On the Wings of Dragons

by Bobmin356

The Weyr prepares for the step of going public against the backdrop of heightening international tensions and increasingly complex personal issues. And is Britain really secure now that the Ministry has been conquered? Sequel to The Queen Who Fell to Earth. Harry/Hr/OCF

17. Chapter 17

Standard Disclaimer:

Alyx stood at the podium and she held a golden stuffed Llama in her hand. The Llama had been sent to her by one of her admiring fans and she was using it as prop.

"I'd like to thank the academy..."

"What are you doing now? I mean really, why can't you just give me an honest to god disclaimer?" moaned Bob.

Alyx looked at him primly. "I will have you know that I am practicing my Oscar acceptance speech for my Who Who epic. I am told by an inside source that I'm a shoe in in the category of best Who who based fan fiction by a handicapped individual."

Bob blinked in surprise. "Handicapped?"

Alyx blushed slightly. "So I might have lied on my application, but I did stub my toe the other night and now I'm limping."

Bob shook his head. "Look, for one thing, the Oscars are over for this year. And for another they don't give out awards to fan fiction authors."

Alyx glared at Bob. "Why should I believe you? I think you're jealous of my story. It's got everything. Evil Villains, scantily clad Snapes in tutus, Who whos in abundance, even capped who whos! And an exploding clown! What have you got? Silly dragons and some lame old plot."

She sniffed and clutched her stuffed Llama tighter. "You don't even have any glitter or sparkle. Draco was going to have a sparkling who who in this chapter and he'd name him Edward."

Bob clutched his head and moaned. "All I wanted was a disclaimer telling people we don't own Harry Potter and the Dragon riders of Pern. Instead I get sparkling willies named Ed!"

Alyx looked at her Llama. "You do like the idea of sparkling stuff don't you? Come, let's go figure out what we're wearing to the award show. Oh I do hope we'll meet Tom Cruze. He'd like our story, I hear his who who doesn't sparkle."

Bob looked up and sighed and looked at the audience. "I'm at a loss. Why don't you read the chapter while I see if I can find that straight-jacket for Alyx. Then I'll fedex her back to the shrink and let him deal with her."

---

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
- Galileo Galilei

Office of the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Magic, July 1st...

Sir William looked up from his desk and spotted the empty desk that Albus used to use then he sighed again. He missed the old wizard who had so much influence, both in Britain and abroad. The absence of Albus was like a gaping wound in the office. Sir William had no idea just how much life the old man had added to the office until he was gone.

Without him the office limped along, still operating, but not quite right. It was like driving a car and you had that vague sensation that something wasn't right with it, but you couldn't understand what.

Alejandro grunted sourly, then he stood and walked over to William's desk and handed him back the note. It was a letter which had been hand delivered to Sir William on the day of Albus' memorial service by the Weyrleader.

"Albus must have had some inkling," Alejandro said softly. "I mean it's clear from his letter that he expected something like this."

"He did," Sir William replied. "He told me that his healers were urging him to retire. He wanted to stay on until the end of the summer, then retire to the Weyr where he could do some tutoring and maybe write a book about some of the things he had seen in his life."

Sir William trailed off into a pensive silence. Both men knew that book would never get written now.

"About the letter," Alejandro prompted.

Sir William shook from his revery. "Yes, do you agree with Albus?"

Alejandro sat down and thought for a moment. "Of the current department managers, few could have generated as glowing a recommendation as Albus gives him. I do know that he has worked tirelessly for us and his reputation for honesty and integrity is unassailable. Under the previous administration he was thought to be a bit of a nut case, but now in hindsight I think we were the ones unwilling to see what he already knew. Still..."

Sir William leaned forward in his seat, "Still?" he pressed.

"It's a daunting task to not only fill Albus' shoes here in the ministry and to represent us at the ICW. I fear he might be unwilling to step into such a large role. Albus cast a very large shadow on the world and no man is going to easily fill that spot," Alejandro said.

"Alejandro my friend, Albus is gone. I might wish it otherwise, but there is nothing we can do but muddle forward. This office has been limping this past week because he isn't here. Its time for us to move beyond that and get back to the real business of government."

Alejandro made a sour face and nodded reluctantly. "Yes I agree," he said, then he sighed. "I guess it will just take time to get used to someone new in his seat."

Sir William nodded, then he pressed a button on his telephone.

"Sir?" said his secretary's voice from the speaker.

"Would you contact Arthur Weasley and tell him I need to see him straight away?"

"Yes sir."

Releasing the intercom button he smiled weakly at Alejandro. Alejandro stood and returned the grin, then went back to his desk. The minister was correct, the office needed someone to take up Albus' tasks.

American Express Office, Heathrow Airport, July 2nd...

"Next please," said the teller.

The man shuffled forward to the counter. "I vant to exchange money da?"

The girl smiled. "Of course sir, how much money are you wanting to exchange and into what currency?"

Andrei Illushkin returned the girl's smile and she suddenly felt threatened. There was no warmth or humanity in that smile. The man looked at her like she was prey and it seriously creeped her out.

"Two tousand American dollar into pounds," he said, passing over an envelope with money. The teller smiled and accepted the envelope, but now bells were ringing loudly in her head. This was the seventh Russian sounding man in the last four hours to hand her an identical envelope of two thousand American dollars. Sheer circumstance had forced all of Janus' men to use the American Express office. The nearby Barclay's office was closed for renovation and the closest other money changing office was in another terminal.

