Given that Ivy's family had been around for a few millennia, it made sense that they picked up a few choice pieces of real estate over the years. One of these was a two-hectare oceanfront villa located in the posh Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, where she had brought the group after leaving Nevernever. The villa was furnished with every modern luxury you could ask for, and its magical wards were strong enough hold off not one but two armies if anyone was foolish enough to attack the Archive in her own home.
Rather than directly confront poor Wendell and Monica Wilkins, Ivy decided that Kincaid should kidnap Hermione's parents. Successfully removing a Memory Charm after a year's time was a tricky proposition, and she reasoned that their Healer would work better in a secure environment. To everyone's surprise Mrs Tonks had offered to accompany Kincaid on his mission.
"A married couple will attract less attention from the muggles," Andromeda told them as she handed Teddy over to his godfather in exchange for Harry's Invisibility Cloak. "Besides, I would like to see more of the city."
The pair had left in a Range Rover twelve hours ago, and Hermione wasn't showing much patience with the situation. "Where are they?" she whined every ten minutes or so.
"It takes time to properly plan and carrying out an illegal kidnapping," Ivy replied as she gently levitated a large Swarovski crystal chandelier over Teddy's crib with one hand while blocking Harry, Ron, and Hermione's combined curses with the other. "Now stop complaining, and focus on your casting."
Since the villa's wards hide them from the Oceanic Ministry of Magic, Harry had suggested they have a mock duel to pass the time. After their eventful trip through Nevernever both Ron and Hermione wanted to learn more about Ivy's magic, and they greeted his suggestion with enthusiasm. Unfortunately for the trio this mock duel turned out to be a disaster.
"I don't understand; you are annihilating all our charms, curses, and transfigurations without even trying," Harry said during one of the breaks they took when Teddy needed to be changed and feed. "It's like our spells cease to exist when you counter them with your type of magic."
"Yes, that is exactly what is happening," Ivy replied.
"So you don't even have to use a shield against us? You can just wreck our spells before they even reach you?" Ron asked.
"Ronald your magic is created internally, which means there is always a finite amount of it. This limitation forced your ancestors to be creative," Ivy explained as she deftly fed Teddy his bottle. Out of all of them she was the only one who had experience dealing with babies. In fact Harry had thrown up when he tried to change his first dirty nappy.
"With access to so little magic they needed to develop powerful wands and very specific incantations to organize their thoughts if they wanted to accomplish anything at all magically. Because of this your spells resemble soap bubbles: they are incredible beautiful but incredible fragile at the same time. The magic I draw upon is more potent and has a higher… density, for lack of a better word. When I send it flowing through your spells it disrupts their delicate structure like a powerful jet of water piercing a soap bubble."
"So we are basically defenseless against you and the members of the White Council," Ron said.
"No, you are not completely defenseless. If I failed to counter any of your attacks you could kill me just as easily as you would any other human being," Ivy replied. "However if a true wizard is prepare for a fight things can turn ugly very quickly. Three hundred and twenty-five years ago a single member of the White Council—the Blackstaff himself—slaughtered over a thousand of your kind in less an hour of magical combat."
"You could kill a thousand wizards and witches all by yourself?" Harry asked in horror.
"Wait a minute, three hundred and twenty-five years ago would make it 1685," Hermione calculated. "And the International Statue of Secrecy was passed in 1689. That can't be a simple coincidence."
"Of course it was not a coincidence," Ivy said as she began to burp Teddy. "The White Council was sick of cleaning up the problems caused by your little Dark Lords. They waged a short but brutal war against your leaders until they signed a peace treaty which forced them to accept the new Statute of Secrecy. It also made them responsible for stopping any aspiring Dark Lords before they were able to attack the larger world."
Harry looked confused. "Why did the White Council allow us to sign that Treaty if they could have just killed us all so easily?"
