Chapter Twenty-Five: A Hundred Days

Saturday, 22nd January 2000.

Harry smiled as Neville defeated him once more. He was sure that most people would be upset to lose repeatedly at a game, but it was the taking part that meant more to Harry. After years of watching from the cupboard as Dudley played with toy after toy, or a new piece of technology Harry would never be allowed to touch, he now had some of his very own.

Combined with playing them with someone Harry had seen journey from an insecure and afraid little boy to the dominating presence of a warrior who would stand before evil and shout No, and Harry was definitely enjoying his weekend of relaxation while the others talked the new doctor through the ins and outs of the plague.

"If you two have a moment?" Merlin asked from behind the couch and Harry and Neville turned suddenly, thrown by the voice out of nowhere.

"It's the weekend, Merlin. We're supposed to be relaxing today." Neville replied cheekily.

"I assure you it is important. Please meet me in the control room." The image said, turning to glance at the medical labs at the far end of the floor before shimmering away.

Harry sighed and glanced at Neville who shrugged in return and the pair stood, also glancing in the direction they knew their friends to be before setting off in the other direction. The control room was at the opposite end of the floor to the labs, tucked into a small crevice in the mountainside that made it the only room on this floor with a direct view out to the frozen landscape beyond.

The two stepped inside and the door closed behind them, making them both glance at one another again before they stepped over to the consoles in the middle of the room. Merlin appeared before them again.

"Thank you. This shouldn't take long. As requested, I have completed the scan of Dr Beckett…"

Harry groaned and stared at the hologram. "We've talked about this Merlin."

"Miss Granger instructed me to scan all the visitors." Merlin defended, matching Harry's look. "Following her instruction, I have noted that Dr Beckett possesses the Lantean gene markers. A perusal of his educational records indicates that with such an advantage, he would make a very good addition to the team given his detailed medical knowledge, surgical talents and curious mind."

"Wonderful. And this couldn't wait until he left, why?" Neville asked perplexed.

"It could. I was simply informing you while you were here, away from the Doctor, as instructed. I asked you here because I am detecting a large energy build-up at the Groom Lake facility."

"What?" Harry asked in shock, immediately tapping several commands into the terminal in front of him to bring up an image of the facility. There was indeed one small building in the central area that was pulling an enormous amount of power, and a device in the centre of the room that the power was being channelled into. "What is it? A bomb?"

"It does not seem so. It also appears to be reaching maximum power draw," Merlin said, watching the image but before he could say anything more, a beam of energy shot from the device and hit a reinforced wall at the end of the structure. "It would seem to be some form of particle accelerator weapon."

"A weapon? Do you think this is being built as a reaction to us?" Neville enquired.

"I do not think so. Checking the scan logs." Merlin paused as the powerful computer seemed to search for information. "Work on this device appears to be quite recent. And I cannot currently find a log relating it back to us. The notes seem to indicate it is intended to be fired at the Astria Porta for some reason."

"A weapon against the Goa'uld? That seems inefficient. A particle beam might cause immense damage to any organic material it struck, but it's unwieldy, hard to aim, has an extremely small effective beam and is an enormous power hog, as evidenced by us detecting it based on power draw alone." Harry summarised to himself more than the others.

"This is interesting. It appears they got the idea from an attack used against them about a year ago. They had been toying with a particle beam weapon since then, but construction was fast-tracked only five weeks ago."

"They built a particle beam weapon in only five weeks?"

"Judging by the citations and references in the project notes, humanity has had particle accelerator technology for a very long time. One of the previous forms of television technology used such a system to produce an image on the screen by firing electrons at a phosphorous layer. Even powerful such devices are not uncommon. I can detect multiple such large structures all over the world right now. They tend to be considerably larger than this one though."

"So, they're miniaturising the technology. For what purpose?" Harry mused.

"The testing appears to be on focusing the beam with such a short length, which would be necessary if they intend to mount it inside their conscensa. Such devices usually feature very large focusing coils. But the focus here is not terribly precise. Yet the entry they just made indicates it to be sufficient for purpose."

"What was the attack they suffered?" Neville asked.

Merlin went silent for a moment as it analysed the report in question from the mountain. "A Goa'uld named Sokar fired a particle beam weapon at their iris hoping to cause a breach and send troops to recover a defeated enemy that the SGC had brought to Earth. The iris held, but it was a close thing according to the report."

