EIGHT

Potter Island

Location Unknown

Harry awoke in a sunshine filled room, following his best night's sleep that he could ever remember having. His sleep had been filled with pleasant dreams, and most of them centered on a beautiful young woman whom he now knew he would spend the rest of his life with.

He opened his eyes and took his surroundings into consideration. He was lying in a four poster bed that, while not as big as the one that he had at the Potter Manor in Germany, is still bigger than the one that he had at Hogwarts. The bed was also much more comfortable than the one at either location.

Feeling a pleasant warm weight on his chest, he smiled. There and then he realized that his comfort in this bed had nothing to do with the size of the bed itself, or of the room, but rather, it had everything to do with the person, whose head was lying on his chest, making use of it as her pillow, that is lying beside him.

Harry knew that her staying with him, spending the night with him and sleeping beside him, was the reason that his sleep was filled with pleasant dreams instead of nightmares.

For the first time since they were married, Harry and Hermione had shared their beds, and while they had not done anything yet, both knew that there is now no way that either of them would willingly climb into a bed without the other.

Harry felt his left arm under Hermione, and because she was lying on her stomach so that she may rest her head on his chest, his forearm actually touched her breasts, while said arm embraced her. His right arm was lying on his side, and Harry was not sure if his right hand had stayed there all night long while they slept, or if it had repositioned itself there while they slept.

Harry smiled as he decided that he would not wake up his sleeping wife, yet. Harry thought about that term, and as he did so, he never noticed as his right arm slowly started to gently stroke her hair.

A soft, contented sight escaped from her lips as Harry stroked her hair with his hand. A few moments later, her left arm, which was thrown over Harry, slowly moved in such a way that it found itself touching Harry's face a few moments later. Right after that, Hermione opened her eyes.

"Good morning love" Harry said, and then he smiled at his wife.

"Good morning love" Hermione replied, and then she also smiled at her husband.

Despite the fact that both have no intention of moving their current positions, both know that if they do not make an appearance soon, they might find Hermione's parents in the room. Both Harry and Hermione would rather not have her parents in the room as they cuddled, despite the fact that they have received permission from her parents, and despite the fact that both of them spent the night together fully clothed.

A few moments later, Harry, wearing a casual white shirt, and Hermione, who, for some reason, had found Harry's jersey, walked into the dining room.

Unlike the dinning room in the Potter Manor at Germany, this dinning room was larger. The first thing that both married teenagers noted was the size of the dinning table. It appeared to be made of wood, and it appeared to be more than capable of handling fifty people in one sitting.

At various intervals on the surface, there are centerpieces, all neatly arranged flower baskets that both suspected are changed everyday.

Already sited at the dinning table, and appear to be breaking their fast, were Hermione's parents, Sirius, Remus, Al, and Hec, all of whom were engaged in conversation. The first person who noticed their entry, they were holding hands when they did, was Hec. He stood up to welcome Harry and Hermione, Hec was already aware of his relationship with Hermione, but he frowned when he saw that no one, not even Al, followed suit.

Harry smiled at the burly man and motioned for him to retake his seat. Once Hec was sited once again, Harry pulled a chair for Hermione; picking one beside her mother, before he pulled a chair for himself, this one, he made sure was beside Hermione's. As soon as the two of them were seated, menus appeared in front of them, which they both discovered contained a listing of almost every breakfast combination in the world.

A worried Harry glanced at his wife, who smiled back at him, before shaking her head, silently telling him that she does not think any less of his family for employing House-elves, before she made her selection and announced that she would be having bacon and egg. A clearly relieved Harry decided to follow her choice and ordered the same.

They talked while they ate, which allowed Hermione to ask Al a question that had been bothering her since they went to Gringotts to take a look at the Potter finances.

"Al" she said, prompting the battle wizard and his second in command to look at her, the former with a questioning gaze while the latter with a neutral expression written on his face, "How can I be Heir of Ravenclaw when I am muggle-born?"

