Chapter 28
"Welcome to the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" Instead of Bagman, it was Lee Jordan who had been allowed the honour of being the announcer for the third task. Harry had made the offer to all the students and teachers to share the languages of the three schools.
There were quite a few who declined when they heard it involved legilimancy but it was not held against them. Interacting with another person's mind was a very intimate and private thing.
"As you can see, Headmistress Flamel of Durmstrang has created a unique type of arena. We can only hope that she hasn't been giving secret tips to her school's champion."
"MISTER JORDAN!" Minerva McGonagall didn't need spells to be heard.
"Lee, keep it up and I'll make you take my place." Harry commented from his position with Fleur and Viktor.
"Erm…"
"Moving on…" Harry prompted the now worried commentator.
Lee went on to describe the seemingly transparent, three floor building. At the moment it was full of empty rooms, but once the champions entered, it would be filled with furniture, traps and enemies. The winning champion had to be the last one standing. All enemies had to be eliminated and so did the other two champions.
"When I win this, I expect a foot massage." Fleur commented calmly to Harry. With the ability to share languages, the trouble with pronunciations of foreign words was fixed.
"What do I get if I win?" Harry asked curiously.
"You get to massage my feet." She smirked without missing a beat.
Viktor laughed.
"I am not massaging his feet if he wins." Harry said adamantly.
"No, if Viktor wins then you will massage my feet and your girl's feet as well."
"GO VIKTOR! CRUSH HIM!"
Harry turned and looked at the stands incredulously. There were Pansy, Daphne Tracey and Gemma hollering and hooting. "Gee thanks for the loyalty." Harry grumbled.
"If you are all ready?" Albus queried. He was clearly amused by Harry's suffering.
"Just get on with it Albie." Harry made it a point to use his nickname for the old man whenever he irritated him.
"Very well, you may enter now."
What followed was something that all the spectators would remember for the rest of their lives. It made the previous two tasks look like a committee meeting… without the slide show.
For the first time in the history of the Triwizard Tournament, the names of the champions and the victor would go down in history. It finally delivered on 'eternal glory'.
Viktor, Fleur and Harry had entered the same door to the building, but they appeared at different points. Fleur was on the bottom floor, Viktor on top and Harry in the middle. Of course, the champions had no way of knowing this as from their point of view the walls, floors and ceilings were opaque.
Each had a different approach as to how they dealt with every room.
Fleur went for subtlety and stealth. She would cast various detection charms on the doors and walls before entering the room whilst disillusioned. Often she got away with it. If it was a creature the room contained then they were easily dispatched, they were simply confused by the self-opening door.
If the room contained sentient combatants then she had a good chance at defence and occasionally outright stomping on them. Sentient combatants consisted of either a pair or trio of seventh and sixth year students or a volunteer professor. Just not the defence professors, because that would be unfair.
Then there were the trap and test rooms. These rooms were placed so that the champion had to go through them in order to reach the room beyond.
Whilst there were no sphinxes, there were enchanted objects like the Ravenclaw knocker that challenged them with riddles. There were also logic and problem solving tests.
Traps consisted of things like door handles that would knock out whoever touched them. Considering Fleur was casting detection charms on everything, she didn't have a problem.
Viktor's approach was similar to Fleur's. He would cast detection charms but he wouldn't go invisible. Instead he would burst into the room start throwing curses at anything that might resemble an enemy. Quite a few free standing lamps were found to be sporting boils and tentacles later.
Viktor struggled with the tests a bit. He wasn't unintelligent, but Fleur was fairly gifted.
Then there was Harry…
Harry had instantly sealed the room he had appeared in. He cast charms on the door walls ceiling and floor. He raised wards to prevent apparition, portkeys and the like. Sure, he knew they weren't supposed to be possible on the Hogwarts grounds unless the owner (him) gave permission, but he wasn't going to take the chance.
Sure, Voldemort was dead, but he was not going to risk a repeat performance of the last time he finished the tournament.
"Is he really going to just sit there and wait?" Madame Maxime asked in her deep and now perfect pronunciation of the English language.
"I truly believed he would put some effort into winning." Albus frowned. "He is a legitimate champion this time. He has the complete support of the school."
"He is trying to win." Perenelle assured them. "This isn't just a test of magical strength and knowledge. This is also a test of intelligence, cunning and strategy."
"But if he stays in the room he won't encounter the tests or traps." Amelia was confused.
Penny just smirked. "Of course not. But you heard the rules. The winner is the last person standing in the building. No one said the winner was person to take out the most obstacles."
