The Lightsaber
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#13: Meetings and Discussions
MagiTech Industries Factory
January 19, 1996
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE TRILLIONS OF PETRODOLLARS OR IF THE STOCK MARKET IS IN SHAMBLES!" That loud shout was clearly heard throughout the entirety of the MagiTech factory, causing nearly all employees (Lycan and not) to stop and glance at the overhead office that their boss used. "I'M JUST TRYING TO RUN A SIMPLE BUSINESS OF MY OWN! NOW GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!"
Two of those who were staring were a young Sorcerer and a House-elf, both of who were panting from behind a special one-way window next to the office. The room they were in was a special creation of magic, using space expansion and one-way sound limiters, hidden behind a false wall with a one-way window that doubled as a mirror. For all the world but a select few, the room didn't exist.
"Well, that's going about as I expected it would," Harry muttered, easily sensing the turbulent and dark emotions from the office.
"What is going on…H-Harry…sir?" Dobby asked, looking very uncomfortable using Harry's name like that. The little elf was covered in a sheen of sweat and his small workout clothes were clinging to his small, slight frame almost like a second skin. Clutched in his hands and holding it only slightly awkwardly because of his inexperience and lack of confidence with the weapon was a stubby a lightsaber. Everything about it was small and somewhat undersized to accommodate the House-elf's small stature, including the green blade that was almost half the length of Harry's blue one.
Smiling encouragingly down at his little protégé, Harry gestured vaguely towards the window. "Ever since we opened MagiTech to the world, the Muggles have been in a state of chaos. Apparently, a lot of bigtime companies and services are in danger of going out of business because of some of the stuff we're selling, like the Rune Spark and Repulsor Drive. Then there's the governments, who seem to want to use MagiTech to develop new and better weapons for them to kill each other with. There are scientists, mechanics, mathematicians, and whatnot who are trying to understand the concepts of how MagiTech is able to work within their scientific laws. And then there are the common people, from all over the world by now, who are placing huge amounts of orders for what we sell. Things have been very…busy for us lately."
"That's putting it lightly, Harry," grumbled Sirius as he entered the gym through a special enchanted door that prevented those unauthorized to pass. The look on his face was that of repressed anger and darkness as his temper still burned hotly below the surface. "I swear, I'm starting to actually understand why my family was always so hung up on hating Muggles! If those leeches in the government or militaries aren't trying to limit our production or force us into a legally-binding contract, then it's the oil companies, the automotive factories, the public services, someone who's trying to buy us out or shut us down! These business owners are even worse than Death Eaters!" A look of revelation and horror quickly spread across Sirius's face. "I never thought I'd say that and actually mean it!"
"Look on the bright side, Sirius," Harry said, smiling halfheartedly. "If you take the military contracts, we'll get a lot more funds for R&D and MagiTech will be allowed to expand into other countries. Plus, as the owner of the fastest-growing multibillion dollar business in the history of industry, you'll never be bored again."
The withering look Sirius shot Harry was far from amused…for about three seconds. "I guess you got a point there, kid. So…what's this?" He gestured towards Harry and Dobby standing in the middle of a sparring ring that Harry had rapidly constructed earlier.
"You won't believe this but House-elves are like partial-Sorcerers themselves," Harry said, smiling down at the bashful House-elf before them.
"What?!" Sirius asked, very surprised.
"I really don't quite understand it either," Harry admitted. "But I can sense the potential for Sorcery in Dobby, and Kreacher for that matter. I'm trying to teach him how to tap into it."
"And the mini-lightsaber?" Sirius asked. "Last I checked, you didn't need to be a Sorcerer to use or make one of those."
"Dobby wants to help Harry Potter sir however way he can!" Dobby declared loudly, gazing up at Sirius with a firm stare. "And Dobby thinks that learning how to fight is the best way possible with the Dark One growing strong again!"
"Can't argue with that," Sirius acknowledged, nodding to the elf in agreement.
"To be honest, Dobby's surprisingly good with tha—" That was when the pain hit. It was so severe that he thought that someone must have sliced into the top of his head. He did not know where he was, whether he was standing or lying down. He did not even know his own name…
Maniacal laughter was ringing in his ears…He was happier than he had been in a very long time…Jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant…A wonderful, wonderful thing had happened…
"Harry? HARRY!"
Someone had hit him around the face. The insane laughter was punctuated with a cry of pain. The happiness was draining out of him, but the laughter continued…
He opened his eyes and as he did so, he became aware that the wild laughter was coming out of his own mouth. The moment he realized this, it died away. Harry lay panting on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, the scar on his forehead throbbing horribly as an alien magical energy burned hotly with negative power. Sirius and Dobby were bending over him, looking equally very worried.