Al looked at both Sirius and Remus, who both shrugged, before he turned his attention back towards Hermione, "To tell you the truth, I have no idea as well" he admitted, he smiled at her before adding, for the battle wizard was sure that Hermione would not accept that easily, "I may have a theory that is plausible"

"May we hear it?" Harry asked right after he emptied the glass of, surprisingly good, orange juice that came with his breakfast. From the tone of his voice, no one would mistake his query as a demand, but rather, it was a request, which, for some reason, pleased both Al and Hec.

Al nodded, "Of course" he replied, he looked at Hermione and then said, "We believe that the line of Ravenclaw died sometime during the Hundred Years War", he sighed before looking at Hermione. Once he was looking at her, he added, "By 'died', we mean that every line that descended from her is gone"

"Then why…?" Hermione began.

Al cut her off with an apology before continuing, "Like all magical ancient families, there Ravenclaw line must never end, there must always be a successor, it matters little if the successor is full blood, half-blood, or first-generation, there must always be a successor"

"In your case" Al continued, he looked straight into Hermione's eyes, and continued, "According to Remus, you are the best student in terms of Academics that he has ever met, and your past academic records seem to lend credence to this observation"

"So I became heir because of that?" Hermione asked. From the look that she gave Al, it was obvious that she thought that that is too simple, "I mean, the sorting hat did consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my sorting, but…" she paused when she saw the look that Al shot at both Remus and Sirius, which disturbed her. She glanced at Harry, and found him undisturbed by her revelation, but then again, she told herself that that is probably because they talked about this last night. She looked at Al and asked, "Alright, what is it?"

Al looked at Hermione and apologized again, "I am sorry; I did not know about that" he replied, he smiled at her and added, "It is possible that even during your sorting, Ravenclaw had already recognized you as her possible heir, or…" he turned towards Hec, who shook his head, clearly, the burly American disagreed with what Al wanted to say, yet, Al continued, he turned towards Hermione and said, "It could be that we made a mistake with our approximation and you are descended from Ravenclaw" he sighed and shook his head, "We do not think, however, that this is the case"

"We would be checking nonetheless" Hec said, he glanced at Al, who nodded, before he turned his gaze back at Hermione, "I do not know when we would have the answer, but please, rest assured that we would have the answer"

Harry felt that his wife was adamant on knowing the answer to her question. As he is sited beside her, he felt her anxiety and he knew that she would volunteer to join the research. Since Harry knew that he cannot allow her to join, he held her hand, under the table, and she looked at him.

Harry slowly shook his head; she looked at him for a few moments, and then she nodded, conceding to his unspoken request that she leave the research work to Hec and his people.

"As Al had said, we do not think that we made a mistake with our approximation" Hec said, he looked at Hermione and added, "It could be that Ravenclaw recognized you as being a lot like her, so she chose you to be her heir."

Hermione nodded, "I would feel much more relaxed if you would be able to give me a specific answer" she said, she smiled at both Al and Hec before adding, "Please do not think that this is that important, I am just curious"

"I would be curious too if I was in your position" Al admitted, he looked at her for a few moments, just to make sure that she would not continue to ask questions under the umbrella topic, and then announced when he was sure that there would be no more questions in regards to the Ravenclaw heir, "After breakfast, we would be having a grand tour of the island," he explained, "Everyone is, of course, invited, but Harry and Hermione" at this, he inclined his head towards the two, "are required to join the tour" the battle wizard wisely did not chose to add the reason, for he was sure that if he did, Dan would throw a tantrum.

Thirty minutes later, after everyone was finished with their breakfast, Al led Harry and Hermione to a waiting Land Rover Snatch outside the driveway of the mansion. Dan and Emma had decided to accompany them for the tour, but Remus and Sirius decided that they would have the tour some other time and would rather head to the infirmary to check up on Tonks.