"As I have told you, just because you use internal magic doesn't mean you can't fight back. A Killing Curse is just as deadly to a true wizard as it is to anyone else—if you can catch him or her off guard," Ivy reminded them. "You also have a few other magical advantages over the Council."
"Potions," Ron offered. "Snape may have been a greasy git, but he sure could brew a lot of really useful potions."
"Your potion masters, and your healers for that matter, are quite talented," Ivy allowed. "However those potions and healing spells only work in tandem with your body's magic. If you tried to use them on mortals they would be useless, or even toxic in some cases, which makes them of limited value outside of your tiny communities."
"We can apparate and create portkeys, but you can't," Hermione guessed. "That is why you are forced to travel through Nevernever despite all the dangers you face there."
"Yes, your unique ability to apparate does provide you with several important tactical options. Not only can you retreat when attacked, but it is also allows you to conduct guerrilla-style raids," Ivy said. "It doesn't completely even the odds, but it does make it all but impossible for the White Council to gain a total and unconditional victory during any conflict between the two sides."
"Well that's a relief," Ron muttered. "Any other useful pointers for us poor wankers?"
"You can't perform Memory Charms, can you?" Harry asked. "That is why you needed to hire an outside Healer to work on Hermione's parents."
"Well done," Ivy said, and the gentle compliment made her prospective husband blush.
"I could create or remove a Memory Charm, but it would be like performing brain surgery with a chainsaw. Mind Magic is the one field where your lot manages to outclass the White Council, since your wands and delicate spell-casting are ideally suited for manipulating the human brain. It is also a dirty secret that the Council tolerates your abuse of the Laws of Magic because your Obliviators are so useful in hiding the existence of magic from the mortals."
"Dragons!" Ron yelled suddenly. "My bother Charlie works at a Dragon Preserve, and one of the most important parts of his job is to keep the place a secret from any muggles who accidentally find out about it."
"Well done, Ronald," a beaming Hermione said.
"I must tell you that those poor beasts are not true dragons," Ivy said. "But yes, maintaining the Dragon Preserves is another bonus as far as the Council is concerned."
"We also protect places like the Forbidden Forest," Hermione added. "I guess that preventing magical animals and plants from being destroyed by the muggles is too menial a task for the great wizards of the White Council."
That bitter observation caused Ivy to laugh. "Yes, they are a very arrogant bunch, and they probably do view animal husbandry as a task unworthy of their time even if the animals are magical in nature."
"Incoming!" Kincaid called out from the front door.
The tall bodyguard soon came striding into the parlor, and he was followed by the unconscious Philip and Kate Granger who were floating in front of Mrs Tonks. The older witch was a curious sight: only her head, bare shoulders, and wand arm were visible. The rest of her was still hidden by Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
"Were there any problems?" a nervous Hermione asked as her parents were gently deposited on two of the sofas.
"No," Kincaid replied. "Andromeda here is pretty useful for an Amish witch. These two never even knew we were in the house waiting for them."
"Andromeda is it?" Ivy asked in a cold voice as she took in the woman's disheveled hair and apparent nakedness.
Kincaid just smile. "You know how boring long stakeouts can get. We will be upstairs if you need us."
"Harry would you like your Invisibility Cloak back?"
"No, Mrs Tonks! Just keep it for now."
Ivy walked over to the man who represented the only family she had ever known, and began to whisper furiously. "You are aware of the fact that Karrin Murphy is no longer a member of the Chicago Police Department, and is now a Knight of the Cross?"
"My affairs have never concerned you before. Why the sudden interest?" Kincaid asked as he watched Andromeda's long brown hair float up the staircase. That was certainly true. In the fifteen years they had lived together the man had taken over a hundred different women to bed, and she had never once complained about it.
"I am interested because if Karrin Murphy decides to stab you through your demonic heart with a Holy Sword of Power like Fidelacchius you will die!" Ivy whispered. "As the Archive I am not allowed to protect my stupid bodyguard from one of his jilted lovers!"
When Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by the Romans they had used three nails to pin him to the cross. These nails were used in turn by the Catholic Church to create three swords which had been wielded by the three Knights of the Cross for nearly two thousand years. The swords could deflect the deadliest of curses, and they capable of killing not only minor demons like Kincaid but even the legendary Outsiders that existed far beyond the Sidhe Realms of Nevernever.
"I hope you aren't this clueless when you are dealing with that idiot over there," an amused Kincaid said as he started up the stairs. "Trust me, I can deal with Karrin even if she is armed with Fidelacchius. Now what about the Healer?"
"She will be here within the hour," Ivy replied. "The procedure to remove the Memory Charms should take no more than ninety minutes. After a good night's sleep I will tear down the villa's wards in the morning, and then we will make our way back to London. You will stay here in Sydney to sell the house… and to eliminate the Healer. The witch is a well-known mercenary, and I will not give her an opportunity to sell my secrets to any of my supernatural enemies."
"I will make sure it looks likes a perfect accident to the Wardens and local law enforcement," Kincaid assured her.
"Yes, you always do."
Ivy had just three months left to convince Harry Potter to be the father of her children, and she decided that her best method of attack would be a World Tour. Up until now the boy's horizons had limited to Surrey, Hogwarts, and an old magical tent in the woods. She knew that Harry would love the idea of traveling, but there was a problem in the form of Philip and Kate Granger. They were furious with their daughter, and by extension with her best friend.
"I just can't believe that you violated us like this. Using a Memory Charm on anyone, let alone your own parents, goes against everything we ever taught you," Mrs Granger said for the third or fourth time.
This whole argument was ruining Ivy's well-planned itinerary, so she magically grabbed the Grangers and left them hanging a meter off the ground. "Have you ever heard of the Aborigines of Australia? Or perhaps the Native Americans of the United States, or the Jews of Europe, or the Tutsis of Rwanda?"
"Yes, we've heard of them," a terrified Mrs Granger replied. "They were all the victims of genocide."
"Yes they were, and genocide is exactly what Lord Voldemort had planned for both the muggleborn witches and wizards of the United Kingdom and their families. Hermione felt that saving your lives so important that she was willing to erase her own existence to protect you," Ivy explained. "You should be thanking your daughter, not condemning her."
Mr Granger could see that everyone in the room was scared of this strange teenage girl, but his curiosity got the best of him. "Who in the world are you?"
"I am child who never had a chance to know my own parents," Ivy replied. "So are you going to abandon your only child? Or are you going to take the second chance that fate has given you both?"
That night after another long trip through Nevernever their group—which now included Mr and Mrs Granger—arrived at Ivy's townhouse in London. "How many houses do you own?" Harry asked as they wandered through its many lavish rooms.
"A fair few," she replied. "Money has never really been a problem for my family. So have you decided if you want to come along with me on a journey?"
"What about Teddy?" an uncertain Harry asked.
"Kincaid should arrive in London in a few days. Between him, Andromeda, Queen Titania of Summer, and the heavy wards surrounding this house your godson will be perfectly safe until you get back."
"I don't think Mrs Tonks would mind spending some more time with Kincaid, but isn't he supposed to be your bodyguard?" Harry asked.
"If we are going to take this journey it will just be the two of us."
"Ivy, I'm still not sure about... you know," the boy admitted.
"That is why it is a good idea for us to spend some time together, so we can find out one way or another if we are truly compatible," Ivy explained. "Plus you really do need a vacation. After all, you did die just a week ago."
"What about Hermione and Ron?"
"You have seen the way they have been looking at each other. Do you really want to stay here and play the role of a third wheel? Or would you like to see the world?"
