Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, nor the Stargate franchise, nor am I affiliated.

Precipice

While not a coffee man himself anymore, General George Hammond still needed a kick to get going in the mornings. For this purpose, he kept a cupboard shelf stocked with a range of highly caffeinated teas. It was all his wife's fault of course; she had forced the issue many years ago when George was drinking more than seven cups of coffee a day.

He checked his watch while his earl grey steeped. Barring a global disaster, he would be spending the day with his granddaughters. It was much too early now though; his daughter Lucy had recommended that he arrive after Saturday morning cartoons. That was when the doorbell rang though, and while not a superstitious man himself, he considered crossing his fingers while going to see who it was.

A slightly, shabby, mustached man stood on the other side, looking slightly apologetic. Wearing an odd ensemble capped with a tweed jacket, the man gave the distinct impression that he didn't quite fit in Colorado Springs.

"Can I help you?" he asked the man.

"I hope so," the man said in a British accent. "My name is Remus Lupin, and I am terribly sorry to be bothering you so early on a Saturday. It took me a rather long time to find you, and my…flight…is leaving soon."

"You've been looking for me?" asked the General, not liking where this was going.

"You are General Hammond, stationed out of the Cheyenne mountain complex?"

"That's right," he said. That much was not classified.

"Yes, well, getting to the point, over a year ago your Pentagon put in a request for all information concerning a one Harry James Potter. This included a police report concerning the murder of his parents. Well now, I've finally tracked that request back to your office."

Warning bells went off in his head at the mention of the boy's name. He hoped that this was not another security breach. "How exactly did you trace that request?" he asked. Of course, it was not classified information, but the man should have been wrapped up in a quagmire red tape for a very long time, and George would have heard about it.

"Oh, well," Lupin said, "I do have a few connections."

"And what is your interest in this matter?" asked George. "You never mentioned who you are affiliated with." Nor what he was doing at his front door, instead of scheduling a meeting through the Air Force. For that matter, how had the man found his house?

"Well, you see, I was a friend of his parents. I'm not strictly affiliated with any agency though. I don't know if you are aware, but Harry briefly visited his relatives in Surrey, and mentioned having seen the report concerning his parents, before disappearing once again. According to public records, your office has put in the only request for that particular file, which means that someone in your office showed it to Harry. However, there has been no official mention of any other contact with him."

To Hell with Saturday morning cartoons. Next time he would be leaving at sunrise. George didn't know if he could get away with a 'no comment' in this situation. He settled on stalling the man. "Before I say anything, I would like to see some identification."

Lupin raised his eyebrows. "I told you that I'm not affiliated with any agency."

"I will still need to verify your identity, in order for our own records to be accurate," said George.

The man pulled a passport out from his jacket pocket. If it wasn't a very good forgery, then the man was definitely Remus Lupin.

"My office received no word from England that the boy was spotted." Strictly true, they had heard from Major Carter.

Lupin smiled. "Perhaps there has been a failure to communicate on both sides."

Time to lie, then. "Well, Mr. Lupin, I can assure you that while we have captured both suspects, Harry Potter has yet to be spotted by any military official." The story given concerning the two archeologists was that they had been manipulated by a still unknown third party, which had taken loved ones hostage. It had been a very hard cover story to set up (the Russian submarine that they had destroyed had actually been easier), but no one had challenged it yet. The truth of the matter was, this Lupin fellow seemed to be the only person in the United Kingdom actively looking for the boy.

"I see," said Lupin. "In that case, I will bid you good day." He held out his hand, and George took it reluctantly. "You are sure though," Lupin did not release his hand, "no one in your office…"

"No one," George said firmly. The man let go.

"Well then," Lupin said. "I go home empty handed. I had so hoped that I had found a lead."

"Good luck in your search," George said affably.

Lupin smiled at him and walked away. George closed and bolted the door before going strait to his phone. This Lupin fellow wouldn't be leaving the country so quickly if he had anything to say about it. It looked like he would be going into the office after all.

!

Remus smiled as he walked down the General's driveway, looking at his hand. He had never heard of the Man's Imprint potion before Albus had given it to him, but it had done what it was promised to. Severus truly was a spectacular potions master.

Written on his hand in purple ink was a jumble of words, most of it useless, but chief among them, in the center of his palm, the words 'Samantha Carter' stood out in large letters.

!

"For the last time Harry, you need to let the universe around you guide the process."