Janus' men had arrived in England using multiple flights, each man carried two thousand American dollars so that they didn't alarm customs by having an extraordinary amount of money on them. The plan was simple and well thought out. Each man would be responsible for a small piece of the total money needed. It had been assumed that they would handle that requirement at the St. Petersburg airport.

That assumption was to have a fatal impact on the plan although no one knew it yet.

Janus discovered the Pulkovo airport branch of the State Bank of the Russian Federation did not have enough English pounds on hand to cover the money change. It was a small, new office staffed by just a handful of people and like so many other things in the new Russia, they advertised services that they couldn't always supply. They had just enough on hand to convert Janus' money and part of his companions money. Janus was surprised, but it wasn't really a problem, it just meant they would have to convert the money into pounds in England.

It was unusual, but not unheard of for some of the smaller companies to give their employees cash rather than handing them a credit card to use while away on business. What was unusual for the American Express teller was the amount of people asking for the same thing, plus the fact that the envelope lacked any sort of bank or company logo and contained notes were sequentially numbered. There were enough oddities in her mind that she decided to be more cautious, especially with this Russian and his cold emotionless eyes.

Normally she would hand count the notes, but now with her suspicions raised she smiled at the man. "One moment sir." Then she walked over to a newly installed counting machine that could also detect counterfeit currency. She placed the money in the hopper and pressed the button. The machine whirred to life and the money was counted and moved to a new bin, the wrong bin for real money. A red light lit up on the side of the machine and the small display indicated an error code that explained what was wrong with the bills. The machine was also linked to the security office in the back of the building and an automatic message was sent to alert security.

Counterfeiting was a difficult form of crime for authorities to deal with. Often there were multiple victims as the person passing the bill was often also a victim. Usually police tried to approach someone who was passing bogus money with a gentler approach because of the fact that they were a victim as well.

The teller glanced up as two uniformed security guards exited the back room and approached her station. Andrei paled and turned to run, only to run right into the arms of a plainclothes security guard that tried to stop him.

What the security guard didn't count on, was that he was dealing with a man that had been trained to kill quickly and efficiently. Andrei lashed out at the man trying to block his escape, hitting him solidly in the neck and he fell to the floor gasping as his fractured larynx started to swell, blocking his windpipe. He would die before help could arrive.

The teller screamed and dozens of customers scrambled out of the way. Another teller hit a button sounding an alarm that echoed outside the American Express office in the cavernous like space that was the international arrivals building.

One of the uniformed guards lunged at Andrei while the other moved to block the exit. Andrei whirled around and his foot lashed out, hitting the guard who grunted and fell to the floor gasping and wheezing from multiple broken ribs. Another passenger moved to block Andrei using his luggage as a shield. Andrei glanced at his traveling companion who knew that his cover was still safe until he acted. Seeing no help from that quarter Andrei leapt for the plate glass window of the store front and smashed his way through it. He stumbled and fell to the ground, his left thigh nearly sliced to the bone by broken glass. He lay on the ground just outside of the Amex office for a moment, then he tried to struggle to his feet, but it was too late as airport police arrived and quickly put him into restraints.

As more police arrived, they sealed off the Amex office. Andrei's traveling companion would not escape detection for long.

It would take twelve hours before the British realized what kind of problem they hand on their hands. In the meantime they had one wounded Russian civilian, another Russian implicated, one dead plainclothes security guard, one injured guard, and one hysterical teller who vowed she was moving back to Brighton to work for her family's fish and chips business.

By the next morning an alert would be quietly issued for the rest of the Russians. CID had spent hours interrogating two men and getting no where before a senior inspector requested some help from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was the first time the DMLE had been asked to help CID and it set the stage for how the two groups could coordinate on major crime cases.

Meanwhile, alarmed by the fact that two of his men failed to meet at the rendezvous point, Janus ordered his men to scatter and make for various channel crossings. He would attempt to contact Mu, but he didn't hold much hope that he would be reachable. Unless the Sea Pearl hugged close to the coast, they would be out of range for most of the trip.

#10 Downing Street, London, July 4th...

It was very early in the morning when Harry was ushered into the office along with Sirius and Katherine. Lord Mills and Sir Robert were already waiting for them, having been helicoptered, down to London from his home, the previous evening.

Sirius woke Harry very early that morning and told him he was needed at #10 as quickly as possible. Harry knew instantly this was serious since Sirius didn't make his usual off color remarks about him sharing a bed with two girls. Harry had hastily threw on his dress uniform and he had taken Chekiath while Norendrath carried Sirius and Katherine who had also been summoned to the meeting. Katherine and Sirius' presence suggested a security problem, and a big one at that.

Entering the spacious office of the Prime Minister he was surprised to see that John Major looked like he had pulled an all-niter. The office was strewn with cups and half eaten food and the man had thrown his jacket to a chair and loosened his tie. It was a far cry from the neat, fastidious image that John Major usually portrayed. Maps, and faxes lay on the large conference table and someone had taken the liberty of putting a large map of Northern Europe up on one wall.

Lord Kennewick also looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep. He was busy conversing with a man that Harry didn't recognize, although he did recognize the ornate uniform of a Royal Navy admiral.

