Disclaimer: I don't own the Stargate franchise or Harry Potter, nor am I affiliated with either. I am only taking them for a joy ride. I hope I don't scratch the fender.
Learning
"My voters are getting worried Albus! The Potter boy disappearing, and then that trouble with his relatives. Sirius Black is still on the loose, and now there's all of this chatter about something happening in Russia, when we haven't heard anything from them in nearly a decade! My approval rating is the lowest it's been since I first took office."
Albus sighed, wishing not for the first time that Fudge was not of the opinion that Albus cared at all about the man's career. It was helpful though for the man to believe it. He knew that he could never trust himself to wield the power of the Ministry, but he had no qualms against using his influence on the minister; especially when the man was surrounded by people like the Malfoys, and his atrocious under secretary Umbrage.
The two of them were in Albus's office; the Minister had come himself, in lieu of one of his usual owls.
"Then perhaps now would be a good time to tell the world that Harry Potter is alive and well, if still missing," said Albus genially.
The minister gaped at him, completely distracted from his former line of thought. "He's been spotted?"
"Indeed, just yesterday at noon," replied Albus. "The boy visited his relatives, and seemed to be in good health."
"You said you were monitoring the situation," Fudge countered, "how did he get away from you?"
"Alas, he employed a form of magic that I am unfamiliar with to leave the premises. Further analysis showed that he used the same method to enter."
The minister looked aghast. "You don't suppose," he said quietly, "you don't think it's Dark magic, do you?"
Albus had to admit that the thought had crossed his mind.
"There is no indication that it is." He said. "Of course, I did what I could to delve the area. There was no hint of Dark magic. Hopefully, wherever the boy is, he has merely learned magic that we are unfamiliar with here."
Albus had of course never shared his suspicion that the boy had been possessed on the day he had disappeared. There was no reason to alarm the public, and there was no telling what the media would make of it.
"Well there's no need to tell anyone about that, then."
"No," said Albus, "I should think not. And perhaps it would be best not to mention the Dursleys. Perhaps simply that he was spotted in the Surrey area, and seemed to be in good health."
"Yes," nodded the minister. "The public wants to be reassured. There's no need to alarm them further. Why who knows, we may just have the boy back by election time."
Albus smiled reassuringly at the man. The fool. Every lead that they had was simply another question, with no indication where the boy was, or when he might be seen again. It was clear that Harry had no intention of returning to his relatives again.
"Indeed, minister. There is no need to worry unduly." Time would tell. In the meantime, he had a number of questions to run down.
!
"A massive dose of nerve gas gets dumped, and there weren't any casualties?"
"Well, sir, that's what they're telling us," Sam told Colonel O'Neill.
"And they've never lied," was the sarcastic reply.
"Are we going to tell them about Black?" asked Daniel.
"About the magic man looking for the magic boy?" asked the General. "The Pentagon is keeping quiet on that."
"That hasn't exactly worked in the past, sir," said Jack.
"Those leaks have been eliminated," replied the General.
None of them had been at all surprised when, two days after the mystery man had shown up on Tollana, the Russian government had informed them of the incursion into their own Stargate command center. Not much was known about what had happened. Apparently everyone involved had come down with an acute case of amnesia. Logs showed that someone had gone into the complex from an auxiliary exit, though surveillance tapes showed nothing. Someone had activated the Stargate, in spite of the covering that prevented the wormhole from forming still being present. At some point someone in the base had triggered the failsafe mechanism, releasing a deadly nerve gas. After that, all of the bases personnel had woken up outside with no memory of what had happened. That they had contacted the Pentagon was proof enough of how upset the Russian government was over the incident.
"What exactly are we going to do about Black?" asked Colonel O'Neill. Reminding Sam that the Colonel was still disgruntled about being drugged in his own home.
"Both Harry Potter and the Tollan government are willing to let the man stay," replied the General. "We have no way of forcing the issue, especially when the war with Anubis takes precedence."
Sam couldn't say that she was entirely displeased with the response. The man had saved her life after all, and she didn't know that she wanted the man to be locked up somewhere in Area 51.
