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-NINE – Things Get Hairier

"Gorram Harry," Jayne said looking up at the large sculpture. "You freaks are huge!"

"It's not the people in the statue," Harry explained. "It's coating the surface." Harry reached over and grabbed River's arm just as she was about to brush her fingers on a hotspot. "Don't touch it!"

Mal pulled his hand back. "We're kinda attracting a crowd here, guys."

Harry looked and saw they were a few people who were watching them curiously. "Why don't we get that lunch and make a plan?"

"You don't want to…" Inara stopped and gestured towards the statue.

Harry shook his head. "Not right now. There's a bit too much attention at the moment to do this." Harry looked up. "Fawkes?"

"He's here with me," Digdug whispered standing invisibly next to Harry.

The group managed to get a large booth right in front of the window and left extra room for the invisible Digdug. Once the order was taken, Harry cast a few mild charms, hiding the content of their conversation and diverting attention away from them.

"Alright," Harry began. "Keep your voice down and no one will notice what we're talking about." Harry turned to River, "Sorry I snapped at you, but my version of the spell is easily undone if you know people are there and your intent is to wake them. You carry the magic gene, so I think if you'd intended to, you could've started spilling naked people on to the ground."

"So what's the plan?" Jayne asked. "We stealing a giant statue?"

Harry looked out the window. "I'm not sure it'd be worth the effort."

"Huh?" Jayne asked. "You're just gonna leave 'em?"

Harry shook his head, examining the outside surroundings and people. "Nope. I think we should come back real late tonight. I'll ward us some privacy and we'll wake 'em up in a more controlled environment."

"Is that a good idea?" Inara asked. "Waking them up?"

Harry scratched his chin. "I don't know."

"What don't you know?" River replied.

Harry sighed and sat quietly while their food was placed in front of them. Inara pushed her plate a little closer towards Digdug, considering it was for him and Fawkes. Once the waiter walked away, Harry explained. "I don't know who that is or why they're in a stasis."

"They ain't like you?" Mal asked.

"See that spell I made," Harry said with a frown. "I usually just make my spells simply and inefficiently. Often I take advantage of my excess of power, so that others cannot easily copy my spells. That's how I know that one is a modified version of mine. Anyone formally trained in spell creation would pick it apart and would never have made the spell my way."

"So they used your spell?" Jayne stated. "What's that matter?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. I boxed up or tossed all the notes I'd been using. But I wrote out the full instructions and diagram on a couple of parchments that I left with my goodbye note and letter addressed the current Head of the Weasley family."

"And Antonio never got those," Zoe stated.

"Nope," Harry agreed. "Which probably means the spell's notes were either given to someone they trust, or maybe someone killed them and took them."

"Couldn't it mean there's a Weasley over there?" Inara inquired.

Harry shook his head. "Unlikely. Because if there's still a Weasley, then I don't think that ring would've gone to Antonio. I'd be stuck on the finger of them if they worked out a way to nest the spell, or more likely they'd remove the ring and I'd be boxed up, waiting for in stasis person to die."

"Could they have modified the spell into a prison?" Mal suggested. "I mean they can't wake themselves up. Could we just be unleashing a bunch of wizard criminals on the verse?"

Harry nodded. "Not a bad idea, but if you got an unwilling target, it'd be tricky. And I doubt it's a prison or criminals. They're here on display, and they chose an artifact of cultural significance ensuring muggles would keep them together and in public. They willingly put themselves there because they planned on being awoken."

"Is that statue important to wizards for any reason?" River asked.

"I don't think so," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I know the event it's immortalizing. Nothing terribly magical, but it is semi-important to muggles. I think that's why they chose it."

"So these guys are probably not criminals who may have killed the Weasleys to get your notes. That about sum it up?" Jayne asked.

"Pretty much," Harry agreed, pushing the rest of his food away. "I mean, we're going to have to wake them, of course. That's a given. I'd say let's start waking one or two and trying to get some answers."

"So what exactly are we debating here?" Mal frowned.

"Are we debating?" Harry questioned. "Does anyone think the risks actually do outweigh the potential rewards of waking them? Because I'm just saying we should be prepared."

"What do we need to prepare?" Jayne asked. "Grenades?"

"Waking from stasis is a very disorienting sensation," Harry explained. "It's not like waking up in the morning. Not to mention nothing can go into stasis with them. Which means unconscious, naked, and then dizzy confusion."

"I like the sound of that," Jayne grinned. "Unconscious, naked, dizzy confusion? That's the best first date you can get." Jayne winked at Zoe. "Or at least second best."

"I figure we can get Mr. U. to censor the video feeds and keep quiet any waves if we get spotted," Harry continued. "We come at night. I'll put up privacy and muggle-repelling charms. Conjure blankets and wake up a couple. Stealing the statue would require just as much work to switch it out, and we'd still need to locate a place to wake them up at."

"Sounds like a plan," Zoe agreed. "Tonight?"

"Captain?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Mal agreed. "Sounds good."

The waiter came back and Harry asked to speak to the manager. After talking it over and bargaining a bit, Harry managed to secure the restaurant for a birthday party at 2:30 in the morning.

"You need this place?" Mal questioned after Harry explained what he'd arranged.

