Disclaimer: I own nothing; Harry Potter and the elements of his universe all belong to J.K.Rowling. Firefly/Serenity and the elements of its universe all belong to Joss Whedon. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – Magical Discussions
Harry asked Inara and Zoe to come up to the front with him. He saw the tired congregation of people and announced, "I come bearing gifts."
"I like the sound of that," Jayne grinned.
Harry smiled and explained, "I know you all didn't have to come with me. Well except maybe Antonio, he didn't give me much choice."
"You didn't give me any choice," Antonio insisted.
"Fine," Harry rolled his eyes. "Well now I'm giving you something else. I know the magical world hasn't exactly sat well with some of you. Mocking my freakishness is one thing, but I don't think any of us expected to be riding back with a poltergeist, an immortal bird of fire, and a goblin."
"Actually I did," River jumped in.
"You know you don't count," Harry retorted. "And you know you're lying."
"I am not," River pouted.
"You're doing it again," Harry argued.
"Harry," Simon snapped well aware how long those two could carry on for if left unattended. "Can we get to the point?"
"Right," Harry concurred, looking chagrined. "The point is I got you all something extremely useful and magical that shouldn't freak you out. I thought you might all appreciate having your own invisibility cloaks."
"Oh you didn't have to do that," Kaylee assured him accepting her silvery cloak from him. "But thanks!"
"Thank you Harry," Inara said, sending a frown towards Mal. "But you don't have to give us anything."
"I want to," Harry explained, making sure everyone had a cloak. "They're not getting any use sitting in storage, taking up space in the goblin village, and they're one of the few magical things that will be useful for muggles."
Digdug had taken the cloak and was throwing it over his tiny goblin frame, noticing his was smaller than the others. "Harry, you know that any gifts I receive are the property of the family."
Harry shrugged. "Okay. If it makes you feel better this cloak is officially assigned for your use then. I don't think we're ready to announce the existence of goblins to muggles just yet, so you're probably going to need to be hiding under your cloak anytime we're in public."
"I had to hide for a while," River said with a nod. "It's not so bad."
Digdug just looked at River curiously.
"Come to think of it this invisibility cloak would have been real useful then," River commented slipping hers over her head.
"I appreciate the gesture, Harry," Mal said as one of the few currently visible people. "And don't think the meaning is lost on us."
Harry sighed and commented, "I'm not giving you these so that you might be more accepting or understanding of the magical world. I'm not trying to buy your loyalty or friendship. I'm not trying to make you all honorary wizards since there don't seem to be any others left."
"Relax Harry," Mal forced a smile. "Like I said, I appreciate the gesture."
Harry nodded and said, "I was hoping to pick a few folks' brains here but first, Captain? You mind if we have a word?"
"I'm not Captain of this boat," Mal pointed out as he nodded and headed back towards the engine room.
"You all feel free to start brainstorming on where you think wizards might be." Harry said before turning around to follow Mal. "We'll be back in a second."
Harry figured they were out of earshot of everyone but Peeves and Frank. "Something the matter, Mal?"
"What's up, Harry?" Mal answered. "You're the one who wanted to talk to me."
"Alright," Harry admitted honestly. "I'm guessing you want to talk about your feelings about as much as I do, so why don't I take a crack at it and see if you can't stop pissing off the rest of the crew so often."
Mal figured staying quiet would be easier than arguing right now.
Harry was impressed Mal chose silence as he was half-expecting him to get insolent and defensive. "You weren't too keen on coming on this trip in the first place. I'd wager Zoe or Inara played the friendship card, the guilt card, maybe even the camaraderie of the Unification War card, right?"
Mal just raised an eyebrow making no effort to deny any of Harry's assumptions.
"You reluctantly come along, because you don't want to be left behind and I hope I'm not stretching too far here, but also because deep down you do consider me a friend." Harry held up a hand to stop Mal. "Not that you should have to help friends, or that friends would be in the right even asking you to come. Nevertheless, you're a partially willing accomplice in a major larceny from the very people you'd much rather never deal with or even think about."
Mal would have to admit Harry was very astute.
"And then on this trip, you're playing second fiddle to my lead, a position you're not terribly comfortable with because everyone here is following me on my risky and unnecessary pipe dream. We nearly crash and get stranded. But worst of all it's a situation in which you're pretty much helpless and have to rely on me, the source of your frustration. We follow that up with some magical discoveries of phoenixes and Fawkes, who's come back with us. Then we locate the entire goblin nation living in my vault, and they aren't particularly known for their kindness and gratitude."
"I got no problems with the goblins," Mal insisted. "Be nice if we could do business with people that direct and simple."
Harry inclined his head in agreement, thinking that was a pretty good idea. "Now, we're on our way back towards Serenity, and I've gotten a bunch more clues as it seems my hunt for the wizarding world may be heating up. Am I right so far?"
"I think you may be pushing the drama a bit much," Mal replied with a grin. "But I don't disagree."
