Joe's Note: I would ask who saw that coming, but I gave that away something like a dozen chapters ago so… yeah. Well, Harry's certainly going to be shocked by meeting Ismene. That counts for something, right? Also, this is going to be my first test of convincingly escalating the forces arrayed against them so that the group actually faces the same degree of challenge that level 1 Shepards did on Eden Prime… without going too far in the opposite direction and forcing me to overpower Harry, Ismene, or both to justify how they survive the encounter unscathed. Hopefully it goes well for me; reviews are even more appreciated than usual because I am tackling something that's a bit outside my norm.
Dedications & Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, David, Alonsis2, MJ, Christopher, Daniel, Fablesrogue, Morgan, Janne, DireSquirrel, Joseph, Jason, mpop, Riley, bloodylord, Luke, Crusifikz70, Zachary, Marc, Ziryo, Elliot, Timothy, Leigh, Chris, George, Koby, Dimitria, William, Stephane, Ken, Warren, Paul, Pat, Joel, Warren, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing. Additional thanks go to the incomparable LogicalPremise for his amazing set of references covering many untouched facets of the Mass Effect universe, as well as listening to me ramble about ideas for the future of this story.

"My great-grandmother was Eirene Greengrass, daughter of Daphne Greengrass… and Harry Potter."

Even after his encounter with the shade of Nihlus Kryik via the Resurrection Stone and the turian's rather troubling revelation that he'd been murdered in cold blood by a fellow Spectre, Ismene's words were the ones that continued to echo through Harry's head as they rode the cargo train connecting the two platforms of the spaceport together. Daphne had been pregnant when he left the past with Luna to travel through the Veil. Luna. He eyed the rather cheerful-looking blonde to his left suspiciously. Had she known that- "Of course I didn't know, Harry." Peering up at him, Luna's eyes twinkled with amusement as she glanced from him to where Ismene was standing a few yards ahead of them with her muggle companions and back. "Your barriers are fine. You're just that predictable."

"Not everyone can be as spontaneous as you, Luna." Harry chuckled softly as he wrapped an arm around his wife's armored waist, his eyes constantly flitting back and forth over the landscape as they rode along. It was actually rather beautiful, he decided, at least now that they were away from the parts that the geth had rampaged through. Hopefully Ismene's presence was a sign that there was some sort of magical community present on Eden Prime; he definitely wouldn't mind spending a bit of time there after the current situation was resolved. "You make it sound like the answer should be obvious."

Luna scoffed before raising her hands and pantomiming the curves of Ismene's body, a physique that the witch had most definitely inherited from her great-great-grandmother. "You're honorable to a fault, Harry; you would have tried to find a way to balance your feelings for me with your commitment to Daphne and Eirene. And so we both know that if I'd been aware of your daughter's existence, I would have told you immediately to take advantage of said honorable nature to try and maneuver you into a permanent ménage à trois with Daphne." Harry opened his mouth to rebut that, only to think better of it because… yes, that was exactly what Luna would have done and they both knew it. "Although I'm a bit curious on the timing. Either you cheated on me, or she was born literally days after we left."

Frowning, Harry cocked his head to the side as he ran the mental math. He quickly realized that Luna was right; either Ismene was lying about her ancestry for some unknown reason or he could actually pinpoint the moment of Eirene's conception. "Considering that I've never cheated on anyone that I've been with, it's obviously the latter. The day before our first real date, Daphne visited in person to make sure that her house elf hadn't left any of her belongings behind. We may or may not have gotten into a heated argument that turned into one last romp and me… leaving something behind."

"If you'd left it in her behind, Harry, she wouldn't have gotten preggers."

"If you two could stop talking about shagging my great-great-grandmother, I would really appreciate it." Ismene glanced back at them with an irritated expression on her face before gesturing to the white and pink armored woman beside her. "Also, are you two going to quit using magic anytime soon? With how much I'm going to have to obliviate, I have no idea how her and Alenko are going to manage their after action reports."

While the indirect confirmation of the Statute of Secrecy's continued existence was valuable to Harry - enforced statutes meant governments which in turn meant a decent extant population of witches and wizards - it did nothing to change how irrelevant it was. "The vanguard of the Reapers just attacked one of your colonies, the geth have emerged from beyond the Veil for the first time in history, an elite agent of the Council is in league with the Reapers and the geth, the Spectre sent to evaluate you for candidacy is dead, you're working with a group of unknown asari toting energy weapons… and me using magic around muggles is your biggest concern at the moment? Really, Shepard?"