"I've woken up from stasis," Harry explained remembering back a couple years go. "Things will go smoother if we have a restroom available."

"Smooth, he says," Mal warned. "Not dodgy, smooth."

"Smodgy?" Harry suggested.

Harry looked back at Inara, waiting inside DiMaggio's. The clean-up crew at the retail shop next door had finished and the three men were standing around outside. Harry was sitting on the bench next to River and Zoe. Kaylee and Digdug were staying back on Serenity. Simon was waiting in the restaurant with Inara, in case they needed a doctor for whoever it was they woke from stasis.

"Are those guys gonna stand there for forever?" Jayne whispered, without turning around.

"I'm projecting a mild charm right now," Harry explained. "They're just really into their conversation. We need a distraction." Harry glanced to River and then Zoe. "Zoe, go flash 'em."

"What?" Zoe said subtly glancing at Harry. "Why me?"

"You look like you could use some positive reinforcement of how desirable and vivacious you are."

"Oh," Zoe said pleased with that answer. "Okay then." She paused. "Wait, no. Jayne?"

"Fine," Jayne agreed. "But I ain't whipped. I'm doing this because this I enjoy it."

Harry restrained himself from showing any emotion and idly watched Jayne walk right up to three cleaners, chatting outside of their store.

"Hey boys," Jayne said, lifting up the front of his shirt and sticking his chest out. "How you doin'?"

Not quite what Harry had in mind, but the goal was accomplished as the three men hurried away, not even being kind enough to respond to Jayne.

"Mr. Universe is censoring the video, right?" Jayne asked, straightening his shirt back down.

"I think I may get a copy of this one before he destroys it, but yeah," Harry answered.

"You're covered," Mr. Universe's voice explained. "And you're clear now too."

"Excellent," Harry grinned. He saw Inara and Simon were doing okay in the rented out restaurant. Jayne and Mal were standing guard. River and Zoe both had blankets and were waiting for naked wizards. Harry pulled out the communicator and called back to Serenity. "Kaylee?"

It took a few seconds before her voice responded. "Hey Harry. How's it going?"

"We're about to open up the surprise. But I wanted to make sure everything's shiny back there?"

"Yeah, we're just playing some cards," Kaylee answered. "I think Digdug may take his cards a little too seriously."

"She's a cheater! She cheats!" Digdug's raspy voice came shouting in.

"We'll catch up with you in a bit," Harry answered and clicked off the communicator. "Okay then. You guys ready for this?"

"Do one," Mal answered, clicking his gun shut after checking it again. "We'll see what he or she says before doing another."

Harry nodded and walked up to the statue. He cast the spell on his eyes so he could literally see the magic and not just sense it. He considered the variety of spells on the surface, protecting the statue, protecting the people, and it looked like a few magically enlarged hollowed out spaces in the statue. He saw one of the spots indicating a use of his spell that seemed more prominent than the others. Decided that would be the best place to start. Harry canceled the mage sight spell and caught everyone's eyes. He looked back at the spot he'd picked out and gently brushed his wand tip over the center.

Plumes of smoke and fog began spitting out from the surface of the statue. Harry's eyes widened as he felt the magic flaring and spreading. All across other areas on the surface of the statue, spots were turning into small geysers of smoke. The effect was cascading back quickly covering the entire surface of the statue.

"Oops," Harry commented, flashing Mal a shaky smile.

"You feel like explaining oops?" Mal asked cocking his gun back.

"It appears as though they don't want you to wake up just one," Harry explained with a helpless shrug.

"Can you stop it?"

"Nope," Harry said. "I woke the first, and the process is triggering the wake in all the others. Zoe, you mind going and getting more blankets from inside?"

Zoe nodded and hurried back towards Inara and Simon.

The near spot Harry had triggered was letting up on the smoke finally. As the air cleared, an old naked man was seen laying on the ground trembling in convulsions.

"Is that normal?" Jayne asked, keeping a close eye on the magical appearance.

"Bloody hell!" the old man blurted out, unable to stop his twitching.

"Yeah, that's normal," Harry answered taking a blanket from River. Harry cast an Ennervate on the old man as he walked up to him and handed him the blanket.

The naked man had a pretty long beard and reminded Harry of someone he couldn't quite place. He accepted the blanket and wrapped it around himself. Harry helped him to his feet, while the others started throwing blankets on all the other naked people who kept appearing.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, scrutinizing the old man. "You look familiar."

"I don't have the energy to repeat this, young man," he answered looking towards the other crew staring at him. "Where is your father?"

Jayne chuckled at the dismissal.

"He died a long time ago," Harry answered, shifting his posture a bit. "You're right about the energy, but if you give me a decent answer, I'll feed you all you need. And we'll continue playing nice with all of your friends back here."

The old man spun around and finally saw all the other naked people shivering and convulsing behind them. He turned back towards Harry and answered concisely, "My name is Harry Fullerton."

"Shah muh?" Jayne cried. "All these people are old! It's like an orgy of wrinkles out here!"

"Little help?" An old man coughed and reached out towards Jayne.

"Uhh… this one's yours, River."

"Just help them up and hand out the blankets," Zoe snapped clearing people away as they became aware of their surroundings.