"Could they have any cause to do such a thing to someone else?" Harry asked, considering the question himself. A high-energy particle beam would excite the molecules of a solid surface on the other end of a wormhole, but would need to be sustained for the entire length of connection and be done repeatedly to have any serious effect.

"Possibly. I will need to further assess their records to be sure. It would be far easier to do so if I understood their file organization structure. I may run a subroutine to analyze all activity in detail and file it in our own database using more conventional means of filing. This brings me to the last thing of note. While doing database maintenance, I noticed a large clump of highly compressed data tucked away in a corner of the system."

"How large exactly?" Neville asked.

"It occupies two structures the size of the one you constructed for the vulta," Merlin replied, and Neville whistled impressed.

"That's big. Do you know what's in it?"

"Not yet, at least not in detail."

"Not yet?" Harry asked, looking at the hologram curiously.

"I have a theory that Myrddin created it during his short time accessing the system. It is slowly decompressing. So far several Lantean technologies and stellar mechanics principles have appeared from seemingly nowhere in the database, including the information about Videeum. Through tracking them, I was able to locate the compressed data block."

"You think he left a chunk of knowledge in the system and it's slowly opening up and adding info to our records?"

"It would appear so. Nothing I have detected so far seems dangerous, but I am now assigning any decompressed data to a quarantined space for assessment before allowing it into the main database."

Harry nodded at the info dump Merlin had laid on them. Not only was their new guest well prepared to join the team if the others could convince him to do so, but the SGC was developing a powerful, if only occasionally useful, weapon. And Myrddin had left an unfolding data brick behind before disappearing back into the Ascended ranks. It was a lot to consider. Perhaps that was why he had simply departed when given the offer without so much as a thank you or goodbye, knowing he had left a secret gift behind for them.

Harry glanced back up at the hologram and noticed that Merlin seemed to be waiting for something from the pair of them. It suddenly clicked in his mind and he shook his head in mild frustration.

"You have council permission to do so for the time being. I will discuss it with the others once they're finished talking to the doctor. But I can't see them disagreeing on any of this."

He turned to Neville who nodded in agreement and Harry wondered how he could go about offloading the High Councilor position on someone else. "Agreed. Quarantining the information seems sound. And being able to easily search the data from the SGC without difficulty would be of considerable benefit." Neville added.

"We definitely need to keep an eye on that particle weapon too. If they move to use it on anyone else on Earth, interfere. Just disable it somehow that will take them some time to fix and notify us. Otherwise, simply observe. If you find the specific use they intend for it, let us know. Unless we're otherwise engaged." Harry added with a smile.

He glanced at Neville again and the other man nodded. They had sufficiently dealt with the computer's needs, and now it was time to get back to their day off.

"Is there anything else?" He asked, shutting off the terminal and taking a step towards the door."

Merlin shook his head. "There is not. My apologies for interrupting your activities."

"Just don't do it again." Neville joked. "I was on a roll there. Now Harry might be able to win a round."

ϟ

Tuesday, 25th January 2000.

Carson was feeling slightly overwhelmed. A simple weekend trip to help an old friend had turned into quite the experience in the end. Not only were their facilities astonishing beyond anything he'd seen before, but they seemed on the verge of possibly proving both the Second Evolution and Ancient Astronaut theories with one single discovery.

When coupled with the bombshell they'd delivered shortly before he departed their incredible facility on Sunday evening, where Natalie had informed him that he bore a genetic marker supposedly passed down from these apparent aliens, his mind was left swimming with the possibilities.

The ideas surging through him were intoxicating and confusing. He had already taken a sample of his own blood and sent it to a friend nearby with the required equipment for such testing the moment he'd gotten back into his office yesterday morning. Along with the two samples from Richard and Natalie, who had offered them freely after seeing the doubt on his face.

But the part that had thrown him the most was the blatant job offer. A request to come and join them at the bottom of the world, with any and all equipment and funding he might require. It was a tantalising proposition, and he had gotten on well with the group over the couple of days spent in their company, but it was a big ask.

While it was true that with the equipment they had on hand or could quickly requisition, he would be able to continue his current research, it would mean leaving his homeland behind. Even if only for a short time.

And yet, the short visit was the single greatest experience of his life so far. The call to go with them was strong, and the possibility of curing and speaking to an alien lifeform… He was awash with the promise of it all.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his computer chiming three times, indicating several results emails had arrived. The results of the tests he had requested the previous morning. This was the moment of truth, time to find out if what they had said was true or not.

