Chapter Thirty: Other Dark Down/The Joining
Previously
"Is it over?" he [Harry] asked.
"It is. The Dark Lord has died, Harry. It's over," Alex's second in command said. Agent Wilcox could now breathe easier.
"I'm afraid that it is not," came an old voice from a direction none of the snipers had anticipated. "I am afraid, Harry, that I must take you into custody for the murder of Tom Marvolo Riddle, a British wizard, by the use of non magical weapons."
BANG!
Central Park Carousel
January 6, 2002
6:15 p.m.
BANG!
Heads whipped around and eyes tracked the new arrival. One of the snipers had seen movement and only quick thinking forced him to aim his rifle high. The team had been briefed by Alex that there was a possibility that Albus Dumbledore might show up on the scene: Alex had learned over the years that with Albus, one always had to be prepared.
"Mr. Dumbledore?" Harry's surprise was genuine. 'Would you mind telling me what you are doing here?"
"My boy, my dear, misguided and blind boy," the old man responded. "If you had listened to me and only to me, than this could have occurred under the watchful eye of magical Britain. Instead you listened to those who do not know what is best for you. They do not understand the traditions of your family and your ancestors.
"When one wizard faces off against another, no matter how vile, no matter how good, magical Britain recognizes that one duels mano a mano, wand to wand, magic to magic. We allow the contest to be that of two competing forces of magic together – your magic against that of Tom.
"Yet, instead, you arranged for yourself to face off against Tom with the help of these wizards using non magical weapons."
"I see," Harry said flatly, barely holding back his rage. But he decided to hide his rage for the moment in order to get some answers to his own burning questions. "So, how did Tom know to come here?"
"The prophecy, which you so despised back a few weeks ago, had to be fulfilled. You had to die at his hand. Instead, he died at your hand and that not even at your hand, but at the hands of these wizards with their muggle weapons that shot to kill.
"You still need to die – you have part of Tom within you. All the parts of Tom must die so that he doesn't come back."
There was a tone of victory and anticipation now in Dumbledore as he approached Harry. It was at that point that Agent Wilcox moved to stand between Harry and Dumbledore.
"What do you propose to do, Mr. Dumbledore?" Harry continued.
Trying to get around Wilcox, the old man continued speaking. "I must bring you back with me to magical Britain to face the judgment of your peers. I will argue for leniency – and if and when I am satisfied that indeed Tom is dead behind your scar, then we can begin the process of training you the way you should have been trained as the head of the House of Potter and as my understudy and apprentice.
"I offer you the opportunity of learning at my feet."
"And if I refuse such a generous opportunity?" Harry said, sarcasm dripping from his words.
"Then my arguments for leniency will fall on deaf ears and they will judge you in their own fashion. They may send you to Azkaban as I must tell the truth of what I have seen."
Then Agent Wilcox came to attention even as the other members of the SWAT team closed in around the three men – Special Agent Mackenzie had arrived.
"Johnston, Williams, seize him!" Before he knew it, Albus Dumbledore was in the secure hands of two of the SWAT team members.
"Put those magical suppression manacles on him now!" Mackenzie barked again.
"Mr. Mackenzie, what are you engaged in?" Dumbledore tried to sound offended and mystified by the sudden turn of events.
"Mr. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, of Great Britain, you are charged with the attempted kidnapping of an American citizen, to wit October of 2001; with the use of a restricted magical object and its exposure to non-magicals in a second attempt to kidnap two American citizens in November of 2001; and with aiding and abetting a magical terrorist in a terrorist attack against the United States of America under the Patriot Act of 2001 – all of which, especially the last charge, can result in the death penalty.
"Everything that you say may and can be used against you in a court of law; should you require legal representation, an attorney will be supplied to you. Do you have any questions regarding these charges?"
Dumbledore appeared to be in shock and thus, offered little resistance as the manacles were placed on his hands. Then he was frisked and three wands were confiscated along with his sock puppet portkey.
While he hated to be proven right, Mackenzie was glad he had anticipated this action by the old wizard. From the moment he had been brought into the case, he had been surprised at the obsession the old man had carried towards Harry and he was glad that Dumbledore had finally tripped up and landed on American soil.
Signing to Wilcox, he spoke quietly, but loud enough that both Harry and Dumbledore could overhear. "Contact the British Ministry of Magic and tell them that we have both good news and bad news. Use the direct links."