Jayne pulled the man up and kept a blanket between them when the old guy's weight came slamming into Jayne. "You got a daughter around here maybe?"

"No," the old man said. "But my granddaughter should be here."

"Even better!" Jayne cheered. "What's her name?"

"Jane," he answered in a rasp before falling down, exhausted and asleep.

"Handsome name," Jayne agreed with the man resting his face on Jayne's boots. "Jane?"

"Jayne!" Zoe snapped.

"Jane?"

"Jayne?" River asked curiously.

"No way, I call dibs!"

Harry was ignoring the others and looking at the old man before him. "Harry Fullerton? Order of Merlin, Headmaster who shut down Hogwarts, Harry Fullerton?"

The old man narrowed his eyes. "A rather succinct summary but yes that's me. I'm curious how you knew to wake us here, if you didn't know who was asleep. Especially considering you apparently know of me."

"You're not Headmaster anymore," Harry said with an arched eyebrow. "You can actually ask questions rather than make statements that encourage responses."

"Well, since you seem reluctant to be forthcoming, I shall. What is the date?"

"Good question," Harry asked with an ashamed grin. "Umm… Mr. U?"

"It's April 5th, 2521," Harry's communicator answered.

"2521! Great Merlin! We've been gone for over 250 years?"

Harry shrugged. "Not sure when you went to sleep, so I'll just trust you on the math and say yes, you have." Harry tilted his head and continued, "Listen, we probably got a lot to talk about but first, I should you warn you, your kidneys are gonna wake up any minute now. There's a bathroom over there at DiMaggio's and if you want some-"

Fullerton just nodded and hurried away. "Thank you."

"-food, you can help yourself." Harry finished to the scurrying old man.

Harry looked around at the others and saw a whole lot of people wrapped in blankets, sleeping comfortably on the street. Jayne was carrying a redhead woman, wrapped in a blanket, but with her head tipped back snoring.

"This one's mine," Jayne said walking towards Harry and Mal.

Harry and Mal just shrugged and thought that sounded fair. Mal commented, "He didn't seem the evil type."

Harry nodded. "No, he's on the level. These will be good people. All the rest of them asleep?"

"Yup. Drooling and snoring and everything. I gotta admit they're a bit older than I was expecting," Mal stated seeing grey was the dominant hair color. "Any idea what you're doing now?"

"Normally," Harry explained. "I'd set them all up in some secluded mansion, while the house elves tend to their needs and they recover for a few days."

"Normally?" Jayne asked, shifting his newest possession and tossing her over his shoulder holding onto the back of her knees. "You've had enough situations like this that you have an established normal response?"

"Not precisely this, but…" Harry shook his head. "Never mind. I've got a couple ideas, but I think we need to talk to Fullerton more first before we decide anything just yet."

"I know what you're thinking," Mal commented. "And if it comes to that, we ain't working right now. So you ride free but we can take cargo if it's profitable."

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked relieved he wouldn't have to guilt the Captain into a few stowaways.

"Yeah," Mal agreed, apparently sure it was a foregone conclusion.

Harry's grin faltered and he asked, "How much is this gonna cost me?"

"How much you got?"

"I got a bit invested in gold," Harry commented wondering how much he really did have. "But we don't even know what they plan to do yet. They might not need a ride."

Mal chuckled. "You just keep on thinkin' that, Harry."

"It's not like they didn't prepare for this," Harry argued. "They knew what they were doing when they went to sleep."

"If you say so," Mal grinned. "I know most large groups of people magically appearing in the wee hours of the morning completely naked and passing out are usually the ones right on top of things. But it's possible their plans may have altered on them in the last 250 years."

"We'll see," Harry replied with more confidence than he felt.

"Harry!" Inara called from the restaurant. "Simon says your guy fell asleep on the toilet. He's offering 100 platinum to whoever pulls the guy's pants up."

Harry sighed, ready to admit defeat. "Thanks, Captain."

Mal shrugged. "Not in the mood to turn down this job. I figure the others'd guilt me into doing it for free. This way we both win."

Harry nodded more than happy with the situation and trudged back into the men's room at DiMaggio's. "How we doin' on time, Mr. U?"

Mr. Universe replied, "We're doing fine right now, but things get a whole lot trickier in about an hour."

"We'll be out by then," Harry assured him. "Don't worry."

Mr. Universe wryly said, "I'm not sure I could even compute the improbability factor on that particular suggestion."

"Oh feel free to panic," Harry snapped back. "Just don't worry."

Harry walked into the men's room and fired an ennervate at the ankle exposed on the floor. Harry banged on the stall door and shouted, "Wake up, Fullerton. We got a discussion to finish."

"What?" A dazed voice asked. "Where am I?"

"A courtesy flush, please," Harry requested.

"Oh," Fullerton realized. "Okay then."

Harry heard the man flush the toilet and saw him reach down to pull up his pants. "Hey… where'd you get the pants?"

"Oh, I summoned them after accidentally flashing that lovely young woman, causing her to cough up a cheese ball. I'm going to get the rest of my belongings momentarily."

"Your stuff is nearby?" Harry questioned as the man came out from his bathroom stall and went to wash his hands.

"Most of our things are in the statue, but there should be a small storage place nearby too."

