display to either side. Also, to either side of the stairs to the staircase stood a guard looking straight ahead not even blinking at the fact that suddenly six children had appeared out of nowhere. They either had been forewarned, or they were used to it.
Draco, on the other hand, had his usual aloof pure-blood mask up though Harry could see that he also was intrigued and excited to meet the Queen.
They were beginning to wonder whether they were supposed to wait here or not when an elderly lady with curly white hair came down from the grand staircase followed by an in comparison large middle-aged man. She wore a long crème coloured dress. The friends instantly recognised her despite her not wearing her crown.
Luna, Hermione, Neville, and Draco curtsied to her with an awed "Your Majesty!".
Loki though curtly bowed. "Queen Elisabeth," he greeted her.
However, the most shocking was Harry's greeting, he merely bowed his head towards her.
"Ma'am," he said. "May I introduce you to Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Loki Laufeyson and I am Harry Potter. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I have to thank you for your invitation."
That made especially Hermione and Draco look at him in shock, but the others except Loki weren't fairing any better.
"Are you insane?" Hermione hissed lowly. "Show the proper respect."
Harry blinked at her before he began to laugh.
"Hermione, this has nothing to do with disrespect. You know very well that I don't care about who you are or what social standing you have, I treat them all with the same respect no matter whether it is some random homeless person or the Queen of England. Besides that, I bow to no one."
Hermione looked like she wanted to faint when they heard the Queen chuckling lowly.
"Mr Potter is quite right, Ms Granger," she said in a soft but nonetheless stern no-nonsense tone. "It isn't the way you bow that matters, it is how you mean it that matters. A person can fully bow before me, but when this person doesn't mean it, it is nothing but an insult towards me. In addition to that, I was already well aware that Mr Potter is not like the people I normally convene with when I invited him. It is quite refreshing to see a young man as your friend to stand true to his very noble principle even in the face of possible punishment. There is already too much bias in this world, and if your friend really stays true to his statement, it is something I fully support."
Hermione blushed and looked at the floor at that lecture.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed things," she admitted.
"No harm was done. You're young and bound to make mistakes. Learning from books gives us knowledge but learning from mistakes gives us wisdom. So, learn from your mistakes and try to avoid making them again. Now I suggest we relocate this meeting to the drawing room," the woman suggested.
Harry placed a hand on the small of Hermione's back and smiled encouragingly at her, which made her exhale in relief before they both together with the others followed the Queen and whom they assumed was a bodyguard, a magical one if the wand-holster strapped to his left forearm was anything to go by. They followed her through the left double-door and along a corridor past several old and probably priceless pieces of furniture and decoration until she opened the door to her right.
Behind it was a small drawing room – well, small for a palace – held in beige, deep red and white with golden ornaments. In front of a large marble fireplace stood two two-seater sofas and three armchairs around a coffee table. The couches and chairs were made from dark leather with red velvet cushions. The two girls sat down on the one couch while Neville and Draco shared the other one.
"Before we engage in any talk, we brought a present with us. I guess you want to ensure that it is in no way harmful?" Harry pulled out a small wooden box and held it out towards the man who had taken up a guarding position next to the door with an expectant look.
The man's lips curled into a slight smirk, but he indeed pulled out his wand and began waving it in intricate patterns over the box before nodding towards the queen. Harry smiled at that and placed the box on the table in front of the woman next to her cup of tea a butler had brought in and served in the meantime.
The queen carefully picked up the box and opened it to find a brooch inside, that could also be worn on a chain around the neck. It was about an inch and a half in height and an inch wide, depicting the Windsor coat of arms. It was made out of pure gold with rubies.
"This was created in a joined effort. The runes etched into it provide protection against minor magical attacks," Draco explained.
"Added to that is a protection against most known magical and non-magical poisons," Hermione continued.
"And I finished it with protection against any form of mind control. See it as repayment for having to bear with me," Loki ended with a roguish grin.
Hermione together with Sam had actually studied the runes Loki had added to Draco's medallion which brought them to the idea of the present. Loki then had pointed them towards a few books where they would find more about protective runes. With a few hints here and there they came up with the runic layout. Harry and Draco in the meantime had brewed the necessary potion with Neville supplying them with ingredients. Luna designed the entire thing, and the twins were the ones who in the end put everything together.
"This is truly a unique present and very well thought-out, thank you all," she replied while carefully picking up the brooch. "I have to admit, that when I heard for the first time that Loki was meddling around at Hogwarts, not to mention obviously taking the Golden Boy of the wizarding world as his apprentice, that I was worried. What I feared the most was the resulting chaos but also that it would reveal magic to the world.
"Magic is something wonderful and to be treasured, but too many react violently to it because they don't understand it or cannot control it.
"Then I saw what happened a month ago and I thought my fears would come true. However, it didn't. You let them all believe that it was only a very few individuals that can perform magic and not an entire community. You effectively distracted them while showing that magic indeed is real and it intrigued me, you intrigued me," she told them.
