Chapter 31
Harry had done a lot for magical Britain. He had defeated Riddle as a baby, as an eleven year old, as a twelve year old, as a fourteen year old, a fifteen-
He'd done it a lot.
And then he'd been thrown back to his first day of Hogwarts only to be expected to do it all again.
This time he dealt with Riddle within two months. He had outed Lockhart as a fraud and helped his victims. He had freed Sirius. He had succeeded in breaking down the barriers between the classes.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Magical Britain was the most advanced country on the planet.
Amelia knew what Harry had done, what he had sacrificed. She wanted him to be able to achieve his dream of exploring space. Aurora Sinastra had cornered her in her office at the Ministry and ranted at her for twenty minutes about the injustice this was against her favourite pupil.
Amelia needed help.
"Colonel, can you tell me why you were picked for going through the stargate?"
Jack O'Neill had been surprised to find the Minister of Magic knocking on the door of his quarters at Hogwarts. Harry rarely came by and that was just to make sure he was ok. He was feeling a bit lost at the minute as he waited for instructions from Washington. Of course, what he did about those instructions was another matter.
But now Amelia Bones was here and asking questions he really didn't want to think about.
"I have a file that is filled with pieces of paper that have been blacked out." He saw she didn't understand. "I've done a lot of missions that are highly classified."
She shook her head. "You were chosen to go through the stargate. What is it about you that made them pick you out of all the other soldiers? Are you simply that good? Wouldn't the President have been more upset about losing you?"
Jack sighed. "I am good. A good leader and a good soldier. When I was recruited for the mission I was told that it had a high probability of being a one-way trip. You know about the bomb we took?"
Amelia nodded slowly.
"My job was to ensure it went off."
"So you would be trapped on the other side." She nodded in understanding.
"No… I… About a year before they called me, my son died. He was just a boy who managed to get his hands on my gun and… "
"A suicide mission?!" She was shocked.
Jack just shrugged. "I had my gun to my head when they came. I just figured that this way I could do some good with my death."
Amelia sat back in disbelief. "More and more I doubt the sanity of the American government. You would be the last person I sent on a suicide mission. You would be completely unreliable!"
"Yeah… but it wasn't like I was in the mood to be logical." He gave a self-deprecating smile.
"And now? Do you still feel…"
"Suicidal?" He finished for her. He knew this would be as uncomfortable for her as it was for him. "No. I think I found my life back on Abydos when I met Skaara and the other kids." He said fondly.
"If you truly want to, I believe His Majesty could arrange to have you assigned as an ambassador of sorts to the Abydonians." She offered.
He shook his head. "I'm a soldier, Ma'am. I lost my son. I just want to make sure others can enjoy their time with their kids."
"I understand." She saw a hint of doubt. "I am the guardian of my niece. She is fifteen and her parents were murdered when she was a baby, just like the King's. I had to raise her, just myself and our house elf."
Jack maintained a relatively neutral expression regarding elves. He was a little jaded after the revelations over how America treated magicals.
"Why are you so interested in my selection for the stargate mission?" Jack asked curiously.
Harry had been fairly glum for a day or so. He had just found out that the world was so big and interesting, but he had to stay in his room.
The girls had spent a fair amount of time with him trying to cheer him up. Harry was conflicted as he was developing some very strong feelings for all of them.
In the end it was Gabrielle that cheered him up. The little girl had insisted that he show her his country.
Of course, growing up in a cupboard meant he knew very little about the land he lived in. So together the pair went around to various places of importance, a journey of discovery.
"Are you going to marry Fleur?"
Harry looked between the little girl and the amused elder couple that passed by as the pair sat on a bench next to the river Thames. They were right next to Cleopatra's Needle and there was a man in his early twenties sitting cross-legged whilst he played the didgeridoo.
"Gabby, I'm fourteen. I think I can put off that decision for a few years."
"You're fifteen."
"No it's- oh… heh." Harry chuckled. "Missed my own birthday. Nothing new though. Still, fifteen is a little young for marriage."
She looked at him intently. Scrutinising him as though looking for a tell or lie. Then she just harrumphed. "If you don't want to marry Fleur, you can marry me."
"Aw, but I like having you as my baby sister." Harry pouted.
The man with the diggery-doo choked… he had to take a few deep breaths and begin again.
"You can't be my brother until you marry my sister." Gabby said firmly. "Then we will be brother and sister."