"What happened?" Sirius demanded.
"I…dunno…" Harry gasped out, sitting up again. His hand went up to his forehead, still sensing that maleficent power that was embedded there. But even as he focused upon it, he could feel it rapidly fading away into little more than a faint ripple of disturbance within his own magical energies. What was that?! Shaking his head to try and focus on answering his godfather, he said, "He's…really happy…really happy…"
"You-Know-Who is?"
"Something good's happened," mumbled Harry. "Something he's been hoping for."
"This isn't good," Sirius said quietly, glancing to the side where there was a fireplace that Harry knew was connected to the Floo.
"Go on," Harry beckoned with his free hand. "They need to know and I've got Dobby with me. Everything will be fine."
Sirius didn't put up an argument as he quickly departed. This was something that Harry was very grateful for. He was starting to shake badly as his body reflexively tried to correct itself from the foul taint that had briefly taken over it. Shivers had spread throughout his body, his limbs going slightly numb, and his vision was blurring. He hoped it would pass, and quickly. But the thing that was causing him the most grief was that his magical awareness that Sorcery provided had all but vanished, leaving him feeling blind and deaf to the world around him. It was not a feeling he was accustomed to and he quickly found he didn't like it. It made him feel weak and helpless again.
It wouldn't be until the next day that Harry found out just what had happened to cause Voldemort to be so ecstatically happy. A mass breakout from Azkaban had occurred with over ten high-profile Death Eaters escaping.
MagiTech Industries
January 23, 1996
It was cloudy and cold, so a fairly typical British day. Inside the factory, it was bright and very warm, quite a stark contrast. But the hustle and bustle of the goings-on that took place in the primary portion of the factory was every bit as crowded and hurried as the city streets outside. Even with her and her friend walking along the edge of the wall, there was heavy traffic as numerous employees hurried from here to there.
"Come on, Ashley," her friend Janet said as she stepped through the doorway into the R&D portion of the factory. "I haven't had a chance to show you my lab."
"Oh great!" the golden haired 14-year-old girl chimed in a falsely-excited voice as she entered the doorway and stepped through carelessly. She was rather small, even for her age, but had an athletic build that gave her a trim and streamlined figure. Something that was visible even through the heavy layers of winter clothes she wore. "I finally get to see your nerd lab!"
A loud explosion accented by a shout of "Watch it!" had Ashley immediately recoiling backwards into Janet's side as an armored body was flung through the airspace that she had formerly occupied. Following the body, she watched with wide eyes as it slammed into a brick wall several paces away, landing in a crouch as the wall cracked and crumbled behind it. After only a second to recoil its footing, the armored figure stood back upright and walked forward.
"Sorry about that," a voice called out in a distinctly taunting tone. Turning back to where the figure had come flying from, Ashley saw one of the men in lab coats lowering what looked like some kind of hammer that had a glowing crystal embedded in its center. "Did I hit you too hard? You said that your armor could take it."
"Ha! I didn't feel a thing!" the armored figure shot back arrogantly, banging his fist against a noticeable dent in his chestplate. As the figure was nearing her and Janet, it paused and came to stop in front of them. "Who are you?" It was a muffled boy's voice that asked from under the face mask. Ashley couldn't see his face, but she could definitely tell from his scent that he was a normal human boy. That alone was quite weird considering that MagiTech employed only beings who had magical affinity or powers.
"Evening, Dudley," Janet greeted immediately, smiling down at the slightly shorter boy, compared to her own height. Tall, dark-haired, and slightly overweight, Janet was more of a researcher than a warrior, which is why the 24-year-old had jumped at the chance to get employed at the factory when she was offered the option. Gesturing to her younger companion, she said, "This is Ashely Felix, my roommate back with the Pack. Ashely, this is Dudley Dursley. He's the Cleanser's cousin and one of our best researchers."
Taking reaching up and taking off his helmet, a rather cute blonde boy in his mid-teens brushed some of his hair out of his eyes as he stared at Ashley for a brief moment, studying her. "Welcome to the Nerd Lab," he greeted, clearly having heard her from earlier. Before Ashley could formulate a proper retort, he turned and continued his walk back towards where he'd started. "Howard! It worked like I said it would! You owe me 50 pounds!"
"That remains to be seen, Dursley!" one of the other men dressed in a white lab coat called back. "Another few tests will verify it."
"What was that about?!" Ashley immediately asked as she turned back to Janet, following her as she headed towards a stairwell that led into the basement area. "Why is a Muggle boy working in MagiTech?! I thought only Lycans or Wizards could work here!"