Carson opened the email and read through the results carefully. Richard indeed had the genetic marker in question, and the accompanying proteins those genes governed were extremely evident in the sample. Natalie too had the marker and its proteins in high amounts.

Taking a steadying breath, Carson opened the email marked with his test number and noted he too had the marker in question. The density of the protein markers in his system was even higher than the Grangers. In the cross-referencing he had done while the tests ran, he had noted that humanity had not yet adequately established what this particular gene and its resultant proteins did in the body. Nor why it was such a rare trait. Yet Carson, and at the very least Richard, Natalie and most probably Hermione had it in spades.

After pondering the results for some time, Carson noted the request in the body of the email with his results to let his friend know if he managed to identify the purpose of this marker. He sat back heavily and wondered about that. While they had thus far been open with him as far as he knew, there was a definite air of secrecy about the group. Would he be able to share his discoveries if he joined their efforts? And could he make the same strides here if he refused them?

This was a question that would take some time for him to properly assess and answer.

ϟ

Friday, 28th January 2000.

Padma glanced up from her work at the terminal and noticed that Merlin seemed to be focused elsewhere than their cataloguing efforts once again. She felt a spike of frustration at his absent-mindedness since Myrddin had altered his makeup, and considered how to get him back on track so that she could finish her shift. The headache she was nursing had been getting worse over the past hour and a half.

"Merlin." She said, catching the image's attention immediately.

"Apologies. We should finish early. I will gather the others." The hologram replied, vanishing without explanation.

Padma was left standing there agape at the interaction. The council had agreed that while preparing for proper off-world exploration, the cataloguing of remaining Alteran technology on Earth should take priority, as some of what the culture left behind was rather dangerous in nature.

The narcotic healing device they had found a few thousand kilometres southwest of the Yucatan Settlement that caused dangerous results in modern humans had been a prime example. After assessing the device upon its collection, Merlin has established that this device had likely been crucial to the development of the sarcophagus technology currently sustaining the Goa'uld, and possibly contributed heavily to their current megalomania. And yet it had been left behind in a small stone temple underground with only a small water trap as a defence.

As much as the former civilization had been powerful, they were terrible at tidying up after themselves, leaving dangerous technology scattered everywhere they went. Thankfully there were very few examples of the scale of this device on Earth, but Maybourne's team had already returned with several high-powered devices that the SGC clearly didn't understand.

Padma had once again requested that they intervene before the others brought back something truly dangerous, but had once more been overruled, even if it had been politely.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Luna's arrival in the room, several of the others visible down the corridor behind her and Padma found herself wondering what Merlin had been monitoring that warranted everyone being called to the control room.

"Hello, Padma." Luna smiled as she came to stand beside her.

"Hello," Padma replied, trying not to let her growing frustration show. "Did Merlin explain to you what this is all about? We were nearly finished with this shift."

Luna simply shook her head as the others arrived and Merlin reappeared in the corner. Harry and Hermione soon shimmered in place beside him, neither currently present in Aether as they were out having a date which Hermione looked somewhat put out for having interrupted.

"Alright, we're here." She said, the annoyance plain in her tone and the others turned to look at her. Harry blushed slightly at the attention. "But we're not going to remain hidden in this alley long. What was so important?"

"The SGC has finished moving the device, and I believe they intend to use it," Merlin replied as if that explained everything perfectly.

"Which device?" Padma asked.

"The beam weapon."

"Beam weapon?" Several of the council asked astounded.

Harry blushed further and even Neville shifted awkwardly. "Sorry, we may have forgotten to advise you all about that with the Beckett visit and… well, Harry made a strong comeback."

Hermione turned on her now shifty-looking boyfriend. "Explain."

"I definitely mentioned it to you, but I still don't think it is a beam weapon. It's a semi-portable particle accelerator beam emitter small enough to fit inside their conscensa." Hermione nodded once he explained it like that and Padma shook her head slightly at their usual display of being basically in sync at all times. "They've been testing it at the Groom Lake facility for the past week, but they disassembled it two days ago."

"Merlin has been looking at their records and it seems they have someone trapped off-world. A meteor hit the porta on the planet Edora while it was active and the molten rock cooled into a shield against the event horizon." Neville continued. "We think they intend to use the device to melt enough of a pocket in the rock that the typical vortex can form and dig out the porta, allowing a rescue to be dispatched."