Sensing that the subject had come to a close, Sam cleared her throat.
"Sir," she said, "as long as we're all here, I have some news of my own."
"Go ahead," said the General.
"Doctor Michaels from the Antarctic research site has discovered a perfectly preserved human specimen. Analysis of the ice from where it was found, indicates that it could very well predate the goa'uld occupation on Earth."
"In which case," said Daniel, "what's she doing near the Antarctic gate."
"Exactly," said Sam. "Sir," she said, addressing the General, "the habitable season down there is coming to an end soon."
"Let me guess," he said. "You want to go yourself."
"Yes sir."
"I have to admit, I'm interested myself. SG-1, you have a go for a trip to the Antarctic research base."
"Thank you sir," said Sam.
"And me?" asked Daniel.
"I'm sorry Doctor Jackson, but you still haven't been cleared for duty."
Daniel adjusted his glasses and held up a finger. "I haven't been cleared for off-world duty," he specified. "But I don't think Antarctica quite counts."
"Oh, it's another world, alright," said Jack, obviously recalling his own stay there.
"The Colonel is correct," said the General. "I'm not letting anyone go who isn't one-hundred percent. Doctor Frasier tells me that she won't clear you for at least another month."
Daniel sighed in defeat, and Sam did feel bad for him. Of all of them, this would be of the most interest to him. He was quick to rebound though.
"In that case," he said, "maybe it's time to let Jonas go for a trip."
"You do realize that it's his fault you can't go," said Jack.
"No," said Daniel, "it isn't. And I seem to recall you saying the same thing right to the man. Besides, it was only a week ago that he helped save this planet."
Jack didn't have an immediate response to that.
"Colonel?" queried the General, leaving the decision to him.
Jack looked skyward before replying. "Fine, he can come."
Daniel smiled triumphantly.
!
Harry groaned as he woke up shivering. It was perfectly temperate in his apartment. He got up chasing away the ill feeling remaining from his nightmare, rubbing at his aching scar. He stood there for a moment, with his face in his hands, unsure whether he wanted to actually do anything other than fall back into bed. With a shake of his head he stalked into his bathroom. In his experience, a hot shower could do wonders.
He nearly fell asleep once again while he was showering, but he was relatively awake by the time he left the bathroom in search of breakfast. He lost himself in his thoughts as he ate some cereal. He knew that his dreams were related to his possession by Anubis somehow, but he didn't think that the possession had done anything more than trigger them. He didn't have any proof of it, but felt certain that the dreams were coming from himself.
A chime toned to announce someone at the door while he was just finishing his meal. Harry addressed the apartments computer system to find out who was there. A video feed of Sirius standing outside his door showed up on the panel across the room from him. Harry got up to get the door, when he realized that he was still wearing a towel. Deciding that he didn't really care anyway, he opened the door for Sirius.
"Hey there kiddo," the man greeted him. "Oh, not quite decent yet are we?"
Harry shrugged. "What brings you here?" he asked, heading to his room to get dressed.
"You wanted to spend some time today trying to work out transfiguration, remember?"
Harry stopped and turned around. The memory came back to him. "Oh yeah," he said.
"Are you alright, Harry?" the man asked, concerned. Sirius was always on the lookout for anything that might be dangerous for Harry. He still hadn't come to terms with Harry fighting in a war; it had been hard enough for him to accept that Harry would be living alone. Of course, he wasn't the first adult to feel that way about Harry, but the man seemed to take it harder than most. Considering that it was all that the man had been able to hold onto from his previous life, Harry was able to understand at least a little.
"It's nothing," he said. "I just haven't been sleeping well. There's been these nightmares recently."
"What sort?" the man asked.
"I don't know," said Harry. "There's laughing and screaming. Then there's a bright green flash of light that ends it."
"A green light," Sirius said suspiciously, thinking hard. "Were there any words you could hear?"
"I think so. I'm not sure I could repeat them."
"Avada Kedavra," Sirius stated.
Harry looked up in surprise. "That does sound right. What does it mean?"