"So he is just going to wait for the other champions to clear the building and eliminate the other? He will then only have to deal with one champion." Amelia smirked as she worked it out. "It looks like he is taking the complete Slytherin approach."
"Then what is doing at the desk?" Maxime asked.
Harry had transfigured some of the furniture into a chair, desk, quill, ink and a lot of paper.
Albus sighed. "I would hope that he is creating some sort of rune scheme or working on an arithmantic equation to help him win. Alas, after four years of his habits, I fear he is more likely writing a very long letter or list about why he hates me."
Everyone knew that Harry no longer hated Albus Dumbledore for what he put him through as a child. The pair were actually friends. Granted, Harry was often snide and mocking to Albus, but the old man accepted his mistakes and was very fond of the man Harry had become.
"Ok, so he has finished memoirs." Amelia snarked as they watched him stand up. "What is he doing now?"
"It appears to be some form of enchantment." Albus said as peered through his glasses. Harry was casting over various knickknacks in the room, lamps, chairs, pictures… etc.
"Fleur has cleared her current floor." Maxime said proudly.
Sure enough the young witch was examining the stairwell that led to the next floor, Harry's floor.
"How long would you say Viktor will take?" Amelia asked Penny.
"Maybe ten to twenty minutes. He is intelligent in his own right, but he does not have the same mental prowess as young Fleur."
*BOOM*
There was blinding light that caused panic among the spectators. The sound of the explosion temporarily deafened everybody. Fortunately for the judges, Albus and Penny had them fixed up.
"What happened? Did Harry do that?" Amelia asked as she tried not to panic.
The entire middle floor of the building was missing. In its absence the top floor had fallen heavily onto the ground floor. The building was soundly made and there was no collateral damage. Both the remaining champions and the other participants were stunned but unharmed.
"This is not part of the task." Penny growled. "Harry's nightmare has come true… again."
Harry stumbled.
To the naked eye it didn't appear as if anything had changed. The room hadn't even shuddered.
But Harry felt something very specific.
He wasn't in Great Britain anymore.
On his first trip off planet after becoming king, Harry had noticed a sense of loss. There was a dip in his power. He had cast a few spells and discovered that it wasn't noticeable.
When he got back to Earth and Great Britain he noticed the feeling vanish. His power felt normal as well. He checked his spells and cursed when he blew out a crater in the castle grounds. After discussing it with Penny and Ganos, they had determined that the land of Great Britain, the magic of the very country, was aiding him.
Harry had just sighed and passed it off as another quirk of his life.
But now… it was suddenly very useful.
He quickly sent a spell at the walls, floors and ceilings to activate the wards that would prevent others from seeing in. He hadn't intended to use it during the task and only put it up in case. But now, he didn't want his kidnappers to see him.
The next thing he did was cast another spell at a painting on the wall. Again, the charms were already in place, just not activated. He had enchanted the painting with a cut down version of the Marauder's Map. It couldn't show the names of the people outside but it could map the local area and mark out the positions of any individuals. Dudley and David had likened it to SONAR.
"Well… shit." Harry could see over twenty people outside. There didn't appear to be any walls so either he was in a large spacious building like a warehouse or outside.
*Knock Knock*
Yep, there they were, someone standing right outside the door.
"What to do, what to do?" Harry muttered as he looked around. He knew that his friends would be preparing to rescue him, but how long would it be before they got to him? Would his wards still be up?
Probably not.
He immediately began casting at everything he hadn't cast at before.
"We know you can hear us, Potter. Open the door and come quietly and you won't be harmed."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop. He didn't believe a word the man said.
"How about you explain yourselves?" Harry called out.
"Just doing a favour for some colleagues. If it helps restore the status quo, all the better."
Harry hadn't expected an answer. So they were working for or with someone. If they were 'doing a favour' then they probably weren't mercenaries.
"They want you alive, Potter. Personally, we don't care and won't shed any tears either way."
"You don't think your friends will retaliate if you kill me?"
"They can try." Came the amused reply.
Arrogance. They were probably pure bloods. But who were they working for? If they were pure bloods they wouldn't work with anything other than other pure bloods. There were 'factions' in wizarding Britain, there were simply those for and against. Foreigners. It was the only way that pure bloods would find other pure bloods to work with.
"The Americans are that pissed off at me?"
"Very clever, Potter." Came the sarcastic response. "Did you work that out all on your own?"
"Well, no." Harry's voice was laced with so much condescension that even Dudley as a prepubescent could have picked up on the fact Harry was calling him a moron.