This was the first time that Harry and Hermione are out of the mansion, so before they climbed aboard their transport vehicle, the two decided to look at the house first. It was a white colonial mansion with three floors finished in the Georgian style.

Once they are inside the vehicle, Hec, who was the designated driver, pulled out of the driveway of the mansion and into a paved two lane road, flanked by tall thick trees, that led away from the house, while Al started speaking, "Potter Island" he began, "has been the home of Lord Potter since the 1700's. While Potter Lords are born, usually, in Britain, this is usually where they grew up"

"Where are we exactly Al?" Dan asked, Al looked at him with an expression of disbelief, and he noticed that there was something wrong with his question, so he amended it to, "Where in the surface of the planet, assuming that we are still in the planet"

Al laughed, at the same time that he did, the trees on both sides of the road disappeared, allowing them a view of their surroundings. On the right side of the road was a beach, and Harry felt his eyes widen when he saw a seemingly endless blue, while on the left side of the road, there was a small airfield, complete with small and medium airplanes.

"Welcome to the British Indian Ocean Territory" Al said, trying, and failing, to keep the mirth off of his voice, he looked directly at Dan and said, "Diego Garcia is a few kilometers north east of our position, but they do not bother us here"

The first stop of their tour was a collection of buildings that reminded Harry and Hermione of a military camp. After their tour of the place, where both Harry and Hermione met and talked with a few men and women that Al told him are members of the force that protects the Potter heir, the two teenagers had to amend their thoughts. The collection of buildings does not resemble a military camp, it is a military camp.

"This camp accommodates nearly one thousand men and women" Hec explained as they continued their tour of said camp on foot, they passed a range where men and women wearing military fatigues were shooting at targets, "Usually, around five hundred men and women are here in any given time of the year," he looked at Harry and explained, "This is our primary training camp, everyone who carries the Potter crest on their uniforms went through this place, and they usually come back here every year for proficiency training"

Al saw the blank look on the face of Harry and Hermione, so he explained, "Being proficient in firearms is not an easy process, Harry, and not all of your mansions and houses around the world have firing ranges, so they come back here for training in case they feel that their skills are rusty" he smiled and added, "and there is also an annual shooting competition every six months"

"We have a mess here capable of sitting five hundred people in one go" Hec said, "Our shooting range is six times the size of the range in Germany, and can handle rifle and even machinegun training"

"What about magical training?" Hermione asked.

Al replied, "Not all of us are witches or wizards Hermione" he explained, and then he motioned towards Hec, "Hec here is not a wizard, though all of us are capable of defending ourselves from magical attacks" he sighed before continuing, "We do this by teaching all of our people about the magical world"

"Would that not violate the International Statute of Secrecy?" Hermione asked, she looked at Al and said, "That would mean trouble with the International Confederation, wouldn't it?"

Al shook his head, "We have acquired a license from the ICW long before Lemon-Drop became the chief warlock there" he explained, he smiled before he added, "We have had a license to show our people about magic since the 1500's"

"Even if all the wizards and witches in the world were to attack us here" Hec said, "they would not get past our defenses" he looked at Harry and Hermione and added, "We would be visiting the Defense Headquarters later, after our tour of the magic training grounds"

Hec led them back to where they had parked their vehicle so that they may go to their next stop.

The magical training ground was nothing like boot camp, as Al had called the previous camp that they had visited. The magical training ground was a single white building that was five stories high. The first thing that Harry and Hermione noted when they entered the building was that it does not look anything like a magical school at all, more; it actually resembled the lobby of a hotel, but without the counters.

"This is where we train our magic-capable people and where we show our non-magical-capable people what magic is all about" Hec said, "The purpose of showing non-magical people what magic is, as Al had told you a while ago, to make them familiar with what people that they may likely face are capable of"

"Everyone goes through this place as well" Al said, he smiled fondly as he said, "I trained here along with several others when I was younger, and when I graduated, I taught here as well"

Hec smiled, he looked towards Harry and Hermione and whispered to them, as Al reminisced by looking fondly at the walls of the classroom that they have entered, "He is a much more better teacher of mundane arts" he said.