"Now here's where you're the one pushing the drama too much," Harry retorted with a grin. "You've been making all kinds of assumptions about what I'm doing and where I'm going once we get back. Let me make a few things clearer that you seem to have forgotten." Harry smiled. "I'm Harry, a pilot you hired. I'm not the Captain of your boat. I've got no right to tell you where we should go or what jobs we should take. I'm not a threat to steal your crew from you. In case you missed it, you all coming on this trip was a favor to me. And I'd like to think, I've been grateful for your assistance. I'd also like to think, I've not done anything to give you the impression that I'm going to ditch you all after you do me a favor."
"I get it," Mal jumped in. "It's nothing intentional on your part, but that don't mean it ain't happening."
"Captain," Harry continued. "The point I'm getting at is that the only problem here is with you. You've assembled a hell of a crew here and I think it's a group I fit in right well with. But a lot of this tension is coming from your own arrogance. No one belongs to you. If it comes down to you being unable to work with me, which I don't think it will, then it's not my fault or your fault if River or anyone else wants to head off in the direction I'm headed."
Mal sighed and shook his head. "I know I don't own my crew. But the fact is I'm just looking to do a job here and there. Make enough money to keep in the sky and not have to worry about the Alliance hunting me down. And those plans don't exactly mesh too well with the direction you need to be going."
"I need to be going?" Harry repeated. "Why would I need to be going anywhere?"
"You need to figure out what happened to the wizarding world," Mal argued. "You need to locate a place for your goblins to safely live. You got a ship that's come to life, and a poltergeist haunting it. And I don't even wanna know what you plan on leaving the Alliance when we get back."
"I'll admit I've picked up a few unexpected strays that require some attention," Harry admitted. "But my needs about figuring out what's happened and what's going on haven't changed. I've been working on these things for over two years now. Whether I start on that right when we get back or I put it off for a few weeks or months or even years won't matter much. The goblins have existed on their own for centuries and will continue to. It's not like I'm in a hurry here."
"You're not the sort to put this off for too long," Mal replied. "You know you're too curious to sit back and hop around the rim with us."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe I'm not the sort, but you don't seem to realize I'd rather stay with my friends for a while longer than ditch them all, or worse, leave the Captain who gave me a shot, hanging after all his crew heads off to help me locate the wizarding world. Especially when he went out of his way on an 'unnecessary risk' he wanted no part of."
"Really?" Mal said curiously having apparently not considered this.
"Yes, really," Harry smiled at him. "We both know I've got things I could or maybe even should be doing. But I figure we do things your way, give you your dose of normalcy and eventually that part of you that calls me a friend, will get bored. And decide you want to help me figure out what's going on."
Mal grumbled feeling backed into a corner again.
"But until that time," Harry grinned. "I'm still your pilot with a lot of baggage unless you're booting me."
"I ain't booting ya," Mal retorted.
"Lovely," Harry interrupted. "Then try to stop thinking I'm against you here. You're annoying everyone else with your moping. And we got a couple more weeks to share on this tiny ship."
Mal frowned and sighed. "You look too young to make this much sense, Harry."
Harry waved him off. "It's just a façade. Come on, I've got a bunch of intelligent minds here and I'd like to see where you all think the wizarding world might be hiding."
"They might not be hiding, you know."
"Yeah, I know," Harry said and turned to leave the engine room. "But if that's the case then I want to know where, when, why, and how."
Mal nodded and hesitated to follow Harry at first. He had a bit more emotion on his face than usual as he admitted, "Thanks Harry."
Harry understood what he was being thanked for and snapped off a salute. "No problem, Captain. Now I think that's enough honesty and emotion for now. Or Luna over there is going to tell us to hug it out."
"Let's go," Mal said with a roll of his eyes heading right back up to the front.
"Just a second the man says," Simon sarcastically announced as Harry and Mal got back up towards the front.
"You know how Mal gets once he opens up," Harry said shaking his head.
"No," Jayne said furrowing his brow. "I don't."
"The funny man was making a funny, Jayne," Mal frowned.
"Everyone up for a little theorizing?" Harry asked.
"I was thinking of laying down for a bit Harry," Kaylee said regretfully. "I doubt I'd be much good to you."
Harry nodded. "Feel up to doing both?"
"Hmm?" Kaylee asked curiously.
Harry grabbed a hold of Kaylee's hand and hit her with an inversion hex. Kaylee yelped as she suddenly fell upwards towards the ceiling of the small ship. A cushioning charm was cast on the ceiling and Harry let Kaylee fall the rest of the way.
"Oooo," she cooed. "Oh that is nice."
Harry grinned. "There aren't enough good seats here and I was hoping to get input from everyone. So who else wants to relax on the ceiling?"
Jayne and River both seemed to race each other to raise their hands. Harry hit them both with the same inversions and they fell upwards, smacking into the ceiling as if it were a giant pillow.
"Do me!" Inara called raising her hand next.
"If I hafta-"
"Shut it, Jayne!" Mal snapped while Harry sent the hex at the Companion.