Fullerton stood up straighter and shook his hands dry before using a charm. "And where are the police? Or local authorities?"

"You wanted them here?" Harry asked curiously. "Why? Muggles don't have a clue magic exists."

Fullerton turned to look at Harry inquisitively. "You've kept it secret from them? Is there a reason for that? My plans were meant to be fluid but I would still like to know why they've changed."

"I don't know anything about your plans," Harry explained. "Muggles don't know magic exists because there haven't been wizards in centuries. I'm not so sure they'd be completely open to the idea of a small group of people who can control their minds with a single word. I've warded off the area for now, but we gotta be cleared out in less than an hour." Harry held the men's room door and waved Fullerton into the restaurant.

"So you're not descended from the Jugson, Smith, or Jackson line?" Fullerton asked as he walked past. "And don't know why you woke us up?"

"Nope," Harry said shaking his head. "I'm not. But I woke you up because I wanted some answers."

"Can I assume this avenue goes both ways?" Fullerton asked. "Because you raise a few questions yourself."

Harry nodded. "Yup, but you get to go first because you need our help."

Fullerton looked at the others in the room. He saw most of them were wearing firearms and watching him carefully. He glanced back at the wizard in charge and thought the kid must be the most supremely confident wizard he'd ever seen. He wasn't sure he'd be able to duel him without a wand or not. But Fullerton definitely didn't fancy finding out.

"Fair enough," Fullerton agreed with a nod. He got up and filled himself a plate of food at the buffet. "You going to help out the others?"

Mal nodded at Harry and Harry agreed. "Bring in 'em here just a couple at a time. Don't need lines or waiting for the bathroom. Get them food and conscious."

Fullerton had a large plate of food and sat down across from Harry. "Where should I start?"

"How about starting with leaving Earth-That-Was and closing down Hogwarts?" Harry suggested.

"Earth-That-Was? Clever," Fullerton said with a smile. "I guess the fears of the atmospheric devastation were accurate?"

Harry nodded and cast ennervates without even looking. Zoe and River were dragging in sleeping naked people, and Simon and Inara were helping everyone to the bathroom and to get food. Mal and Jayne were keeping their hands on their guns and eyes on everyone.

"I was hoping we were all wrong about that," Fullerton admitted sadly. "Anyways, the planet had been degrading, and there was a noticeable quick increase in global temperature. There hadn't been a conclusive study indicating the exact reasoning, but it was generally accepted that the detonations in the thermonuclear wars had eroded too many key areas and triggered a chain of catastrophic events."

"I think they may have done that study and found that to be true."

"Yes," Fullerton reluctantly agreed. "I am a man of science as much as I am a wizard of magic, and the scientist in me could not deny what was happening to the planet. I decided to shut down Hogwarts and encourage everyone to leave the planet. I knew there would be more wizards than muggles that would insist on staying behind, and with the help of the goblins entrusted the safety of the castle to their care."

"So you got a ship full of wizards and left on the Exodus for Existence."

Fullerton nodded as he continued to eat.

"What happened on the flight over?"

Fullerton swallowed and explained. "It was only 61 years, but it felt like an entirely different lifetime. To go so suddenly from things like sunrise and sunset, fresh air, blue skies, forests, and lakes into an existence exclusively in a metal box where magic was discouraged… It was jarring to say the least."

"Magic was discouraged?" Harry clarified.

"Everyone's life depended on keeping the metroships flying. They're too many parts, too many electronics, and too many spells to destroy a hull. We still did magic, but for the most part we lived more like muggles than wizards. It wasn't until a few years into the flight that we realized the problem with the children."

"Squibs?"

Fullerton shook his head. "No, they weren't squibs. They were something else. Because squibs carry some genetic traits and the recessive M-gene. These kids had the dominant gene, but no magic. The younger kids that had been born on Earth were much weaker than they should have been. And they never grew stronger. When we left the planet, our magic stopped growing."

Harry crossed his arms and sighed. He waved his hand and ennervated two more people. River sat down next to him with a small plate of cheese balls.

"I was afraid that was what happened," Harry said with a shake of his head. "None of the magical creatures wanted to come with you. Shouldn't that tell you something?"

"Wouldn't they all have died if they stayed?" River questioned popping a cheese ball in her mouth.

"Yeah," Harry grumbled. "I guess that would have been bad."

"It was a risk most of us were aware of," Fullerton explained. "On one side you risk living as a muggle and on the other you risk not living as anything. Several species seemed to agree with me that the Earth was going to kill them, but they all chose to… stay home."

Harry snagged one of River's cheese balls and popped it in his mouth. "So how well did that go over?"

"It wasn't as bad as you'd think," Fullerton continued. "It probably helped that there wasn't one day we suddenly realized what was happening. It was a fear that what was happening may not stop. A few decades and at some point people had accepted it. We were able to keep in communication with the other ships and formulate a course of action.

"Turning around and going back to Earth was not an option. The decision to leave the planet was not made lightly and nothing about the planet changed under the realization that our children were not becoming magical. We were all assuming once we got to a planet our children and magic would grow again."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Mr. Universe's voice spoke up. "But Harry, you got ten minutes on that hour you promised me."