He then indicated the bodies in the snow. "Who do we have here?"
"Sir, all six terrorist participants are dead and lying in the snow."
"Spencer, I see only five bodies. I thought you said Voldemort was here. All I am seeing here is a dried up bone, some rotten meat and flakes of blood."
"It was a magical construct, Sir, according to Auror Shacklebolt. Once the magical suppression fields kicked in, we suspect that whatever form he had taken went back to its component parts."
"Get a cleanup team here stat and give me some IDs on the other five bodies. As well, get a magical medical team here with the bodies of that woman and who we presume is her daughter."
Mackenzie looked around and saw the damage to the tunnel entrance, then looked around him in the darkness of evening with only a few streetlights to illuminate the scene.
"We need to send out a patronus to HQ and get a repair team here as soon as possible. As well, take down the magical suppression field."
Harry was confused by the sudden developments. "Repair team?"
Alex put his hand gently on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, they used magic to tear down your front door. We need to repair it.
"It's over, finally. It's over. Are you okay?"
Harry was beginning to shake as the ramifications of what he had witnessed began to sink in. "I…think so."
The old Headmaster had been led away, but under the harsh streetlight, he now looked older. Without his magic supporting him, his face had gained twenty years in age.
"Harry, I have only done what I have done for the greater good."
The young man felt some of his rage return and he walked over to the older man. "Mr. Dumbledore, I'm not Harry to you. I don't know you and I don't recall ever having given you permission to call me by that name.
"Please understand that. I'm tired of you trying to play a role in my life. You've manipulated my life from its beginning to now. It ends now! So I speak as Lord Black and Lord Wells!
"I want nothing to do with your country, with your traditions, with the place of my former birth parents – I want nothing to do with it. This is my home – the home that in part you made possible.
"I'm just tired. Please, just take him away."
Alex came down to see them the next day.
For Harry, it had been the first time he had been exposed to death, battle, and the chance of death. He had been exposed to madness and shaken by what he had seen; he had even avoided his two bond mates. But he did not avoid Alex.
"What's going on?" he asked, desperately trying to get closure on the fact that Dumbledore was finally in custody.
"The problem is that our psychologists have declared him nuttier than a fruitcake. There are signs of senility; obsession to the point of its becoming a pathological case of insanity," Alex replied.
"Where would he be if he were an ordinary man walking the streets of the city today?"
"In Bellevue, under care. His is not a harmless delusion; his is a delusion that has cost lives, a lot of lives.
"Madame Bones of Magical Britain has asked to meet you."
"Does she understand the significance of the events which just transpired?"
"She understands that, depending on the answers she gives, it could be a very productive or a very antagonistic meeting between our government and hers.
"It appears that our actions yesterday caused the deaths of another forty to fifty individuals in Britain – when Voldemort died, he called on the magic in the Dark Mark and it drained the life force of those who collapsed and died yesterday. All those who died yesterday were found to be carrying the Mark.
"Wow! That's quite the legacy," Harry said more to himself than anyone else.
"What's going to happen to Dumbledore?" Diana wanted to know.
"It depends, at first, at how much freedom the British are going to give us in regards to him. We did catch him red handed. I don't think anyone is talking about killing him because of his previous actions such as defeating Grindelwald. However, there is a strong wish to see justice enacted. He will not be leaving the shores of this country except in a box.
"He will be buried here, probably in an unmarked grave.
"Harry, you've seen death probably for the first time as an adult. Don't let it cast a pall over what is happening in three days. I've spoken to a counselor. I've spoken to our own Department of Mysteries. The signs are auspicious – you, Fleur and Hermione – need to take this step, beginning your lives as Triad," Alex concluded.
Still, it would be two visits – the first by Daniel Granger – that would allow Harry to finally begin to heal.
"Harry," Dan's gentle voice broke the silence into which Harry had fallen. He had been sitting quietly by himself in the library and watched as the preparations were well underway for WinterFest in the next three days.
"Hello, Dan," Harry replied quietly. Gone was the ebullient young man that Dan had come to know: this was a young man who had seen death, had played a part in administering death to others and had carried out death. Now he had to look at his face in the mirror and realize that because of his efforts, the interest of an old man and the interest of a psychopath, over 50 magicals were dead.
"Harry," Dan repeated. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Harry nodded and then went back to watching the movement of people preparing.