Harry turned his wand towards himself and smoothly flipped his body as he fell upwards, moving directly over Antonio. "Alright, there are enough chairs for everyone now. So quick recap of what we know. Magic was doing just fine on Earth. We managed to cock up the planet beyond salvation. Millions of wizards most likely left the planet, some of them hidden among the muggles on their ships. I've located a handful of magical artifacts indicating they probably arrived. The genetic indication of a wizard says that River, Simon, Antonio, and I should all be magical. Not just carrying the recessive gene, but actually magical."
"Isn't that an aberration?" Simon interrupted. "Not counting you, three of the eight people here have the dominant magical gene? I thought it was more uncommon than that."
Harry nodded. "I'm pretty sure it is, but you three all make sense. River's got magical gifts, so if anyone, you'd expect her. You're her brother and it is genetic, so that's not terribly surprising. And Antonio is the most direct descendent of the Weasley family so he's expected as well. We're not exactly a representative percentage here."
Simon nodded in agreement.
"Now," Harry continued. "Since I've been awake, I've been searching for signs of people. I've had Mr. Universe monitoring all reports of unexplainable phenomena, people exhibiting unusual talents, creatures or animals, anything he can find."
"You remembered," Frank jumped in, reminding them all he was a part of the conversation.
"Yes Frank," Harry replied. "I'm going to humor your digital intelligence's ego and refer it to it as Mr. Universe like I said."
"Thank you," Frank answered. "Took you long enough."
"Anyways," Harry ignored him. "There hasn't been much in the way of promising leads. No mentions of accidental magic in children, Reavers are the closest thing to an inexplicable mutation and those seem to be the result of the Alliance playing God. Readers on the other hand seem to be publicly accepted in spite of their unusual and for all intents and purposes magical abilities. There were a couple of odd cases reported, but nothing that sends off all the warning bells. And even those stories turned out unsubstantiated or simply hushed up by the time I got there."
"You think the Alliance is keeping magic under wraps and controlled?" Zoe asked.
Harry shook his head. "I kinda doubt it, because they had no idea how to deal with me. They didn't even believe I was magical but they couldn't explain my existence. The company men who sent the Operative after River and were nutty enough to wake me are the exact sort who would make sure to know about magic, if anyone in the Alliance would. I'm guessing."
"But you don't know, right?" River clarified.
Harry shook his head. "Nope, I don't know. Now, here are the newest little tidbits we have: the goblins chose to stay on Earth in spite of its deteriorating conditions because their magic and life is tied into the planet. Mankind's life is obviously not. My magic is internal as I have exhausted it numerous times, and replenished my own reserves. I've never heard any indication our magic was tied into the planet. But we certainly can't rule it out because the idea of leaving the planet was ludicrous when I began my nap."
"Do we know anything more about the wizards' intentions when they left the planet?" Antonio inquired.
"I'm glad you asked that," Harry grinned down at him. "Because I just found out from Ripruck that when the goblins were approached about leaving the planet, they were told that the wizards had every intention of building a magical side to Londinium. At a minimum a large alley, like Diagon Alley used to be to London, complete with wizarding homes, businesses, and they were hoping for a Gringotts branch to continue running the wizarding economy."
"Didn't you check out Londinium?" River asked.
Harry nodded. "That's part of what worries me. I spent four months just looking around that planet for anything. I searched everywhere. I used meditation to focus on all things magical and rode all of the slowest forms of public transportation. Every slight tingle I investigated. I was locating signals as small as a single wand, from practically miles away. Something as big as a magical alley, I know for a fact I would have sensed. Even hidden with magic, the magic it takes to hide that much magic would have been noticeable."
"You're sure?" Simon clarified. "There's not new magic that could have been developed to hide the alley better than the methods you're familiar with?"
Harry shook his head. "I doubt it. The whole point of keeping wizards near muggles is for interaction purposes from people dealing in both worlds. If they didn't want to be a part of muggles, they'd not be in the same locations as muggles. But if they were planning an alley there, then they did want the interaction, in which case they would be trying to make themselves noticeable to wizards but not muggles."
"You think perhaps the wizards have separated themselves completely from the muggles?" Digdug asked.
Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't think so, because first, so many wizards probably don't even realize how much they rely on muggles for them to easily survive completely independent of the muggles. And second if there was a significant change in attitude, I would think it would be towards embracing muggles more than distancing themselves."
"Things change," Mal pointed out. "People most of all."
Harry sighed and nodded. "True. So let's pretend for a moment that the wizards have completely separated. When, how, where, and why would they do that?"
"On the ride over," Inara said. "They may have intended to build that alley, but something happened during the sixty years it took to reach this side of the verse."
"What happened?" Harry inquired.
Inara bit her lip. "Maybe the magical world was exposed?"
Harry shook his head. "There'd be more muggles who knew about it or records of it."
"Maybe the wizards erased the evidence to protect themselves?" Kaylee suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Harry admitted. "But muggleborn wizards and witches used to happen all the time. And they'd need a way to locate them and then what… snatch away the magical babies?"
"Could they turn them not magical?" Jayne asked.