"Enough stalling. Open the door or we open it ourselves and kill you." Came the angry voice.
"Alright, alright." Harry sighed as he gave his work a once over. "Give a girl a chance to fix her hair, will you?" A phrase he often heard these days.
He calmly walked up to the door and opened it.
"An Unspeakable?" Harry was not impressed.
"You actually opened the door, Potter? You are either incredibly stupid or very afraid of death." The man's face was hidden behind an obscuring charm.
"Erm… stupid I guess." Harry mused. "I've been dead a few times; can't really see what the fuss is all about."
"Step outside and hand over your wand." The man ordered as two other robed individuals stepped up, their wands trained on him.
"I have a better idea." Harry said as he stepped back. "Why don't you come in here and get me?"
The man audibly growled. "Break his arms and his legs, then drag him out by a foot and a hand."
The two men stepped forward into the room and jumped as the door slammed shut behind them.
Outside, the first man was banging on the door and yelling. He was surprised when the door opened on its own.
It was a good thing the man had his face hidden. He was deathly pale as he saw Harry sitting at his desk. In front of him were two pairs of severed hands. Stuck, spread-eagled to the wall were the robed men, naked and exposed.
"Next!" Harry called out sharply.
"You four! Get in there and kill him!"
The four men entered. The leader shoved his foot in the door.
*CRUNCH*
The scream was horrific. Blood poured from his boot.
His foot was still trapped in the firmly shut door.
Mercifully the door opened. The thirteen remaining Unspeakables were crowded around their leader and trying to free him.
Harry was still calmly sitting at his desk. "Here's the deal. You can willingly tell me everything you know or I will remove your hands and rip the knowledge from your minds."
"T-T-Together!" The leader stuttered through the pain. "Attack him tog-g-gether!"
They shared a look and charged.
Wands were out, spells were cast, magic flew from wands…
And Harry calmly sat there.
Eventually the men stopped as it was obvious they were ineffective.
"You know, just because we aren't in Britain, doesn't mean we aren't still British." Harry said conversationally. "I am the King of Britain. You are my subjects. Your magic is British. I'll give you a moment to figure it out."
"We still out number you." One of them sneered.
"Reducto." The calmly spoken spell hit the man in the head.
And then he was headless.
"If you want to live then I suggest you put your wands on the table and strip naked." Harry waved his wand at them meaningfully.
The others shared a look and dropped their wands. They knew that Potter was not only powerful, but fast. He could easily take them out without their magic.
"Oh Bulstrode. I am now furious. Before, I was merely annoyed. But now I have to tell your daughter, my friend, what you've done." Harry glared at the large man.
"Like you said, Potter. We're British. We can't harm you. Our allies though…" The man smirked, despite his fear.
"Congratulations Bulstrode, you have now made it so that I will be ripping whatever information I want from your minds." Harry smirked as he saw the other (now naked) men glare at their colleague.
Twenty minutes later and Harry knew everything they knew. They had approached the Americans with a deal. The Unspeakables would capture Harry, drain him of all his knowledge and study his connection to Britain's magic.
The American's could have the stargate as long as they ponied up the resources to capture Harry.
Of course, the Americans had demanded Harry as well, the British just needed him gone after all. But the British wiggles were not known for their honour and honesty.
So now Harry was stuck in his little room in a warehouse at a secret military installation in the Nevada desert.
At least he knew how they had breached Hogwarts' wards and transported him across the ocean so quickly. He was going to need to do a thorough search of the Department of Mysteries and research everything they had on Time. Apparently wards were ineffective if frozen in time. They had managed to use modified time turners to take themselves out of time so they could enter the grounds and kidnap him.
He checked his watch. He still wasn't able to make a connection to other watch wearers, and according to the memories, he only had five minutes before the time the Unspeakables agreed with the Americans, came to an end. Then they would come in and try and get him themselves.
That was the good news.
The bad news was that he wasn't their only captive. They had managed to snag Ganos as she was leaving after one of her visits. This did explain why she wasn't at the tournament today. Harry didn't feel so bad now about her not turning up to support him.
Harry looked at his watch and scowled. He took it off and turned it over. He placed his little finger on the metal casing and it vanished under his touch. A hidden compartment.
Filius and Nicholas had insisted that they let him put it there, it held something that he was still conflicted about: The Cloak of Invisibility.
The last of the Deathly Hallows and one of his few connections to his father.