"That may be true," Janet answered, reaching and descending the stairs. "But since we're selling to Muggles, we have to at least a few around to know if our products work with them as they're supposed to."
Reaching the bottom level, Janet grasped ahold of the doorknob as she turned back to her young friend. "Remember what I said about what I was building would completely blow your mind? Well, here it is."
Dramatically opening the door and stepping through, Janet held the door open and watched Ashley closely to savor her reaction. And it was definitely a reaction she'd been hoping for. Ashley's mouth fell open in disbelief as her widening eyes gazed up at the shining piece of machinery in front of her. Even without being a mechanic or in any way a scientist, Ashley could immediately identify what she was seeing. Sure, she may not have known its official name but she knew without a doubt just what it was.
"Its codename is the FRV-100," Janet supplied, smiling in pride as Ashley stepped out of the stairwell to gain a better view of the construction taking place in front of her. "It's the first of our new aerial vehicles that we plan to introduce to the public later this month. It's fully equipped but also designed to be easily modified. So…what do you think?"
"…I want one," Ashley said, not able to tear her eyes from the beautiful creation in front of her. "I want one now!"
Janet just chuckled. "Well, they're not going to be officially on the market until March 15. Although, Mr. Black did promise that he'd personally see to it that each employee would get their own unique one, free of charge, for every hundred we sell."
That was a slight fib on her part. Mr. Black had promised to sell MagiTech products to all Lycans and employees at heavily discounted rates, something that he has since kept to his word about. And considering that the price tag was rumored to likely be somewhere in the hundreds of thousands (simply due to just how unbelievably complex the machines were) that was quite a deal. Janet had little doubt that every employee would be trying to get their own within a month or two since she had little doubt that these things would be every bit as hot in demand as their hoverboards and flying cars were. It was just too bad that most countries of the world had immediately outlawed MagiTech's flying cars, ostensibly for the purpose of drawing up new safety regulations and speed/flying limits within cities and/or the countryside.
Finally tearing her gaze from the vehicle, Ashley turned wide, wet, begging eyes to Janet as she practically cried out, "Where do I sign up?!"
Technically, Janet knew that Ashley didn't have to actually sign up to MagiTech in order to get one of the FRV-100s since they lived together. But the begging question still drew a satisfied smile to her face. She knew that she'd get her into the factory if she could get her interested. Ashley had a deep love and fascination for flying in all its forms, with a natural skill that was truly astounding. And it would seem that MagiTech's unofficial 'spaceship' was just the trick to catch her interest.
Forbidden Forest
January 29, 1996
It was a cold, snowy day this far in the north of Scotland. With snowflakes falling heavily from the skies, relatively strong and bitter winds blowing, and just the overall frozen barrenness of winter, it wasn't a good day to be out and about doing anything unless there was absolutely no other choice. Which is why, of course, today was the day that Harry and the Centaur leaders had decided to finally begin some very important discussions surrounding the Centaurs' troubles and how Harry could potentially help them. Suffice to say, Harry's idea was radical to the extreme and it set the Centaurs slightly off balance as they considered the ramifications of it.
"You are sure this will work as you intend?" Bane asked skeptically.
"I haven't truly tried it yet, no," Harry admitted. "But I am confident I can get it to work once it gets started. I've been studying ways to see if it was possible ever since you suggested that you wanted more 'running space' than just the forest."
Bane nodded slowly as he remembered that particular discussion they'd had more than month ago. "But still, where you are suggesting is it be made is almost right next to the den of those filthy beasts the Ministry employs. My people have suffered enough at the hands of those creatures!"
"What?!" Harry asked, somewhat startled. "They sent those things on your people too?!"
"Not in the manner you think," a beautiful female Centaur spoke up from nearby. As the leading magical of the Centaurs, she had been brought into their discussions of strengthening the ailing herd quite early. Her name was Tanja, a very rare cream-colored lady with a very soft smile when she chose to use it. "They merely came to bother us when they needed feeding during your godfather's escapades a few years ago. Although, they did cause a lot of distress among us whenever they left their posts."
"Which was almost a nightly occurrence," Bane added, quite disgustedly. Turning back to Harry, he said, "Tell me why you feel you should create our new home in a place so close by to the den of those monsters."
Even with his mind reeling at the revelation of the Dementors harassing the innocent Centaur herd, Harry was still able to collect his thoughts and answer the leader as calmly as he could. "Firstly because it's out in the middle of open water, far from any land. So it is not the first place that the Ministry will think to look when they discover that the herd has left the Forbidden Forest. Second, Tanja and her apprentices should be easily able to raise up various spells or wards or whatever to protect your new home from detection. And thirdly, because I know of at least one weapon that can kill Dementors."