Harry considered it. "I find it unlikely. Not to mention that would require them monitoring the muggles, of which I think I would've located them by now. Or they would have located me."
"What do you mean?" Antonio asked.
"I mean," Harry explained. "I went to the top of the Witten building in the heart of Sihnon and flared my magic to its limits. Did the same a few places in Londinium, but the Witten building was the highest up. If the wizards were watching, I'm certain I would've been spotted."
"Maybe they just don't like you," Simon offered.
Harry rolled his eyes and grinned cheekily. "I'm all for suspension of disbelief on some crazy possibilities but not liking me is simply beyond the abilities of even magic. Now I like what you guys are saying. I've ruled some of these things out on my own, so it's good that I need to revisit some of your ideas. What else are you thinking?"
"They could have been killed," Jayne pointed out.
"Yes," Harry agreed. "But I need a bit more than that."
"I meant for why they'd leave," Jayne added. "Maybe the muggles created a science-like way to target them. Bio-weapons that attack magic and stuff."
"That…" Harry frowned and considered. "I really don't know enough about science to say that that's impossible, but they'd have to study wizards and magic quite a bit to pull that one off. I'd think there'd be records somewhere on it. Nor am I inclined to believe magic would die that easily."
"Maybe they cured it," Simon suggested.
Harry shook his head. "That's another thing. If the evil government conspiracy or muggles managed to unravel as much about magic as it would take to actually target it with bio-weapons, then they'd be working on how to make more people magical, not less. Any wizard or witch will tell you magic makes them feel whole and if muggles could have it, they'd want it too."
"If they can't have something," Mal suggested. "Wouldn't they be inclined to not allow anyone else to?"
"No," Harry explained. "All signs so far indicate the opposite, like I said. River here, for example. They've not been hunting and killing readers. And when a prodigy reader showed up, they cracked her head open and experimented on her. They'd be keeping wizards in labs and studying them, although I doubt they easily could hold them. And someone would've said something, recorded something, or known something about it."
"We know there are people willing to go to extremes to try and supposedly make people better," Antonio added, thinking of the Pax. "I find it hard to believe wizards and witches would escape their notice if there had ever been a government conspiracy to attack wizards or kill them."
"Exactly," Harry nodded. "Which is why, as waking me demonstrated we can assume the Alliance knows nothing of the wizarding world."
"So it's either hidden beyond anyone's reach?" Kaylee clarified. "Or… gone?"
Harry sighed and nodded silently.
"Are you ready to talk about the most likely and obvious answer?" River asked looking over at Harry.
"Not just yet," Harry answered. "I'd like to hear any other wild ideas you may have."
Jayne was tapping his chin in thought. "Maybe the entire wizarding world was shrunk down to a tiny marble hidden in secret chamber?"
"Interesting," Harry commented. "But highly unlikely. Wizards are very egotistical and full of themselves."
Frank began to cough, holding in his laughter.
"I'm glad I amuse you, Frank," Harry interrupted and continued. "Wizards are a lot more likely to shrink the entire muggle worlds, as too many magical folk believe themselves superior. I mean look at the goblins. The wizards would probably choose death over demeaning themselves, because they're that self-assured. And considering we've been to Earth-That-Was and traveled in space, we know the muggle worlds haven't been shrunken."
"Unless they shrunk the original planet too," Jayne pointed out. "And we're in some giant snow globe ant farm thing."
"Not sure we can do anything about it, if that's the case," Harry replied considering that matter a topic of discussion for another time. "Anyone else?"
"No one?" Harry said looking around. He took a deep breath and nodded at River. "Alright, I've been avoiding this possibility long enough. Why don't you share with the class?"
River saw she was on the spot and explained. "When you look at what's changed from Harry's pre-naptime to now, the most significant change is the planet. Given what the goblins have said and all evidence so far, it seems to point towards the idea that magic is tied into the planet in some form or another."
"So how does he use magic and get more?" Kaylee asked.
River shrugged. "It could be anything, but the most likely explanation is that the magic is in him."
"Then it's not tied to Earth?" Jayne asked in confusion.
River shook her head. "It is, but it's tied into the development of the human body. Our bodies go through numerous physical changes during childhood, with the majority of the extreme changes coming in adolescence culminating in maturity. O ur brains, organs, muscles, and bones all grow. I'd have to assume our ability to do magic does as well. Maybe there's a magic muscle that sucks in the ambient magic, or a gland that grows and juices. I'm guessing whatever it is that powers the internal magic, is only found on the original planet. Given what we know of Hogwarts, it makes sense that during the ages of 11 to 17, or when our bodies are physically changing the most, the wizards would go to a school where they work those muscles frequently, and directly over that magical hotspot zone."
Harry nodded, "Children have accidental magic, but they're simply not prepared to begin a magical education before the age of ten or so. Not really sure why, but it fits."