Ismene pondered that one for a moment before offering a half-hearted shrug. "There's also the fact that your captain intends to abscond with the beacon I was sent here to secure, acting on information that I have no way of verifying. My chances of becoming a Spectre are fairly non-existent at this point, and I'll be lucky not to be discharged over this whole debacle. But at the end of the day, I'll still be a witch and subject to our laws. So… yes?"

"…fair enough."

"Keep your guard up, Harry." Luna tilted her head to the side as she stared at Ismene, the corner of her mouth slowly curling upward as she held the soldier's stare. "She's planning to side-along apparate her questionably-colored companion to the spaceport as soon as she has a sight line, and then turn the beacon itself into a portkey so she can hide it from us until her ship can come pick it up. Her only hesitation is that she can't decide whether or not to risk the damage that her magic might cause to the beacon. And yes, Shepard, you're quite skilled with occlumency… but operational security is only as strong as the weakest link. The only reason it took me more than a split second to pick things out of Chief Williams's mind is that I had to wade through the fantasies she's having about your strapping young biotic companion."

Even as Ismene sputtered in outrage and Williams's face rapidly cycled between pale and red in a way that Harry found distinctly reminiscent of his uncle when faced with magic, Epipsychidion made a show of channeling her biotics through her Disciple shotgun as she stepped up beside Luna. "This one would remind you that you are drastically outnumbered, witch, and we are all quite familiar with your tricks. Given the depth and breadth of Luna's knowledge, this one might even know a few tricks that you've yet to learn."

Ismene's wand finally made an appearance at the thinly-veiled threat, emerging from a slit in the top of her right gauntlet. Fancy. Practical, too. Harry made a mental note to have Adikia modify his armor similarly; as it stood, he had to either hand his wand off or set it down when he needed both hands while wearing his hardsuit. Before he could intervene, Thalestris flash-stepped diagonally to interpose herself between Epipsychidion and Ismene. "I learned how to block magic using biotics from a creature older than the protheans. Try something against my sister bondmate, and I will smear you against the nearest hillside."

"When you get overconfident, that's when something snaps up and bites you." Luna's words drew the attention of both asari as well as their human opponent to her, and she offered a faint shrug. "We've been out of the magical community for a long time, Epee. You don't know what tricks she might know by now. Same goes for you, Hale; just because you can block anything that Harry and I throw at you doesn't mean you can block everything. At the same time… Daphne would be rolling over in her grave if she could see this display, Shepard. Didn't a single ounce of Slytherin breed true in you? You should be denying everything while coming up with a contingency plan to get away with the beacon, not threatening us. Was your mother a Gryffindor or something?"

"My great-great-grandmother is still alive."

"Semantics."

Harry let his attention drift past the posturing women, the fact that his ex-wife was somehow still alive just barely starting to sink in… only to get pushed to the back of his mind as he caught sight of what was waiting for them at their destination. Evidently the geth hadn't just left the humans of Eden Prime some housewarming gifts, they were throwing a fucking housewarming party and had invited a lot of friends. The geth were present in what had to be at least company strength, supplemented by a handful of what the muggles had evidently dubbed 'husks'… and one geth platform that looked large enough to serve as a shuttle or pinnace when it wasn't walking around on four legs. "Why don't we save the threats, intimidation, and backstabbing for after we deal with the geth and the bombs? Because while we may have differing opinions on what should be done with the beacon, I think we can all agree that none of us want to see nukes go off on Eden Prime."

After shooting Thalestris and Epipsychidion one last distrustful look, Ismene followed his gaze and let out a low whistle. "…sweet Merlin. Where's a Mako when you need one?" She raised her wand and sent a barely visible spell zipping off toward the giant geth; possibly some sort of military-created reconnaissance spell based on the way she followed up by tilting her head and nodding thoughtfully. It made sense that magic had continued to evolve as humanity left its homeworld and expanded out into the stars, especially with witches and wizards integrating - even if not openly - into the muggle military along the way. It also meant that Luna was right: Ismene could prove to be a far more dangerous adversary than either of them had initially suspected. They'd become rather arrogant, he'd realized; what if magical combat had evolved as radically as weapons had in the intervening years? "Alenko and Williams are obviously new to magic; they're going to be a liability if I actually cut loose with something other than my firearms. But if I can trust you with my subordinates, you could form two groups and tackle the bombs twice as fast… and I can take care of that colossus."

Searching her face, Harry saw no trace of bravado or bluster. Whatever that spell of hers had told her about her adversary, it was clear that she honestly thought herself capable of attacking that monstrosity and coming out on top. Her potential threat level inched a bit higher in his mind; while he was equally confident that he could take the oversized geth platform if push came to shove, it definitely wouldn't be fun or easy for him. "Right then. Neira, Hale, Nisa, you're with me. We'll take the muggles. Epee, you and Luna take the rest of the Sylléktries. Your group will tackle the nearest bomb and then kanquess across to the bomb closest to the beacon; I'll apparate my team up and past to defuse the two bombs deeper in the complex and then join you. Shepard… do whatever it is that you plan to do."