"It's one of the Unforgivables: The Killing Curse."
"The Killing Curse," Harry repeated. Thinking hard himself now. "You don't think… my parents?"
The man shrugged and shook his head at the same time. "I don't know," he said.
Harry nodded. "It's weird," he said. "My scar hurts when I have the dreams, and it aches afterward."
"Which scar," asked Sirius, "the one on your head?"
"That's the only scar I have," said Harry. "All the rest were either healed by my abilities or Tollan medicine."
Sirius's mind was obviously working overtime now, struggling to put pieces together that once would have come to him in an instant.
"It alone has resisted healing?" he asked.
Harry nodded. "I've had it all my life, or as long as I can remember. The Dursley's said that I got it the night my parents died. Though, they said that it had been in a car crash, and that was a lie."
"Well," said Sirius slowly, "if they were killed by the killing curse, but you were shielded… No. There's no way to survive the killing curse. Still, let me see it."
Harry stepped forward, and Sirius raised a hand to rub his thumb over the scar. Sirius nodded.
"That is a curse scar. I'm sure of it. Whatever it was, I'll wager it was dark enough to be the Killing Curse itself."
"Can I get rid of it?" Harry asked, more than a little unsettled by the conversation.
Sirius closed his eyes, thinking hard. He was shaking his head, though Harry wasn't sure if he was aware of it himself. Finally he said, "No."
"You're sure?" Harry asked.
Sirius opened his eyes. He did look sure of himself. "Something like that can't be removed while the person who made it is still alive."
A disturbing though struck Harry. "Does that mean that I'm connected to him somehow?"
Sirius's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, he said, "I don't know."
"Okay," said Harry. This really was a poor start to a day. "I'm going to go get dressed," he said, turning back towards his bedroom. It was cold outside and he dressed appropriately. The two of them left the apartment a few minutes later.
"There's a nice meadow a little ways into the forest," he told Sirius.
The last time he had tried to learn magic from Sirius, he had wound up blowing up a couch, and had since decided that his apartment was not a suitable place for the lessons. Sirius refused to teach Harry in front of any Tollans, so seclusion was required.
"So how have you been," Harry asked Sirius. They really hadn't had time to spend together. Harry was always busy with the war effort.
Sirius shrugged. "You're not the only one with bad dreams," he said.
"Oh?" said Harry. "What about?"
Sirius shook his head. "To tell the truth, I can't say that they're really about anything. That's what's frustrating. I don't see anything; I don't hear anything. But I can feel: despair; fear. It's like I know that I'm never going to be happy ever again. I wake up, but I just can't shake the feeling. I've been keeping a dream journal, of course, but every morning there's nothing to really write about."
"A dream journal?" Harry queried.
"You don't keep a dream journal?" Sirius asked him with a hint of surprise.
"Should I," Harry asked.
Sirius sighed. "I don't know," he said. "I actually never thought about doing it. I just did it after my first nightmare. Maybe my instincts know something I don't."
"I'll try it," said Harry. "I think, whatever life you led before you found me, it must have been very awful to be having these dreams," he said. "I admit, I don't know much about psychology, but to be haunted like this by emotion, without the accompanying memories, I think it must have been awful indeed, and for a long time at that."
"That's what that Tollan healer I've been seeing said," said Sirius. "Though he used a lot of bigger words."
"Yeah," said Harry, "they do that."
There was a silence for a moment, and Sirius apparently decided to change the subject. "So you're still having trouble with Transfiguration."
It was more than trouble. Harry hadn't had any luck with the subject. He was pretty sure that it was because that particular branch of Magic made the least amount of sense. The whole thing seemed impossible, and seemed to break more laws of physics than Harry was comfortable with.
"Yeah," he said, "but you mentioned something earlier, the Unforgivables. What are they?"
"They're the three curses that will give any witch or wizard a life sentence when used."
"So what are they? Other than the Killing Curse."
Sirius looked at him earnestly. "You don't want to learn Dark Magic, Harry. It twists you. The Unforgivables are the worst, of course. The Imperious may seem useful, something that could even be used for good, but even it is tainted. And certainly, a few spells won't do any damage, but Dark magic is seductive, and it won't only be a few. Before you know it, you'll be half the man you used to be."