"Oh? So that's what I have to do to keep you? Marry your sister?" Harry asked teasingly.
"Uh huh!" She turned to him excitedly. "You are the king, so Fleur gets to be a queen and that makes me… a princess!" She grinned happily.
The diggery-doo seemed to have something stuck in it judging by the choking.
"Well, if Fleur and I decide to get married later, I promise to make an official decree that makes you my little princess." Harry might have appeared to be teasing, but he was already thinking of doing it if he and Fleur did stay together.
"Will I be allowed to live in your castle with you?" She asked hopefully.
"You don't want to stay with your mum and dad? You will be spending most of the year at school so you won't get to the see them."
The little eight (going on nine) year old had a look of deep thought. Then the lightbulb clearly went off. "I can go to Hogwarts." She smiled. "Then I can stay with you during school and mummy and daddy during the summer."
Harry just laughed. "You've got a good two years before we need to decide on schools. How about we go and decide on food instead?"
"Ok." She chirped as she hopped to her feet.
Harry stood and pulled out his wallet to retrieve some money before handing it to Gabby with instructions.
Alex had needed to take a break after nearly choking on his own didgeridoo. That conversation he had overheard was worth every penny he had spent to travel from Australia to England.
He was surprised when the little girl suddenly skipped towards him.
"Harry says you can have this. He said he is sorry we nearly killed you." She recited. She dropped several fivers in his upturned hat and looked at him worriedly. "You should go to the hospital to make sure you don't die." And with that, she turned and skipped off towards the young lad she was clearly accompanied by.
Alex watched the girl grasp the boy's hand as the boy himself sent Alex a wink. At least the Brits weren't as stuffy as he was told.
"Desmond!"
"Harry!"
"Shirley!"
"Harry!"
"Porkpie!"
"Harry!"
"Matthew, good to see you again sir."
The career student was once again the focus of laughter in the out of the way barbershop in South East London. He sat there pouting.
"Come on, Matty. You know you wouldn't have joined in proper like." Harry nudged the grumpy man.
"Math-ew." He enunciated. "It is a strong name." He said proudly. "It means-"
"Gift of God!" Came the chorus and laughter.
"You tell us tha same ting every time Harry comes here!" Porkpie laughed.
"Enough about Matthew." Shirley bustled between Harry and the two seated gents. "I want to meet this gorgeous angel."
"Everyone, this is my good friend, Gabrielle Delacour." Harry wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Gabby, this Desmond, Shirley, Porkpie and Matthew. Des is a barber, Shirl is a hairdresser, Matty is a student and Porkie is-"
"You mind what you say there." Porkpie interrupted quickly. Harry enjoyed a good banter with the gang and always gave as good as he got.
"Porkpie is a man of leisure."
Porkpie sat up straighter and puffed his chest out. "'Man of leisure'. I like that." He smiled. He then whispered loudly to Desmond; "What's it mean?"
"You're a lazy layabout who has nothing better to do than mooch off the time of honest hard working people like us." Desmond retorted.
Porkpie went back to grumpy pouting.
"Shirley, I was hoping to have you give Gabby one of your famous hair washes." Harry turned to the older woman.
She frowned at Harry. "Gabrielle is a beautiful name. Use it young man!" She admonished. "Miss Gabrielle's hair is beautiful." She smiled kindly at the clearly shy girl. "I couldn't touch that, I would hate to damage it."
"Meh." Gabrielle squeaked as Harry picked her up and deposited her in Shirley's special chair. "Anything goes wrong and her mum and sister are experts at this sort of thing."
"Then why you bring her here?" Porkpie asked, Matthew didn't understand either.
"Because no one gives a scalp massage like Shirley."
"Are you sure she's ok?"
"Shirley, this is just proof that you are amazing." Harry said quietly. In his arms was completely relaxed little girl who was fast asleep. "The only problem is that she might have trouble getting back to sleep tonight due to the near coma she is in now." He said wryly.
Gabrielle was being cradled high in Harry's arms, her legs dangling over his left arm and her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder.
"She's so beautiful." Shirley said with a sappy smile.
"Just like her mum and sister. Something about those genes." Harry chuckled.
"You should get her home. Don't want her mama worrying." Desmond said in a croaky whisper.
Harry tried not laugh at the awestruck way the three men were staring at the little veela. It had nothing to do with her heritage, she simply looked like a beautiful sleeping child.