"Which is about the only real use for the thing. Particle accelerators make poor weapons against anything really. The emitted particle is too microscopic to do physical damage, it has no real mass of its own. It just imparts its energy onto whatever atoms it collides with and loses energy fast. While it could potentially cause some serious damage, it's extremely unlikely. More probably it would just heat something if kept under the beam for long enough, but good luck getting an enemy to stand in the exact right spot and wait for you to kill them with it." Harry added.

"Regardless, they have finished connecting it up," Merlin explained, showing a feed from one of the cameras inside the mountain. The slender tube was perched at the base of the ramp leading up to the aperture of the porta and several thick cables wound away from it back to large computer banks by the walls.

"When did you get video access?" Luna asked Merlin softly.

"While attempting to better catalogue their records. It was an accident, I took a wrong turn in their programming and found the security feeds."

"That could be useful," Padma admitted, now focused on the events before her.

They all fell silent as a wormhole was established on the screen and most saw the destructive vortex for the first time.

"Wow, that is… Does it always shoot out that far?" Richard said before falling silent as a female voice came through the feed.

"Initiating sequence now."

They watched as a thin blue beam shot out of the emitter and into the event horizon, the particles disturbing the shimmering surface as it passed to the other side. Merlin turned to a side screen and noted the increased energy draw of the mountain with both devices running.

"The clavis must have been impacted. The draw by the porta is extremely high for a standard connection. If they do succeed, they will have a hard time returning home."

"How is the new design coming along?" Harry asked, turning from the screen. "Perhaps we could flag this planet as a priority once it is ready."

"Such a thing could be possible. I have the address on file now."

"Priority for what?" Padma asked, feeling out of the loop again.

"Upgrades," Hermione explained. "The conmeatas in this galaxy is very outdated. We have been considering upgrading some of the astria porta to newer models that still look like the old ones. An out-of-the-way planet not used by the Goa'uld would be a good test site. Especially if we know the SGC is likely to return. We would be able to monitor connections other than our own and see if such a program would be worth the effort."

"That's some effort."

"We wouldn't be able to do so until we have a proper interstellar ship ready to go at the least," Harry said. "And that's still a month or so from even deciding on the design. While we could beam a porta into the buffer in a navis, I still don't think installing a hyperdrive to them is a good idea. They're too small to operate alone in deep space if it should break down. Even with the near-infinite repairability that the matter converter offers. After all, it needs something to convert from..."

"Particle beam is operating at a hundred and twelve percent of predicted efficiency." The female voice sounded again.

"How long will the beam have to be maintained?" A male voice came that was apparently familiar to Harry as he perked up when he heard it.

"The longer the better, sir. The important thing will be to dial again as quickly as possible as soon as it shuts down." The woman replied. "I've prepared the rapid dialling protocol to ensure a faster connection."

"Well, I don't know about you lot," Richard said, "but I'm not finding this riveting enough to watch the next thirty-eight minutes. Let me know how things progress." He said, turning to his wife who nodded and the pair headed for the doorway as Harry and Hermione vanished from view.

"He's got a point." Neville agreed, stretching his arms back over his head. "I'm heading back north for a bit. Let me know when the new guys arrive?" He asked, receiving a nod from the others before he too departed, leaving them watching the slightly hypnotic blue energy thrumming through the air of the underground base.

ϟ

Monday, 31st January 2000.

Jack West Jnr gazed into the large space curiously. It wouldn't have seemed all that unusual were it not for the several large trees growing in the space he knew to be buried underground within a mountain. And that, unless his spacial awareness was failing him, the rooms around it should have encroached on the space contained within.

As it was, the grassy space stretched for what seemed like a football field in all directions from the doorway, which itself appeared buried in a cliff face that stretched up to an open sunny sky.

"Luna." The brunette woman named Hermione he'd met for the first time today had said with wonder in her voice. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Not quite. It still needs work." The blonde replied and Jack watched the pair closely for a moment, trying to discern what they were discussing. "The Room has so many interwoven magics, it's hard to know what they all are in order to replicate them accurately."

"But that is your end goal?" Harry asked.

Luna turned to the other boy and delivered her response completely deadpan. "Yes."

"You are one ambitious little Ravenclaw." He said, pulling her into a firm hug from the side.

"Care to clue us in on what's so impressive here?" Mother asked.

Harry turned to face them and pulled Luna a little closer as he did. "Our little genius here is trying to replicate the magic of a Room at our school. A room which can create any space that you might require of it and that can produce items within its bounds of nearly any kind you can imagine."

