The ride in the armoured personnel carrier lasted around 20 minutes, with the teens in the six-wheeled armoured vehicle almost ready to puke. It was worse than the Knight Bus back home, as there were no windows, meaning that sharp turns and sudden stops came without warning, the harnesses being the only thing that kept them from flying around in the APC. During the ride, Colonel Daniel Greengrass seemed unfazed by the wild driving, calmly removing his tactical gear and taking a drink from a canteen. He was now wearing a tight black T-shirt and his dark grey tactical trousers, and took out a pen and paper to jot down notes; he would have to head to headquarters after dinner for a full debriefing and he needed to give a thorough after action report.

Mercifully, the ride was finally over. The vehicle opened its rear door, and Colonel Greengrass was already out of his harness, helping his niece stand up after the harrowing journey. Harry managed to get out of his seat without any trouble, though he did stumble in the vehicle until his sense of balance returned. Sirius was now carrying his usual grin, the glamour charms faded away while on that psychotic ride from the airport. After a few more minutes, everyone else managed to pull themselves together and headed to front of the cabin to retrieve their luggage.

After dragging out their bags and freeing their pets from their cages, the teens now looked carefully at Greengrass Residence.

Harry was surprised to see how much bigger the houses were in North American than in Britain. It was a white, two-story house, almost identical to nearby houses in the muggle neighbourhood. There was a two car garage in the front, and it had a beautiful green trimming along the gutters, eaves, and windows. It was a far cry from the cramped home of the Dursleys at 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, England, and Harry knew that this house was bound to be bigger on the inside.

Daniel went the front of the armoured transport that carried everyone from the airport and spoke to the driver of the vehicle. The rear door was retracted and soon the vehicle sped off, heading to base, disappearing just before the intersection down the street. Daniel looked back to his British guests and cheerfully said, "Welcome to Barrie, Ontario."

He led them to the front door, taking out his wand to disarm the protective charms and wards around the house. Daniel went ahead and opened the door. Dinner was apparently cooking, as the smell of hearty food wafted through the air.

"DADDY!"

Two children, a girl and a boy, ran out screaming as they jumped at their dad. The girl was about 10, with long dirty blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. The boy was younger, with light brown hair, bluish-brown eyes, and bore a wicked smile as the two dragged their father into the house to the laughter of Harry and his friends. Sirius was promptly on the floor laughing at the tough-looking Colonel getting pushed around by his little ones.

The entryway made an impression on the guests. It had a tiled floor, with maple furniture and an impressive grandfather clock decorating the room. There was a set of oak doors near the entrance way that led to a massive cloak room as well as a white marble staircase leading up to the upper floors. The room itself had doorways leading to the kitchen, dining room, entertainment den, and the living room, which was where the kids were dragging their poor father. Hedwig seemed to know her way and flew in after them. Crookshanks followed Hermione, looking around for trouble.

The living room had a sofa and two loveseats, as well as two reclining chairs. They were arranged in a semicircle around a large cedar coffee table and the large brick fireplace, which had a log inside burning warmly. Another door led to the dining room and the kitchen, which still had many wonderful smell emanating from inside.

Daniel played around with his two youngest children for a few minutes before getting them to sit down on his lap. He gestured for everyone to take a seat before heading upstairs to fully change. Another teenager, about the same age as Harry and his friends, came through the door from the kitchen, and was surprised as to who the guests were.

Harry and Daphne took one of the loveseats, snuggling with each other, while Tracy and Neville took the other. Sirius and Hermione sat on the sofa, as the oldest of the Greengrass children cheerfully plopped down next to Hermione.

He had a charming face, with a light brunette hair, intense hazelnut eyes, and a mischievous grin. He brought out his hand and shook Hermione's gently.

"Hello, I am Samuel Greengrass, though everyone calls me Sam. It is a pleasure to meet you, madam." He greeted with a confident, flirtatious voice.

Hermione blushed slightly, as her friends giggled or chuckled at Samuel's advances.

Daniel made a cough to get everyone's attention.

"So, again welcome to our humble abode. This is my daughter Melody" he pointed at the dirty-blond haired tyke. And the little devil here is Richard."

A woman wearing an apron over her shirts and khaki shorts came out from the kitchen.

"And this is my lovely wife Michelle."