He pulled it out and put it on, vanishing from sight. Having examined the cloak closely, Nicholas and Filius had removed all the charms that others had put on it. Albus had admitted to putting special tracking charms on it connected to him, just in case Harry decided to run off. Other charms had been added by one or two patriarchs of the Potter family; just so they could keep track of their little rapscallions when they played.
Harry put his watch back on and pushed the little knob on the side. Again, he placed his little finger on the glass face.
This activated a set of charms initially suggested by Dudley after his evaluation of the non-magical threat. It was expanded on by Filius and Terry's little club. His body temperature was now masked, all sound was stopped ten centimetres beyond his body. There were a multitude of charms and tricks on his watch that meant he was completely undetectable.
As he exited his room, which he hadn't actually left since he began the Third task, he came to a decision as to a course of action. Rescue Ganos… then send out the call for help.
He had considered doing it the other way around, but he didn't trust the Americans to try and scarper with Ganos when his friends attacked. He bypassed the soldiers who were waiting outside the large warehouse he had been transported to.
The military installation he found himself in was quite big. There were armed soldiers everywhere. He had yet to see any wizards. He performed a brief legilimancy scan of all the people he passed, so far none had any knowledge of himself, Ganos or magic.
Five minutes later and he wanted to kick himself. He already knew where to find people who knew what he needed. Back in the warehouse like building he had arrived in. He had been so eager to get Ganos and get out that he had rushed things.
He quickly made his way back.
"Where the hell is he? I want these idiots awake and blabbing five minutes ago!"
Harry stayed just outside the door to the warehouse, listening as an American in uniform barked orders angrily. Still, no wizards in sight.
There were quite a few soldiers and men and women in lab coats going over the strip of the building that Harry had arrived in. They were also wheeling out the Unspeakables.
There was suddenly screaming and shouting coming from the room. Soldiers and scientists came running out. The soldiers already outside pointed their weapons at the door to the room.
"It's a trap!" One of the male scientists said frantically. Following the last scientist out came a stream of white, angry, paper birds.
Harry had completely forgotten about the defences he had made to deal with his fellow champions. The ream of paper he had worked on was now in action at the perceived threat as he wasn't there to deal with it first.
Harry used the commotion to send a silencer, disillusionment charm and finally a stunner at the man barking orders. He then darted forward to where he knew the man was and apparated him onto the roof of his room.
Harry disillusioned the man and began to enter his mind.
The man was a colonel in the Air Force and a member of a group called the National Intelligence Division (NID). Apparently the magicals of America didn't have the same autonomy as those of the previous British magical government. They also weren't trusted and were 'encouraged' to stay within magical communities.
Magicals were often conscripted by secretive agencies such as the NID and CIA.
This particular colonel knew the location of Ganos and the holding rooms for the magicals.
Harry quickly transfigured the man into a tennis ball and pocketed him. He might come in handy later.
Finding Ganos was easy. Freeing her was simple.
Getting her to cooperate was not.
"I honestly don't know of any other way to get you past all these soldiers!"
"I am hundreds of millennia old, Harry! I will not be carted around as a bauble in your pocket!"
"Fine! You come up with a plan." Harry said exasperatedly.
They were standing in a cell, two unconscious guards on the floor inside and two outside.
"I will simply wait here." She sat down at the table in the room.
"They'll be sending guards to check on you soon. When they find you are unguarded they will move you."
"Then I suggest you work quickly to take down the wards keeping me from leaving."
Harry stared at her for a full five seconds.
Then he stunned her and transfigured her into a Barbie doll. He was feeling a little vindictive.
His next target was the magicals on the base. He needed to interrogate them and find out how to take down the wards.
Fortunately, getting to them and freeing them was easy as freeing Ganos.
Getting them to help was, again, another matter.
"These are shock collars boy." One of the older men said snappishly. "All they have to do is press a button and we will be writhing on the floor in pain. Press another button and the explosives detonate."
"Let me see."
"Are you stupid you idiot! The last time someone tampered with one of these they set it off and died. Adam lost his ear in the explosion." The pointed to a heavily scarred man in his early thirties.
"Fine, just tell me how to bring down the wards." Harry ordered.
"Absolutely not! You have no idea what sort of punishment they use on us!"
There were three women in the group. Harry didn't want to think about it.
He slumped in defeat. "Fine. I'll do it all myself."
"Just don't mention us when they capture you boy. We were behaving and don't want to suffer their tender mercies." He said snidely.
Harry just stomped off. He could understand their fear, but they didn't seem to realise what he had been through. Torture, persecution, death. Harry didn't really care if he died again. He already knew his family was waiting for him. But he would be damned if he would let anyone hurt his friends or himself again.