"What he said," River agreed. "And theoretically that's why being in a magical location and using lots of magic during your formative years, is where a grown wizard or witch gets their magic. Once you're an adult, your internal magic is set pretty much, aside from the evil dark rituals Harry refuses to tell me about."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Explaining why Harry has his normal magic," River continued. "Why he can use it at will, and it regenerates. And it also would indicate that the children coming over on the ship may have never really gained their internal magic. Perhaps those in their early teens with unfinished educations were still magical just significantly weaker than their parents. And certainly all future children from that point on didn't have any internal magic as they weren't ever on the planet. Because from the looks of things," River pointed towards Antonio and Simon, "we are what remain of the wizarding world. And we can't do magic."
"Are you sure?" Antonio asked. "I mean since we did go to the original planet, maybe something activated or triggered inside us."
"I felt Harry's wand," River said ignoring Jayne's snickers, "when we were in the vault and a couple of times since. It's just a stick. No sparks, no response, because I was hoping for the same thing. I'm the youngest and while it is possible I've not fully developed and could still 'get' magic, I doubt it. Even if I am having a delayed puberty."
"Excuse me?" Antonio asked.
"Long story," River frowned. "But mainly the people, who messed me up, really messed me up."
Harry nodded and sighed. "I doubt you could, too. And this particular theory is supported by the fact that I've only found old artifacts, nothing newer than the exodus. The last generation with magic just had to watch their lives continue without it, probably with a lot of them ashamed of their non-magical offspring. And the secret of the wizarding world died out, literally. Descendents boxing up or throwing away things they don't understand, eventually not believing their grandparents' tales of a world of magic and no one passing the knowledge on to their own kids."
"So it's just you left?" Kaylee said channeling some of Harry's sadness.
Harry shrugged. "That's more and more what it looks like, but I'm not completely convinced."
"Wouldn't there be some record of the ride over? Journals? Information? Maybe exposing the wizarding world and trying to save it?" Antonio asked, feeling as if he was suddenly missing out on something that should have been his by birthright.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "If they knew they were the last, I doubt they'd want the muggles to know. They still had families and muggle life to get used to. That might have even made them more resolute about keeping the secret."
"Could they have turned back around while in flight?" Zoe suggested, "They could have made it to somewhere else or got lost."
Harry sighed. "It's possible, but I doubt they'd survive. More than likely they'd continue the exodus, hope or assume it was the spaceships keeping the children non-magical, and then give themselves a decade or two on the new planets, before they'd finally accept that they weren't getting any magic-capable wizards or witches. By that point the only magical people left would all be nearly a hundred and accustomed to living as a muggle."
"So what now?" Zoe questioned "Can you fashion some sort of magical hyperbolic chamber for kids to sleep in?"
Harry shrugged. "Wouldn't have the first clue where to start with that or whether it would work. But it's not a bad idea."
"Wouldn't it be easier," Jayne suggested, "for you and River to mix up your baby batters, stick the thing in your vault, and set the timer? See if you can brew up a wizard?"
River bit her lip to keep herself from verbally pointing out that it might be worth a shot and waited for her brother to explode angrily.
Harry turned to Simon expectantly.
Simon just shook his head. "I know how you feel about siring an heir in the near future, so stop looking at me like that."
Harry chuckled. "Right, but we do have a doorway to the original planet now, so the possibility exists of creating a magical daycare facility or something of the sort. How impossible would terraforming Earth-That-Was be?"
"Impossible," Frank answered right away. "For terraforming, it's easiest when the planet's temperature is too low, and then they increase it until the known forms of life can flourish and survive. When it's too high, unless it's real close, it's simply not worth the trouble."
"But it is possible, right?" Harry clarified.
"Well…" Frank paused. "I'm not entirely sure. If the temperature is higher than the boiling point of water, I'm not certain how they'd go about cooling the planet down. But even still, with a high temperature, it takes nearly a year for every degree you need to bring the temperature down. So even if it somehow is possible, we're still probably talking about centuries before it'd be ready."
"Bugger," Harry swore.
"And the cost would be beyond astronomical," Frank added. "Like several planets' worth of resources at a minimum."
"Fine, so impossible for now," Harry added. "You really think that's what happened to wizards, River?"
She just nodded sadly.
"Simon? Antonio? Everyone else?"
"It makes sense," Simon agreed while the others all nodded and shrugged. "And for what it's worth, at least then you're not going through anything the rest of the wizarding world didn't already go through shortly after leaving the planet."
"Simon!" Kaylee scolded.
"What?" Simon said looking straight up at his girlfriend. "I'm just letting him know that he's not alone in- well I mean of course he's alone, but that-"
"I get it, Doc. I'm not sure what it's worth, and it's a pretty wretched sentiment. But I know what you're trying to say," Harry chuckled as he canceled the inversion hex on himself.
"Is that what you think happened, Harry?" Inara asked sadly, seeing Harry was about to leave the front of the ship.
Harry scratched his head and thought about it. "Yeah, I guess it is the most likely scenario. It's not what I'm hoping happened, but it does make sense. And if it that is what happened, it makes the old Boy-Who-Lived nickname just plain eerie."