John Major looked up from his chair and gave Harry a tired smile. "Harry! Do come in, we've been waiting for you."

Major stood and gestured to the others in the room. "You know Lord Kennewick and Ambassador Enzhu from the Chinese embassy, but I doubt you know the First Sea Lord, Admiral Jock Slater."

Katherine stood awkwardly by the door while Sirius made himself comfortable on the couch. Lord Kennewick motioned her over and handed her a file folder. She read the cover and then nodded left the room.

The man in the royal navy uniform straightened and offered his hand to Harry. "Weyrleader, I have been meaning to get out to your establishment to offer my personal thanks for what your people did for the Orkney and her crew," Slater said. He eyed Harry's uniform with intense interest. It was very similar in cut and color to the dress uniform of the Royal Navy, but the insignia and beret were completely different.

"Thank you sir, my only regret is that it took so long for us to locate your ship, had we gotten there sooner we might have been able to save those men," Harry said quietly.

"What is this?" asked the Chinese Ambassador.

"Mr. Ambassador I'm sure you recall the news near the end of March where a Royal Navy vessel suddenly appeared, deserted and on dry land?" asked Major.

Enzhu nodded slowly, "Yes I thought it was highly unusual." Enzhu didn't bother to add that he had ordered the reports forwarded to the Ministry for State Security as a precaution.

"The Orkney suffered an engineering accident which left her adrift and uncontrollable right in the middle of a severe storm," Admiral Slater said. "She was starting to sink and the weather made it impossible for us to rescue the crew. We were afraid we were going to lose her and her crew. The Prime Minister asked if the dragons could help since they don't seem to be bothered by the weather like a helicopter would be. They rescued the crew and moved the ship to a place where we could recover her."

Enzhu's eyebrows rose up, he remembered hearing about that particular incident and had thought some of the speculation in the press was absurd. At the time he had been certain they had been given incorrect information by the British government, trying to cover up some sort of military mishap or experiment. This admission by the British pointed to some abilities of the dragons that he wasn't aware of.

Harry looked embarrassed. "I told the dragons to take the boat to a safe place. She was sinking. It never occurred to me that they would move it inland, I thought they'd place it on a beach somewhere," he explained. "It had taken so long to find the ship that my only concern was saving the lives of the crew."

Admiral Slater turned to look at Harry appraisingly. He was reminded of some of his junior officers that had been thrust into bigger roles than they were used to and were unsure of themselves. "You did far more than anyone could have believed possible young man. Twenty seven families have you and your dragons to thank for bringing their loved ones home. The ones we lost are a tragedy but we were ready to write the ship and her entire crew off as lost at sea. You changed that."

The Chinese ambassador looked shocked, then he turned to Harry who shrugged. Since his first meeting with the Weyrleader he had been putting together a file on Harry for his government. It was surprisingly sparse, containing very little background information. What information it did have came from his own observations and this news would make for an interesting addition to the file.

The real mystery of Harry Potter was that there was almost no background information on him, no school records after age eleven, no indications that he played in school sports, or participated in any community activities. Nothing. He seemed to vanish from British society from age 11 until he reappeared as the Weyrleader. Harry Potter was an enigma, and that made Enzhu's superiors nervous. Magic had not been discussed during Enzhu's trip to the Weyr so he remained ignorant of Harry's true background or for that matter, the true nature of the Weyr. Colonel Mu had not seen fit to share the reasons for his alarm to the Ambassador, nor had his government.

"What did I tell you Mr. Ambassador," offered John Major with a broad smile. He had been trying to chisel his way past the implacable facade of Ambassador Enzhu for a while now. "The dragons just want to help people. The Hot Rocks are just a very small part of what they can offer to their friends."

Enzhu nodded, Major was just repeating a point he had made several times, but in light of this new revelation, it was possible that the British Prime Minister hadn't been just spouting British propaganda at him.

Harry nodded fervently. "We are constantly looking for ways we can employ that would help us gain greater acceptance from people."

"You'll never have to worry about that from me or my service," Admiral Slater said emphatically. "In fact it is your performance over the Orkney incident and others that convinced Sir John here to ask for you to join with us on a joint operation."

Harry turned his attention to Admiral Slater and John Major coughed lightly. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start from the beginning. Everyone please have a seat."

Harry took a seat between Lord Mills and Sirius on the couch. He looked around for Katherine and then looked at Kennewick.

"Major Atkins is receiving a briefing concerning security at Campbeltown Weyrleader, if we can't come up with a plan here among ourselves it will fall upon her shoulders to provide local defense of the Weyr, at least on the ground until the 24th of the SAS arrive," Kennewick said to his unasked question.

Katherine had left the room after receiving a folder from Lord Kennewick. The folder detailed the equipment and known capabilities of the men coming to the Weyr. If the navy failed to stop them, it would fall to her shoulders to defend the Weyr long enough for the dragons to organize and for the local army troops to arrive from the adjoining base.

Harry grunted softly and nodded. He glanced towards Sirius who looked decidedly unhappy. He had grown very close to Katherine and was planning on asking for her hand soon. He had confided in Norendrath about that, who in turn told Harry. Harry was exceedingly happy for his Godfather and hoped nothing bad would happen to Katherine.

Major waited until everyone was seated, then he opened a file on his desk in case he needed to refer to it. "Colonel Jin Tan Mu, formerly of the Ministry of State Security for the People's Republic of China vanished several months ago from his current assignment at the Athens Embassy. When he did, he took a large sum of money with him."