"Sirius," said Harry from his seated position in the forest clearing, "I'm very familiar with the universe, and it's not saying anything to me. Not how to change this splinter into a needle, not how to make chocolate chip cookies, nor how to make you shut up when I'm trying to concentrate." The notion was still ridiculous, no matter how many times he had seen Sirius do just that.

"The incantation is Scilencio, with a quick jab of the wand, I'll show you how to make cookies later, assuming I can get the ingredients. You know, I must have been terrible to my teachers," said Sirius, his face in his hands. "This is obviously some manner of Karmic comeuppance."

"Hey," said Harry, feeling a little insulted, "I'm not completely unteachable. We've been doing okay with charms." Indeed, Harry found charms to be a lark.

"The funny thing is," Sirius muttered, more to himself, "it might just be easier to teach you to be an animagus."

"What's that?" Harry asked loudly, pulling Sirius's attention back to himself.

"Hm? Animagus, it's a person who can turn himself into a specific animal."

"You've already turned me into a squirrel," Harry said. It had been a distinctly unpleasant experience, but it had been Harry's own fault to state that such a feat would be impossible.

"No, no, that's completely different. I mean you didn't like it a bit, did you? Your mind knew that you weren't supposed to be a squirrel. I doubt I could have made the transformation last for more than a few minutes. The animagus transformation is completely different. It's wandless for one, a completely internal process. What's more, your body turns into the animal that your soul is the most in tune with. You can hold the transformation indefinitely. I bet I could teach it to you, actually." He was talking to himself again. "That could work, and if he can transform himself, he might just get the feel for external transformation."

"You think you could teach it to me?" Harry drew back the man's attention.

Sirius nodded. "Definitely."

"So, are you an animagus?" asked Harry.

Sirius's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't know," he said slowly. "But then, I do know a lot about it..." He started nodding to himself.

"So…?"

"Hold on a minute, I'll need to meditate." Sirius was already seating himself on the ground.

Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius had begun teaching him meditation, and in his experience it seldom took only a minute. Still, he was interested in whatever Sirius would discover. He lay back, looking up at the clear blue sky of the third planet to bear the name 'Tollana.' He summoned a few rocks to himself and used his magic to juggle them above his head, making different patterns. He lost track of time before Sirius finally stood up again.

"I've got it," he said. "I think I know what I can turn into."

"Well let's see it then," said Harry.

"Alright," said Sirius, concentrating hard. He started to change, black fur sprouting out as he fell to the ground. Within moments, Harry found himself staring at the largest dog he had ever seen.

"You're a dog!" Harry stated unnecessarily.

Sirius barked in agreement, seeming ecstatic. He proceeded to pounce on Harry, licking his face.

"Sirius, yuk," Harry laughed. "Stop that."

Sirius rolled off him and Harry pushed himself up. Sirius looked up at him with an expression that clearly said, 'play with me.' It was a while before they calmed down and Sirius transformed himself back into a man.

"That's awesome, Sirius," said Harry.

"Tell me about it."

"And you think you can teach me?"

"Definitely, but you're going to need to focus more on meditation."

"Well," said Harry, "as much as I'd like to get working on that, what I really wanted to talk to you about today was souls."

"What about them?" asked Sirius.

"Well, I've mentioned the goa'uld we're fighting, Anubis."

"Right."

"See, Anubis doesn't have a body. Not a host body, and not a symbiote body either. He seems to be a soul, existing as malevolent energy. He encases himself in a force field so that he can interact with the world."

Sirius stared at him. "That sounds like very dark magic, Harry."

"It feels like dark magic," said Harry. "He possessed me once, and the energy felt a lot like the energy of the curse you were under."

"He possessed you," Sirius deadpanned.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Only for a couple minutes. Jerk had tried to hijack the Tar'Chell.

"Well then," said Sirius, "now I'm doubly looking forward to helping to kick his arse. There are ways, using magic, to contain a soul. It's very difficult to destroy them, without a body, but containing one is feasible." He stopped to think, something he had to do less and less as time went on and new connections were formed. "It would have to be a ritual, I'm certain. You'd need a runic circle, and a spell. Maybe a crystal too."

"What if we could put him into some sort of body first then, a transfigured one, or cloned one maybe."