"Boy-Who-Lived?" Jayne asked. "You still get called that?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, kids over a century younger than me still referred to me as a boy on occasion. But the point I was making is that even if I am the last, this ain't the first time the future of the wizarding world rested on my shoulders."
Right on cue, Fawkes flew towards the front of the ship and landed on Harry's shoulder, his inky black eyes twinkling merrily.
"Oh so you're the future of the wizarding world, is that it?" Harry said smiling at the curious bird.
Fawkes shook his head and began to sing a pleasant song, bobbing his head back and forth. The sadness people had been feeling seemed to give way to the idea that hope remained. They were reminded that even this was only one possible theory and it too may not be right at all.
"Thank you, Fawkes," Harry said scratching the chirping bird under the chin, thinking the phoenix's sense of timing was about the best around. Harry turned to the others, "I'm still looking for more answers and clues. Not to mention a place for the goblins. This was just sort of figuring out where I am, while letting you all know where I stand on this too. I appreciate all your suggestions, and am going to consider a few ideas I'd not thought about in a while."
"Actually, Harry," Frank jumped in. "I think I may have a promising lead for you."
"You just now came up with something?" Harry asked curiously.
"Not exactly," Frank explained. "It was what you said, about how the goblins mentioned Londinium as the future home of the planned magical alley before the wizards left. And it turned up some interesting things specifically Londinium wasn't the first planet, that was Alpha."
"That's right," Simon and Antonio both said at the same time.
River nodded, "You were already planning to check out Jersey, remember? John Dough and the pensieve?"
Harry realized this did sound like a suddenly promising lead, but smiled at Mal indicating it was definitely Mal's call when they got back to Serenity.
Frank continued. "Londinium was the original name of the first American colonized planet, right around the same time as Sihnon, but most of the people lived their entire lives on ships. Quite a few of them were unable to adapt to life on the surface and had extreme agoraphobic reactions after failing to adjust to open spaces. Many instances of space dementia-"
"Space dementia?" Simon interrupted. "That's like a six-year-old's playground myth. There's no such thing."
"I'm with you, Simon," Frank continued. "It's in the records as space dementia though, and I'm a ship, not a psychologist. The point is there were many instances of sabotage and terrorism, such that the capital was moved off the first planet. It was only about fifty years after people had first settled that the terraformed planet on the other side of Sihnon was christened the new Londinium, and they renamed the original planet Alpha. The largest concentration of government housing on Alpha is still called Jersey, in reference to the American state which was also the old, dirtier, next door neighbor that civilized folk don't like to talk about."
"Now that I did not know," Harry smiled hopefully. "I think we may need to check that place out once we get an opportunity. Of course only if we're in the neighborhood some time after Mal's had a touch of peace and quiet."
Mal frowned having some doubts about the purity of Harry's intentions, putting him on the spot with all the rest of the crew. His peace and quiet was looking further and further away.
"Jayne!" Inara complained wiping her arm. "Stop spitting on yourself. You're hitting me."
"It falls up!" Jayne commented. "This is so weird."
"I wondered how long it would take before he discovered that," Harry admitted with a smile. He summoned Jayne towards him and canceled the inversion hex, slowly lowering him to the ground.
"Aww," Jayne pouted.
Harry did the same to Kaylee and smiled. "I think Kaylee's ready to get some sleep, and who knows when those inversion hexes might fail sending you all crashing to the ground."
Harry brought Inara down and seemed to be contemplating leaving River where she was. "How're your catlike reflexes?"
"Catlike," River answered daring Harry to cancel the charm and let her fall.
"Good," Harry grinned. "Let me know how long the hex lasts." He turned and walked away rubbing Fawkes' head, ignoring River's calls for help.
Harry laid down on one of the inset beds and leaned on his side while Fawkes waddled his way in front of him. Harry was biting his tongue at how funny the phoenix looked but had a feel Fawkes knew Harry found it amusing and didn't care.
"I'm not all that's left of magic, right Fawkes," Harry said, looking the bird in the eye.
Fawkes looked happy and nodded his head affirmatively.
"You know that for a fact?"
Fawkes leaned back, affronted that Harry doubted him.
Harry chuckled when Fawkes puffed up proudly and hit his head on the low ceiling of the stacked inset bunk beds.
"Of course, I'm not forgetting you," Harry said appeasing the curious bird. He began to pet and soothe the phoenix not particularly wishing to be burned. "I meant I'm not all that's left of magical wizards."
Fawkes looked up and caught Harry's eye. Harry jerked at the feeling of a foreign influence in his head. He felt warmth in his body and looked at Fawkes. "That was you, right?"
Fawkes nodded and seemed to wonder who else it would have been.
"What the hell was that?" Harry said curiously. "It wasn't Legilimency."
Fawkes caught Harry's eye again, and Harry felt a wave of embarrassment pass through him. Harry felt bad for a moment, before he caught on to the idea that he wasn't the one feeling embarrassed. Harry looked at Fawkes who was practically smirking, "Are you embarrassed?"