"Normally I'd balk at the idea of trying to execute a civilian's plan in a combat zone… but more than one person has warned me not to antagonize you. 'Frighteningly powerful', one of your own friends called you. So instead, let's just go with… sounds good." Reaching behind her back, Ismene drew and expanded a sturdy-looking shotgun emblazoned with the same N7 logo as her armor, flipping it around so she could offer it to Williams stock first. "You any good with one of these? It's got a much nastier punch than what they supply garrison troops with."

Williams turned the shotgun over in her hands a few times before whistling softly. "A Crusader? You're not kidding about the stopping power this thing has; it makes the Storms that we're trained on in Basic look like slingshots. Shotguns aren't my preferred weapon, sir, but the Crusader's solid slug should make it close enough to my Avenger for the proficiency to transfer. Are you sure you don't need it, though?"

Shaking her wand, Ismene brandished her wand before grinning widely at the younger woman. "I've got all the weapon I need right here. And don't call me 'sir', Williams; I've got far too much weight on my chest for that." As Williams sputtered in embarrassment, Ismene offered Harry a salute with her wand before apparating away. In the distance, all of the geth abruptly turned to face something in their midst, just in time to be greeted by pillar of fire roaring upward from beneath their largest brethren. While it didn't destroy or even visibly damage the colossus beyond scorching its armor, it did stagger it… and distract all of its companions.

That distraction was something Harry intended to capitalize on. "Brace yourselves, this is gonna be weird." A pair of weak, silent Summoning Charms dragged the still dumbstruck Alenko and Williams into grabbing range even as his companions pressed their hands to his back with ease born of practice. After the way they'd deployed to Eden Prime, a coordinate-centric side-along apparition was practically child's play and a few seconds later they were standing over one of the geth-made bombs. "Get the swearing and puking out of your system quick so we can get to work on this bomb."

"What the fuck just-" The rest of Williams's question was lost as she turned and vomited onto the spaceport platform. Harry casually flicked his wand to vanish the vomit, only to roll his eyes as she continued to empty her stomach. Given that Shepard had been plotting to side-along the woman to the beacon before portkeying her away, Harry had assumed that she was either a squib or a muggle with some experience with magic. Evidently he'd assumed wrong.

On the other hand, Alenko seemed to have handled his first exposure to apparition significantly better; apart from a bit of wobble and a faintly nauseous expression, he seemed largely unfazed by the casual violation of physics that he'd just experienced. Apparating him had felt a bit like when Harry apparated one of the Sylléktries around… perhaps the man was a biotic? Familiarity with the kanquess would make it less disconcerting to have his body abruptly relocated. After taking a few more seconds to steady himself, the man dropped to his knees in front of the bomb and got to work. "This should only take a minute or two. I'll need you to cover me."

"I've been around longer than your people have had toilets, Alenko. I think I know how to handle myself on the battlefield." Deianeira shot a disdainful look down at her temporary ward before glancing over at Harry, the corner of her mouth quirking upward at his bemused expression. "I looked it up because I didn't believe Luna about the whole 'Thomas Crapper' thing. Turns out that she was wrong; it was John Harington back in 1596." Shifting to a one-handed grip on her assault rifle, she pantomimed an object flying past. "The more you know."

Another roar of flames followed by an explosion cut off any reply that Harry might have had, and also served to reinforce how precarious their current situation was. He knew that Deianeira had come to prefer a more casual atmosphere on their missions unless the circumstances dictated otherwise, but at the same time? "Save the planet now, jokes and trivia later." Deianeira opened her mouth to respond, only to lean to one side as he whipped his wand and sent a Blasting Hex hurtling past her and into a lone geth that had been unlucky enough to stumble over them while patrolling. "You were going to say?"

Deianeira offered a sheepish grin and then whipped her assault rifle up, sending a flurry of green particle packets whistling past Harry's head. He whirled around just in time to watch a decapitated geth collapse to the deck, discharging its shotgun in a death spasm that send plasma skittering across the decking. "Constant vigilance, Harry."