"Gorramit," Harry exclaimed grabbing and eating the last cheese ball. "Captain, you're okay with this?"

"We're good, Harry," Mal agreed checking on the people outside. He noticed a crowd had begun to gather around the statue.

"Alright," Harry said turning to Fullerton. "We've got a transport ship. I figure I can get some wizarding tents and put them up in the decent-sized cargo bay. You got somewhere you need to be or you all coming with us?"

Fullerton nodded. "I would appreciate the hospitality while we figure out where to go from here."

"We don't got much extra clothes laying around," Mal explained. "But we can take you shopping later today."

"Not necessary, sir," Fullerton said waving them off. "We've put much of our belongings in storage in parts of the statue we hollowed out. I'd imagine that's what they've been doing after eating, getting their wands and clothes."

Mal nodded and saw several large piles of trunks growing. "Umm… Harry?" Mal asked worriedly. "We going to be able to move all that in time? I don't think we can sneak Serenity in here."

Harry winked. "I reckon magic can find a way. Right, Headmaster?"

Fullerton heard the address of respect and nodded. "I can think of a few possibilities."

The group grabbed up the rest of the food as Harry dealt with the restaurant manager and all the early morning's employees. He gave them a healthy tip and no memory of the evening. He walked back out towards the statue and found a lot of luggage. Far more than the statue could have physically stored.

"Any ideas on how to transport everyone?" Fullerton asked curiously.

Harry snapped his wand into his hand and summoned a half dozen spoons from the restaurant. Harry dragged the tip of the wand down the utensil transfiguring it into a malleable white plastic string. He tapped his wand with a flourish on the middle and it flashed blue. He repeated the process with the other five spoons even quicker. "There you go. Portkeys to the cargo bay. The strings will stretch."

Harry passed the strings towards Mal, Inara, Simon, River, Jayne and Zoe. "Jayne and Zoe, you both hang on to a wizard and get on the first one. Help folks settle."

"They know how to work these?" Zoe said looking at fake noodle.

"When everyone's touching it or someone else," Harry explained. "Have a wizard say the name of home, and it'll take you there."

They all took their portkeys and proceeded to gather everyone together. River waited to be the last one to go. She'd gotten together all the stragglers and left Harry there with Fullerton to take care of the luggage.

Harry turned to Fullerton and made no effort to hide that he was testing him. "And how would you suggest that we transport the luggage?"

Fullerton grinned looking at the massive pile. "I know almost half of those trunks are unshrinkable, but they can still be spelled featherweight. Check ahead on apparating, make sure there's enough room and bring the whole thing with you? Maybe a sticking charm or a meld constricting it all."

"You are a scientist, aren't you," Harry grinned. "You don't have enough faith in magic." Harry drew his original wand and one of his custom-made ones. He twirled his holly and phoenix feather and swished it down, staring at the pile of luggage. Without breaking eyeing contact, his left hand pushed the tip of his other wand into his right elbow, channeling a small orange spell.

Headmaster Harry Fullerton could barely believe his eyes when entire pile of luggage shrunk down to fit in one hand. "I thought those were unshrinkable."

"They were," Harry agreed. "And that's exactly why it worked."

Fullerton just gave Harry an inquisitive look.

Harry had already layered in the featherweight charm and picked up the luggage easily. "There's a unique magical extrapolation on the power of belief in magic that utilizes the power of self-delusion."

"I read a book Mrs. Lovegood-Potter doodled on the subject," Fullerton mentioned. "I honestly couldn't make much sense of it, but there were some humorous drawings."

Harry bit back a chuckle knowing that book quite well, having objected to a few of the drawings. "Yes, well, if you got enough power and can delude yourself, you can get past a few of the assumed rules of magic."

"So how did you delude yourself?" Fullerton questioned, always a scholar of magic. "Because you seemed completely competent and aware."

"Well," Harry explained. "For this one I cast a shrinking charm, but I thought only about it staying the exact same size while everything else in the universe grew. A play on logic to delude myself into shrinking the unshrinkable."

"So are you actually enlarging everything in the universe?"

"Yes, I'm enlarging everything in the universe," Harry said rolling his eyes.

"Really?" Fullerton played along.

"Of course not," Harry said. "But the intent is there. You just gotta push a little over that unshrinkable barrier and then the magic is there too."

"Amazing," Fullerton agreed.

"Delusion doesn't work on too many things, but makes for a nice party trick when it does." Harry swirled his wand in a wide arc over his head, removing the privacy and muggle-repelling charms. He held out his hand towards Fullerton. "I'll take you."

Fullerton grabbed Harry's hand and felt the sensation of side-along apparition. A near silent pop and they appeared high on the catwalk looking over the bustling cargo bay. Harry pulled out his communicator. "Mr. Universe, I think we're all clear."

"Yup," Mr. Universe agreed. "I hid myself and cleaned all the logs. Their systems are running normally. Videos all show an uneventful evening."

"We're far from finished in our discussion," Harry pointed out looking at the large groups of people who were content to look for places comfortable for napping. "They gonna be okay?"

"Can we stay and not interrupt your business for a day or two? Figure out our next step?" Fullerton clarified.