Fawkes looked right in Harry's eyes. Harry relaxed his Occlumens shield and tried to allow the bird full access to communicate with him. He was rewarded by the exact same feeling of embarrassment he'd received when his shield had been up.
"You're making me feel those emotions, aren't you?" Harry snapped suddenly catching on that neither of them were naturally feeling that way. Harry stared at Fawkes, hoping for an answer, which he received in the form of a sheepish feeling of stupidity.
"You're a regular comedian," Harry rolled his eyes. "How was I supposed to know you could trigger emotions?"
Fawkes sat there until Harry dared to look the phoenix in the eye again, and he suddenly felt a wave of loneliness.
"You're lonely?" Harry asked in confusion.
Fawkes jumped up and pecked the top of Harry's head. Harry backed away from Fawkes and was trying to figure out the phoenix when he felt stupid again. Harry finally caught on that the bird was pointing out how vast and empty his head must be considering how little he knew of phoenixes.
Harry rolled his eyes and asked, "So you can control people's emotions? Or at least give them to people?"
A sense of belonging and home hit Harry, and he added, "If you trust the person and they trust you?"
Fawkes nodded, his eyes twinkling merrily, as he reinforced the feeling of loyalty.
"I suppose that makes sense," Harry mused aloud. "Considering the way your song can effect people and lift their spirits or scare away the evil folks, you would have a method of communicating through emotions." Harry suddenly felt extremely smart and he was smiling proudly at having figured this all out. He snapped a glare at the snickering bird and realized just why he had felt so smart. Harry growled before sarcastically asking, "So you're what drove Albus crazy, huh?"
Expecting an indignant squawk or the need to defend himself from a peck on the head, Harry was a bit worried when the only response he received was a strong sense of foreboding.
Harry sat there watching the bird and feeling slight little emotions, uncertain whether they were his own or the work of the mischievous phoenix. Harry was reminded of Dumbledore's sixth sense when it came to danger and realized it was probably the work of the eccentric creature in front of him. His slight feeling of success and understanding at picking up on that fact made Harry wonder once more if that was his own emotion or not.
Harry was just staring at Fawkes wondering why he wasn't getting any strong emotions or attempts at communication but Harry realized he hadn't said anything in a while either. Harry was still trying to tell a difference between phoenix manufactured emotions and true ones that he may have felt on his own when he caught on to what Fawkes was trying to demonstrate. Those feelings and emotions, particularly warnings of danger or feelings of amusement made no difference where they came from. If the trust and loyalty between Harry and Fawkes was as strong as he figured, then it doesn't matter. They would both feel the same thing, looking out for the well-being or needs of the other.
Harry's face split into a smile as he felt elation at the understanding. He saw Fawkes looked equally pleased and apparently could tell Harry reached his little epiphany. Harry also finally understood why those misunderstood claims of bonding or special 'familiar' powers were so humorous to phoenixes. It was simply the trust and understanding of a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. Harry's sense of accomplishment was overwhelmed by an embarrassing feeling of idiocy.
"Oh very funny," Harry snapped at the bird though his eyes betrayed his amusement. Harry suddenly realized exactly why Albus was always in such a happy mood, not to mention slightly insane. Harry looked over and saw Fawkes was burrowing down, having tired himself out sending Harry so many emotions. Harry couldn't shake that foreboding feeling again.
Harry was carefully watching the bird begin to doze off when he felt a strong sense of carnal desire. Before he could attempt to decipher it, Harry was forcefully pulled by his hair up off the bed. Harry yelped in pain, while Fawkes continued to snooze happily.
"Catlike reflexes too quick for you?" River said with a grin, as she had apparently climbed from the ceiling down the bunks.
A wave of Harry's hand and River crashed the last couple of feet to the floor landing particularly ungracefully. She grunted out as she rolled and tried to make it look like she meant to do that, while Harry rubbed his head. "Did you have to yank so hard?"
"No," River replied. "At least I don't think so."
Harry just watched River turn around and walk away having apparently accomplished all she came to do. Though considering how he'd left her, even Harry had to admit he probably deserved that. He was contemplating kicking the phoenix off the bed for sending him that feeling of lust just before he was attacked, when he felt a serene, calming sense of innocence. Harry had a pretty good idea where that feeling came from, but still let Fawkes be and sat back, returning to his musings on the fate of the wizarding world.
River was in a much better mood having righted herself according to the ship's gravitational fields and having gotten to yank a certain wizard's hair with an excessive amount of force. Right now she was looking forward to having a chat with a certain portrait.
River heard strange sounds coming from the engine room and peeked in.
"Rucka rucka rucka!" Peeves was spinning his tiny arms floating in front of the portrait of Luna.
"Wucka wucka wucka!" Luna was insisting back as she flapped her arms.
"Rucka rucka rucka!" Peeves argued.
"You're not getting it!" the painting pouted and stamped her foot. "Not rucka! Wucka!" Luna noticed River looking and stopped. "Oh hello."
"Am I interrupting?" River cautiously inquired.
"Wivva?" Peeves asked.
Luna huffed at the poltergeist. "Of course now you lose the R."