"…right then. No lecturing you on situational awareness when mine is evidently still pants." Harry eyed the dead geth that had almost snuck up on him from behind for a moment before shaking his head and turning his attention outward in search of more geth. While his kinetic barriers were some of the strongest that the Sylléktries could produce, the idea of being shot in the back with some sort of plasma shotgun still didn't appeal. The next minute or so was spent in tense silence, his eyes raking back and forth for any sign of unwanted company. While he had no doubts that the geth were aware of the group's presence - they were networked according to the files that Adikia had thoughtfully sent to his omni-tool, and therefore instantly aware of when their own were destroyed - they wisely chose to redirect their forces to the other bomb nearby and dig in rather than rush Harry's group. When Alenko finally signaled that he was done disarming the device, Harry let out a sigh of relief and tagged it with a portkey back to the Fedelma before turning his attention to their next objective. "Alenko, Williams, do you want a lift to the next bomb or to make your way there on foot?"

"Foot, sir."

"Hoofing it!"

Given how disconcerting apparition was to the uninitiated? "Fair enough. I'm going to take Hale and jump in to soften them up. Neira, you and Nisa follow us in with a one-two kanquess as soon as they turn their attention inward. And I want everyone's barriers in peak condition; I'm going to execute our anti-mech strategy." Harry waited as the three asari checked their weapons over, Thalestris swapping her twin pistols for her trusty sword and charging it with biotic energy. As soon as Deianeira and Philaenisa signaled their readiness, Harry wrapped his arms around Thalestris and apparated to a spot a few few beyond the other bomb… but easily still in the midst of the assembled geth. He immediately dropped to the deck as Thalestris whirled in place, her sword bisecting six geth in a matter of seconds and instantly making herself the center of the remaining platforms' attention. Raising her arm as she invoked Backlash, Thalestris grit her teeth and weathered the withering hail of gunfire that resulted… just long enough for her companions to come crashing into the formation from behind. Not caring how undignified he looked, Harry tumbled forward across the platform to sprawl at Thalestris's feet before whipping his wand upward. "Dealanaich!"

Within the fairly insular - and far too arrogant - British wizarding community, very few spells survived that were not Latin in origin and even fewer were known to the general public. Thankfully, Harry had been trained by some of the best that the country had to offer both during and after the war, leaving him with a far broader knowledge of the arcane. Scottish in origin, the spell was designed primarily for terrorizing and intimidating the masses back before the muggle and wizarding worlds had separated. Able to create lightning from even a cloudless sky through a process that Harry barely understood - and Sylléktrion scientists assured him was terrible for the environment - the spell had quickly fallen out of favor after the Statute of Secrecy was enacted because it was nigh useless against anyone who could summon even the most basic shield.

Against the geth? It was catastrophic.

The bolt of lightning that stabbed downward into the geth's midst decimated the platform it hit, tendrils licking outward to compromise another half-dozen of its companions even as the first victim collapsed to the platform as a twisted and half-melted pile of debris. Harry shot a grin up and back at the dumbfounded Thalestris; Adikia had theorized that the spell would be incredibly destructive against all forms of synthetics but the real world confirmation was satisfying. "So. That worked better than expected."

Thalestris chuckled as she reached down, pulling Harry to his feet before hefting her gun again. "Not bad… but to be fair, you only took out one more than I did when we landed." Frowning, Harry counted the melted and warped geth platforms in front of him. Sure enough, there were 'only' seven of them compared to her six. Before he could come up with a suitable retort, one of the platforms twitched as its single eye flickered back to life. Thalestris drew her pistol, firing two shots into the mangled body and then a third into the head. "Make that seven to six in my favor."

"This isn't a con-"

A domed shield of dark energy snapped into place in front of Harry just in time to absorb an incoming rocket. Snarling, Thalestris put a flurry of glowing green bolts into the torso of the red geth that had sent it their way before thrusting her hand forward and sending the platform's remains tumbling away. "You're right, it's a battle. Where I've killed eight geth and you've killed six."

By the time that Alenko and Williams caught up with them, Harry had killed a further three geth… to Thalestris's five. Deianeira and Philaenisa had eliminated the rest through precisely coordinated alternating Pulls and Throws that literally tore the geth apart. Not that it was a competition; as long as they all ended up dead, he was perfectly happy. As Alenko got to work on the second of the team's assigned bombs, Harry looked up and noticed something. With Shepard well inside the colossus's effective combat range, the geth had been forced to dedicate a substantial number of their combat platforms to dealing with her.

While they were no match for her magical prowess, the sheer weight of their numbers was keeping Shepard occupied and allowing the colossus to turn its attention elsewhere. Specifically, toward Harry and his group. He fingered his wand nervously as he stared up at the single, slowly brightening eye. Hadn't Adikia's files on pre-Migrant Fleet quarians mentioned them mounting their tanks' primary gun in a similar location? "Deianeira? Just out of curiosity, what would a cannon that big hitting a nuke do to it?"

"Depends. How big are we talking?" Deianeira let out a nervous chuckle as she followed his line of sight to the looming geth. "…oh. That big. Yeah, we're fucked."