Harry nodded. "Actually you are our business for the moment. Consider the cargo bay a giant safe hotel room. I'm sure the Captain's been explaining most of the ground rules to the others." Harry walked down the stairs and motioned everyone back from a large area in a corner. He sat down the luggage and canceled his shrinking charm, while envisioning everything else in the universe shrinking while the luggage stayed the same size.

Many of the people began to orderly descend upon their trunks, looking for pillows, bedding, and magical tents. A few of them just opened their trunks and climbed right down into them.

"Harry," Jayne questioned having apparently lost his redheaded spoils. "Why's everyone so old?"

Fullerton had retrieved his wand and was wearing a comfortable, bright blue robe. "The youngest of us capable of significant magic is eighty-five."

Harry let out a low whistle. "I count 47 of you. How many of which can do magic? Maybe 25?"

"27 of us had acquired wands before leaving the planet," Fullerton corrected. "A few of the others in their sixties and seventies have demonstrated slight occurrences of magic under duress, but nothing controllable."

"Are there any other places where we might find snoozing wizards?" Harry questioned as one of the older men approached them.

"Not to my knowledge," Fullerton answered and greeted his friend. "Algernon, how are you adapting?"

"Food helped," Algernon agreed. "So… do we have anything joyous to announce?"

"Harry, is it?" Fullerton commented looking at Harry.

Harry nodded.

"Harry, I would like you to meet Algernon Longbottom, Potions Professor and Deputy Headmaster," Fullerton greeted. "Algernon, this young man is responsible for our unexpected awakening."

"Greetings and salutations," Algernon said extending his hand after a glance at his old boss.

Harry shook the man's hand, realizing this was most likely Trevor's son or maybe grandson. Harry still cracked up thinking Neville's first born was named after the toad. "Nice to meet ya."

"As for announcements," Fullerton continued. "I think it is a bit premature to assume anything. We still have much to discuss. Can you keep an eye on things around here?"

Algernon looked at all the groups of people. "I think the mild disorientation will take care of that."

"Would you like him to join us?" Harry offered.

Fullerton nodded and Algernon warned, "I wouldn't want to impose-"

"Come on, Algie," Harry grinned, slinging his arm over the old man's shoulder. "We got lots to catch up on."

Algernon looked at the arm around him and back at Harry's cheeky smile. "You got something to drink?"

Harry nodded. "Five centuries puts quite a kick into the firewhiskey."

"Oh dear," Fullerton commented and followed Harry as he dragged his friend away.

Harry set them all up with both water and the magical beverage in the dining area. "Alright then. So you'd stopped gaining magic on the ride over and were hoping things would right themselves when you got to a planet. What happened next?"

Fullerton and Algernon both took a drink of their firewhiskey. Fullerton began, "When the first planet was ready we all were overjoyed at the sensations of open air, oceans, the heat of sun and the cool of night. It was like waking up from a long dream void of color. Everyone's senses had numbed and it took many people months or years to adapt and adjust. It was intoxicating at how rejuvenated we all felt. We believed our magic was growing again and began to work out plans for Diagonium Alley."

"Merlin, I hate that name," Algernon added. "But it did really feel like things were working out. Our numbers had drastically reduced though and the muggle governments weren't being particularly helpful."

"It was our own fault," Fullerton argued. "We've always completely separated ourselves and refused to help them with their problems. They wished us luck but had too many of their own complications and issues with terraforming the planets. Our worst case scenario was for those of us to merely become more similar to the billions of others, an outcome that would simplify things for everyone."

"Yeah, no one will miss magic when it's gone, right?" Algernon grumbled.

"We're skipping ahead," Fullerton realized. "As I stated, we thought things were going well, but we were holding off, waiting for signs of magic in the children. Powers to grow, nurture, and prosper. We weren't going to build the new school until we knew there would be children to tutor."

"Never happened?" Harry asked sipping on his firewhiskey.

Fullerton shook his head sadly. "It was as I feared. Whatever it was that made us magical was either not strong enough or non-existent on the new planet. Again we went through the years, just hoping for signs of accidental magic, children carrying the same gene as I unable to even make a wand respond."

Algernon jumped in. "After about six years, there were a few unhinged groups who weren't taking the death of magic very well. The location of what was meant to be the Alley which only had a couple of shops that wouldn't even make a muggle blink, was the sight of a few ritual suicides."

"The damage people were causing was disastrous," Fullerton explained. "That was when it was agreed that we needed to hide from the muggles. If they understood what the wizards were doing, they would've tracked down all the rest of us preemptively. They were too many families and good people at risk because of a few bad apples."

"So what'd you do to the muggles?" Harry asked curiously as Mal and River walked in and joined them.

"We erased all knowledge of the magical world from their records and minds," Fullerton explained. "Unless there were going to be more wizards, there was no need for the open communication. We were a society that was circling the drain, and we didn't deserve to be hunted down."

"And you wrote off all the occurrences as terrorist attacks?" Harry clarified.

"Without the knowledge that magic is real, they believed what made sense to them." Fullerton sighed. "Most of it was written off as a psychological inability to cope with life outside of a spaceship. They arrived at this conclusion because most of the attackers were visibly quite old and given the things witnesses claimed, even the witnesses were considered delusional and suffering from space dementia."