Peeves stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at Luna. He flew off to hide inside his hyperdrive home.
"Yes, you were interrupting," Luna turned to River and answered. "But that's okay."
"I'm sorry," River said excusing herself. "I didn't mean to disturb you."
Luna looked at her oddly. "Well then why did you come back here?"
"I wanted to talk to you," River answered honestly.
"And you were hoping to do that without disturbing me?" Luna clarified. "Because if you wanted to talk to me without disturbing me, you should probably do it somewhere I can't hear you."
River realized Luna took things very literally.
"Or I suppose you could simply schedule a meeting," Luna continued. "But if all you want is to talk to me, I'm free right now."
"I'm not disturbing you?"
Luna shrugged. "Believe it or not, a lot of times, I like being disturbed."
"I believe it," River nodded. "I'm the same way, no matter what my brother might think."
"So what would you like to talk about?" Luna asked sitting down Indian style on the floor in front of her couch.
River copied the painting's movements and say down cross-legged in front of the portrait. "Anything you want to."
Luna shrugged. "I'm a painting. I don't want much."
River frowned uncertain where to begin. "Can you tell me about Harry? Or you? I'd like to know more about both of you."
"Oh sure," Luna smiled. "Let's see, my name is Luna. I was born in Ottery St. Catchpole. My mother died when I was nine. I went to Hogwarts. I was in Ravenclaw a year behind Harry, who was in Gryffindor."
River raised her hand and interrupted, "I read your biography of Harry, so I know most of those highlights. And Harry's told me some."
"You probably know more than I do then," Luna admitted with a shrug. "I don't remember much. So what has Harry told you?"
River leaned back and thought about it. "Well, when I was in Harry's head, he showed me how he organizes his mind, so I sort of got to see the house you two shared."
"You were in his head?" Luna asked curiously.
River nodded. "He's been teaching me Occlumency and Legilimency."
"Are you a witch?"
River shook her head negatively. "I don't have any magic, but I am a reader."
"You know he likes you," Luna stated.
River looked away, damning her inexplicable, pubescent responses.
"He seems so much lonelier than I ever remember him being." Luna inquired with a tilt of her head. "Would you like to seduce him?"
River turned to look at the painting in horror. The idea that the woman Harry loved more than anything, was trying to pimp him out, scared River more than she thought possible. She opened her mouth without any clue what to say when the opportunity was taken from her.
"Yes, she would," Inara answered with a grin as she walked back into the engine room.
"Very much so," Kaylee agreed following behind her.
"The idea has merit," Zoe nodded as she joined into the conversation.
"No," River argued upset that she was being ganged up on, but grateful it was only the women. "No it doesn't!"
"Are you going to lie to us?" Inara asked her. "And pretend you don't want to seduce him?"
"Yes!" River snapped before she realized the word that came out of her mouth wasn't the one she intended. "As in yes that I'm gonna lie… I mean no! Oh chur ni-duh."
"You should be happy, River," Zoe grinned. "You're practically a normal teenager."
"I'm not even a teenager!"
"Don't worry," Luna added. "I think we can still slut you up enough for Harry."
River looked on in shock at how calmly the painting said these things.
Kaylee smiled and reasoned, "If not because both you and Harry have needs you refuse to meet, then at least think about the future of the wizarding world. And the goblins."
"I'm not sure thinking about the goblins will be right for the mood," Inara said with a grimace.
"You'd be surprised," Luna commented. She saw a number of disbelieving looks shot her way and explained, "You could role play with Urg the Unclean and the uprising in his pants. Or you could play dirty galleon-shiny knut, tickle my sickle, Griphook and don't let go, three-hole monte-"
"Stop it!" River interrupted growing redder with every suggestion. "Please."
"Have we moved past denial?" Inara asked with a grin.
"No! Thank you very much," River retorted. "I'm setting up camp in denial and we shall never leave here. I like Harry as a friend. I'm not going to make him uncomfortable by acting on my temporary hormonal urges or the advice of a meddling bunch of gossips. He's hopelessly in love with you," River snarled pointing straight at the portrait. "And he's made it quite clear he has zero intentions of ever moving on. My delayed puberty will pass as will any unpleasant thoughts you all try to implant into my head. It's just a matter of time before my emotions and hormones stabilize."
Zoe helpfully added, "Or until Harry stabilizes you to the wall."
River closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She focused on her mental exercises and banished the images from her mind. "I have too much respect for Harry to continue this ridiculous conversation any longer."
"Who said anything about respect?" Luna asked curiously. "I was only talking about sex."
River stood up to leave, not willing to listen to another word, when a different voice spoke up surprising her.
"Rivva?" Peeves asked as he floated out from his hyperdrive.
River stopped and turned to the worried hopeful voice of the poltergeist.
Peeves suddenly broke into a bright smile and was thrusting his pelvis out shouting, "Wucka wucka wucka!"
The last sound River heard as she stormed away in frustration was the portrait of Luna squealing and clapping. "You got it Peeves! That was perfect!"