"Oh, that's… I don't think you understand. We're pretty sure, not completely mind, that under normal circumstances, the soul is relatively eternal. No clue what happens when you die, but as best as we can tell, the soul does move on, and then it's nearly untouchable. But there are ways, terribly impractical ways, with a living body, to destroy a person's soul. I doubt we could pull it off, and it's very dark. Like I said, containing him is doable."

"Could you teach me that, then?" asked Harry.

"You?" asked Sirius. "This would be very dangerous, Harry. I can do this, just point me at the guy, and I'll…" He stopped, a sickened look passing over his face.

"What?" asked Harry.

"No, no, no," Sirius whispered. He pulled out a knife and pricked his finger, before whipping a few drops off onto the grass. Using his wand, he muttered a spell over it. A puff of red smoke rose up from the ground.

"Damn it," Sirius growled.

"What?" asked Harry.

"You have to be a virgin to do it."

That was actually more than Harry had wanted to know about his godfather. "That doesn't make any sense," said Harry. He had been saying it a lot recently. "What does sex have to do with magic?"

Sirius looked at him askance. "Loads, but that's a conversation for when you're older."

Harry rolled his eyes, but it didn't matter right then anyway. However little sense it made, Sirius was usually proven right about what he knew of magic, and if a virgin had to do it, then Harry was the only option.

"So teach me," he said.

"I don't want you doing this," said Sirius.

"Well tough," said Harry, "because we don't have any choice. Anubis is a threat to everyone in this galaxy, and I really doubt that he's just going to forget about me. Now we've blown his ship up, while he was in it, and that only slowed him down. Every day he gets more powerful, and there's no indication that we'll ever be able to neutralize him. I'll be fighting him either way. I'll have an easier time of it if you teach me."

Sirius sighed and scowled at him. "Alright then. Let's teach you about Runes, and I'll see if I can remember enough to get this job done."

"What exactly are runes?" Harry asked. "And if you say that little squiggly lines can control magic, I'm going to bang my head against something hard."

Sirius sighed, and muttered, "Definitely Karma."

!

Sam groaned as she rolled out of bed. Thor had given her a once over after he had healed Colonel O'Neil, but had declared that it would be best to let her body regain it's strength on it's own. Still, her only real regret was that he hadn't arrived soon enough to save Ayiana. Perhaps the only living ancient, and she had died saving them. It would have been better if they had never thawed her out of the ice in the first place.

Another knock came at her door, and she called out, "I'm coming!"

She made sure she was decent before opening the door. A mustached man in a tweed jacket greeted her.

"Hello," he said, "Samantha Carter?"

"I'm she," Sam replied.

"Excellent," the man said. "I apologize if I woke you, but I have a plane to catch, and it took me longer to find you than I had hoped. My name is Remus Lupin."

"I'm sorry," said Sam, wishing she were back in bed. "What is it that you want?"

"Yes, to the point. Recently, a missing boy named Harry Potter visited his former guardians briefly, and he mentioned that a Major Samantha Carter had shown him the report concerning his parent's murder." Oh crap. "Now I've gone through all the records available to me, and I can't find any mention of such an encounter. I was hoping-"

A man's voice interrupted him. "Excuse me, sir."

Sam must have been more out of it than she had realized because suddenly there were two suits behind the man that she hadn't noticed coming up.

"Are you Remus Lupin?" asked the one who had spoken.

"Yes," said Lupin slowly.

"I am agent Fitzgerald and this is agent Smitts. We're with INS, and we have some concerns about your visa."

What the hell was going on here?

"Concerns," said a confused Lupin. "I don't understand what the problem could be."

"You'll have to come with us so that we can make sure that everything is in order," said Smitts.

"Gentlemen," said Lupin, "I'm leaving the country this afternoon. I'm sure that I can finish this one last bit of business before I leave."

"You'll have to come with us now sir," said Fitzgerald. "The DoM has some questions for you." Those three letters were definitely emphasized, though Sam couldn't tell why. Lupin visibly sighed.

The man's awkward questions aside, Sam had some herself. "Wait, I'm Major Samantha Carter, with the United States Air Force. I'd like to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but that's confidential," said Fitzgerald. "If you have any concerns you can call our office. Come along Mr. Lupin."

Lupin followed after them, but he called out to her. "Do you know where he is?" he asked.

"No," she called out after him. She sighed, vexed. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the mountain. First Sirius Black, now this Lupin fellow. Who were these people who kept spilling out of the woodwork?

"Walter?"

"Major Carter, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to contact INS, and find out what they know about a Remus Lupin. They just took him into custody outside my door."