"The enlarged space was easy. We've done that all over Aether. And I've managed to get it to conjure parts of the environment accurately. That tree for example is really a tree and it's physically there. It isn't an illusion. But when we're done in here, it will be gone forever." Luna seemed almost disappointed in her slow progress.

"And it has taken you how long, exactly, to get it to this stage?" Hermione asked.

"About six weeks so far. But I've had ideas on how to make one since my fourth year. It's just so incredibly handy a space to have." Luna replied as though her efforts were the most mundane thing ever.

"Can I just say that I have the greatest friends in the whole world? You are all magnificent." Harry bragged proudly, causing both girls to blush slightly.

"Interesting," Jack said, stepping inside the cavernous room. "How high does it go? Is the sky an illusion?"

"I haven't tested the upper limits. I assume it ends at some point." Luna responded, following him inside. "I went to double the height of the tree yesterday on a broom."

Jack swung to look at the girl, surprised. All he knew of magic so far was what they had provided as reading to prepare for the task being asked of him. And yet, he knew enough to marvel at the power of the magic that would surely be needed to drive such an enormous enchantment. And it could be changed as needed on a whim. The military would kill for such an adaptable training space.

"Haven't quite perfected the cluster that allows entities just yet. But I think that I am close. Padma has been helping me with that one." Luna finished, and Jack could tell from the looks on Harry and Hermione that he wasn't the only one impressed by the work.

"Alright then. I suppose that this will do nicely as a training space." Jack said, mostly to himself as he tried to right his worldview once again and get down to the job he was being paid to do. "First thing is first. All I know of magic right now is this room, so I need you three to demonstrate your abilities."

The three magical teens looked at him curiously before Harry shrugged and pulled a thin wooden wand, Jack assumed, from the sleeve of his left arm. "Ok, any magic in particular?"

"Offensive and defensive. That's why you asked me here, remember?" Harry suddenly blanched and looked at the girls. Jack knew the look wasn't asking for permission, it was apprehension. "Something wrong with that?"

"Harry doesn't much like attacking either of us. Makes him too easy to beat in mock duels." Luna offered up with a wry smile at the boy.

"It's not that. I don't want to hurt any of you." Harry rebutted.

"It's a good thing I made these up then." A female voice came from the opening, and Jack turned to see an Indian girl standing beside Mother in the doorway. Leaning against the cliffside facing them were a trio of dummies in cloaks. "Target practice. Until we get the next cluster working."

"They will do for informational purposes. But if my job is to train you how to fight and survive, you cannot learn that with dummies." Jack turned back to face the teens. "You are going to be put through exercises where you will face off against one another. I need to know you won't freeze up during those exercises."

"He doesn't freeze up. Just underpowers or chooses weaker spells than would be ideal." Hermione said, giving Harry a look Jack couldn't quite discern.

"Can we move on?" Harry groaned, trying to direct attention back to their task rather than his hang-up.

"Fine. Array the dummies by the cliff face and show me the most common battle spells." Jack instructed and he watched as Mother lugged the first dummy into place only to turn and see another five hovering into place effortlessly beside her. He glanced to the side to see the four teens waving their wands gently as they guided the floating figures. Which, based on the exertion he heard from the over two-hundred-pound Mother, were rather heavy. "Good job."

He took a moment to get past the shock of seeing the ease with which the four had done the task and now they were arrayed facing the figures. Harry glanced back at Jack as Mother took up a place at his side and Jack gestured for them to start.

"Reducto," Harry said, flicking his wand at the target and the others gasped as the spell impacted the figure, gouging a huge hole in its lower abdomen.

"Harry! I'm sure Padma worked hard on those. Don't destroy them immediately." Hermione chastised before she cast her own spell. "Expelliarmus."

This spell hit the figure beside Harry's and the presumably fake wand in its hand shot up into the air, the brunette deftly catching it as it fell down by her. When she dropped it, the tiny stick shot back into the hand of the dummy she had removed it from. The others quickly took the hint and began demonstrating spells one by one. Some that disarmed, some that disabled and some that outright injured. But after a few moments of injury, each of the dummies soon healed over again. Jack assumed there was some form of magic on them to keep their original shape.

The teens glanced at him a couple of times during the exercise, but he always waved them back to the task, and after half an hour, they stopped checking and just kept casting. It was almost two hours later when the four were beginning to look somewhat ragged, and an audience had gathered at the door, that Jack finally called an end to the spell casting.