Michelle Greengrass was nearly as tall as Daniel, with flowing blond hair that fell down her shoulders, her face almost angelic with sky blue eyes. She gave a quick kiss with the husband, who smiled at his lovely wife. Harry suddenly felt a pull towards Mrs. Greengrass, which he and Neville resisted easily, unlike his Godfather who simply started to drool as he stated at the beautiful woman, leading to Harry to slap him on the back of the head. Everyone laughed as Sirius turned around and looked at Harry incredulously before smiling mischievously.

Michelle seemed to understand and lightly chuckled at Sirius Black's antics. She spoke with a faint French-Canadian accent, though it was barely noticable.

"Don't worry, Harry Potter. I'm an eighth Veela on my mother's side. That," she pointed to Sirius's still dazed expression, "happens a lot to me. Danny here was the only guy in school who didn't drool at me on sight, hence why I decided to marry him once I graduated." She then gave another peck on the Colonel's cheek, which blushed red as the Colonel half-seriously pleaded, "Not in front of everyone, Elle."

Hermione looked curious and commented, "An eighth Veela?"

"My half-Veela grandmother fled France with her family to Quebec during the War of 1897."

Harry was confused.

"The War of 1897?"

Michelle looked surprised

"Don't they teach you that in Hogwarts?"

"Our History of Magic classes were terrible; even if I paid attention to our boring teacher, who is a ghost by the way, I never saw it in the textbooks or Hermione's notes, either."

"Huh, it looks like their education system was worse than I thought," Michelle muttered.

Harry then formally introduced everyone, though it seemed that Daniel already knew the faces and names. The Colonel had reviewed secret documents relating on the incident in the British Ministry of Magic, and knew that Fudge was censoring the details of the event. In any case, one CMIS operator within the British Ministry had sent details of what really happened in there as well as a list of names of the students that helped stop Riddle's forces.

Daniel and Michelle were a bit surprised to see Harry tenderly hold their niece's hand, as the two teens sat closely on their loveseat. Daphne's aunt and uncle shared knowing smiles, causing Harry and Daphne to blush.

"Now, dinner should be ready in a few minutes, so I will see you all very soon." Michelle gave a light kiss to Daniel before heading back to the kitchen.

The dining hall was magnificent, with a crystal chandelier hanging over a long table that could seat about 12 people. To the surprise of the guests, a rather healthy and smiling house-elf donned in muggle clothing and an apron was helping Mrs. Greengrass carry dinner from the kitchen. After placing a large casserole and a plate full of barbecued ribs, she introduced herself as Leslie to Harry and company before snapping her fingers, disappearing to what Mrs. Greengrass explained was a social gathering for house-elves.

Dinner was pleasant, with Neville and Harry claiming that it might be even better than the food at Hogwarts, which led to chuckles along the table. For Harry, it was definitely a far cry from the Dursley's usual fare. After dinner, everyone moved to the entertainment room, which also had a set of sofas and love seats. This room was centered on a magically powered big-screen TV and surround sound system, which was Colonel Greengrass's pride and joy, as well as a magically powered "computer" running Windows 95.

Harry and his friends chatted warmly with the Greengrasses, retelling the events of the previous years at Hogwarts, while listening to Daniel, Sam, and Michelle about life in Canada. The Brits were surprised to hear that house-elves and werewolves were protected by the Canadian Charter of Magical Rights and Freedoms. House elves were given far more rights than their British counterparts, such as a minimum wages, adequate, housing, as well as protection form abuse. Werewolves were provided special medications to help maintain their minds during the full moon, and there were dedicated places for werewolves to stay at during such times.

Further, there was legislation against the discrimination of non-purebloods. Uttering "mudblood" was in fact a hate crime under the Canadian Magical Criminal Code, which made everyone wish that Draco Malfoy was around so he could be arrested for his bigotry. Squibs were treated with respect, free to choose a career either in the non-magical world or in the magical world, with quite a number serving in the Canadian Magical Armed Forces.

There are over 2 million magically gifted people in Canada, which was among the largest magical populations in the world. Over a fifth of those lived in the magically hidden city of Silvermoon, deep within the Northwest Territories. However, the vast majority of Magical Canadians lived either in warded neighbourhoods in the major Muggle cities, or, like the Greengrasses, lived comfortably next to non-magical Canadians. 215 magical schools existed in the country, educating students from ages 11 to 18. Many were located in remote areas of the country, though there were 17 such schools within Silvermoon, 25 on the city's outskirts, and a few hidden within the outskirts of Toronto and Vancouver.