"I'll get on that, ma'am. When do you need the information by?"

"As soon as I can get to the base." She hung up. It was just her luck to be going in on her day off.

!

"Mr. Remus J. Lupin. Citizen of England, graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Currently unemployed." That was Mr. Fitzgerald, reading from a piece of paper.

"That's right," said Remus, a little wary of the two wizards. He glanced around their small enclosure. "You lot use automobiles in your work, do you?"

Smitts sighed almost dramatically. "Muggles seldom use that term. This is a van." The word 'idiot' was obvious in it's omission.

Fitzgerald cleared his throat. "My partner has a point, Mr. Lupin. Are you at all qualified to be meeting with muggles? Of course, that's what's brought us here, isn't it? What exactly are you doing interrogating high ranking members of our military? Do you know how many red flags you've thrown up?"

"Hey, I'm not interrogating anyone," said Remus. Well, he had intended to surprise them into reacting to the information that they had likely thought hidden. Perhaps these 'red flags' were just the confirmation he had been looking for. "I'm just trying to find some information on Harry Potter. I was tasked with following up on a lead on him."

"Forgetting the fact that you are not affiliated with any law enforcing agency-"

"I was a friend of his parents," Remus interrupted.

"-Barring that fact, this search is still ridiculous. What would American muggles know about it? Yes," he said before Remus could interrupt, "we know they were a part of the investigation; a small part of it. But everyone knows that Black was behind it."

"He was in prison," said Remus.

"And the boy was taken somewhere that all the wards monitoring him suddenly went whack. Face it man, it's obvious this is personal for you, but you're barking up the wrong tree, and ruffling too many feathers while you're at it. You're set to leave the country at noon. That's only an hour away; I suggest you make good time to your departure point."

"Please," said Remus. "I'm certain that that woman knows something."

"That woman," said Smitts, "is a Major in the US Air Force. She's a patriot, and she doesn't need you to bother her during her down time. She doesn't know anything about the boy, past, perhaps, what her fellow officers found at his home. You would do well to leave her alone."

"Very well," said Remus. He was certain that it wasn't a tone of petulance that touched his voice. "My wand, if you please?"

Smitts raised his eyebrows in surprise before handing Remus's wand to him. Obviously he had intended to surprise Remus by presenting it to him before he could leave, but the man's fingers were not as light as he seemed to think.

"Good day to you both," said Remus as Agent Fitzgerald opened the odd sliding door for him. Once he was past the anti-Apparation field that must have surrounded the vehicle, he disappeared in a pop. He would be going home empty handed, it seemed.

!

"Let me get this straight," said Narim, "we're going to defeat Anubis by painting these 'Runes' onto a handful of ships."

"Yes," said Harry awkwardly. "It needs to be sixteen ships, I figure Tel'taks are the best choice. No one really pays attention to them in a battle. Of course, we'll need back ups in case any are taken out. And the paint will have to be conductive."

"You can't be serious," Narim replied. They were alone in the man's office, as the sun was setting on the horizon.

"Narim, there's so much to magic that just doesn't make any sense at all," Harry started.

"We've accounted for those discrepancies," said Narim. "You pull zero point energy from the empty space around you, and you manipulate it, and the exotic particles produced. It's science."

"Of course it's science," said Harry. "But the man turned me into a squirrel, Narim. A squirrel! Just a few inches off the ground; fir, paws, and everything. I can't wrap my brain around how he does it, but I've accepted that he can, and I've learned to take some things on faith. I've already seen a small set of runes put to use. Sirius made a circular barrier that drew on the energy around it for a solid ten minutes. All he did was activate it."

Narim sighed. "Supposing that this could work. How would you implement such a plan?"

"Anubis still can't stop me from infiltrating his ships," said Harry. "We lure him into a battle, I board his ship, the runes are put into place, and I put his soul into a crystal of some sort. Sirius recommended quartz or ruby."

"Why you?" asked Narim. "If Sirius Black is as competent in this magic as you say, surely he would be a better choice."

Harry shook his head. "Apparently you have to be a virgin to perform this sort of magic," he said. "And yes, I know that that doesn't make any sense."

Narim looked at him for a moment. "I believe that many of us had always assumed… Isis and Osiris were married, and the goa'uld are known for indulging in physical pleasures."