As far as Harry was concerned it was kill or be killed.
Before Harry left the area, he put up a few wards of his own to keep anyone from getting to them. He then found a nice quiet room which he then warded as well and pulled out Ganos and the colonel.
"You will pay for that, Harry." The Ascended being growled.
"You know, all the people who say that to me- actually, never mind. Here do you know how to use this?" He handed her a wand.
She grimaced. "To a degree."
"Good. How about this?" He handed her a pistol.
"Where did you get these?" She asked as she shook her head, refusing the object.
"All the guards I've knocked out." Harry shrugged as he put the weapon on the table in the corner. "Dud likes to watch action shows and movies. I don't mind them, but we both agree on one thing: The heroes are bloody idiots for knocking the guards out and then leaving their weapons there.
"I learnt that mistake in my fifth year." He grimaced.
"Well, why did you wake me up?" She asked.
"The wiggles in this country are oppressed. They are literally used by the government as they wish. They are also too afraid to help me or themselves. I need to know how to take down the wards and this idiot might know how. He should also know how to deactivate the lethal slave collars they are forced to wear." Harry said in disgust.
"Harry, the best way to deal with the wards is to leave them. Use your cloak and leave the base. Send a message for help. I will get the information we need from this creature." She looked at the unconscious man darkly.
"You sur-"
"I came to Earth to flee a war. I am more than capable." She ended the argument.
The second that Harry made it past the ward line of the base, the entirety of the United Kingdom and all her territories knew it. As a result, armies crossed the ocean and descended on the secret military base before Harry had a chance to send a message.
"Are you hurt? Who was it? It better not have been Downing Street." Daphne Greengrass and Severus Snape were the first two on the scene.
"How did you find me?" Harry asked, he was baffled.
"We are your slaves!" Daphne chastised him. "We are not just bound to you, we are bound to aid and serve you. Your health and safety is what determines our lives. You die, we die."
"WHAT!?"
"Yoshiko was right." Severus snorted in disbelief. "You honestly didn't know that."
"The Sorting Hat didn't say anything and neither did anyone else!" Harry said defensively. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. In his hand appeared Caledfwych.
"Will that even work outside of Britain?" Severus frowned at the sword.
"You ever read Lord of the Rings?" Harry grinned evilly. "Tolkien was a squib. He did a lot of research into Arthur and based a few things on them.
"Including the Grey Host." Harry closed his eyes and focused.
Daphne and Severus could feel it getting colder, the atmosphere was oppressive.
"Dementors!" Severus hissed.
They turned and saw a mist begin to form, it was dark and quickly obscured what was within and beyond. It grew larger until the entire military base was hidden from their view.
"Go forth and incapacitate everyone. Do not kill or touch their souls." Harry instructed the horde.
As one the army of Dementors turned and floated away.
"I take it they are worse than Oathbreakers?" Severus asked, swallowing hard.
"There is a graveyard on Azkaban's island." Harry calmly informed them without looking away from the departing menace. "There are no bodies."
"Where are we?" Daphne asked as she looked around the desert vista.
"America. The Unspeakables were working with them."
"We crossed an entire ocean?!" She asked in shock.
For the first time since he had summoned the Dementors he looked at them. "Yeeeaah… how'd you manage that?"
"Oh, I doubt it was anything we did." Severus gestured to himself and Daphne.
"I get blamed for everything."
As if to confirm that notion, Ember flamed in and immediately began berating him, flapping her wings around his head.
"Pack it in!" Harry cried as he tried to protect himself. "You can berate me later, just go and get Blinky and tell Amelia what happened. Make sure she invites Ragnok!"
Ember flew off a few feet and quite clearly blew an avian raspberry at him.
"Professor, I'm going to need some healing potions this evening." Daphne commented as Harry rubbed his sore head.
"I'll give them to you at the end of the week. No point in healing him tonight if others want a shot tomorrow."
"What is the casualty list?"
"At the moment we are looking at hundreds, possibly thousands if the muggles can't get their hospitals running again. At the beginning there was an onslaught of accidents as their cars shut down and crashed and other devices caused similar problems. The country was out for the entire forty minutes you were unavailable."
Harry growled angrily, his hands flexing to destroy something.
"It gets worse." Frank grimaced.
"How the fucking hell can it get worse?!"
"The muggles are blaming us."
*BANG*
The desk in the office they were in was now kindling.
"I want the Prime Minister, his opposition leader and the Queen in the dungeons of Hogwarts IMMEDIATELY!" Harry roared.