The older man put his arm around Harry and just held him, aware that the young man was not looking for platitudes, but just for someone to be there.
"Can I tell you a story?" Dan finally broke the silence.
"Sure," Harry replied.
"It started in 1982 when I was serving aboard Her Majesty's ship as a dental assistant. We had received a call that the Falklands had been invaded and we were sent down to help fight the Argentines and capture the islands back."
So began the tale where Dan Granger, a shipboard dentist, went to war. He told Harry how he had volunteered once they had approached the islands to help bring back wounded soldiers back to the hospital ship until he and the wounded soldiers came under fire.
"I'm not the most courageous of men, Harry. I had been trained in the basic use of firearms, but it's one thing to be trained on how to use a weapon and another when you realize that you and your weapon are the only thing between your life and the lives of those you are trying to help.
"I had 16 wounded that I was responsible. The enemy was not supposed to be there: I was volunteering because they needed every available body to help move those wounded men.
"Those enemy soldiers must have hidden – they looked as scared as I felt. But I was between them and safety and it was either them or me. So I picked up a gun, loaded and shot – they told me later I killed five of them before they surrendered. Five, Harry. Five mothers' sons that would not be returning to Argentina; five who most likely didn't want to be there anymore than I was.
"Harry, to protect the ones you love, you do what you have to do. I did – and even to this day, I have nightmares where I see the ones I killed, the ones I saw die. But I knew if I didn't stop them, they would have killed me and then killed men too wounded to fight back."
Vincent found Harry sitting by the Falls a few hours later.
He sat down beside his eldest son and in a pose reminiscent of Dan, threw his arm around Harry. "I had hoped that you would never know what your mother and I have known for years."
Harry was confused by his father's words. "What are you talking about?"
Vincent held up his free hand, the claws clearly visible in the light from the Falls. "You have seen what these can do. You know the place they hold in this community."
"Dad, we know that you use them only to protect us."
"But do you know that there is a price to pay every-time I have used them? That there is a price to pay every time your mother has used her gun?
"We stand ready to protect this community, to protect this world. But there is a price we pay – those of us who protect it. There is always a price. Whether you do it with a gun, or with claws, or with magic – it leaves a scar, son. It always leaves a scar.
"The only relief that I get at night when I remember those I have killed is the knowledge of what they would have done to my loved ones, to our loved ones had I not been there to stop them.
"We sometimes lose sight, Harry, of the true cost of defending our world. Too many times we send young men and women to war; they handle machines and rain down death that kills thousands.
"My world of claws and strength; yours of magic and wands – we see who we kill. We have seen our enemies face to face and we feel the impact of when we take a life."
Harry spoke for the first time. "Do you ever forget?"
"No, I don't."
"Then how do you cope?"
"I remember why. I always remember why – and realize that my world sleeps safe, that my family sleeps safe from those who would seek to do them harm,"
An anonymous donation was made to the family of Rita and Francesca Diaz, The young mother and her daughter would be buried with full honors and a short, brief news report stated that a terrorist attack had been made in Central Park, but that well trained members of Homeland Security had been there to stop them.
The terrorists had no previous links to any other known terrorist groups, but the population of the city could take encouragement that the nation was alert and ready; that justice had been swift and merciless; and that only the unfortunate deaths of mother and daughter marred a perfect operation.
Special FBI Agent Alex Mackenzie regretted the death of the Diaz. "We regret the loss of any innocent American life. Our enemies surround us, seek to confuse and strike at us. Let our enemies know that we mourn each death, each injury – but we will go on and we will prevail.
"Our sympathies to the Diaz family in this time of loss."
"So Alex, you've given me a big one today," the Magical DA for New York City, Austin Trenholm said as the two were sipping coffee in his office.
"Yes, I have, Austin. But you didn't want to get bored anyway."
"Well, Joe Maxwell was supposed to be retired by now, but the Mayor wants him to stay and supervise this prosecution before he leaves. How is he supposed to get involved?"
"He knows who we are, Austin. He's the uncle of the young man who took him down."
"This Harry Wells took down Albus Dumbledore?
Trenholm looked over his glasses to Alex Mackenzie. He had worked a number of cases in the past with this special agent and knew Mackenzie was not one to present someone without good, solid evidence. Still, he had to be reminded. "Your evidence had better be solid, Alex," he admonished.