Harry reddened. "I certainly know more about those sorts of things from their memories than any other ten year old, but goa'uld take their … cues … from their hosts. I was nine; neither of them were feeling… it."

"I see," said Narim. "Good then." He cleared his throat. "This plan still sounds irrational."

"Yes," said Harry, "well, if it doesn't work, we can always try blowing up his mothership."

"Now that makes sense," said Narim, "there's just one other problem though."

"Only one?"

"The Tok'ra spy among Anubis' ranks was recently found out and killed. We currently have no method of discovering his current whereabouts, or feeding him misinformation. It may be some time before we are able to set up such a trap."

Harry thought about the problem for a moment. "You get everyone together," he said. "Sirius can turn the conference room into a menagerie, if that's what it takes to convince everyone. I'll take care of the rest." He stood.

"You have a plan?" asked Narim.

"Make sure that they'll be ready in a week's time," said Harry. "I'll be back in a day or two."

"Where are you going?" asked Narim.

"To steal an al'kesh," Harry answered as he started for the door.

"You already have one," Narim called after him.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but I don't want to crash the Tar'Chell."

Harry left Narim's office in a hurry, quickly refining his plan. There were a few things he wanted to retrieve from his room first.

"Harry." Sam's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Hey, Sam," Harry said with a smile. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "I didn't think you had any meetings scheduled."

"Actually," she said, "I'm here to see you."

"Well then," said Harry. "Want to walk with me to my rooms? I'm in something of a hurry."

"Alright," she said, and they left the antechamber together.

"What did you want to see me about?" asked Harry. "Up for another trip to Hawaii?"

Sam smiled. "I wish. It's purely business today though."

"Aw," said Harry. "I suppose it's for the best though. I've got a mission to go on. You'll be hearing something about it later."

Sam gave him a worried look. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah, I know," said Harry.

"Anyway," said Sam, "a couple of weeks ago, some new British man started looking for you in America."

"Really?" asked Harry. "Who was drugged this time?"

"No one was drugged. He just showed up at the General's and my houses asking questions about you. By the way, did you mention me to your relatives?"

"You?" asked Harry, thinking back to his brief visit back to Surrey. "No," he said.

"This man, Remus Lupin, said that you had mentioned to your relatives that I had shown you the report concerning your parents death."

Harry shook his head. "I mentioned the report," he said, "but not you. I'm sure of it."

"Now that is interesting," said Sam, as they left the building. "Because he showed up to my house only ten minutes after he left the General's house, and he never mentioned me to the General either."

"You're right, that is strange," said Harry. "Hold on." He took a hold of her arm and shot the both of them across the expanse to his own building.

"You are in a hurry," Sam commented. "Anyway," she said, "it gets weirder, because he wasn't at my house for two minutes before he was taken into custody by Men in Black."

"Men in black?" Harry asked dubiously.

"Supposed federal agents," said Sam. "They claimed that they were with immigration, but we couldn't find anything on them, or on Lupin with INS."

"So," said Harry, "more stick waving crazies?"

"That's what we're thinking," said Sam. "

"And you're wondering if I have any idea who this Remus fellow is?"

"I know it's a long shot," said Sam.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I've never heard of him."

Sam sighed. "I've got a picture of him from the General's security system," she said, pulling out a photograph. "I don't suppose you recognize him."

Harry looked at the picture and shook his head. "If you show that to Sirius, and if Sirius has a meaningful history with the man, he might be able to get some sort of feeling from looking at the picture."

"How much of a history are we talking about here?"

"He saved your life Sam, and he didn't feel a thing when he met you again. I'd say it would have to be pretty substantial."

"Right," said Sam. "Do you know where he is?"

"My guess," said Harry, "is that he's waiting behind my door waiting to prank me."

"Prank you?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Harry, coming up to his apartment door. "Just stand to the side." He took a position next to the door before opening it. Right away a flash of light shot out and impacted the wall harmlessly.

"What was that?" Harry called into the room.

"Gravity reversal jinx," Sirius called back.

"And why did I give you access to my quarters?" he asked, finally stepping in.

"Because," said Sirius, "you just can't say 'no' to lovable old me."

"I'll give you old," said Harry.

"Oy!"

"Sirius," Harry told Sam, "is of the belief that I need to 'loosen up'."

"Well," said Sam, "you are a little serious sometimes."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said, Major," said Sirius, "I think he takes after me too."

"He also has a font of serious Sirius jokes buried in his brain," said Harry, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I need to get a few things," said Harry, "then I'm leaving the planet."