Ember began to sing worriedly.
Harry fell to the floor on his knees, his head cradled in his hands as fingers pressed into his scalp.
"Harry, you need to rest." Fleur said soothingly as she knelt next to him.
They were currently in the office of the base's commanding officer.
Frank had just informed him that the second he vanished the entire country had shut down. Magical and muggle devices had simply powered down.
Everything from magical portraits to life support systems.
They had only started up when Harry had called for Caledfwych.
"Ember, bring Jack O'Neill here. Now." Harry ordered quietly and firmly from his position on the floor.
The little bird sprang into the air and vanished. She reappeared seconds later with the Colonel in his dress uniform.
"What the hell?"
"Jack."
"Harry? What's the big idea? I was in the middle of a very important meeting! The planet has gone into a panic since the United Kingdom went dark."
"Oh, I am well aware of what has happened in England." Harry said darkly as he stood up, Fleur aiding him. "We are currently at Area 51 in the Nevada desert. I was kidnapped from my home and my connection to the land was broken. That is why my people suffered."
"The Air Force did this?" Jack asked in disbelief.
"Led by a group called the National Intelligence Division.
"Jack, I need to know if I can trust you… your word isn't going to be good enough." Harry informed him gravely.
"You're worried I was a part of this?"
"Ember likes you. Ganos does too. To me, that says a lot about your character. But I need first hand proof that you were not only not involved, but that you would never even consider doing something like this."
"You want to read my mind?" Jack grimaced at the thought.
"Colonel, your country has committed an act of war." Frank spoke up. "At this precise moment in time you are not our prisoner. The only reason this is the case is because individuals of good standing have vouched for your character.
"You are being offered the chance to prevent an all out blood bath on behalf of your government.
"Make no mistake: If you fail here, today; America will face the wrath of the United Kingdom."
"Look, you could read my mind, but I think you're mistaking me for someone higher up the chain of command. I'll be lucky if I'm not sent to a psych ward for bringing this up."
"Where you're going, they won't have a choice but to listen. Who you're going with will make sure they pay attention."
"FREEZE!"
"GET THE PRESIDENT OUT OF HERE!"
"GET ON YOUR KNEES! HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"
"Mister President, you are about to find yourself at war with Great Britain." A strained British voice sounded over the American voices barking orders.
"Stand down! That's an order." Came the voice of The President of the United States. "Would you care to explain yourself, Mister Prime Minister?" The man demanded. Considering you just invaded my office and threatened me, then; yes. I can easily imagine us being at war with you."
"Your people kidnapped a high ranking member of the royal family." The Prime Minister said calmly from his position on his knees.
"Rubb-"
"It was the NID, Sir." O'Neill spoke up quickly from his position on his own knees next to the Prime Minister. "They kidnapped a member of the Magical British Royal Family. The king."
"Where's the proof?" Another man in a suit challenged.
"Area 51. The King, King Harry, he escaped and… conquered the base."
"Colonel, are you telling me that there are foreign invaders occupying American home soil?" The President asked dangerously.
"My understanding is that they also killed most of the base personnel involved." Prime Minister Burns answered. "Also, I have been deemed expendable by the King. Which is why I was sent as the messenger. I have no value as a bargaining piece." He did not seem pleased with that.
"Why would the NID kidnap a foreign sovereign?" A woman in a suit asked in disbelief. "I can understand not informing the President for plausible deniability but… this is ridiculous."
"The NID made a deal with a rogue department of the British magical government." O'Neill explained. "They wanted the King gone as he was changing how things were. The NID wanted the King because he has access to this planet's primary stargate and has created his own portals and inter-galactic space craft."
"Mister President, I believe we can avoid war with the simple action of admitting that our two groups went rogue and acted without our knowledge." Burns was practically pleading. "My understanding of the 'king' is that he is into peace and cooperation. He holds discussions and meetings with the leaders of other races that live in his country.
"I doubt he wants war or conflict, he frequently states that all he wants to do is explore space."
"This king thinks he's Captain Kirk?" The President scoffed.
"Do you have something to add, Colonel?" The woman asked as she saw him stifle a smirk.
"Urm… Captain Kirk is an amateur compared to King Harry, Ma'am. Kirk was just a captain of a single ship. King Harry has a fleet of his ships, he created his own portal system, commands the magic of an entire country and, just to remind us all, he's king.
"Add onto that that he has about five girlfriends who share him and he isn't even sixteen yet… Kirk was a loser."