Harry Potter mysteriously disappeared from United Kingdom that night. However the Daily Prophet was soon reporting sightings of him from across the globe, and always in the presence of a young blonde muggle. One week he was meeting with the Magical President of Peru, the next week he was seen in the company of Japan's most brilliant magical scholars, and the week after that having dinner with the wealthiest exporter of potion ingredients in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
That summer was a revelation for the young wizard. Ivy would teach him anything he wanted to know about any subject he could think of. It was a source of great embarrassment, but this education started out with basic grooming. Ivy was always perfectly presentable, and Harry was tired of looking like a vagabond. She patiently taught him how to shave with a straight razor, how to perform a proper manicure, and most importantly how to tame his unruly mop of black hair.
Then they moved on to clothes. Ivy never wore anything that wasn't custom-tailored and made of the finest materials available. After years of wearing his cousin's disgusting hand-me-downs, Harry quickly adjusted to his new and very stylish wardrobe. He particular enjoyed throwing away all of Dudley's heavily stained tighty-whities, and changing over to silk boxers.
During this ongoing educational process Ivy would lead him through Nevernever to a new country or even a new continent every morning. After settling in at a secure safe house they would seek out the most powerful and influential wizards and witch in each country. Thanks to the knowledge of the Archive she knew the names and address of all these individuals, and it was surprising to Harry how few of them held an official government post.
"Who had more power in the United Kingdom: Cornelius Fudge the Minister of Magic or Lucius Malfoy the private citizen?" Ivy asked when he questioned her about it.
"Definitely Lucius Malfoy."
"Don't misunderstand me. Governments, both magical and mortal, have a great deal of real power," Ivy told him. "But they rarely have a monopoly on it. That is why I am introducing you to so many business wizards and scholars."
These meetings were always very taxing for Harry, but having Ivy at his side made it easier. She always made a brilliant observation or shared a tasty bit of gossip at just the right moment. After a month or two of practice Harry even developed a bit of charm during these many social engagements. All he had to do was be the Boy-Who-Lived: the young wizard who had twice survived the Killing Curse, and rid the world of that monster, Lord Voldemort.
Despite the constant sightseeing and politicking Harry didn't neglect his combat training. Ivy was a harsh teacher, and as always her knowledge was unmatched by anyone else in the world. Even with the Elder Wand he barely survived these brutal sessions, but his skill as a duelist was increasing at a rapid pace.
"You can't know all this stuff just from books," Harry said one day as he collapsed on the floor of ballroom in the Archive's Buenos Aires hacienda.
"That is an excellent observation," a distant Ivy replied. "In truth I come from a long line of witches."
"You mean your family had witches like Hermione and Mrs Tonks? I thought you said a person either had internal magic or else they are true wizards."
"That is the case for ninety-nine point nine percent of all magical practitioners, but thanks to generations of selective breeding my family had managed to combine the two different talents. Unfortunately thanks to my mother's stupidity I am now what you would refer to as a squib."
"What happened?" Harry asked softly.
"When she was my age my mother had still hadn't inherited her birthright from my grandmother. She hated the thought of becoming the Archive, and decided to rebel by running away. Soon afterwards she become pregnant with me. Instead of being a wizard like you, my father was some useless artist living in San Francisco, and his inferior genes left me without any internal magic. This personal weakness enabled a group of demons called the Denarians to capture and torture me several years ago. That is why it is so important to me that our daughter be a witch. "
"What happened to your mother? Why isn't she the Archive instead of you?"
"Unlike your mother Lily who sacrificed her own life because she loved you, my mother committed suicide because she hated me. I was going to have the life of freedom she wanted but could no longer have. So she cursed me with the knowledge of the Archive just a few hours after I was born."
Harry thought back to that long walk he had taken through the Forbidden Forest when he expected to die at Voldemort's hands. Like him, Ivy had been forced to suffer her entire life because of a great and terrible destiny she had never asked for. Despite being exhausted and covered with sweat he got up off the floor and wrapped her in a gentle hug.
Harry was just about to move in for a kiss when Ivy suddenly started swearing a blue streak. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Minister Shacklebolt had just signed a warrant for your arrest."