Chapter 9: Q uncovers connections

Q worked his tablet, running data from the two cloned servers and generating lists of employees, cross-referencing for people in common, and noting matches. He input varied locations, then loaded those to a global map and blew it up into 3-D.

"Would you look at that?" he murmured, catching James' attention from where he was lazily channel surfing.

"Hmmm?"

"Just a hunch, but," Q tapped out a few more commands and a set of red lines overlay the already pulsing blue dots that represented known magically-influenced mundane companies. "Oh, dear."

James glanced over to the 3-D globe spinning magically in front of his partner. "What do you see that I don't?"

"All of these companies are on or near ley lines," Q huffed out a breath. "The magicals are trying to take over the world, one company at a time."

"Well, that's a leap, isn't it?" James asked reasonably.

"If it's a leap, it's a bloody educated one," Q snapped out, then paused, and ran a hand over his face. "Sorry. Didn't mean to snap at you. But they're tapping into the Earth's primary magical energy supply lines, or at least, they're gearing up to. They've also got someone installing HVAC systems that can release a targeted solution via air, and pharmaceutical companies that are-oh look!-selling common magical potions as solutions to common mundane illnesses and conditions, such as weight loss."

James stood, walked over to Q, and rubbed his shoulders. "What can we do to stop it?" he asked quietly, trying to redirect him.

Q breathed out, sharply, and leaned into the touch. "We have to find the leader, or leaders, and take them out, dismantle the network."

"Do we have any leads on that?"

"Hussein shows up on Parvati's list. So does Claire, here. Actually, Claire shows up on several lists, so I'm going to go ahead and hypothesize that she's one leader." Q closed his eyes briefly. "A concentrated network of what some still call muggle born, trying to take over the non-magical world. I think we need to look at their magical schooling. England was not kind to the muggleborn during my schooling, what with a Dark Lord and all, and hordes left." He sat straight up. "I need to cross-reference these folks against Hogwarts class rolls. And I need to talk to Hermione."

"Claire is clearly not British, Q," James pointed out. "Speech patterns aside, she's Aussie."

"As Hussein is of Middle Eastern descent," Q nodded, "but Parvati, who provided us the intel, is both Indian and British, and attended Hogwarts. And if there was a conspiracy of the brightest of the muggleborns, why is Hermione not a part of it? And would she be aware of it?"

"Good questions," James acknowledged. "So, line it up."

"Well, we continue our shmoozing of Prescott and Claire," Q said reasonably. "If she's one of the leaders, we need to confirm that, and try to get the names of the others out of her. We need to continue gathering intel from the other companies. And I need to talk to Hermione, see if she's ever been approached by someone."

James looked at his watch. "We have an hour to kill before we have to get ready for our second meet."

"You do," Q agreed. "I'll start by calling Hermione." His tablet beeped, and Q looked at the message, from Severus. "Ah, Severus identified the potion. It was a Veritaserum derivative, as we suspected, but with a susceptibility kicker. Meant to make us honest and open to suggestion. Interesting. Don't drink the tea today, dear."

"Of course not, darling."

Q grinned up at him. "Feel free to act susceptible, though. I love being able to use PDA."

James laughed.

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M raised an eyebrow at Kingsley Shacklebolt. "You're serious?"

Kingsley nodded tersely. "If Q doesn't make a public appearance soon, the British magicals will likely revolt in some fashion."

"That's patently ridiculous," M scoffed. "He's one man!"

"The Savior of the Wizarding World," Kingsley intoned, emphasizing each word. "Think royalty. Though he hardly acknowledges it, the public has decided it has a right to know, everything. You need to call him back."

"And he needs to be saving the wizarding world, again," M said firmly. "He's on mission, and early reports so far show that there's some sort of conspiracy, born among magicals raised in non-magical homes, to take over the world. It's in its mid-stages, from what we can tell, so if we can find the leaders, we can knock it out. But it's slow going because of our lack of magically trained operatives."

Kingsley regarded him intently. "Origins?"

"Not Britain. At least not that we can see, though British nationals are involved," M confirmed. "If you want to help, find me more operatives I can use."

"There I might be able to help you," Shacklebolt said. He drew out the specially modified tablet Q had given him, and tapped the screen. "There. Files for the upcoming class of Aurors in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Take a look. See if there's any you'd like to try to recruit. The ones I've highlighted are born of non-magical families, or have one non-magical parent."

"Thank you," M said, scrolling through the list. "I'll take a look."

Kingsley hesitated. "And please, M, if you can manage it. The wizarding world is whipping itself into a frenzy over needing to see Q, in some fashion. If you can release him, even for a day, just to make a statement …"

M sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

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"This is utterly ridiculous," Hermione Granger-Weasley muttered, reading over The Daily Prophet. "What do they think Harry's going to do? Shower chocolates on a crowd in Diagon Alley?"

"Be a talking point, wouldn't it?" Ron commented, feeding Hugo a bit more dinner. "What's it saying now?"

"Oh, rubbish about conspiracies, and new rumours about him being ill with spattergoit or studying in Tibet with the monks," Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Why are they so frantic for news of him? Didn't that nugget of his being bonded settle them?"