"Want me to come with you?" asked Sirius.

"Absolutely not. I don't want to face an army of Jaffa with emerald green hair."

"You turned his hair green?" Sam asked, clearly amused, as Harry fetched the Gatebuilder shield device from his bed room.

"Oh, it was wonderful," said Sirius, "he didn't realize it till he was down in that play area downstairs. The little buggers down there thought it was hilarious."

"As I recall," said Harry, now accessing his computer terminal, looking for information on a planet where Anubis was experimenting with geo-thermal energy, "they laughed even harder when I made you spin like a top until you reversed it."

"I bet you looked cute with green hair," said Sam. "I sure wish I could see that," she said leadingly.

Harry pointed a threatening finger at Sirius. "Don't even think about it."

He pulled a few data crystals from a drawer and stood up. "Right," he said, "I'm off. I'll probably see you tomorrow. And Sam, when Narim tells you my crazy plan, don't just dismiss it."

With those last words, Harry disappeared: a small flash of golden light, disappearing into a miniscule point of purple and black.

First things first, he thought to himself, he needed to steal an al'kesh. That wouldn't be too hard, not hard at all. He went to his computer and accessed his files of Tok'ra intelligence. He had a target in mind, a minor goa'uld named Oper that was still holding onto a few planets, for the simple reason that no one had bothered to take them from him yet. Well, maybe Harry could get the ball rolling.

One of the planets under Oper's control had a small shipyard. It was the best defended of the planets, but it was the most likely to have an al'kesh. His decision made, Harry set in a course for the planet and settled in for the four-hour journey. He pulled out the crystals he had taken from his room; they contained theorems from his classes on Tollana, and Harry began writing up a theorem of his own. He grinned to himself. There were some aspects to the fight against the goa'uld that he really liked.

Four hours later, he was still working on a theory of how one could use a black hole to establish a stable wormhole to anywhere in the galaxy, large enough for a ha'tak to pass through. Such a feat would be a major boon to any war effort. The Tar'Chell finally came out of hyperspace, facing the planet's small shipyard. Harry set aside his work, and opened fire on the planet's defenses, scanning for orbiting ships while he was at it. He smiled; he was alone in the skies, at least on this side of the planet.

Satisfied that he would not be shot down trying to leave the planet in a pirated ship, Harry set the Tar'Chell to jump into hyperspace before jumping down to the shipyard himself. There was pandemonium, as Jaffa ran around trying to get to ships in order to get to a fight that was already over. Harry shot himself at an al'kesh that still seemed to be empty, using the ship's ring platform to get aboard.

Harry shut down the platform before rushing into the control room. He was passing through the planet's atmosphere less than a minute later. The easy part was over, he had a lot more work to do before everything came together. Then things would get dangerous.

Six hours later, Harry had finished his theorem, rendezvoused with the Tar'Chell, taken an EVA, retrofitted the ship's shields, and done everything he could to make his new al'kesh look like it had suffered heavy damage in a space battle. The name 'Tar'Chell' emblazoned on its bow, and a small amount of naquadria placed near the hyperdrive reactor, made it seem to be his own. Harry sent the Tar'Chell to an uninhabited planet not far from Tollana and took its stand-in back into hyperspace.

A little over an hour later, he was well into Anubis' territory, and he dropped out not far from the target planet. A small explosion at the stern of the ship made it seem as though he had lost hyperspace capabilities. He kept the al'kesh hurtling towards the planet.

As soon as he had left hyperspace, two of the five ha'tak guarding the planet broke formation to confront him. Harry powered weapons, but another small explosion rocked the ship, and it appeared as though the weapons system had given out. The two ha'taks opened fire, but Harry didn't wait for the bolts of plasma to reach his ship, and he jumped down to the planet, behind the Stargate. His luck, which had seemed to be with him so far, failed at that moment though, as his escape route was already active.

"Drat," Harry muttered, and he shot himself towards the tree line behind the Stargate. If his luck was at least partially with him, then his presence hadn't been noticed. He shot himself a few more times, deeper into the forest, until he was certain he could avoid detection. He mentally checked the time through his hand device, and decided to wait five minutes. The Stargate likely wouldn't be active much longer than that.

Leaning against a tree, Harry fingered the crystal containing his theorem. For his and Sirius's plan to work, Anubis would have to be where they needed him to be, when they needed him there. The theorem would help to ensure that. He placed the theorem into a belt pouch, which was only just hanging onto his belt. Once again, it appeared as though it had been damaged in the battle.