It was the first time the man had ever sounded so sure of what he was speaking about. Harry was still confused though. He could remember the feel of the curse on Sirius, but he still couldn't understand how magic, energy, could be good or evil. How it could affect his soul.
"I don't really understand," said Harry.
Sirius sighed. "I guess I'm not doing a very good job of explaining. Magic is a powerful, and wonderful tool, but it makes us more vulnerable to some things than muggles. I suppose it is not the soul that Dark magic effects, but the mind. It is the same though, as the mind holds sway over the soul." He paused to consider his words, obviously still unsure of how to explain this. "You can use your plasma," the word was said oddly, unfamiliar on the man's lips, "to kill a man, or you can use it to destroy a barrier in your way, or any number of other useful things. It may as well be akin to a muggle weapon. Still damaging, no one escapes violence unscathed, but the Killing curse is different. It is not about war, or self defense; it is murder. That is what you must have in your heart to use it; the same with any other kind of dark magic. They use ill intent, and the magic forces patterns in the mind more strongly than actions do, or most other magic. That is how it twists your soul."
"So, what intent is there behind this imperious curse?" Harry asked.
"The imperious controls a person completely. They have no room for independent thought, and it is very hard to break through. The imperious isn't simply a desire to control someone. If it was, it could be used to stop suicidal people from killing themselves, or to turn opposition forces to your side in a battle. The curse requires a will to dominate, subjugate. It is about power. In many ways, it is akin to," he looked down to Harry, seemingly unsure whether to go on, likely considering his age, "rape," he said finally. He definitely was not comfortable with that subject around Harry.
For his part, Harry understood most of what Sirius had been saying, though Sirius's view of magic was still at odds with his own.
"Is there light magic," he asked.
"Oh yes," said Sirius brightly. "Healing, the Patronus, some of the mind arts. They all work in much the same way, but with positive thought instead."
"So can the two cancel each other out?" he asked.
Sirius was shaking his head before Harry could finish the question. "They can't be negated. It would be more like creating a dichotomy within yourself; two impulses within yourself at war. Better, I suppose, than only practicing Dark magic, but better to simply leave it alone in the first place." He cleared his throat. "Enough on this subject. I'm sure it's a subject for older students."
Harry sighed internally. Even Sam was willing to speak on whatever subject Harry wanted to talk about. And he thought that she had the hardest time accepting that he wasn't quite a kid. No matter.
"So help me understand Transfiguration, and maybe I'll be able to get a handle on it."
Sirius smiled. Transfiguration seemed to be his favorite subject. "Harry, everything in this universe is connected. Of course, distance matters, but for the most part, everything has a notion of how everything else is supposed to be," he went on. Some of it tugged on understanding in Harry, but he was still lost. It sounded interesting though.
!
Harry had spent the afternoon in the council room, going over long-term plans, and putting the finishing touches on others. It was late at night by the time he was ready to go to bed. Of course, that was when they called him back in. Something was up.
He dressed again, this time in something suitable for a fight, just in case. He arrived in the council room to find all of the Tollan members, as well as Jacob. Apparently, they were still awaiting representatives from Earth and the Jaffa. He walked over to Anan, who didn't seem overly busy.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"The Tok'ra have information that Anubis is going to turn his full attention to Kong Bao Lie," the aide told him. "He means to destroy his forces."
"I see," said Harry. That was troubling. With most goa'uld opposition having been crushed by Anubis, Kong Bao was the only thing keeping Anubis from putting his full attention on them.
Harry sank into one of the comfortable chairs around the conference table, and closed his eyes. He did not mean to go to sleep, but found himself being nudged awake by Elliot, who was sitting next to him. He smiled at the Tok'ra as the meeting came to order.
SG-1 was not present; he supposed they had been unable to come on short notice. Major Ferretti was there from SG-2, as well as another man that Harry recognized, but couldn't place.