After an hour or so, Colonel Greengrass then answered his mobile phone, which folded out like a clam shell.

"Hello, Colonel Greengrass here...yes, sir...yes, sir, I'll use the floo...alright, I'll be arriving in a few minutes. See you soon, sir." He ended the call and looked at the group.

"Sorry, Everyone, but I need to go. I need to take care of my debriefing and some paperwork.

Leslie has already prepared your rooms upstairs. The girls are going to sleep in the main guestroom, while Harry, Sirius, and Neville are getting the other guestroom; all your belonging and your pets are already in your rooms. Breakfast is at 7:00ish, so please don't stay up late. I'll see you all tomorrow." Kissing his wife, he left for the living room, no doubt to use the Floo network to get to headquarters.

After he left, Mrs. Greengrass checked her watch, and quickly grabbed Melody and Richard, excusing herself as she got the tykes upstairs for bedtime. Sam stayed with the Brits, who were curious about Daphne's Canadian relatives.

"How come you've never mentioned you had family in Canada?" Harry delicately asked.

"Harry, I last saw my uncle was when I was about 2ish. They were visiting my home for vacation, and Uncle Danny did tell dad how make that magically-made TV for my family."

Tracy asked, "Was your dad and Mr. Greengrass close?"

"Not really, they did send a few letters every month or so, just to keep in touch. Dad said that he just hated all the bigotry in Britain, so after he graduated from Hogwarts, he promptly took a flight to Canada."

Harry asked Sam about what his dad work, only to hear that the Colonel worked in some classified part of the military, and rarely mentioned anything about work.

After some more small talk, it was 10 PM and Sam turned on the TV, just as the intro to the 10 PM Wizarding News began.

"Tonight: Terrorist Attack Stopped."

A high ranking Auror appears and says, "We are very lucky that no civilians were killed."

Canadian soldiers and the unlikeliest of help defeats a planned attack led by Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Other headlines appear before:

"And: Julian Ricardo reports on the life and trials of Harry James Potter, the man who some say may be the key to defeating Tom Riddle."

"CWC National News. From the Canadian Wizard News Center, here is Peter Walker."

"Good Evening. Words of gratitude and shock came from the Terrorist Attack earlier this evening in Toronto. 2 terrorists were killed on the scene, with another dying in hospital and three more now in custody. We have reports tonight that the terrorist group known as the Death Eaters was responsible for the attack. We begin tonight in Pearson International Airport with a report by Wallace Finch"

"It happened in a matter of minutes. At 5:45 PM, Six "Death Eaters", followers of the Dark wizard and terrorist Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr., the man known as Lord Voldemort and You-know-who in the British Public, attempted to attack the immigration control booths at Toronto Pearson Airport. The likely target: Harry James Potter, the student at the Hogwarts School Witchcraft and Wizardry who survived the original attacks of Tom Riddle as an infant and reportedly faced Riddle on several occasions within the Hogwarts. With him were several classmates of that school as well as Sirius Black, an ex-Auror and the man in the center of one of the most controversial cases of imprisonment at Azkaban Prison.

The Department of Magical Affairs has stated that shortly before the attack, military intelligence had a minor warning of attacks and had stationed specialist personnel at the airport, working in concert with member of the RCMA to apprehend the individuals. The two dead were confirmed shot by Canadian soldiers, while three of the others were taken out by Harry Potter and his associates. The last was taken down by RCMA officers, who have taken the three surviving members for questioning.

It is the first time that Tom Riddle has sent his followers across the Atlantic since 1979, when members of a sleeper cell made a daring attack on CFB James Bay, killing 10 soldiers and 6 civilians before they were found and killed. Since then, all Canadian airport security staff has vigorously screened out followers of Riddle or other "dark lords." There is no word yet from the British Ministry of Magic. Wallace Finch, CWC News, Toronto."

They watched the program up to before the documentary on Harry, and soon they were headed upstairs. Surprisingly for Harry, he had a very peaceful sleep. So many troubles were left in Britain, chief among them a certain Dark Lord and his minions, and truly felt safe in the Great White North.