"Rock solid, Austin, rock solid. We can establish pensieve quality memory, eyewitness memory, and eyewitnesses. This bastard even had his trusty spy, who turned out to be a Death Eater and one of the six killed in the Central Park raid, sitting outside a secure meeting room at Gringotts, just waiting to pick Harry Wells' mind – so he could in turn send it by the same spy to this Voldemort."
Austin was now confused. "What's the significance of Harry Wells? Why would a British Dark Lord want to attack him?"
"Because he was born Harry Potter?"
"Franklin, the British Boy-Who Lived? You can prove this?"
"Yes," he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a file. Sliding it to Austin, he sat back in his chair. "Goblins, French Aurors, magical testing, a summary of Dumbledore's actions against Wells while Wells was on American soil – it's all there.
"We caught him red handed – two of the three charges for sure. And the second – we have full cooperation from the British."
"What are you asking for, Alex?" Austin wanted to know.
"It's not my place to tell you what I want, Austin. You're the DA, not me."
"Still, you must have some ideas."
"I don't want to go down as the one who killed Albus Dumbledore. I think several centuries of life in a magically suppressed cell will get the idea across more than anything else – no one is above the law."
"He's supposed to have a Phoenix," Austin asked next.
"The rumor is that his phoenix hasn't been around the last few years. In fact, there is speculation that the phoenix may want to bond with young Mr. Wells. Of course, these are only rumors. But the magical suppression field should be sufficient to ensure that his bird doesn't show up."
Austin looked through the file, then back at Alex. "Okay, three charges it is."
"If we can find a way to make an accessory to murder charge stick as well for the two Diaz deaths, I wouldn't cry a tear," Alex replied. "But we can start with these."
"What do you want to do Harry? Do you want to postpone it? We would understand if…"
"No! Hermione Granger, Fleur Delacour, with you two, my life has taken on new meaning and purpose. We've started something new – this Triad. You've both become part of this community. If I give in to these fears and allow Dumbledore and what he set up to dominate my mind, then I allow him to win. Then he will have ruined still another day of my life."
Hermione actually looked at Harry with approval. "That is a good way of looking at it."
Harry looked at his two bond mates with love and affection. "You two, outside of my family, are the two best things that have happened in my life. I never thought that saving a beautiful silver blonde haired girl would open up my whole legacy; and then to find at my own school the woman who one day would bring forth my children from Fleur and who will preside over all the medical needs of my community while allowing me to contribute to the survival of the Potter family – that is true serendipity.'
The two women looked at Harry with affection, then smiled knowingly at each other. "That is one of the most romantic things I have ever heard from you, Mr. Wells," Fleur commented and then the two women laughed. "You will have to spend the rest of your life proving that to us," Hermione continued.
"I think Winterfest is the best time," Harry said more firmly. "Yes, I wish to proceed."
The two women stood with their parents in the anteroom, coats covering their white gowns, nervously looking at their mothers.
"Are you absolutely certain, Hermione?" Emma asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"Etes-vous certain qu'il est a toi? Are you certain that he is the one, cherie?" Apolline followed with her own question. The two husbands only looked at one another and smiled. This was their wives and daughters' show, not theirs and they did not want to stick their necks out.
Their memories of the opening of Winterfest with the strong winds howling outside, seeing Vincent lift the huge wooden bar that blocked the door and then opening the door into the dark chamber; followed by the lighting of candles as the story was told of the founding of the community below.
Dan remembered the words of Jacob Wells Senior as he began the annual festival. "The world above us is cold and gray, the summer's sun a distant memory. Our world too has known its winters. So each year, we begin this feast in darkness, as our world began in darkness."
He remembered only one candle had begun and then, as different members of the community spoke, candles were lit from hand to hand as the story was told.
"Long before the city above us lifted its towers towards the sky, men sought shelter in these caverns," Vincent had picked up the tale. Diana continued. "In those days, these tunnels were dark places and those who dwelt here, dwelt in fear and isolation."
Then Harry, in his strong, young voice. "This was a land of lost hope, a land of despair, where the footsteps coming down a tunnel were sounds of terror, when men reached for knives, rocks or worse at the sound of other men's voices."
Jacob, Harry's brother, was next. "Until a group came together and learned to put away fear."
His own daughter, Hermione, picked up the tale. "When people learned to trust each other."