The six friends listened with rapt attention to the Queen talking. They all had a feeling that she usually wasn't that open to strangers.
"My apologies, I hadn't anticipated that my involvement would worry you in such a way. However, I swear to you on my pride as the Trickster God that I would never do anything that would endanger innocents, especially children," Loki suddenly spoke up in a solemn tone.
The others looked at him in surprise because it was very rare that Loki apologised to anyone and really meant it. Typically it was only to placate someone, but this time it was different, it looked like he really respected Queen Elizabeth.
Said Queen chuckled lowly. "That I can believe and I trust you to a certain grade that you don't act in an ill-advised manner. Actually, when I invited you, I expected to be greeted by teenagers who had little regards for rules and could endanger everything I swore to protect. However, seeing now five so lively but nonetheless well-mannered and educated young people, I've never been more relieved to be proven wrong."
"If I may be so bold," Harry spoke up while the Queen pause to take a sip from her tea. "I think I speak for all of us, and please interrupt me if I'm wrong when I say that we would never jeopardise the safety of the people, this country or this planet. What I did a month ago, I did to draw the attention of the media onto me so that the magical community can stay in the background."
"And it worked splendidly, but I hope that you're ready to deal with the fallout because you didn't only gain followers with your actions," the Queen replied.
"I can assure you that I'll deal with any problem that might arise that you inform me of. Nobody shall say that I cowardly hide to leave others to deal with my mess," he reassured her.
Queen Elizabeth looked at him for a long moment to determine his truthfulness, but in the end, she nodded. "That is good to hear. Now that this is sorted out, I hear that you're no longer a Malfoy but a Black now?" she addressed Draco.
"It is true that as of yesterday the marriage of my parents got nullified with the help of Lord Black," Draco answered before he got into a lengthy explanation.
It turned out that the Blacks had a stipulation in their family that the head of the family could insist on the nullification of marriage in the case that the one who married the Black in question wasn't faithful. This was an extremely old stipulation in the statutes of the house that dated back to the time where the parentage of a child couldn't be proven that easy as it is nowadays the case. So the stipulation was inserted to ensure that the heir was truly of their blood and not the result of a dalliance. Sirius had a feeling that this was then forgotten over time but never removed, which now proved to be invaluable. Why also the husbands had been included was also easily explained. From what Sirius found out, the Black family had been a purely matriarchic house at that time, and the head of the house found it wrong that only the wife had to be faithful while the husband could do what he wanted.
Naturally, Lucius had moved heaven and hell in a bid to try and prevent the nullification, but in the end, he had to admit defeat. Though the most significant blow came when his son told him that he didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. At the moment the man was trying to salvage his reputation.
After that, they switched over to several different topics such as how life at Hogwarts was, their favourite classes, what they did in their free time…the longer they talked, the more relaxed and open they became. The entire meeting was far less stiff and formal than they had thought, but that may be because it was a private setting, so none of them had to pretend to be overly formal.
They were enjoying their tea and the pastries that were served when suddenly a knock echoed through the room and a man entered without waiting for a response.
"Your Majesty, my sincerest apology for interrupting you but it seemed that the news got out about who your guests are. Outside quite a mob has formed consisting of both supporters of the old religions as they call themselves and the opposition. In between a man is claiming to be Odin, who demands that Mr Laufeyson faces him," the man explained before giving some orders over an earpiece he was wearing. "I fear that the situation will escalate soon."
Harry sighed while he rubbed with his left hand over his face. "Ma'am, if you excuse me please but it seems that I have to give some idiots the biggest dressing down in the history of dressing downs."
With that he stood up and walked out of the room without waiting for a reply, leaving behind five stunned friends, a shocked to the core security officer, an amused bodyguard, and a surprised queen. Harry realised that everyone followed him but not before he already walked through the front door of Buckingham Palace with determination. He let his gaze wander over the masses that had congregated on the other side of the fence that was surrounding the palace.
Some of the demonstrators even held up signs either proclaiming Loki to be their saviour or the opposite. Some cited the ten commandments, saying that the Catholic religion forbids having other gods.
Harry turned around towards the bodyguard of the Queen and the security officer.
"Could you please only intervene when someone, not myself or Loki, is in danger?" he asked them.
Both looked sceptically at him, but upon a signal of the Queen, they both agreed.
With a smile towards his friends, who looked worriedly at him, he turned around again and walked over to the gates that were opened upon his approach while the people were still kept out. Harry again let his gaze wander when he saw that the visible Catholics were on the verge of attacking those who opposed them.
A sharp, magically amplified whistle had them all fall quiet and their ears ringing. Harry felt a bit guilty for the guards who were only doing their jobs, but there was nothing to be done about it.
"Okay, may someone please be so gracious and explain to me what the hell is going on here?" he demanded to know over the silence.