Major handed a eight by ten photo to Kennewick who placed it next to the large map hanging on the wall. The photo showed Mu in his uniform. His expression was entirely neutral and his eyes conveyed a total lack of human warmth. That the photo seemed to be taken outdoors at some sort of celebration only added to the chilling effect. Here was a man surrounded by happy people and he was unmoved by the events around him.

Harry nodded, he had been briefed on this fellow before. In fact he was the reason why they practiced defending the Weyr against assault.

"What we didn't know for certain, but have now verified, is that he headed for a former Soviet satellite nation and managed to hire himself a sizable force of former Soviet Army commandos. And that he's heading to Scotland even now."

Harry took a sharp breath and leaned forward in his seat. James had placed a hand on Harry's arm, but it hadn't been necessary. Harry had resisted the urge to bolt to his feet.

Major smiled at Harry's milder than expected reaction. It was a sure sign that the tutoring they had been giving him was starting to really take hold. Major glanced down at a folder. "Two days ago we had an incident at Heathrow Airport which resulted in the death of a plainclothes security officer employed by the American Express office there. The cashier clerk became suspicious of so many men of Russian origin asking to change money into pounds and opted to try a new device that counted and detected counterfeit currency. All of the money he was trying to change was counterfeit.

"The American Express security officers were in the back of the office and they came immediately while an office clerk called airport police. The man trying to pass the money panicked when he saw the security guards. A brief scuffle ensued in the store which resulted in the Russian killing a plainclothes security officer. He fled the scene only to be caught by airport police after he injured himself trying to escape. One other Russian was implicated as his traveling companion and subsequently arrested. He was also carrying a large amount of counterfeit American dollars on him.

"We were alarmed for several reasons. The security officer was killed with a single blow, it was an efficient and deadly strike suggesting that our man in custody had been trained to kill. Also both men bore tattoos suggesting they had worked for the Soviet Army special forces. Needless to say our alarm grew, as did our questions."

Major shot a glance towards the Chinese ambassador which clearly said that the counterfeit money would be a topic they would discuss in detail at another time. He turned back towards Harry and the others.

"Our suspects were being very closed mouthed until we asked Sir William if the Ministry of Magic could provide anything that might convince them to talk," Sir John said. "To be frank we were highly concerned and willing to break a few legal rules to find out what they were doing."

Sirius chuckled and Harry glanced at him. "Talkative tea Harry," he said with a grin.

Harry returned the grin. The Ministry of Magic slipped the men veritaserum, probably in a beverage. John Major managed to look embarrassed to be caught out, but he nodded to the pair. Sirius had been right with his guess.

"The Weyrleader knows about magic?" exclaimed Enhzu in alarm.

Harry shrugged. "My parents were both magical Ambassador, but they were killed when I was not yet two years old. I was raised as a normal and didn't know about magic until I turned eleven. We have a small number of riders who are also magical," he said after a quick glance at Major. The Prime Minister nodded slightly and Harry took it to mean he should be careful. "Because so many of my riders are not magical, magic has a low priority in the Weyr."

Major smiled thinly, Harry had carefully answered the Ambassador with a vague, yet correct answer.

Enhzu nodded. He knew Harry's response was carefully thought out, but he wasn't sure exactly what was being concealed from him. The dragons had been emphatic that they were not part of any military organization and he believed that. He was coming to suspect the dragons were a power unto themselves, a wild card on a global scale and that worried him. The fact that their leader was magical didn't seem to be an issue, still, it would have to be reported to his government.

"Yes well since both men were to be charged with attempting to pass counterfeit money and one with murder, we avoided asking them anything about those crimes," Major said with a fake smile. "We wouldn't want our case thrown out on a technicality now would we?

"In any event, they had an awful lot to tell us that was very alarming and the best part of it all is they don't even remember telling us their plans. Unfortunately, by the time we thought to resort to those measures, the rest of their group was no where to be found."

Both Harry and Sirius knew he was referring to the obliviate spell. Their prisoners would never remember a single detail about that part of their interrogation.

"What we know for a fact now, that the two men were part of a team of people who came ahead with intent to link up with this Jin Tan Mu. They were to rent boats, lorries and several small coaches so they could offload a large cache of weapons with the intent of assaulting Campbeltown Weyr."

Major paused and he glanced around the room noting the grim expressions on every one.

"This former Chinese Colonel is on the way here with eighty former Soviet Army commandos and a boatload of weapons. That's the bad news. The good news is he couldn't afford a very good ship, so it's not due to make landfall somewhere around Dover for another thirteen days.

"CID is now conducting a nationwide manhunt for the other Russians, but as a precaution we are moving a British Army unit to the vicinity of the intended landing site. The locals and the media are being told it's just a field exercise."

Major looked up from the file he was reading. "I have been informed by Ambassador Enzhu that the official view of his government is that Jin Tan Mu must be stopped at all cost. If he can be captured and returned to Beijing he will be tried under their laws, but they will not complain if something untoward happens to prevent him being taken alive."

"The People's Republic is unwilling to risk our good relations with our friends in the United Kingdom," Enzhu said smoothly. "This man has become a danger to world peace and to our new relationship with our dragon friends."