Five minutes later, Harry shot himself back to the clearing containing the Stargate. It was deactivated, but more heavily guarded than he thought it usually would be. Undoubtedly, more Jaffa had been brought in for just this eventuality after his ship had been destroyed. No matter, he had his Gatebuilder shield, and he had his magic. Harry shot himself to the Jaffa's flank, and without anyone aware of him, he launched a few balls of plasma at their various positions, before shooting himself back into the forest. He rounded back to the far end of the clearing, and shot himself into a position behind the Stargate. His shield raised, Harry placed a hand against the Stargate. He pushed his mind into its systems and set it to dial the planet he had parked the Tar'Chell at.

When the Stargate activated, his distraction lost its effectiveness, and Harry came under fire. Between his shield and the fact that most of his body mass was behind the near invulnerable ring of the Stargate, he was safe enough. A few Jaffa tried to rush him, but magic flew from Harry's hands, the red energy that Sirius called a stunner. It seemed effective enough. Within seconds, a wormhole had engaged, and Harry rounded the Stargate to face the event horizon. He quickly flung himself through, but not before magically forcing the belt pouch to fall to the ground. Point three seconds later, Harry appeared on the uninhabited planet, the name of which had long been forgotten. Knowing that he would likely be followed, Harry jumped to the other side of the planet. The Tar'Chell would be a while in reaching him, but it would take Anubis's forces far longer.

!

"You gave Tollan science to Anubis?!"

Harry could see where Tellis could get upset over his plan, but still, "Defunct Tollan science," Harry corrected. "Science that took the Tollans fifteen years to disprove is going to make Anubis look twice. Let's face it; two wrong theories together don't make a right one. Should we fail to contain Anubis, he'll still be left with a science that will at worst be fruitless, and at best he'll destroy a few ships in the process."

"And how will this aid us in destroying him?" Narim asked. The three of them were alone in the man's office.

"There are only two known black holes in this galaxy that meet the criteria of the theorem. One is in Anubis's territory, and once he decrypts the file, he'll undoubtedly set up a research station there. The other one is in the middle of nowhere, and Anubis will assume that we have set up a research station of our own there. I assure you, he won't stand for that. He'll send in a few ha'taks to check it out, and we'll let him take the black hole from us. With us gone, Anubis will come himself to examine whatever research we will have 'left behind'."

"Which two theorems did you use exactly?" asked Narim.

"Gustoue's theory of using a black hole as a quantum computer, and Larise's theory of using Gamp energy to bypass the limit on Stargate size."

"Not everything in those theories is wrong," said Tellis, seemingly determined to find something wrong with Harry's plan.

"And I didn't include anything sensitive," said Harry. "The file's more of a how-to than a why. There's just enough theory in there to satisfy Anubis."

"You should have discussed the plan with the council," said Tellis.

"Why?" asked Harry. "So we could sit around talking about it for a few days while Anubis gets stronger? He's been systematically taking planets that long ago forgot the goa'uld, taking people that have been living in peace for the past thousand years or so. All the while we're safe pulling the strings of the galaxy."

"It isn't your job to personally see to the well being of everyone in this galaxy, there is a larger picture at stake."

Narim interrupted. "A larger picture that would be well served by this plan. If it works." He turned to Harry. "The council has agreed, reluctantly, to go ahead with this. Your godfather was most persuasive, and it seems we are all a little desperate to defeat Anubis once and for all. There is a meeting scheduled, tonight, to iron out the details of this plan. How long will it take Anubis to decrypt this file?"

"I used the strongest encryption I felt would be appropriate for such information. I guess, two weeks at least."

"Then we'll plan for a week and a half," said Narim.

"Well Harry," said Tellis, "if this works, and I'm not convinced that it will, then I'll owe you a drink … in another ten years."

Harry rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. He was done relying on luck. In two weeks, he would have done everything he could to defeat Anubis. If he had to say so himself, everything he could was quite impressive.

!

Remus was frowning as he waited for his noon Portkey back to England. It seemed more than likely that they had a good lead here in America, but he had no idea how they would be able to follow up on it. Seemingly unwittingly, the Americans had put an end to the investigation. Remus didn't know how to get around that without starting an international incident. Unless Albus could think of something, then all that they could have to do was wait.