"I'll see you all later. Hopefully I can get Gabby back as well."
He ignored Shirley's look of distaste. She firmly believed that a beautiful little girl like this deserved to have her beautiful name used.
Harry exchanged goodbyes with the gang and headed outside. It was early afternoon so the sun was still bright and people still traversed the streets. He got a lot of fond smiles for the sleeping beauty in his arms.
He eventually reached a small alley he knew of where he called for Ember to bring them home. He wasn't going to wake his little friend with apparition.
"Jack!"
"Your Majesty."
"If you weren't messing around by calling me that I'd kick your butt." Harry grumbled as he ushered the Colonel into his quarters. "So, what's up?"
"I had a visit from a concerned citizen. They wanted to know why I was picked to go through the stargate." Jack said as he took a seat on the sofa.
"I haven't asked anyone to interrogate you." Harry frowned from his armchair. "If I want to know something I'll just ask you myself."
"Not an interrogation. It was Prime Minister Bones. I think she's feeling guilty about stopping you from exploring through the gate."
"It's not the stargate she's worried about." Harry sighed. "You remember the chaos that occurred in Britain when I was kidnapped? If I am ever contained like that again… we'll have a repeat of the event.
"God knows what will happen if I get killed."
"What about old age?" Jack asked curiously. "Hell, what if you had a stroke, heart attack or caught a deadly disease?"
"I have absolutely no idea. And Ganos hasn't been by recently so I can't ask her. Can't really blame her after she got kidnapped as well."
"What about other countries?" Jack suggested. "Maybe they have a similar situation and will know how to handle it."
Harry sat forward quickly. Jack had his complete attention. "You have an idea about who to speak to?"
"I've known about magic for over a month." Jack snorted. "My idea is based on the Native Americans. They were supposed to be very in tune with the earth, maybe they had magicals or can help you."
"Sounds like something Albie would know."
Jack smothered a smirk. It was amusing to see the fourteen-year-old treat the venerable old man like he did. "In the meantime, you might not be able to go off world personally, but, I've seen you recreate a lot of non-magical things with magic… why not try recreating the MALP? It was controlled remotely and designed to interact with the world."
Jack had never seen someone move so fast. Not fighters, dancers or over confident men spotting beautiful women in a bar.
It was almost like he had been seated one moment and then standing out in the corridor the next.
"Welcome to the King's Line."
"Is this made of glass?"
"Please hold your questions till the end of the tour."
"No, seriously, is this made of glass? I'm not boarding if it is."
"Jack, you've seen what magic can do. With the right charms this whole damned thing could be made out of paper and survive re-entry."
They were standing at Hogsmede Station. The only train that magicals used, and hence, the only train to arrive at the station, was the Hogwarts Express.
It was missing. In its place was a long, hard, glistening-
"It looks like a giant glass Toblerone."
"Do you want stay at Hogwarts and not be one of the first to board the royal international ship?" Harry glared at the American soldier.
It wasn't exactly like a Toblerone, it had three sides, but the edges were all rounded, much like the London Underground tube trains.
It appeared to be made of red and gold stained glass. It had no wheels and just seemed to float next to the platform, the tracks, still there for the Hogwarts Express.
Jack turned slightly to Amelia, who would be joining them for the inaugural journey. "Does your world have travel insurance?"
The King's Line was not just an expensive looking ride between Hogsmede and London. It didn't even travel the same route.
It certainly didn't stay on the ground.
It flew through the air like one of Harry's ships, it made stops at every major city and even a few out of the way places where it was difficult for parents to reach a place like Glasgow, Manchester, London or Belfast.
It was completely invisible of course.
The problem for Jack O'Neill was that it was invisible from the outside and in. It was like he was flying through the air on nothing whilst surrounded by chairs, tables and other people.
"You look very uncomfortable."
Jack looked up to see the youngest of the Hogwarts' professors smiling at him, Professor Aurora Sinastra. He only knew her name, he knew everyone's names by now.
"I- err – I was just wondering if this thing had bathrooms… and if they had invisible walls."
Jack smiled as she laughed.
"I would not put it past Harry to forget something as basic as that. I also wouldn't put it past him to have filled this creation with pranks." She scowled in the direction of the sovereign ruler.
"There aren't any signs though. How are they supposed to see the walls and not smash their faces into them?" He asked curiously.