"I heard that" Al said, he looked at his second in command and said, "Just because you cannot do what I do does not mean that you can insult me in front of our boss" he sighed and turned towards Harry and Hermione, "When we resume training, I expect that you would sit in classes here, but I do not think that that would be a regular thing" Al saw the expression on the faces of Harry and Hermione, begging for further explanation, so he continued, "Most of the classes in here are for showing people what magic combat is all about, there are very few pure magic classes"

"Since we are capable of magic, we need specialized training?" Harry asked.

Al shook his head, "No" he replied, he paused for a few moments, and then added, "We do teach our magic capable people some advance spells in here, as well as magical combat, but this magical training ground is meant for understanding, and not for using, magic in combat" he smiled as he added, "Most of our people would rather fight with guns rather than with wands, and we include our magic-capable people in that"

"Since the two of you are not yet capable of fighting like us" Al continued, "and since you are still in school, no matter how stupid and despicable your Headmaster is, you have to learn basic and advance spells, dueling, the works"

"Can't we just withdraw from Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Al shook his head, "Unfortunately" Al began, "Harry, you are descended from the line of Gryffindor, and Hermione" he turned towards Hermione, "Even if we are not sure why, you are descended from the line of Ravenclaw, you both must complete your education at Hogwarts"

"What happens if we don't?" Hermione asked.

Al looked at Hec, and then back at Harry and Hermione. He explained, "Hogwarts is more than just a school, it is a magical being in itself, with limited intelligence, kind of like a baby. Hogwarts grows every year, but if two of the descendants of the founders decided that Hogwarts is not good enough, the school dies"

"This should bother us why?" Harry asked, he looked at a horrified Hermione, and it was obvious that he was surprised by her reaction, before he turned back towards Al and continued, "So what if the school dies?"

"Harry" Hermione admonished,

Before she can continue with what she was supposed to say, however, Al cut her off, "For starters, knowledge would be lost" he said, and then he sighed, "Do you know about the House-elves in Hogwarts?" both Harry and Hermione nodded, "They would be out of work, and would slowly die" at the blank expression on the faces of both Harry and Hermione, Al explained, "House-elves feed off their bond with their masters"

"It's not slavery?" Hermione asked.

"In the strictest sense, no" Al replied, he saw the look on the face of Hermione, so he explained, "Yes, it might look like slavery, but only because House-elves, in Britain, have no recourse when it comes to abuse, not like in other countries" he shook his head for emphasis, "no, the relationship is more like a mutually beneficial relationship, the master gets a servant who is enthusiastic about cleaning, while the servant feeds off the bond"

"I have no idea" Hermione said.

"Hermione" Al said, "You're muggle-born, of course, you had no idea" he smiled and added, "Hell, half the pure-bloods who have house-elves have no idea as well" he turned his attention back at Harry, "Going back to Hogwarts, their elves would lose that bond, and while many may be able to find new bonds, there would be those who would be unable to"

"Harry" Hermione said, she looked at her husband and said, "We have to go back"

Harry did not hesitate, he just nodded, "We would return" he declared.

Al nodded, he led them back towards their parked vehicle and they headed towards their next destination for the day.

Their next destination for the day was the Defense Headquarters, which Hec explained is the brain of the many defenses surrounding the island. Compared to the magical training ground, it was a small building, just a single floor and very small, though there are huge antennas and what appeared to be a radar dish in the area.

When they entered the building, they realized why the building just has one floor.

"Underground bunker" Dan commented, he pointed at a set of staircase that go down.