"Now that we're all here," Narim said, "I will let Selmak share the information that has brought us all here."
Jacob stood up and cleared his throat. "Kong Bao Lie is gathering the majority of his forces in the Kaarin sector tomorrow. He's having a meeting with his Primes. One of our spies within Anubis's ranks has alerted us that Anubis is aware of this meeting, and is preparing an armada to destroy him once and for all."
"What kind of numbers are we talking about here?" asked Major Ferretti.
"We have little information on Anubis's forces," answered Selmak. "However, we know that Kong Bao will have twenty-three ha'tak class vessels and thirty-six al'kesh. However, his fleet of death gliders is dwindling. He has lost the ability to manufacture more, for the time being."
"Does Anubis know how big Kong Bao's fleet is?" asked Harry. Anubis would never intentionally engage in a fair fight. If he knew Kong Bao's strength, he would go in with overwhelming force. If he was ignorant, then it could be hoped that he would underestimate the fleet.
"We don't know," answered Selmak.
"Well then," said Harry, "we'll cross our fingers and hope for the best."
"The Prometheus might not be up to a fight on this scale yet," said Major Ferretti, "but I think we can spare a few F-302s. Anubis might have made his ships impervious to phase shifting drones, but a hyperspace window can still get through them."
"Your contribution will be appreciated," said Narim.
Harry knew that the Tollans were making their own fighters for just such a purpose, though were still in the design phase. Fighter craft went against Tollan military practice. Fighters were expendable; you expected to lose a few in every battle. The Tollan's didn't like treating their people like that. Part of the hold up on the designs was that they were still holding out hope to make them unmanned.
They went well into early morning, planning the strategy of the battle as best they could. Of course, they all knew that even the best-laid plans lasted only until the battle had begun.
!
Kong Bao Lie stood on the pel'tak of his flagship. He had not expected to last so long in his war against Anubis. His greatest hope then had been to die honorably avenging the death of his master. He had never thought that he would last so long, or that he would have been able to cause so much trouble for Anubis. Part of it, he knew, was because of the alliance opposing Anubis. They thought that they had been clever in helping him. Information reaching him at just the right time, or traps for his forces destroyed before he could fall in. The only reason he hadn't allied himself with them was because they had all at one time considered Lord Yu an enemy.
Today would be a major victory for him. With luck, he would even destroy Anubis' flagship, though he had heard that Anubis was not so easy to kill himself. Perhaps he truly was a demon. The Tok'ra spies in his ranks knew nothing of his plans, of course. This was no meeting with his Primes. Nor were the ships around him his fleet. Every one of them was good for nothing but scrap, but they all had hyperdrive engines, and they were equipped with extra weapon's grade Naquedah. The explosions would be tremendous. Not all of the Jaffa aboard would manage to ring off, he knew. He would regret that those few Jaffa would die in such a manner, but they had all volunteered in honor and memory of their lord.
It would be a great victory today; if it all went to plan.
!
Harry was enjoying the solitude of the Tar'Chell. There was no chance to catch some sleep, of course. Not when he felt tired enough to sleep through the alarm that would come before he dropped out of hyperspace.
Harry had to wonder how much of his exhaustion was from a bad night's sleep, and how much of it was that he was tired of fighting. He still wanted to destroy the goa'uld; Anubis most of all. But today would simply be one more battle, no matter how successful. It always would be until Anubis could be destroyed somehow. He wondered if the answer lay in magic. It was something to ask Sirius about, at least.
Their plan was relatively simple. Kong Bao Lie's forces would be an anvil to their hammer. Anubis would undoubtedly surround Kong Bao's fleet with his own. The Tollans would send in four of their war ships and a few cruisers in two groups coming from opposite sides. When Anubis's ships moved to accommodate them, the fleet of thirty-seven Jaffa ha'taks, six more cruisers, and the Tar'Chell would come to pin them all against Kong Bao. Earth's F-302s would make surgical strikes wherever they were needed, mostly to come to the aid of any ship that was in danger of being destroyed, rather than as a striking force themselves.