The President gestured to the Secret Service guards and they helped the two men up.
"He's just a kid?" The President asked carefully.
"I was told that his body is about fourteen." Burns answered. "But he claims that when he was seventeen his mind was sent back in time to his eleven-year-old body."
"Sounds like he's read too many comics." Scoffed an Army General.
"Fine, tell him I want to meet him." The President instructed them. "Here, tomorrow afternoon."
"He will never agree to that." Burns shook his head. "He said that if you wanted to talk then you could come to Nevada and they would talk on the base."
"I don't care who this kid thinks he is-"
"The sovereign king of a powerful nation who has just foiled an assassination attempt on himself by your people." Burns interrupted calmly.
That one actually stumped the President.
"Sir, His Majesty has no intention of harming you or incarcerating you." O'Neill spoke up. "He had me and my men in custody for days, he spent most of that time trying to find a way of returning us to America.
"He is tired and stressed. He has just survived a kidnapping and assassination attempt. He did kidnap me so he could send me to you, but he did it with good intentions."
"Kidnapping is still a crime, Colonel." The woman pointed out.
"And kidnapping and killing a foreign head of state is an act of war… Ma'am."
She decided to be quiet on that one.
"His Majesty is on a hair trigger. If he is stone-walled or even thinks he is being deceived, he'll pull that trigger and send his people against us."
"He'd throw away that many lives?" The General asked in disbelief.
"He has an army of magical creatures called 'goblins'." Burns explained. "They are eager for a war, he promised them a fight against the Goa'uld, but I doubt he would deny them this chance to fight."
"Also, Sir." O'Neill spoke up again. "King Harry has made it clear that he has no intention of creating unnecessary civilian casualties. He can use his ships to drop giant rocks on strategic enemy locations… from orbit."
"And that doesn't even begin to take into account his ability to transport weapons and troops." Burns continued. "You never did ask how we got here."
There was a pause.
"Well?" The President said impatiently.
"He sent us through one of his portals."
"You mean the stargate?" The woman asked.
"No, something he has created, Ma'am." O'Neill answered. "It doesn't require a partner on the other end, it just spits you out at the coordinates he enters."
"I trust you can see the tactical threat he poses?" Burns said pointedly.
"He could drop a nuke anywhere in the world!" The man said.
"He doesn't have a nuclear arsenal. From what we have been able to determine, he has no weapons of equivalent power. But it seems he doesn't need them."
"Wait, you're telling us that this… 'Boy King' has broken into one of our most top secret installations and taken over. That he now has access to some of our most powerful weapons and development prototypes and he has the ability to send them anywhere?" The President was getting angry and scared.
"No John." Burns addressed the President sternly. "I'm telling you that your people kidnapped the ruler of my people. They took him to Area 51 and underestimated him. In doing so they plunged my country into the stone age. Thousands have died and will die because of what you did.
"Millions may die if you don't act quickly to fix this."
President John Lancet turned to his senior advisors. "Tactical options?"
"The simplest would be a couple of high altitude stealth bombers making a run on the base." An Air Force General suggested. "We'd need deep penetration on the bombs though. The base goes down very far."
"That would kill all our people as well." The woman pointed out.
"Acceptable losses, Ma'am." The Army General shook his head. "If we go in by ground we will lose them and suffer additional losses from the liberation force."
"You are forgetting about his doors and ships!" Burns said angrily. "He can easily escape and then use the doors or ships in a retaliatory attack."
"Diplomatic options?" The President changed tracks.
"We could send an envoy to talk with him. Maybe offer trade or something as an apology." The man suggested.
"This kid is a magical." The woman sneered. "They can't be trusted and we certainly don't answer to them."
"Wait, you mean it's true?" Jack asked in shock. "The government really does segregate and make slaves of magicals?"
"It's a lot more complicated than that, Colonel. It is certainly not relevant to this situation." The President said dismissively.
No one noticed the meaningful look that the Prime Minister sent the Colonel.
"It doesn't matter if the boy is a wizard." The man spoke up. "He is a viable threat and we need to deal with it without putting the country at risk or going to war."
"God damned Brits." The woman muttered nastily. "This is what happens when you don't keep the freaks in line."
"Janet!"
"Sorry Mister President." She clearly didn't mean it.
"Bill, I want a full presidential entourage comprised of those cleared for magic and the stargate." The President addressed the man. "General, prepare a military assault squad. They will accompany us at a distance and intervene as necessary."
The General turned to the Prime Minister. "What will his response be to an armed escort?"