Al nodded, "The British Army built this bunker back when they occupied the island during the Cold War" he explained, "They turned it over to us and we modified it a little to serve as our headquarters" he led them down the staircase that Dan had pointed earlier, and they found themselves in a room filled with consoles and people operating them, "Welcome to the nerve center of our operations here in Potter Island"

There was a digital map of the entire island opposite the door that the party had just used to enter the place. Everyone looked at the map and saw that the island was far bigger than they had thought earlier, and, according to the map, the island is self-sufficient for its basic needs, as there are numerous farms located on the far side of the island. Processed products, however, had to come from somewhere and to that effect, there was a deep-water port on the other side of the island as well.

"Our first defense line is a ward line five kilometers off of our shore" Hec explained, he pointed at an uneven red line in the digital map that surrounded the island on all sides, "It is non-lethal, but serves as a good warning, it is good enough to allow radar to have a look-see at the approaching target"

"If it is civilian, then we do nothing, but if it is hostile, we usually do either of two things" Hec continued, "If the target is riding a broom, then we scramble our old attack helicopters and buzz them"

Harry smiled, imagining himself flying his broom and trying to get away from a helicopter.

"If it is not on a broom" Hec continued, "We pass it on to Diego Garcia and they take care of it for us"

"Hec" Harry said, "What exactly is Diego Garcia?"

"It's an American operated airbase located near here Harry" Hec replied, "it is an important post for the United States here in the Indian Ocean, so they are pretty tedious in guarding it"

Harry nodded.

Al led them back to their vehicle after speaking with a few of the operators in the base. They continued their tour of the island after that, they visited the far side of the island and saw the farms there that allowed the island to be self-sufficient as well as the deep-water facilities that allow the island to import some essential resources, like oil. By the time that they returned to the manor house, the sun had already set and dinner was waiting for them at the dinning room.

During dinner, Hermione decided to ask Al a question that had been bothering her since she was told by her husband about how he was treated in his aunt and uncle's home. She turned her attention towards Al, who had just finished cutting a portion of the steak that he had ordered for his dinner, and said, "Al, may I ask you a question?"

From the seriousness in her voice, the battle wizard guessed that the question that she was about to ask is pretty important. Al placed his knife and fork down on his plate and looked at Hermione, "It sounds serious, so go ahead"

Hermione nodded, "All of this belongs to my husband right?" she asked, and when Al nodded, she continued, "And the men and women we met today, specially the ones at the camps, they are loyal to him?"

"Not yet" Al replied, "they are loyal to the Potter family, but not to Harry, they have not sworn an oath to him yet"

"And you then?" Hermione asked.

Al nodded, "I swore an oath to protect Harry when he was a baby, yes" he replied, he looked at Hermione and sighed, but before she can continue with her question, Al said, "I know what you want to ask, Hermione, you want to know why I never came to his aid in the past fourteen years"

Everyone looked at Al, and he sighed, he decided to ignore the others and look at Hermione, "I promise to answer that question, but for the time being, I would like to ask a compromise" he said the last to Harry.

"Go ahead" Harry said.

"Your underage magic hearing next week is important" Al said, he sighed before he continued, "As Anton Rosseu, I have to defend you, and I need you to trust me during that time, so I would like to ask you, and everyone here, to allow me to explain why I have no come to your aid after the hearing"

Harry looked at Hermione, but she looked at Al and said, "You are afraid that the story would destroy Harry's trust in you?"

Al shook his head, "That may be a small part of it" he admitted, he sighed before adding, "But the bigger part of it is that I am not sure if I would be able to concentrate tomorrow if I were to narrate all of this today" he tried a tentative smile as he added, "I tend to get drunk whenever I remember what I did those past few years that I spent in the East"

Hermione looked ready to continue her interrogation, but before she can say another word, she felt Harry's hand on hers, she looked at him and he silently shook his head, silently telling her not to continue. Hermione looked at her husband for a few moments, and then she finally relented and nodded, "Dinner time after the hearing then" she said.

Al nodded, "I promise"

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