"Stop." He said forcefully, and all four arms went immediately limp at their sides. Padma simply collapsed in place, panting heavily at the extended exertion.

Jack was quite impressed. He doubted any training they had undergone so far in their lives had called for over two hours of non-stop work. Even for him, that would have been extremely tiring. The simple act of holding their arm outstretched for so long would have been hard enough, but the energy for this magic had to come from somewhere too. That all four of them had managed to stay upright during the exercise was remarkable.

Harry looked red in the face, but he seemed by far the most able to continue, with Luna and Hermione both looking exhausted, but somehow ready to stand by Harry if required. Both taking up positions at his sides watching Jack watch them.

"Can you continue?" He asked quietly.

Harry looked like he wanted to give a short snippy remark in reply, but after a glance over either shoulder, he nodded.

"Good. Because combat is not a short burst of activity followed by nice long rest periods. By that tree, I want the three of you to prepare an emergency campsite. Make it difficult to see and approach. You have five minutes."

Jack lifted his arm and noted the time on his watch, setting the timer to five minutes. When he glanced back up, the three were gone. He flicked his eyes over to the tree he had indicated to see all of them waving their wands at the upper branches moments before his eyes tried to drift away from them altogether.

With concerted effort, he could retrain his focus on them, but every time he did it became harder to see them. As his timer went off, he found himself facing Mother and chatting away about something completely unrelated to his task, though what that was he had no idea. He turned at the sound of footsteps and saw another boy helping Padma to stand and looking at him with a wide smile.

"What's so amusing?" Jack asked curiously.

"You had no idea what you just asked for, did you?" The boy replied.

"What do you mean? I asked them to…" Jack paused, he couldn't remember what he had asked the others to do. Or who the others even were. He cast his eyes around the space, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary either. "What is going on?"

"Take it down, you lot." The boy shouted, and slowly Jack found himself noticing a tree that had not been there a moment ago reforming in the air nearby. As it came back into view, he remembered having seen it there earlier, and he noticed three figures sitting in the low branches, legs swinging back and forth as they looked at him.

"How did you do that?" Mother asked.

"Magi…" Harry said before Hermione slapped his leg softly. "Concealment spells."

"Harry and Hermione recently had cause to master just about every single one known to wizarding kind," Padma explained, still obviously exhausted from their first activity. "You just asked two people who are masters of staying unfound to hide. They gave it their all."

"If only I'd thought to use them all on Verger." Harry moped as he hopped down from the tree.

"Camping like that was my idea." Luna defended as she dropped next to him. "And just because we know the Goa'uld have ships doesn't mean we were expecting them to show up out of nowhere like that."

Jack looked at Padma and Neville curiously at the discussion.

"The inciting incident, if you will," Neville explained.

"Harry and Luna were caught unawares off-world." Padma continued. "Had they used all of those spells, you might not have been hired." He must have looked impressed as the Indian girl smiled. " You couldn't even see the tree, could you?"

"I couldn't even remember the damn thing. That is some potent magic." Jack said, impressed.

He looked deeper into the tree and noted that there seemed to be some form of rudimentary housing within the branches as well. Not only had they made it near impossible to locate their hiding place, but they had also gotten off the ground and hidden amongst the branches in case the spells failed. "Very impressive."

"Alright then. Now I want to see a duel."A few of the teens shuffled awkwardly and he could see how drained they were. "We'll pick you." He pointed to the newly arrived boy, who nodded and allowed Padma to settle back onto the soft grass. She looked better than she had immediately after the draining hours of casting, but she still looked about ready to pass out. Jack's eyes drifted over to the other three and he settled on the one in the middle. "And you."

He pointed at Harry and both girls made to argue before Harry spoke, silencing them. "You got it." He said, sounding far stronger than he looked.

"Harry," Hermione said beside him. "You're exhausted."

"So are you. I'll be fine." Harry said, releasing the hand the girl had grabbed and stepping forwards to face off against his opponent. "You ready, Neville?"

Neville seemed to take a moment, pulling his wand and centring his mind before he nodded and took up a stance. The girls quickly moved over by Padma, though both still had their wands drawn and neither of them sat like she was.

"Give it your all. I want to see the best you can do." Jack said and he could feel the anger in the brunette's gaze as she turned to glare at him. He knew they might hate him for some of his training, but he hadn't exactly expected it on the first day. This was all still child's play compared to his initial SAS training. But he had his reasons, so he ignored the glare and focused on the boys.