"He's not a fool, General." Burns shook his head. "He understands you have to take precautions, but make sure you don't do anything stupid or he will respond. Lethally."
Harry had been alerted to the approaching Presidential Convoy. He had issued his own deployment orders and took a small team to meet them.
Frank and Fleur had argued with him for half an hour in an attempt to convince him not to attend the meeting himself. He had told them to shut up or leave.
Reluctantly they both dropped the subject.
Frank and Fleur had insisted on being a part of the group meeting the President. Ragnok was another member along with Ember seated on Harry's shoulder.
The convoy pulled up, a military Humvee leading the way before peeling off to the side to allow the Presidential car to approach. The ten fully loaded Humvees behind it fanned out so they would have a clear line of fire.
The President stepped out, followed by the Prime Minister, the man and the woman from the Oval Office and Colonel Jack O'Neill.
The President was shocked when Colonel O'Neill stepped forward and removed his hat, rank and insignia and handed them to the President.
"'Liberty and justice for all.'" The Colonel said tightly before turning on the spot and marching towards the British contingent.
"Colonel! This is-"
"Save it Johnny." The group turned in shock to see that the Prime Minister had become a young woman with pink hair. "You can't blame the man. You pretty much told him that all that 'freedom' he's been fighting for, was only for certain people.
"I suggest you be very careful when you speak to His Majesty, he was not happy about the state of the magicals he found in the base."
The woman turned slightly and vanished, reappearing with a pop next to O'Neill who was now standing several feet behind the British group.
"You want to explain yourself?" Harry called out across the ten metres or so that separated them. "Kidnapping me? Trying to kill me? Conspiring with traitors?"
"None of this was done on our orders or with our knowledge." The President said firmly.
"Your people, your organisation, your equipment, your land, your responsibility." Harry retorted. "It was my country that suffered. My people that died. Me who was kidnapped and a victim of attempted murder.
"The question you need to answer is: 'Why shouldn't I invade America to prevent this from happening again?'"
"This was a one off incident. My office had nothing to do with it!"
"Really? Because when I tried to make contact with your government to get your soldiers back to you, I was ignored. When I did finally meet your ambassadors, they were insulting. To me, today seems like the end result of all your plans coming to a head."
"I can't control what all my people get up to. The way the girl told it, your people were involved too."
"Fair point." Harry allowed. "Doesn't change the fact that I am the victim. The damage caused to my country and people is astronomical.
"And we haven't even gotten to the part about how you treat magicals in this country."
The woman, Janet, clearly bristled at this. She was held in check by the man, Bill.
"How we run our country is none of your concern and not up for discussion." The President said with an air of finality.
"When you treat humans as second class citizens it is. America is supposed to be the land of the free. At the moment it looks more the land of the lies."
President Lancet was in a quandary. Whilst he knew his government carried a level of blame, as a politician he couldn't admit or accept that.
But he also needed them off the United States.
He needed to make a move. A bold move.
He stepped forward.
"Sir!"
Bill was silenced with a sharply raised hand. Lancet moved to a point half way between the two groups.
"Might I speak with Colonel O'Neill, briefly?"
Harry turned to look at the aforementioned Colonel and shrugged. "Up to you."
O'Neill frowned, thought about it, and then marched forward.
O'Neill stood very close to the President as the older man whispered quietly.
The President's entourage looked antsy, they didn't like their leader being so exposed. Harry's group didn't like having a bunch of guns pointed at them. Harry himself was unconcerned.
After ten very long minutes the President offered O'Neill his cap back along with the rank and insignia still sitting inside. O'Neill took it somewhat reluctantly and stood there patiently as the President turned and walked back to his people. Without a word he gestured that they were leaving.
The woman looked angry, but complied along with everyone else.
O'Neill stayed where he was until the President's convoy was out of sight.
"Sooo… ten minutes or he drops the nuke?"
O'Neill jumped at Harry's voice next to him. He quickly composed himself. "He appointed me a temporary liaison to Your Majesty." He said with a salute. "He asked that we vacate the premises as soon as possible. He said he wouldn't argue if you stripped the place to bedrock, but asked that you leave the paid personnel behind for him to press charges against.
"That's what he made me memorise at least. He also said that he would be arranging a state visit with the Prime Minister and hoped he would see you then."
Harry thought about that carefully. "Uncle Frank, get Dudley here. Bring whoever and whatever he requests. Tell him to take anything of interest to him or us.
"Then have the magicals transported straight to Poppy."
"Tonks, you do not leave his side." Frank ordered the young auror.