Fleur in her French accent, "When we began to help one another."
"Then we began to grow stronger, those who took the help and those who gave it," from William.
"We are all part of one another, one family, one community. Sometimes we forget this and so we meet here, each year, to give thanks to those who have helped us and to remember that even the greatest darkness is nothing so long as we share the light," from Jacob Wells Senior.
The room by now had become a blaze of light and seated around the table was Snagtooth, another goblin, Alex of the MFBI, and many, many helpers and faces with whom Dan had become quite familiar.
For Dan and Emma, who were amateur actors in theatre troupes when they had the time, they could recognize the thought that had gone behind the opening ceremony and could sense the guiding hand of the old tunnel patriarch in the creation and maintenance of these traditions.
Then the feasting and merrymaking had begun and both the Grangers and Delacours were swallowed up in the helper and community celebration until Vincent had given the prearranged sign and they had exited for what the whole community was now calling the Joining.
Now, both men stood back and listened with patient smiles as their wives were gushing over their daughters' beautiful appearances: Hermione in a traditional white gown and Fleur, mindful of the Renaissance dress of many of the residents of the World Below, with a gown that echoed the Renaissance of Italy. Dan couldn't help but wonder how she had managed to wear that down here with all of the winds.
Hermione's untamable bushy hair was now sleeked down to just generous curls; Fleur's silver blonde hair gleaming in the candlelight – both young women were the picture of beauty and elegance.
"I will try to keep a hold of my allure, 'ermione," the French witch promised.
"Are you sure you're okay with the three of us tonight?" Hermione asked, suddenly plagued with self-doubt. "He was yours at the start." Inside, she was questioning herself once again – not Harry nor Fleur, but herself. She knew she loved him; knew that if she had to share Harry with anyone, it could only be Fleur. But why would Harry want to share himself with her?
"Yes, my little bushy haired friend, the only female outside of my own family and now Diana and Emma that I could trust and love, oui, I am okay with things and I look forward to creating 'istory with you in a new Triad.
"You were the only one who saw past my allure – you saw the lonely French girl with no real friends. You became that friend and for the first time I could engage in all those activities that girls engage in.
"I count you, along with Harry, as the two best things that have come into my life. I have my man who sees me as just Fleur and I have my 'ermione, who also sees me as just Fleur.
"I feel sorry more for 'arry – 'e doesn't know what 'e is getting."
Dan finally had a chance to get both Emma and the Delacours aside for one last word before the drum would sound and the ceremony would begin. "This is so fantastic – the chamber of winds, the heavy door, the lighting of the candles and the story as the candles were being lit," he said, still moved by what he had heard.
Before any could reply, the drum sounded and the two sets of parents got into line with their suddenly nervous daughters. The stairs were wide enough that each set of parents could descend with their daughter in the middle and so they entered the wide doors of the Great Hall before moving down the hall past the assembled guests to the waiting family of Vincent, Diana, Jacob and Harry. They each nodded to the officiating pair of Jacob Wells Senior and Joe Maxwell, performing what would be one of his last official acts as DA.
It was Jacob Junior, however, who began. Taller now than Harry, he was rapidly approaching his father in height, but there was a twinkle in his eyes as he waited for the Granger and Delacour parties to stand beside the Wells.
"I welcome each and every helper; each and every magical person; each and every member of this community to what has to be the social event of the World Below season. I welcome you as witnesses to my brother's joining with these two lovely ladies – and to the fact that finally, I won't have to share my chamber with him anymore."
His father cleared his throat in a note of disapproval, but the assembled crowd chuckled at Jacob's honesty and humor.
It was now Jacob Senior who took over the comments. "One must forgive my namesake – having had to referee the occasional tiffs between the two Wells brothers, I can testify that my namesake grandson is sincere in his wishes for his older brother.
"I realize that we have had the occasional joining here in the past and this Great Hall has resounded with laughter and best wishes. But, as I can testify from being the father of Vincent, anything connected with the house of Vincent and Diana is and will always be unusual.
"Ten years ago, we welcomed into our family and into our hearts a child. He came to us abused; he has grown up whole. He came to us alone; he has grown up in community. He came to us with one name; he chose names that reflected his commitment to us and his love for us.
"I speak, of course, of Harry Jacob Vincent Wells.