"Lots of people were dying," Algernon continued. "Good people, who just happened to be near a wizard when he snapped. Some of us think that it was magic herself that didn't want to die."

"A group of several hundred even managed to steal one of the ships," Fullerton added. "They said they had to try and get back to Earth. I do not think they honestly expected to make it, they just wanted to die trying rather than here."

"Especially those who'd lost their families to others," Algernon added. "It was like a chain reaction, where when one witch or wizard lost their family to the actions of another wizard, they didn't blame the person. They blamed the situation and many would respond by doing the exact same thing, uncaring that others would suffer for their misdeeds. They felt like if magic was dying they should go out with a bang."

Fullerton shook his head. "Magic did not want to die quietly. What happened after this we do not know and were hoping you could tell us?"

Harry winced. "Pretty sure it all continued on that same path, dying out. There were lots of attacks, space dementia, and what have you. They even moved Londinium to a safer planet and left this place as a government subsidized slum."

"This isn't Londinium?" Fullerton sat back in surprise.

"Nope, this is Jersey," Mal answered, passing on the firewhiskey and sipping his own whiskey. "You wizards blew up this place enough that they had to move elsewhere."

"What I want to know," Harry interjected, "is why and how you managed to put yourself in a stasis on a muggle statue."

"Oh rather ingenious idea, isn't it?" Fullerton grinned. "Unfortunately, I cannot claim responsibility. I'm assuming you've heard of Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded. "Name sounds familiar. What of him?"

"The idea came from one of his actually," Fullerton explained. "When I first announced the closure of Hogwarts and that we would need to abandon the planet, a close friend of mine revealed a family secret. A fine wizard by the name of Will Weasley informed me he controlled where Harry Potter disappeared to. Now apparently, Mr. Potter had put himself into a magical sleep and asked the Weasleys to wake him if there was a Dark Lord that needed defeating or major world crisis he could run in and play the hero for."

"Pretty bloody arrogant, if you ask me," Algernon commented while sipping the firewhiskey.

"Be fair," Fullerton scolded. "He never got over the death of his wife. And what he was doing was no different than those who stole the Nautilus. He just wanted to die trying."

Harry sent a mental smack across River's shields telling her to stop smiling. The Captain was just smiling brighter as he listened to the wizards talk.

Harry flashed a look at the Captain and over Fullerton's shoulder at the portraits of his wife and Dilys Derwent. "You sound like you knew him pretty well."

"Potter?" Fullerton asked with a shake of his head. "I saw him briefly, but we weren't ever introduced. Since he never died, not even his Headmaster portrait activated. No, I'm just going off what Will informed me of. He explained what Potter had done and asked whether I thought there was anything he could do to save the planet."

"Couldn't have hurt it worse," Algernon suggested. "I still say it may have been worth a try."

Fullerton shook his head. "The man did more good for the wizarding world than we will ever know. I knew there was nothing he could do. And I wasn't going to have him tortured by waking up for the purpose of watching our home die. It would have been cruel."

"Really?" Harry said a bit peeved. "And why did you get to make that decision?"

"I didn't," Fullerton explained. "I just told Will what I thought. The decision Potter entrusted to the Weasleys not me. But one thing Will did do was to leave me a copy of Potter's note as well as the diagram for the spell he'd used. That copy sat idly in my personal library for over seventy years. I'd never even given it a second thought until 2165."

"What happened in 2165?" Harry asked, not remembering any significance to that year.

Fullerton solemnly answered, "A witch was unable to cope with the loss of magic. She didn't want to hurt others, but couldn't stand the sight of her family without magic. She played host to a seemingly pleasant family reunion, but had actually spiked every beverage she served. Thirty-two people died peacefully in their sleep and the Weasley family was no more."

"Will," Algernon interrupted. "Our friend Will had taken a different metroship than we did, and he passed away on the flight over. Potter was supposedly a family ring for the Weasleys but we never located it. He probably died when the family did. Or maybe one of the lesser connections and offshoots has him somewhere."

"It was a terrible tragedy," Fullerton explained. "But it reminded me of what Harry Potter had done. And with the notes I had, I realized we could replicate. Several of us could be put into a stasis outside of time, waiting for magic to be reborn."

"Ooo," River commented idly before going back to staring at her water.

"Admittedly, it wasn't an appealing plan," Fullerton stated. "But it was the best we could come up with."

"What exactly was that plan?" Mal inquired, seeing Harry was still thinking things over.

"We figured that by putting us outside of time needing a magical trigger to release us," Algernon explained. "Then the only way we'd ever see daylight again was if magic was flourishing."

"That's not true," Fullerton frowned.

"It's how you convinced me," Algernon nodded.

"Yes well, I suppose that is one way to look at it," Fullerton commented. "But the general premise was more that the knowledge of how to work magic and teach it became precious. Books can survive eons, but we'd still need someone to teach the new wizards about magic and wands."

"So why were you wondering about my lineage?" Harry asked. "What was the wake-up plan?"

"When we went put ourselves in stasis, it was after almost a year of planning. We'd always intended it as a fallback, but it got to the point where there weren't any other options," Fullerton explained. "Realistically, I was hoping for about a hundred people, but many of those I asked felt they had a few good years left and wanted to enjoy them."