Ron reached over and poured Rosie a bit more milk. "More like opened the floodgates. He'd been quiet for years, but now that there's a bit of news, they all want more. Reminds me of fourth year, a bit."

Hermione got a familiar, lightning-bolt expression on her face. "What if it's a campaign?"

"Come again?"

"Oh, you remember, Ron, how Rita Skeeter made that effort to make Harry look demented, fifth year? How it was a ministry conspiracy, really, with cooperation from the Prophet?"

"Yeees," Ron drawled out, suddenly seeing where this was going, and not liking it at all.

"What if someone IS trying draw Harry out? What if their whole point is to get him in public for some reason?"

"What reason could they possibly have?" Ron asked, thinking hard.

"Nothing good; that's certain," Hermione said firmly. "I need to talk to Harry."

"He's on mission, out of the country," Ron told her. "I've got his number, but I'm not sure when he'd be free. Shall I text him?"

Hermione smiled at her husband. "I love it when you do non-magical things competently."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Turns you on, does it?"

She laughed at him. "Absolutely. I think we conceived Hugo the night you surprised me with movies on DVD."

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MATE-CALL MIONE WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE-RW

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"Well, if that's not a case of great minds thinking alike…" Q trailed off, looking at the phone in his hand. He dialed up Ron's number.

"Hello?" Ron answered.

"It's me, Ron. I need to talk to Mione, too," Q said.

"Passing the phone …" Q heard rustling, then Hermione came on.

"Harry, the papers are all demanding you show yourself, and I think it's a conspiracy to get you to show yourself, which means you really need to keep your head down, or find out why someone really wants you show yourself," Hermione spit out breathlessly.

Q blinked. "Ooookaay. Not what I was going to say, but, fine. Thanks, Hermione. Keep an ear on that, would you?"

"Absolutely. And you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, did you ever get approached by other muggleborn about trying to take over the world?"

"Happens at least once a year," she answered promptly. "This year's applicant was Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was looking into magical solutions for stock market picks. I turned him down, and reminded him that the International Statute of Secrecy precluded him from using magical means in non-magical arenas."

"Anything long term? Any approaches seem more aggressive than others?"

Hermione thought. "Not really. I'm the deputy head of the DMLE; the only ones who really approach me knew me before I graduated Hogwarts."

"Like Justin."

"Like Justin," she agreed. "What this about, then?"

"Just, we've uncovered what looks like a global conspiracy by magicals to take over the non-magical world, and its leaders appear to be muggleborn," Q disclosed. "If I were leading such a conspiracy, I would want Britain's best-known muggleborn witch to help me out."

Silence.

"Hermione?" Q asked tentatively.

"Just thinking, Harry," she said quietly. "Let me reflect on that and get back to you. There was a lot of talk, just after the war, but I dismissed it as just that. Talk. You know. 'If the purebloods can do it, why can't we, and we're so much better because we'd rule not just the wizarding world, but everybody ...' It was sort of standard pub stuff at the time, but I was busy. And uninterested. I just didn't think anything would come of it."

"If any names come to you, do let me know, won't you?" Q asked. "And Hermione, don't stress about it. Just let it come to you, and text me if you think of anything."

"I can do that," she affirmed. "Meanwhile, I'll also keep an eye on who's campaigning for you to make a public appearance. I can't help but think there's a reason for that."

Q shrugged. "Guess we'll see." He cleared his throat. "Thanks, Hermione."

"No problem," Hermione said. "Love you, Harry. Stay safe."

"Will do, Mum," he teased her. And hung up.

James, who was watching Q's face, said, "Problem?"

"Maybe." Q set his phone down, then moved to the couch where James was sitting and straddled his lap. "Hermione thinks the current Harry Potter feeding frenzy in Britain is being fed by someone. Or something. As a means to get me to make a public appearance for some reason."

"Related?" James asked, stroking his hands up and down Q's back.

"Possibly." Q thought about it. "It's common knowledge that my mother was born of non-magical parents. Do you suppose our conspirators want to get my attention?"

"One step at a time, Q," James advised, then pulled him down for a soft kiss. "One step at a time."

They kissed softly for a few minutes, then Q drew back and sighed. "We need to get ready for the next meet."

"We do," James agreed.

They rose and dressed, before heading out into the bright Australian sunshine.

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Claire Engles was put out.

Quite put out, as a matter of fact.

Two gorgeous men, both on a potion to make them amenable to suggestion-and they only wanted each other?

A waste, in her opinion.

It was such fun playing with the muggles, she thought, conveniently forgetting about her own roots. A potion there, a spell here, and she could make them do anything she'd like.

Except, apparently, flirt with her when they only wanted to flirt with each other.

She pouted.

Perhaps she needed to kick things up a notch? Claire thought about that. Perhaps get a little hair from one of them? Maybe add it to a love potion?

That blond was hot, but the brunette? Well, he was utterly gorgeous.

Something from the potion number 9 collection?

Claire giggled. It was all such fun! Magic made life so much more interesting. So much more fulfilling.

So much more profitable.