However, as soon as he spoke the last word, the shouts began anew. Some people were degrading him, calling him names, and demanding of him that he'd stop his pagan propaganda. The other side though proclaimed their love to him, a woman asking to marry him or shouting that they wanted a child from him. Especially the last one made him a bit nauseous, he was thirteen for hell's sake.
When the shouting didn't stop, he let another magically amplified whistle lose, annoyed of their behaviour.
"Seriously, your behaving like a bunch of children in a sandbox, fighting over the toy," he growled.
"Said the child," someone retorted.
"Exactly, I am a child. What is your excuse?" Harry replied with a grin which effectively silenced the man.
"Where is Loki," suddenly another square-shouldered man with white hair and an eyepatch over the right eye, thundered who was only half a head shorter than Hagrid which said a lot.
Harry looked the man up and down. "Did I ask you to annoy me? Now shut up and stay silent!"
Odin spluttered upon that. "Do you have any idea who I am you brat?"
"Some idiot whose intelligence developed inversely proportional to his muscles? Ah yes, kidnapper and torturer of Loki's children, so you currently rank on the second place of my least liked people right behind that feather-brained ass, Zachariah."
"You! I'll show you why it is a bad thing to get on my wrong side," Odin roared again before he pulled back his right arm, the hand clenched in a tight fist and swung it at Harry much to the shock of the onlookers.
However, to Odin's growing frustration, Harry vanished when his fist was mere inches away from him and reappeared behind him as if there was nothing wrong.
"My, you're really slow. Even my uncle was faster when beating me up and you want to be a Norse god? Pathetic," Harry taunted the man.
Suddenly a spear appeared in Odin's right hand, one which Harry was sure had some great fancy name that he couldn't be bothered to remember.
"What? An overgrown shashlik spit? How creative," he mocked him.
Odin though swung around the spear and would have decapacitated Harry, had the boy not disappeared again and this time reappeared in the same spot. He repeated it a few more times with the same result.
"You know trying the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome is plain stupid," Harry said with a sigh.
"I should have known. Someone who follows that bastard Loki cannot fight like a man but hides behind trickery. You're just as much a monster like him, an abomination, a freak of nature just like his children!" Odin spat, completely ignoring the rising tension in the onlookers.
As much as their opinions over paganism differed, on one thing they agreed, attacking a child was nothing they condoned of.
Harry tensed minutely before he glared at Odin, his eyes hard. "What did you just say?" he asked in an ice-cold tone that let everyone bar Odin take a step back away from him.
"What? Did I hit a nerve?" Odin questioned with a smirk, placing the tip of his spear under Harry's chin. "Who's pathetic now?"
Harry however only glared at him until his lips curled into a grin and he vanished, this time together with Odin. Everyone stared shocked at the point they had been only mere minutes ago, wondering what just happened. The people began to talk to each other, questioning where Harry went and what happened to Odin, when said boy reappeared though without Odin.
"With that sorted now to the other problem…" he began but was quickly interrupted.
"What happened to Odin?" a woman asked.
"I dumped him somewhere, where he cannot annoy me anymore," Harry deadpanned. "Now I have a question for you all. What is your problem? For once I am thirteen so as long as you're not a paedophile or into raping underage children…no marriage or children. I mean this is wrong on so many levels…."
Quite a few of those who had proclaimed exactly that blushed and looked anywhere except at Harry.
"Anyway, the second thing…why did I have to come out here, interrupt my lovely meeting with the Queen only to prevent you from going down on each other? Can't you just accept that there are people who have different opinions or beliefs? Not that they are so different, to begin with.
"Don't think that I didn't saw your anger when Odin attacked me. All of you, as it seems, detest violence against children. What about killing people? Rape? How you should treat other people? Instead of pointing out the differences, you should look for the similarities. Only because you believe in different gods you still live in the same countries, follow the same rules and laws. You both love your children, at least I hope so, and buy your food in the same market.
I don't say that you shouldn't argue, but please keep it non-violent because I would hate it if I got a call telling me that some confrontation escalated. Believe me, that would be worse for you than for me! Now if you would excuse me please, I want to get back to my meeting with the Queen you so rudely interrupted."
With that, Harry turned around and walked over to where his friends were waiting together with the queen, guarded by four guards. Hermione instantly was all over him, making sure that he was alright and even the others looked at him worriedly.
However, it was only when they all were back in the drawing room, that the Queen finally spoke up.
"If I may ask, what did you do to Odin?" she asked him.
"Gave him to Alastair as a play toy with the instruction for her to find out where he hid away Loki's sons Sleipnir and Jǫrmungandr. It is a high time those two can return to their father."
After that, they talked for about another half an hour, but when it became apparent that all the teleporting took quite a lot out of Harry, they bid their goodbye and returned to the castle.
While Harry soon after arriving back at Hogwarts fell into a deep sleep, the media leapt at what happened that day.
A/N: 'til next chapter!