"We wanted somewhere out in the open that the muggles wouldn't destroy, considering the plan had a strong possibility of coming down with a case of the bollocks," Algernon offered while swirling his nearly empty firewhiskey.

"Yes," Fullerton said taking the glass of firewhiskey from his friend and putting the glass of water in his hand. "We did choose a war memorial in the capital, and spell a few extra protections in. But that was also because we told a lot of people about this plan. The Jacksons, Smiths, and Jugsons all swore magical oaths that they were to pass the knowledge of the plan down to all their family members."

"The idea being," Algernon jumped in. "That whenever magical people showed back up, babies started doing accidental magic and all that, then they would come and wake us. A time when those of us with magic had something good to do with it. Either we figured out a way back to Earth or we figured out whatever it was that made Earth special."

"Question," River cutely interrupted. "You said magical oaths?"

"Yes," Fullerton answered with a smile.

"On those three families that are more than likely not magical anymore?" River pointed out.

"Oh," Fullerton said glancing over at Algernon.

Harry just chuckled.

"Well the oaths were just extraneous anyway," Fullerton continued with a grin. "I suppose we should probably try to locate those families and at least see what they've discovered so far."

"We should let them know we're awake too," Algernon pointed out, after having snuck back his firewhiskey.

"I suspect they may divine as much when we talk to them," Fullerton said patting Algernon on the shoulder. "Now, Harry, I think we've been plenty honest and patient with you. I believe it is your turn to tell us about how you came to be."

"Yeah," Algernon agreed. "I get the feeling you're not exactly one of millions of wizards just yet. So if you didn't know why we were there, then how did you find us and wake us? Because I don't think any of these other people are magical."

River stuck out her chin proudly. "I'm sort of magical."

"Really?" Fullerton asked. "How is that?"

"Same problem as the other kids," Harry replied. "But she's also got a wild talent in Legilimency and a slight gift for Seeing."

"You don't signify a new wave of magical births, do you?" Fullerton said examining Harry closely.

"Afraid not," Harry admitted.

"So how are you here?" Algernon asked. "And who are you?"

Harry was looking at Fullerton. "I figured you'd be able to guess."

Fullerton began stroking his beard, feeling as if he was being challenged again. "You're an anomaly that's for sure. You know too much and seem too sure of yourself to have simply grown up on your own. Your skill with magic is obvious. From everything I've seen, I think it's safe to say you're a time traveler."

"Really?" Algernon said looking over at Fullerton.

"And given my experience with time travel, you cannot go into the future," Fullerton happily deduced. "So you're a gifted wizard from a time where the magical world is once again running smoothly. And you've come back to the past to ensure your present stays the same."

"No kidding, Harry?" Mal said looking over at his pilot with a hidden grin. "You're from the future?"

"Wow," Harry said shaking his head in disappointment. "You're not even close."

"I thought that sounded pretty unlikely," Algernon chimed in.

"You got a guess?" Harry asked looking at the likely descendent of his old schoolmate Neville.

"Alright, alright," Algernon gestured indicating he was going to think about his guess. "You… Earth's toast?"

"Surface is over seven hundred degrees," Mal answered. "Oceans boiled away centuries ago."

"I'll take that as a yes," Algernon commented and went back to his thinking. "You…you… I got nothing."

Harry's eyes were twinkling and decided to spare them. "Well, how about this. The reason I recognized the spell on the statue is because it was a variation of a spell I created."

"Ahh," Fullerton commented thinking how lucky it was that this young man just happened to have a created a similar spell. "Oh." Fullerton said as realization washed over him. "Harry… as in Harry. Oh goodness. It's an honor to meet you."

"Harry Azinharry?" Algernon asked turning towards Fullerton. "Who's he?"

"Pretty bloody arrogant guy, I reckon," Mal answered.

"If you're curious there's a portrait of the wife he never got over behind you," River added happily.

Algernon spun around saw the teenage Luna sitting on the couch waving from her frame. "Ohhh," he slowly said noticing Fullerton's ashamed little smile. "Well, he's pretty bloody arrogant for a bloody good reason."

Harry was just smiling vindictively, enjoying the affect his fame occasionally had.

Fullerton suddenly gasped and looked at Harry in shock. "Of course! It's the prophecy coming true."

Harry's eyes widened and yelped, "You shut your gorram mouth!"

Fullerton raised his hands to protect himself. "Kidding! Only kidding! It was something Will Weasley suggested to me when we discussed your situation."

Harry sat back in frustration that he had been had so easily. He ignored River and Mal's snickers but appreciated the fact that Algernon was too scared to laugh. "That wasn't funny."

"No Honey," Luna interrupted cheerfully. "It was."

"Harry Potter," Fullerton said, unable to keep the slight awe from his voice. "So what brings you to the twenty-sixth century?"

Harry knocked back the rest of his firewhiskey. "Well, it's a bit of a long story…"

Author's Note: Thanks to MonkeyAxman1302 for the suggestion on the magical alley name. Hadn't really considered it before his review. Things are trucking right along. Thanks a ton for the reviews. I read them all and try to respond to any questions. Next chapter, next weekend. Let me know if you liked this chapter.