It was a good plan. Many of Anubis's ships would undoubtedly escape into hyperspace, but they shouldn't need very much luck to destroy a sizeable portion of Anubis's armada. If Anubis was there in person, and they were very lucky, Anubis would find himself without a body again for a time.
!
Kong Bao's flagship was surrounded on all sides by his booby-trapped ships. He stood ready, as did his Jaffa. The attack would come at any moment.
"Sir," said Bei Jia, his officer at the scanner, "many ships have dropped out of hyperspace. It is Anubis."
"Give the command," he told Pan Kun.
"Yes, sir."
Immediately the ships began moving out, every one of them with at least partially operational sublight engines. Perhaps Anubis was wondering why his ships weren't being fired upon, but Anubis's ships merely began to take position around them, only a few opening fire.
The first of his ships to be destroyed was taken out by weapons fire, resulting in a smaller explosion, but only moments later, one of his ships reached its target, just abreast of one of Anubis's ha'taks. The explosion was as brilliant as he had hoped, and the target was destroyed.
"Two other ha'taks were damaged in the explosion, sir," said Bei Jia. More ships were detonating now, though not all managed to reach a target. It was going very well.
He glanced at the sensor display.
"Is that all that Anubis brought to fight us?" he asked. Had word not reached Anubis as to the size of the fleet?
"He may have thought to rely on the strength of his shields," said Pan Kun.
"All ships have detonated, my lord. All of Anubis's remaining ships are damaged to an extent," said Bei Jia.
Kong Bao spared a thought to how many had managed to ring aboard his own ship. "Send the signal," he said, "and open fire."
His real fleet he had kept in reserve, not far away. They arrived in moments. The enemy ships that could took the opportunity to flee into hyperspace. Even though their shields were not as strong as Anubis's, the battle was decidedly in their favor.
"My lord," Bei Jia cried. Kong Bao had refused the title, but they still often called him by it. "More ships are arriving. They belong to Anubis."
So, he was not the only one who could keep his fleet in reserve.
"How many," he asked.
"Thirty-two ha'tak vessels, and many more al'kesh."
"Have us take a defensive position," he told Pan Kun, who began relaying the order to the fleet, "we will not run away so quickly. Launch the death gliders." They were fighting a devil after all. He would not dishonor himself by not giving everything he could to destroy Anubis.
"Sir, I have four more contacts," said Bei Jia. "My lord, they are Tollan."
!
Looking at his sensor readings when he came out of hyperspace, Harry had to wonder if the battle had started much sooner than they had expected. There was so much wreckage from destroyed ships. No matter. Anubis's ships had grouped up much as they had been expected to, and Harry was right on target. He charged all of his weapons.
It was chaos of course. Oh, the ha'taks didn't move so much, but there were hundreds of death gliders swarming around various ships, and dozen's of al'kesh making bombing runs. Harry was all too happy to join the fray. His ship rushed towards the front between one of the Tollan war ships, and a group of ha'taks, firing in earnest. The Tar'Chell shook as his own shields began to take a strain, but the Ha'taks he was firing upon held little hope against both the Tar'Chell and the superior Tollan warship, using both its drones and energy weapons.
Around him, the battle raged on. Tollan cruisers would fly right in amongst a number of enemy ha'tak, relying on their triply redundant shields (an engineering feat that Harry still had a hard time wrapping his mind around). While their weapons were not overly powerful, they still managed to draw fire, allowing allied ha'taks to get into superior positions.
Harry's own scanners were having a hard time keeping track of everything that was happening, and keeping track of enemy and friend was taxing. Friendly fire was unavoidable in this kind of a battle. Harry soon found himself swarmed by death gliders he hadn't noticed coming. His ship shook harder, as it came under their concentrated attack. There were too many of them for Harry's own weapons to take care of effectively. Soon though, drones from the warship began picking them off rapidly. Harry gave a mental thanks to the captain of the warship, and moved the Tar'Chell to intercept the ship that had likely sent the death gliders.
!
Barring a miracle, he was going to die. His ship had taken too much damage, and his hyperdrive was beyond repair. An old proverb came to him: when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. He was that tree, but he would not leave his Jaffa brothers without direction.