"He became one of us. He became part of the family of Vincent and Diana. I would like to think that he practiced his magic and helped our two lovebirds see what the rest of us had seen for years – that they needed to be together.
"We welcomed two new children to the Wells – Catherine and Erin, named so that the names of loved ones would not perish from our midst.
"This has not been an easy year for the Bennet-Wells family. We have again gone through dark times, difficult times. But, as we began our ceremony in darkness and then lit candles until the light overcame the darkness, so too, this ceremony today is entered into by Harry, Hermione and Fleur as proof that darkness shall not have dominion, but rather the light will triumph in the darkness.
"My grandson Harry, though not flesh of my flesh, is heart of my heart and heart of his parents. He bears in his name my name and that of his father and now seeks to join himself to two lovely young women who have become as much a part of this community as he is.
"We welcome these two young women, Hermione Jane Granger, Lady Potter of her world, and Fleur Annalise Delacour, to our community. You have stood by Harry; you have stood by us. The bond you share with each other has warmed our hearts and saved some of our lives.
"You have furnished us with new friends, new families and new helpers." With that he looked pointedly at Alex, at Snagtooth, at the Delacours and the Grangers.
"Our family has grown, not diminished. It was at their request that we use this day, the festival unique to our community, as the place where we will testify to their pledge to one another, to their desire to stand together and join their lives together, not only to one another, but also to join the families here today and to join themselves to us as a community.
"Though I will not join them myself – Harry claims that it is only his uncle Joe who can say the actual words – I give my blessing and that of this community to this Triad, this union of three, and I wish to formally announce at this time my retirement from the world of medicine for this community.
"The council, I and Dr. Peter have met quietly without our three young people and we were unanimous in recognizing the upcoming medical authority for this world – Hermione Jane Granger Potter. While we will continue to serve, her talents have already made it clear that she will continue and surpass the service that we have given you over the years.
"However, before Harry decides to attack me for being somewhat long winded, I will call upon our participants for the ceremony now before us. We will have some light deserts after our ceremony is concluded.
"May the groom come forward? May the brides come forward?"
As Harry stood, he did not know the form the ceremony would take. He had known that the Granger parents had been in secret discussions with the Delacour parents and had even met with Vincent and Diana before they met with Joe.
He was glad however, that Jacob was standing by his side. He could see the beautifully dressed forms of Catherine and Erin move up beside Hermione and then saw an exquisitely dressed Gabrielle also step forward. Then he noticed Jacob's eyes were now fixed on Fleur's younger sister. This cannot be good, he thought to himself.
Joe walked over to Jacob Senior and surprised the tunnel patriarch by embracing him. Then as the older man went to take a seat with the rest of the audience, he walked over to stand in front of the assembled families.
"They tell me that my license to do this task holds up until the end of the month before I leave the employ of the state and start working for – I mean, advising this guy," Joe began. "But I consider this a great honor as I stand here, in front of the assembled family and friends on this, the highlight of our festival year.
"I was going to proceed with a non-magical ceremony to unite Harry and Hermione and then allow someone else to proceed with a magical ceremony to unite Harry and Fleur. I wouldn't know how we could get all the paperwork past all the state authorities, but I am learning that magic is, well, magic and can accomplish many things.
"However, I was approached by all the parents of this Triad and they tell me that they wish to play a greater part than is normal for weddings. So, I will allow them to play their role, and then I will say the words that both the magical U S and the State of New York allow me to say and voila, our young people will be joined together.
"I would like to call upon Sebastien and Apolline, Dan and Emma and Vincent and Diana to come forward."
The six parents stood behind the three young people now, facing the audience of expectant faces and Sebastien began to speak for all of them.
"We, as the parents of the three young people before, you recognize that what we endeavor to do today has not been done for over 500 years. Triad has already been forged in the hearts of these three friends and lovers: Diana, Vincent, Dan and Emma are all witnesses of that. Their love and commitment was so strong that one whose love was once a part of this community was able to communicate that love again to us.
"I learned then just how important our roles are and we now stand before this community, behind our three loved ones. As our children unite to perform something that has not been done in over half a millennium, I would ask they clasp hands one with another and form a circle the shows the union of their love and commitment – an unending circle without beginning or end while we, their parents and their anchors to the worlds each of us inhabit place our hands upon each of our loved ones."