Harry looked at the man for a moment, he greatly disliked the smooth attitude he was displaying. It was part of the diplomatic process that Harry hated the most, pretending to be something you aren't. Turning back to Major he said, "I take it that you have something in mind?"

"We do," Major said, then he nodded to Admiral Slater. "Admiral, if you would?"

Admiral Slater nodded and walked over to a large wall map. "Once we had information on the ship, we contacted our allies. The German Marine spotted the ship this morning still quite a distance away. Currently they are shadowing the ship with one of their P3 Orions."

Slater placed a photo of the Sea Pearl on the map and used a magnet to hold it in place.

"They are deliberately staying in contested or international waters to avoid any national coast guard. Without sufficient reason even our allies would be reluctant to board this ship, and that's without telling anyone that there are eighty heavily armed terrorists on board. No one wants to tangle with eighty heavily armed men, and sinking her would be a public relations nightmare for the country involved.

"The ship itself is old. It's a commercial design from the mid 1930s. By today's standards, she's slow, ungainly and hard to handle. Given her speed and the information we gained from our prisoners we know she plans to make landing on the night of the seventeenth. She could have arrived a day earlier, but Mu chose that night specifically."

"No moon," muttered Sirius.

"Exactly," Slater said approvingly.

Sirius shrugged when he saw Harry looking at him with a quizzical expression. "When your brother is a werewolf you start paying attention to that sort of thing. Remus hasn't changed in months, but I can't break the habit."

Harry nodded and turned his attention back to Slater.

Seeing he had their attention Slater continued with his briefing. "My own personal preference would be to stand off and fire a pair of Sea Eagles into her," Slater admitted. "But then, there are some political considerations to worry about. For one thing, the Russians aren't going to sit back and ignore an attack on a Russian registered ship even if it is a commercial vessel. For another, killing that many former Russian army types is sure to ignite a diplomatic furor no matter what reason we came up with. And then there is the issue of the dragons themselves."

Harry looked up sharply. "What issue?" he said in surprise.

"Weyrleader... Harry," Major said gently. "You and your dragons have been a friend of Great Britain since we first learned of your existence. Any plans that we make should be made with your knowledge and we should give you an opportunity to take part. This man is coming to attack your Weyr. I thought that the Weyr would want to help in securing its safety. The Royal Navy is amply able to contain this threat, but we felt that you should be afforded an opportunity to help."

"It's a shame you can't just dump that thing Between, but if you did, we'd never know if we captured all of the terrorists," Major said unhappily.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, he had enough training now to read between the lines. The British were reluctant to take on this problem alone and were hoping for help from the dragons. This way if something went wrong, the blame could be shared. This was a diplomatic hot potato. He was glad that the British were asking for the Weyr's help, he just wished it was for something less serious.

"We could be of help I suppose. I'm not keen about dragons attacking a ship loaded with armed terrorists unless we have permission to sink her," Harry said while staring at the aerial photograph of the ship.

"We still have time to plan Weyrleader," offered Slater. "Right now our initial thought is to shadow the ship until she makes her run for the English coast. Then, a task force based around the Illustrious will make a speed run out to catch her mid channel. The Illustrious has ample space for your dragons and they are going on extended deployment the very next day so we'll be able to control any leaks. By the time she makes port again, the world will know about dragons."

"The Illustrious," Harry said cautiously. He was not very familiar with the ships of the Royal Navy, but this one rang a bell. "That's an aircraft carrier isn't it?"

"That's right lad, plenty of room on her for your dragons," James offered. He had never served upon her, but as a former Royal Navy officer he was very familiar with the ships in the fleet.

Harry nodded, then he stood and walked over to the map and photo and examined them carefully.

"What are you thinking Harry?" asked Sirius.

Harry turned to Sirius. "There's plenty of space on that boat to grab hold of. We could snatch it right out of the water and dump it in a football stadium full of troops if we wanted," Harry said carefully. "I don't like exposing the dragons like that, but timed right we could do it very quickly. Or if that is a problem we can sink it. One pass with the Campbeltown wings would melt her right down to the water."

Admiral Slater looked at him dubiously, but he saw that Lord Kennewick was nodding in agreement. "Surely not?"

"Admiral Slater, if anything the Weyrleader is underestimating the destructive firepower his dragons possess, probably because he doesn't understand what he'd be up against. But a group of dragons melted three T-72s in Kenya last year. I've seen the photos of what remained, they were barely four feet high and totally melted," Prime Minister Major said. "Sir Robert informed me that a continuous exposure to dragon fire would have vaporized the metal. Instead he estimated that the total exposure was about a minute."

"Less," Harry said absently, he had turned back to examine the photographs again. "Once I saw the tanks were no longer a danger, I ordered the wings off and went to deal with the wizards."

"Is that what you want to do Harry?" asked Lord Mills.

Harry turned to him and shook his head. "James, what I want is to just live in peace. That boat," he said, pointing to the picture, "means we can't do that. I want to look at this and figure out a plan that means the fewest people and dragons are going to get hurt."

He paused and took a breath. "Perhaps the best plan is to let the Admiral's men try to take the ship and if they can't, then we'll deal with it."

Harry shrugged. "I think what I need to do right now is just talk this over, with someone who knows what the Navy can do, and with my own Wing leaders to see if we can come up with something that will work. We have some time to plan this right?"