Neither one moved for a long moment, both just staring at one another, waiting to see what the other would do. Still, no spells had been cast after a full minute and Harry took a short step to his right, Neville following the movement, but still not casting. Instead, he mirrored the move and Jack noticed the two upright girls cast something in front of themselves as Neville and Harry lined up with their position, a soft shimmering in the air between the boys and girls the only visible sign of the spell.

The silent dance continued, shifting further under the tree before him, until a sharp crack sounded and Neville glanced down at his right foot, seeing the tiny twig underneath that had snapped under his weight only to flick his eyes back up as he seemed to sense a spell incoming.

Jack was impressed, Harry had barely moved to cast the spell, and no words were spoken either and yet there was now a pale white bolt of energy ripping through the air at Neville who dove to the side to avoid the impact at the last moment. As he rolled, Neville came back up firing off his own spell in return that Harry blocked with a shimmering spell of his own, groaning at the impact.

Neville followed the spell with three more in quick succession that Harry dodged easily this time, but Jack could clearly see how fatigued the boy was from the earlier tests. And yet he stood his ground, matching every spell Neville fired, taking a defensive stance and allowing as much of the magic to whisk by as he could.

Jack could tell he hadn't expected Neville's sudden return spell, and it was the only reason the boy had used the shield on that occasion. The intensity of the duel rose fast, with Neville pushing hard and keeping Harry on the back foot pushing him away from the crowd. Harry retreated carefully, ensuring he kept his footing but his own spells firing at Neville seemed to come fewer and slower each time before Neville finally managed to clip him on the thigh with one spell.

Harry's legs snapped instantly together and he fought to keep his balance. Neville immediately took advantage of Harry's immobility and fired off a hail of spells, and yet Harry still didn't seem overly concerned. He steeled himself and knocked several of the spells aside with a move Jack had not seen any of them utilize until now. A thick bubble of air pushed out in front of Harry, knocking the very air itself away along with all the other incoming spells before it burst loudly. The shockwave surged forwards and hit Neville, knocking him back a step and that was all Harry seemed to need.

He flicked his wand underarm and a small red bolt of energy soared forth. As Neville tried to regain his footing, he swung his own wand in return and the two spells barely missed one another in the air before both found their target in their respective stumbling wizard and the two fell over at the same time, Harry's legs still wedged together as he dropped.

The shimmering air in front of the girls vanished and Hermione surged off the spot, heading for Harry. Luna smiled happily as she slowly walked over to where Neville was already shifting, whatever spell Harry had chosen to use, apparently not being strong enough to keep the second boy down.

Hermione flicked her wand twice at the fallen boy before she even reached him, dropping to her knees beside him the moment she was close and pulling his mostly limp form to her own. "Harry. Wake up."

"Hey, Hermione." He replied simply and Jack felt like the closeness between those two could spell trouble for his training. Hermione was livid at him right now and he was probably lucky she had somewhere else to focus her attention so she didn't curse him where he stood.

"Excellent work, both of you," Jack said, drawing the eyes of the duelists back to him. He glanced at Mother and she was nodding in agreement, as were the audience behind her of the non-magical members of the group. "I've got an excellent baseline on magic now. It'll be a few days before we have another session. You should all go rest."

The anger hitting him from Hermione's gaze would have been enough to chill the blood of a lesser man, but Jack took it in stride as he walked over to the pair lying in the grass panting. "I promise you, Miss Granger. I mean you all no harm. You hired me to train you in battle. Battle is cruel, hard, dangerous and exhausting."

"He's right, Hermione. I am…"

"Do NOT say you are fine," Hermione said icily. "You were exhausted. You could have really hurt yourself."

Harry gently cupped the girl's face and she hesitated a moment before she allowed herself to soften into the touch. "I love you," Harry said, not caring that Jack was squatting silently beside them both watching every moment.

"And I you." She replied, still slightly haughtily.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need a moment with Mr Potter," Jack said, immediately drawing the ire of Hermione once more.

"It's ok, Hermione," Harry said, stroking her face softly. "Can you wait for me by the door? You're right that I'm exhausted. I'll need a hand getting back to my room."