"Impossible!" Tanja and Bane both gasped out.
"It is possible," Harry said, smiling proudly. "But the weapon can only be built using a combination of magical spells, potions, and Muggle technology. It's very complex, but also very powerful in its own right. And I'd be very happy to share this weapon with your people if it means you'll be able to better protect yourselves."
"And what weapon could possibly kill those monsters?" Bane asked, very interested but also quite cautious. "Dementors are shades of the dark side of magic. Representations and manifestations of everything foul and wrong with it. How could anything possibly be able to destroy that which all other types of magic have failed to do so?"
"Because all previous attempts has never tried to combine magic with and into something else," Harry said, drawing his lightsaber and holding it out for Bane to take and examine. "This weapon, I call it a lightsaber, has many different uses, powers, and abilities. But the three you will most likely wish to know about are it can kill Dementors, can deflect certain types of magic spells, even the Killing Curse, and can cut through just about anything."
"Very powerful, indeed," Bane commented, gently rolling the hilt around in his large hand. Though the hilt was large enough for Harry to easily wield with both hands, it was little more than a toy for children in Bane's enormous grasp. Seeing a distinct button on one end, he pressed it and stared at the blue blade that sprang to life. Waving it around experimentally, he frowned as he quickly came across something, a very unhappy revelation.
"This weapon would not be suitable for Centaurs. It is too short and wouldn't help us cover our flanks very well." He demonstrated this by trying to swing the blade backwards to block an imaginary strike against his rump. While he was able to partially reach it, Harry could see his point quite clearly. "This is why we Centaurs prefer to use spears and lances in close-quarters combat."
"Is that your only complaint about it?" Harry asked with a relieved grin. Bane nodded glancing at Harry. "That's easily fixed. We can just add a staff extension to it if you want, make it into a light…pike. Would that help?"
Looking down into the teenaged Sorcerer's earnest expression, a wane grin pulled at Bane's face as he switched off the lightsaber and handed it back to him. "A…lightpike would do nicely, yes…And you're sure these weapons can kill Dementors?"
"I've already killed four of them with this blade alone," Harry assured the Centaur. "When would you like me teach you how to build one of these?"
"Immediately," Bane said.
"No," Tanja interrupted, drawing the boys' attentions. "First, you should get to work on creating our sanctuary and getting it ready for colonization. Then, you can teach him how to better kill monsters." After a moment of staring, the two males looked at one another. Harry just shrugged as Bane nodded in agreement.
Seeing the pensive look that suddenly crossed Harry's face, Tanja knelt down slightly to look into face on a level closer to his own. Earning a questioning glance from the boy, she said, "There's something else bothering you, isn't there? Something…bad."
A look of surprise flashed across Harry's face before his face dropped and he let out a low sigh. Nodding, he said, "I recently had a…vision of Voldemort. And when I was coming out of it, I sensed something…a piece of him inside me… It was a terrible feeling."
Tanja's eyes widened in surprise, but Bane's narrowed in contemplation. Before Bane could likely question the security of Harry's mind against mental influence from Voldemort, Tanja quickly stood back up to her full height and beckoned Harry over towards the side. "Come. Let me take a look at that. Maybe we can a way to deal with it."
A hopeful look flashed across Harry's face for a moment before he glanced over at Bane, silently asking permission. Bane just hummed loudly as he turned and started walking away. There were still plenty of matters for him to attend to with the herd, so he didn't much care what the boy did on his free time. Harry was quick to jog after Tanja as she headed to a more secluded portion of the Centaur lands for a magical examination.
(Author's Note) Big shout-out to my betas: Aminta defender, Fiori75, and He-Who-Shall-Live. Sorry about the long, long wait. Let's just say that I procrastinated in working on this particular chapter because my creativity vanished due to a poorly thought out idea that had been plaguing my head since MagiTech's Grand Opening in the last chapter. That being said, I'd say that there's a strong chance this story isn't going to run for much longer, maybe another two or three chapters if that.
However, that isn't to say that I'm abandoning this story. Far from it. I've actually been speaking with a few people about creating a type of Expanded Universe for this story, side stories that occur parallel to this story that tell of what happens in other portions of this story that I've neglected to update. The reason for this is to more fully explore this new world I've created, but the sheer enormity of everything that can and will take place is simply too large for me to handle on my own.
Thus, keep an eye on Aminta defender and He-Who-Shall-Live. For they are working on a pair of such side stories: Mayhem at Hogwarts and Madness of Minister Fudge, respectively.
Again, sorry about the wait and I hope to get the next chapters out much more quickly. Until next time!