"Too right," agreed Admiral Slater. "This is something that bears careful planning. According to our records Lord Mills here should have no problem advising you about our capabilities. Is there anything we can provide to help you?"

Harry looked down and considered carefully the things he had been taught, something about this still seemed off. "I am going to assume that approaching the Russian government would have little effect?"

John Major nodded. "Unfortunately the Russian government is controlled by the Russian Ministry of Magic," he replied. "While the government is not openly hostile to us, I am afraid that they will be at best ambivalent to our plight."

Enhzu looked up sharply at Major, this was a revelation that he did not know about. The idea that one of China's neighbors was under the control of wizards was most disturbing. This meeting was turning out to be a veritable gold mine of information and not all of it was pleasant.

Harry nodded, then he looked at Lord Kennewick, "Sir, do we have any idea what kind of weapons they are carrying? Oh and can I get some copies of that photo, or other photos of the boat?"

Admiral Slater reached into his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope and passed it to Harry. "There are a dozen aerial shots there along with a rough engineering sketch of that class of ship design."

Harry smiled in thanks.

"As far as we know they are carrying mostly automatic weapons, AK47s, grenade launchers," Kennewick said, then he consulted a sheet of paper in his hand. "I am also told they have roughly twenty SA-7s and handful of Sagger missiles which are more elaborate and harder to set up quickly. The SA-7s are anti-air missiles and very portable. The real issue here is how we approach them. Its very likely that these weapons are stored away. If we end up with a protracted fight they will have time to retrieve them for use."

"So why can't we use Harry's idea of moving the boat, but drop it someplace safe like an empty island that they can't easily leave?" Sirius said.

Harry blinked and turned to Sirius. "That's bloody brilliant!"

"We could do that, but where would we take them?" Harry asked, looking at Major.

"Wait a second, you're serious about moving a ship with eighty armed terrorists on board?" exclaimed Slater.

"Why not? If we must capture them, then this is the way to do it. The dragons won't be noticed unless one of the men actually touches a dragon. It took the Shetland Island Weyr less than thirty seconds for twenty dragons to move the Orkney. We could do it again, maybe even faster. With the Orkney they were careful to gently lower it to the ground. I say drop the boat on a deserted island from about twenty feet up and give them a few days to get uncomfortable then send in the marines or the army to scoop them up."

Kennewick and Major exchanged interested looks while Slater looked a little offended at the idea of dropping a ship from twenty feet. He knew that sort of drop was liable to seriously damage all of the on-board systems, it was likely the engines and generators would tear free from their mountings and be ruined from such a drop. The Admiral had no problem with the idea of sinking that ship and all the men on-board, but there seemed to be something immoral about dropping a ship on purpose.

"I think I'd prefer to have marines on hand to meet them," Kennewick said tightly. "No sense in giving them an opportunity to build a defensive position."

Harry looked at the man and nodded, it made sense to him and he recognized that military planning was out of his league.

"Where would you drop it?" asked Lord Mills to Harry.

Harry frowned and looked puzzled. "It would have to be someplace the dragons have visited before even if it's a place they just went to recently. And its got to be isolated enough so no one is put at risk and still close enough for you to easily move troops onto it."

He shrugged. "Until I impressed Chekiath the farthest I've even been was Scotland. Surely there must be someplace in the country we can use? Someplace isolated and remote, like an island?"

Admiral Slater smiled broadly. "I have just the place. We recently ran a survival test there. We dumped a dozen pilots on the island and told them we'd be back in a week. Skula Sgeir is an island in the North Atlantic, and technically it's part of Scotland even though it's more than fifty miles off the coast. Even in July the water temperature is dangerously cold. There's an island roughly twelve miles away, but that's deserted also except during the time the automated navigation beacon needs to be serviced twice a year. The Isle of Lewis is forty miles to the south and does have a small population plus a coast guard station."

Suddenly it dawned on him what was missing from this plan. "Assuming you catch most of them alive. What can you do with them?" asked Harry, catching the terrorists could be kept secret, but holding them couldn't. "I mean wouldn't the publicity of a trial anger Russia?"

Major and Kennewick exchanged a look, that was an issue they were still struggling with.

Major sank back in his chair. "Honestly Harry, I don't know, we could hold closed trials, but our laws do not allow us to keep prisoners in secret. They will insist on their embassy being informed and from there the whole story would be blown wide open."

Harry nodded grimly, the timing of this couldn't be any worse. The ship was due to arrive in just thirteen days and not much beyond that point they were planning on revealing dragon-kind to the world. It would be a public relations nightmare if it became known that the dragons were involved in the death of so many Russian nationals.

Harry sat back down on the couch, thinking furiously when his eyes fell upon Ambassador Enzhu who had been sitting calmly, taking in the discussion going on around him. He sits there observing and so detached, as if he hadn't a care in the world, he mused with a touch of anger. Then he sat up straight. No, that isn't true. He just doesn't realize the dragon dung he's about to step in if they continue to remain aloof.

Harry's brows furrowed in intense concentration and he held up a hand. Slowly the room fell silent as the others turned to look at him. It was only a few scant seconds but he could feel his bond with Chekiath broadening and allowing him to examine and discard dozens of options in a single breath. It was almost as if though Cheki was helping him achieve a greater clarity of thought. The only direct thing he could detect on his bond was an intense pride from his dragon, pride that his dragon was able to help his rider in this crisis.