Hermione still didn't move and Jack took a knee beside the pair. "Here, I swear on Lily's life that Harry will come to no further harm from me today. And you can see just how far I'll go to keep that promise." Jack said, raising the titanium arm and allowing the light to glint off of its surface. Luna had wasted little time since his arrival in getting the rest of the story from him, Hermione listening to it as well. How he and Max had been trapped inside the Kanyamanaga volcano in Uganda with the newborn daughter of the oracle of Delphi. How he had birthed her from her dead mother via improvised Caesarean as the encroaching lava made the room unbearably hot. How he had hesitated only to ask Max to build him a new arm before handing the tiny girl to the other man and plunging his hand into the release hole, the searing heat eating through his arm in front of his very eyes. There was nothing Jack West Jnr would do to put his surrogate daughter in peril.

Harry held up the wand still in his right hand and pushed it towards Hermione. "Here. No more magic. I'll be fine." He said with a slightly humorous note on the final word.

Hermione gave a hefty sigh before she nodded. "I'll be watching from the door." She replied, taking the wand from his hand and spinning on her heel.

Jack watched her walk away several metres before he turned back to Harry and offered him a hand up. The boy swayed in place for a moment, but remained upright. "You good?"

"I'll manage," Harry replied.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you? It's why I picked you for the duel. You were just as exhausted as the others, but you wanted to protect them from the fight." Harry's eyes flicked to Jack's face for a moment before he reddened and looked away. "Thought so. You have a thing about protecting them all. An admirable quality in a leader, being willing to sacrifice yourself to ensure your team gets out alive. I know a few military generals who would kill for a soldier like you."

Harry scowled at the idea, and Jack was unsure which part exactly most bothered him. "And yet, in a small group like yours, such behaviour will probably get one or more of you killed." Jack finished simply and Harry spun to face him, looking distraught.

"What do you mean?"

"The Department of Mysteries," Jack replied and Harry sank in on himself immediately.

"How do you…?"

"Know about that? Merlin. You told him to help me prepare, and he has rather extensive files on all of you. Something about downloads whenever you interact with the Chair or Repository? Your file made for quite a fascinating read. Thrown into the deep end of a war practically from birth. Supposedly predestined to fight a vile despot to the death. A bad habit of rushing into danger in order to rescue others. Some people I know would call it your saving people thing. Culminating in the supposed death of your godfather, the very man you sought to save, from a situation that didn't even exist."

Harry now looked a mix between angry and broken. Jack's words appeared to be successfully hitting the mark. "And that is why I plan to be the hardest on you. The others don't always realize it, but they all follow your lead without question. They look to you for instruction and advice. And they know that you will have their back no matter what."

"They'd do the same for me," Harry replied.

"I know. Miss Granger is still staring daggers at my back for what I just did. I'm going to need your help there too."

Harry laughed softly. "Good luck with that. Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Two reasons. One, as I mentioned, I know from your file that you've had issues with so-called authority figures before. From Professor Snape making your life hell because of his own failures to the government attacking you for being honest before then trying to use you as their poster boy. I know a thing or two about manipulative higher-ups. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I want to help you all avoid those pitfalls given the scope of all the incredible power at your fingertips between magic and this place.

"And two, your habits are not bad in and of themselves. A desire to keep your team safe is admirable. You are a good leader, mostly because you desire not to be one. You have all the right traits and very few of the usual failings. The ones you do have we can work on. I do not want you to lose those traits, merely refine them. To know when a situation is untenable, when it is time to retreat for now so that you can infiltrate later and recover what you lost in the initial fight."

Harry sighed as he turned and faced the doorway, Jack turning as well and noting the stares still coming from that direction. "You are right, I don't want to be a leader of anything."

"The best person to hold power is one who understands what a burden it is. They are far less likely to abuse that power. From what I know of you so far, you are one of those people. And whether you like it or not, they will treat you like their leader regardless. Think you can handle it?"

Harry gave another deep sigh as he looked up into the void of sky above them. "I don't know. I need to think about it. And I'm too tired to think right now."

"Then think on it. Because the training will only get harder from here. I can guarantee that." Jack said, extending his real hand to Harry.

Harry looked at it for a moment before he shook it, surprisingly firmly for how tired Jack knew the boy to be. "Go on."

Jack gestured in the direction of the anxious girl by the door and with a shocking crack, she was suddenly by Harry's side, helping him stand. "Thank you," Harry said to her before she glared at Jack one more time and guided Harry away.

Jack took a steadying breath of his own as he considered what he'd just witnessed. Harry had serious potential to head up this group. They already worked well together and had the required level of trust to be an effective team. But they were young, somewhat foolish, and they had never faced a challenge outside of their own skill set so far. This would be challenging. And he was going to need help.