Then Emma began speaking. "We recognize that no ceremony on this earth can fully comprehend and justify what is before us. We, Daniel and Emma Granger, Sebastien and Apolline Delacour, and Vincent and Diana Wells, we stand as anchors and witness to what was formed and what is forming in the hearts of these three young people."
"Nous temoignons ce que la magie avait etablit ensemble, personne peut le detruire," Apolline continued.
"We testify that what magic and love has established here today, let no one put it asunder," Diana intoned. "That was the English translation of Madame Delacour's witness above.
"We stand and recognize Harry Jacob Vincent Wells, Lady Hermione Jane Granger Potter and Fleur Annalise Delacour as joined together in Triad and in love. We, as parents approve of this union and serve as anchors to this Triad and this love. We ask that all our helpers and our friends in both the magical and non-magical worlds stand with these, our children, in Triad and love," Vincent intoned next.
Then each parent in turn embraced each of the young people, intoning together "You, Harry, are our son. You, Hermione, are our daughter. You, Fleur, are our daughter."
Sebastien then raised his wand. "We declare an oath based on the magic and the gifts of this place. We will stand with our loved ones, in sickness and health, in sorrow and joy, in good times and bad – we declare this Triad formed.
"Mr. Mackenzie, as a representative of the Magical United States government; Snagtooth, as an official of Gringotts USA: we call upon you both to witness and seal our pledge."
Both magicals got up and waved either a wand or a dagger in the air and the audience watched in fascination as blue lines wove an intricate pattern between the nine adults in the circle.
Then the audience heard Harry's voice, "I pledge my love and life to you Hermione Jane Granger Potter. I pledge my love and life to you Fleur Annalise Delacour."
Hermione repeated the same words, followed by an obviously emotional Fleur repeating the same words. As her words were completed, a golden glow fell upon the three in the centre of the circle, but which touched the six parents as well.
In the back of the hall, a late visitor watched with keen eyes. Alex had thought there was a good chance that she would appear and he was not disappointed to see the stern featured face of Minister Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic of Great Britain and Ireland. A sight such as she was seeing was something rare in the eyes of magic and she was glad she was witnessing this even if she knew it was not for her country or her people.
Alex Mackenzie stood up and asked in a loud voice, "Is there any here who have anything to add to the pledges given and received this day?"
Amelia Bones rose and in a loud voice, said. "In the name of the Ministry of Magic of Great Britan and Ireland, I recognize this union and confirm its power. So mote it be."
Joe knew his words were anticlimactic, but he quickly began so as to allow the whole community to embrace and celebrate with the new Triad and their anchors.
"By the power vested in me by the State of New York I declare that Lady Hermione Jane Granger Potter and Harry Jacob Vincent Wells are joined as Lady and Consort of the House of Potter.
"By delegated authority of the Magical United States, I declare that Lord Harry Jacob Vincent Wells-Black and Fleur Annalise Delacour are now husband and wife."
"Helpers, friends, members of this community – I present you – I don't know what to call you guys," he quipped as he stumbled upon what indeed to call them.
"Triad? Yes, Triad!"
At that last statement, the community applauded and then stood and soon well-wishers were surrounding all nine members of the now joined families.
Apolline stood beside her new family member, Diana Bennett Wells. "Madame Diana, I believe that this may not be the last pairing between the Delacours and the Wells." Quietly indicating Jacob, the two women followed his eyes to the lithe figure of the sixteen-year-old Gabrielle who in turn was sneaking glances back towards Jacob.
Diana sputtered. "Aren't they at least four years apart?"
Apolline only smiled. "Your second son is tall for his age and once they get older, it often is not a real issue. A mother learns to watch for her Veela daughter and your son has caught her interest."
"Well let's not have anything for at least another ten years," the auburn-haired mother replied.
"There is no rush, but we will see, Diana, we will see."
A/N: Thus ends the takedown of Albus Dumbledore – we are now setting the scene for the judicial event of the century in magical NYC – the trial of Albus. However, we did not leave you with a cliffie – it is just that we had already too many words to continue our tale in the last chapter. So an early Christmas present is in your hands now.
We do not know if we will have the opportunity to post the first phase of the trial of Albus Dumbledore, but we can assure you that it will only deal with the issues of Albus' interactions with Harry since early Spring 2001. There is no need to go back on the earlier issues of Albus' manipulations as so many other authors have already dealt with them.