"I think there is an easy solution and the only reason why it's escaped our notice is because of an oversight on our part," he said carefully. His tutoring had taught him that he was about to step on some diplomatic toes big time with his next statement.

Prime Minister Major looked at Harry in surprise and he leaned forward in his chair. "An oversight?" he repeated.

"The British and the Weyr can effect the capture of these men and take reasonable steps to keep that part of this operation secret. Unfortunately the British can't hold these men in secret and we have laws that prevent us from killing them. However there is a nation that is intimately involved in this situation and they can control what the media learns. We seem to think that this situation involves dragon-kind, the British and Russia, but there is another country that is equally involved."

Everyone turned to Harry and the room realized he was looking pointedly at the Chinese Ambassador. "It seems to me that our Chinese friends might be willing to accept the prisoners considering they were brought here by their man. We wouldn't be in this situation were it not for this rogue Colonel of theirs. And when our Russian prisoners speak to the press of the Chinese colonel that hired them."

Harry trailed off, leaving the statement unfinished, but the implication was obvious for all to see.

Enzhu's eyes bulged and Major started to cough on his tea. Harry held up a hand to stay their comments. "I know it's not very diplomatic to be so blunt, but Ambassador, even you can see the problems we're facing. Time is short and we don't have the time for extensive talks about who should do what.

"This problem could be resolved with a minimum of fuss by your country if we were to deliver the prisoners into your hands. I'm just the Weyrleader and admit I'm no diplomat, but it seems to me that all of us, the Weyr, Great Britain and China, have a role to play in solving this problem. China would be doing everyone a great service if they handled the prisoners. I'm sure if the matter became public, the public would also learn about your colonel who started this affair. No one wants that."

Major looked at Harry in astonishment, then he turned to Enzhu who was eyeing him a bit desperately. Harry had squarely laid the blame for the situation at the feet of the Chinese and then asked them to help with the one aspect that offered the least risk to men and machinery. And while he hadn't openly said it, he implied that China's involvement would become public knowledge if the British had to try and hold these men in prison. "While the Weyrleader's comments might have been phrased better, he has cut to the heart of the issue. I know this is something you cannot decide on your own, but I would urge to your contact your government. The Weyrleader rightly points out that China can keep this secret better than we can. After all once word leaked out, Colonel Jin Tan Mu's, and your government's, involvement would be impossible to hide from our press."

Enzhu's eyed narrowed, the Weyrleader had seriously upped the ante and now Major was claiming this could end up being a public relations disaster for his government. The British were openly stating that they could not and would not hide the Colonel's involvement in this affair. It seemed there would be enough mud to cover everyone, including the Chinese.

"I take it then that Her Majesty's government is formally asking for us to handle your prisoners in this case?" Enzhu asked carefully. This would also be something for his file on the Weyrleader. He had neatly boxed Enzhu into a corner because the Chinese had admitted that Mu had been theirs before going rogue.

Major nodded. "Yes sir, we are. I think the Weyrleader is right, our options are rather limited once we have the men in custody."

Enzhu stood and glanced around. "Then I must leave to contact my government for instructions."

He turned to Harry and stared at him for a moment. "Weyrleader, as you admit, you are young and inexperienced. But that hasn't stopped you from moving onto the world stage with skill and some daring. I think it will be fascinating to watch you in the coming years. And perhaps someday we will be able to host you and your Weyr in a visit to our capital."

Harry nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. His insides were all fluttery, he knew he had massively overstepped all bounds of diplomatic propriety by placing the blame at the feet of the Chinese. Everyone in the room knew they were to blame, but no one wanted to come out and bluntly say it. Until Harry said it.

"The Weyr would be honored to visit their friends Mr. Ambassador," he replied softly. "Perhaps a visit can be arranged after we reveal dragon-kind to the world."

Enzhu smiled tightly, he recognized that Harry was offering him the visit to soften the impact of putting Enzhu on the spot. He gave Harry a brief bow, then he nodded to Major and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him Sirius started laughing. "Did you see the look on him?" he exclaimed.

"Sirius, not now," James said softly, then he turned to Harry. "Harry..."

"James, I know I know. I spoke out of turn, but the Chinese started this mess, it's only right that they help us clean it up. We are being asked to risk dragons and people because of their man, it's only right for them to help," Harry said, then he turned to Major. "Mr. Prime Minister, I apologize if I offended you or Her Majesty's government, but all I could think of was that this couldn't have come at a worse time. Not even two weeks after this boat arrives, we're planning on revealing dragons to the world. It would be a public relations disaster and undermine everything we want to accomplish if it became known that dragons helped kill off eighty Russians. The Chinese need to understand that we're cleaning up a mess they created. Its only right for them to help more than they have been helping."

Major looked thoughtful, "You are aware that the Chinese will likely execute the men rather than throw them in prison?"

Harry looked down and his feet and nodded. Sirius blinked and looked at Harry, then the Prime Minister. "Really?" he demanded.

"Our Chinese friends are not known for gentle handling of people they consider enemies of the state Mr. Black. Their justice is very harsh by our standards, any prisoners they take will probably not survive a week," Major said, then he turned to Harry who was still looking down. "Harry?" he asked gently.

"I know," Harry replied in a whisper. "I know it's condemning those men to death. But they were coming here to kill my dragons and riders. Someone was going to have to kill them, Dragons, Navy or the Chinese. I want to say that it will be the Chinese, but in the end it will be all of our hands on the gun that kills them."