"Now that is something Harry probably did think about." She assured him. She suddenly looked a bit bashful. "Colonel, I was wondering if you could tell me about some of the work that went into your stargate program?"
Jack breathed out deeply as he figured out how to respond. "I can't tell you much… I can't even tell His Majesty some of the classified stuff."
"Oh no, I don't care about the technology, per se, I'm more interested in what methods of searching you used to find your destination, what celestial cartography."
"Oh, well, I didn't really get a good look at that side of things." Jack scratched his head. "I was more involved in the tactical side of things. Risk assessment and the like.
"You're interested in astronomy then?" He asked curiously.
She gave him a smirk. "I should hope so. Seeing as I am the Astronomy Professor."
Jack nearly blushed. "Sorry, I don't know what everyone does."
"I'm one of the people who worked on Harry's first ship. I also deciphered the symbols that Ganos gave us that led to Atlantis."
"I didn't even know Astronomy was a course."
"Magical education is very different to non-magical education." Aurora nodded. "Harry has ordered changes to the courses though. This year, for the first time ever, Hogwarts will require students to take lessons in science, mathematics and basic English."
"What about history, geography, the arts?"
"Our history professor has already started covering both sides of history. Harry has asked me to think about incorporating geography into my lessons along with the history professors. The most I can do though is teach them about how the stars are different in each part of the world."
"What sort of telescopes do you have? What's the range, are they magical?" Astronomy was something he actually enjoyed.
"It used to be that we used unmodified brass telescopes. Harry took an interest in my subject and we now use new telescopes based on non-magical variants and heavily enchanted.
"You should join me in the Astronomy tower later. I'll show you Atlantis."
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Harry cried out happily to the seated and sorted students. "For those of you just starting, this will all be different for you. For those who are rejoining us… this will all be different for you.
"Yes, let's start at the top. I convinced Albus Dumbledore to step down as Headmaster and begin teaching a brand new subject. Alchemy will now be available as a third year option."
Mutterings of excitement ran through the students.
"Minerva McGonagall now holds the position of Headmistress. She will still teach transfiguration but she is the head of the school. Incidentally, Professor Dumbledore is also the Head of Gryffindor now.
"Pomona Sprout is our new Deputy Head.
"Those are the important staff changes. Now, the real changes: non-magical courses are now mandatory. Less time has been allotted for magical courses. To make sure that you are getting your magical practise, you are allowed to use magic anywhere in the school for practical reasons.
"For instance. Fifth through seventh years, you will notice from now on that you will no longer be provided with a knife and fork. You will need to conjure your own.
"Second through fourth years are provided a simple block of wood that you will need to transfigure.
"First years, you aren't expected to worry about anything like that, but you must study and practise if you want to eat with cutlery after your first year."
The new batch of midgets looked greatly relieved.
"The rest of you, if you can't manage conjuration of transfiguration as required then you will be able to ask for extra help from prefects and professors. You can also ask your friends to do it for you until can do it yourself.
"You will find all sorts of things in the castle that will require you to think and use your magic to live here. Hogwarts is a living being, she won't give you tests and tasks that are beyond your ability." He assured them.
"Now, these non-magical courses. Science, maths, English, they will not be held here. Hogwarts now owns a nice modern building in Vauxhall, London. You will not be allowed to use magic there, but you will have your wands. You will rely on non-magical equipment.
"For those of you in your last year, you may want to think about university. The King's University is located down in Dover. You have access to the English Channel, the White Cliffs, and a short apparition to France, provided you have permission to cross the borders.
"At the university you can learn advanced versions of standard magical subjects. We will eventually provide non-magical courses but for now we simply enrol you in a decent university.
"These changes are being put in place so you can easily exist in either the wiggle world or the muggle world." He smiled as some of the new first years giggled at his terminology. "But remember, magic is still a secret from the non-magical world. You cannot perform magic outside of your homes or magical areas like Hogwarts, Hogsmede or Diagon Alley."
It was one of the laws that Harry had had Amelia enact immediately. All homes that housed a witch or wizard were given an exemption from the underage sorcery laws. The purebloods had gotten in a snit about it. But Harry had demanded equality and threatened to make it illegal for wands to be used anywhere except Hogwarts, Hogsmede, Diagon Alley or other designated areas.
They acquiesced pretty quick.