"Order an evacuation, and connect me to our fleet," he told Pan Kun. Of course, neither Pan Kun nor Bei Jia would leave him, even if he ordered them to, so he would not dishonor them by commanding it. He raised his voice when the connection was made. "My brothers, my time is at hand. But the Demon must be destroyed. If not today, then he will still not be able to escape justice. Our brothers in rebellion have shown themselves worthy. Join them, and remember: all goa'uld are our enemy now."
He motioned for Pan Kun to end the connection.
"My lord," said Bei Jia, "it has been an honor."
"The honor has been mine," said Kong Bao. "Set the hyperdrive to overload, and set course for the nearest enemy ha'tak." His ship kept firing to the last. He didn't know if there truly was an afterlife, but if there was, he intended to bring as many of his enemies with him as he could.
!
It was the chatter that told him before his sensors, which had been working overtime.
"They're running," that was from one of the F-302s.
"The death gliders aren't being picked up. Unless they surrender, we'll have to pick them off one at a time."
Harry thought that even the Jaffa would find that a grim duty. Still they were victorious. Though Anubis couldn't have lost more than half of his armada. The tide of the battle had obviously turned against him.
The order also went out to cease fire on ships that were too crippled to either flee or fire back. If possible, they would be taken by force, with Harry going in as he had before to lower shields and activate ring platforms. That was when they were hailed by one of Kong Bao's ships.
!
On Earth, Sam and the rest of SG-1 present at Antarctica were oblivious to the large battle that had taken place. Sam thought that the research station must have gotten colder since she had taken sick. Though at other times it seemed a lot warmer. It was just their luck to catch an Ancient virus.
!
As Sam was languishing on a cot in Antarctica, Thor arrived above Earth in the Carter. He didn't think he would tell them the ship's name this time. It seemed to make them so excited the last time the Asgard had named a ship after one of them. Humans were much too excitable. No matter. Major Carter had helped to save his people two years ago; the accolade was due.
Protecting the humans from the goa'uld had begun as a favor to the memory of their lost friends so long ago. But it had truly worked out well. The humans were advancing, faster at times than was expected. They truly would one day be the fifth race.
At least, they would if they survived this war with Anubis. That was why he was there. Thanks to the code recovered from the android Reese, the Replicators had successfully been neutralized in his home galaxy, and would soon be eliminated. It was time at last to begin war with the goa'uld in earnest. Thor had to wonder if his people would ever know peace before their end came.
!
On Earth, in London to be precise, Albus Dumbledore knew nothing of battles in space, or that the subject of most of his worries was in one. At the moment, Albus was regretting that he so seldom had a chance to wander through the shops of Diagon Alley. He especially enjoyed going into Florean Fortescue's for ice cream, though he reminded himself that he didn't have time for it at the moment. As he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, he wondered why he hadn't scheduled this meeting at the ice cream shop in the first place. No matter, he would be certain to do so the next time.
Remus Lupin was sitting at a corner booth, waiting for him. The man had been tracking down leads in Egypt for a month now, though Albus was afraid that the man would have no respite. He still needed someone to go to the Colonies to find out who in their muggle military had requested the police report on the Potters. He sat down with the man.
"Remus, I trust your voyage home was uneventful," said Albus
"It was, Professor, thank you," the man replied.
"Was your research in the Cairo museum successful?"
"I never got in," said Remus.
"They discovered your lycanthropy?" asked Albus.
Remus shook his head. "They discovered that I was British. We haven't exactly been popular over there since we sent over a dozen Aurors into their country without warning."
"Yes," said Albus, "I can see why they might still be upset."
"Still," said Remus, "it wasn't a complete loss. A friend of mine in the area managed to get me copies of the texts I was looking for. He even helped me translate them."
"What did you find?"
"This," said Remus, pushing forward a drawing. Albus recognized it from his pensive viewing. "It's said that the sun god Ra had different forms, and this was one of them."
It didn't quite seem be a snake. It was definitely more sinister.
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