Major nodded grimly. This was a hard lesson of statecraft for Harry, but a very necessary one. Major also knew that at some point Harry would also have to learn to order his own people into situations that would put their lives at risk.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Chekiath suddenly asked.

He looked up towards the roof. "Nothing mate, I'll explain later Cheki, don't worry."

"If you say so," Cheki replied dubiously.

"No one likes to make these kinds of decisions Harry," Major said softly. "For what it's worth I think you were right to point out that China should help solve this mess. To be honest I've been itching to say that to the Ambassador for the past day."

Major closed the file on his desk and looked around. "I think we've covered enough here today. Admiral Slater I'll want a briefing update every two days from here on," Major said.

"Yes sir."

Harry stood and motioned for Sirius to follow him. As he walked out of the office he heard Admiral Slater telling James that he should expect to receive notice that his commission was being reactivated for the duration of this crisis.

Harry's Quarters, later that night, Campbeltown Weyr, July 4th...

May entered the living room and glanced around. "Where's Harry?"

"In the tub soaking I think," Hermione replied, looking up from her book.

"He is in the bath, but he's rather unhappy with himself at the moment," Comaloth said unexpectedly.

Hermione stared at Comaloth for a moment, then she closed her book and turned to May. "I know from experience that it doesn't pay to let Harry brood too much. Should we join him?"

May grinned. "Perhaps, but I'm going to suggest something a little more modest than the bikinis we've used in the past. We're going in there to help him, not tease him."

Hermione nodded and pulled out her Jordan wand. With a deft twirl of her wand both girls were dressed in a modest one piece blue swim suit. May looked at herself and she shook her head. "You come in very handy sometimes Hermione. Between your instant swim suits and your ability to make my cramps go away, I don't know what I envy more."

Hermione looked up from kicking off her shoes and socks and grimaced. She shook her head, May would have looked at home on the cover of any magazine. "You know, sometimes I wonder if Harry knows how lucky he is. I wish I look half as good as you do. When you walk by a group of boys they all stop and stare."

"Hermione I've seen Harry stop and stare at your bum when you walk past him," May said with a frown and a touch of irritation. "Has Harry ever given you the idea that he doesn't find you attractive?" May knew that Harry had a issue with his body image, but it was minor compared to the one Hermione had. She found it hard to understand because she thought Hermione was very pretty, and it was obvious that Harry agreed with her.

Hermione nibbled on her lip and shook her head. In fact it was quite the opposite and it sometimes made her wonder if Harry needed to have his contact lenses checked. Hermione didn't realize that despite Harry's refusal to compare one girl against the other, she was doing that to herself.

"Harry appreciates us equally Hermione, I don't think Harry has a body type preference or if he does, he hasn't shown it to me. And he knows just how lucky we all are," May said softly. "And as much as he enjoys his alone time with each of us, he enjoys our together time just as much. How many nights have we had where we've spent an hour in bed before going to sleep, just talking and laughing? If Harry is lucky, then we're super lucky Hermione. Think about that."

"Don't worry my heart, I can feel him quite strongly when he covers you," Comaloth said, "and I can feel May when he covers her. There's no difference between you two. He loves you both."

"Comaloth speaks truly Hermione," add Chekiath.

May giggled softly at the dragons comments and she made a motion for Hermione to head in to join Harry. It wasn't the first time the dragons got the last word in, and it wouldn't be the last time either.

Hermione nodded, then she headed into the bedroom and the connecting bathroom with the sinfully huge bathtub. Opening the door the pair stepped into the steamy room and went to slip into the tub. Harry sat, leaning against one wall on the built in bench seating. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was meditating. When the water level rose he cracked an eye open and smiled slightly. "I wondered when you two would show up."

May slipped into the tub carefully, then she leaned over and kissed his cheek. A moment later Hermione slipped into place on the other side of Harry and repeated the kiss, then both girls made themselves comfortable, close to Harry but not touching him. At least once a week the three of them share a bath like this although usually it's a time filled with laughter and some light flirting. Both girls usually wore a bikini for such times and it wasn't uncommon for their bath to end with one girl leaving while the other girl started kissing him.

They had some sort of system or schedule, but Harry had decided two things very early on in their relationship. First he'd never ask for any particular girl, the sole exception being when it was one of their birthdays. The second thing he had decided was to never question how they chose who he was supposed to make love to. He loved them both and could honestly say that he couldn't pick one over the other. Harry also secretly thought that all three of them at the same time would be a major embarrassment for him, he was certain that he wouldn't be able to perform in front a witness, even if she was helping.

Tonight however was different. The single piece suits suggested this would be more serious bath visit than usual.

"Harry, something is bothering you," May said, starting things off. She leaned back against the edge of the large tub and tied her hair up while watching him intently.

"And we'd like to help," Hermione added softly. She reached out with a hand and gently gripped his shoulder. "Please let us help."

He looked down and nodded. "You heard about the plans we talked about, to deal with the terrorists. It is very likely that a lot of the terrorists will be captured alive."

"Yes, I figured that out when you were explaining the plan. I was surprised that we just didn't let the Navy sink the ship, or for us to flame it," May replied.

Harry shook his head and looked decidedly unhappy. "We can't. And that is the problem. The end of this month will see a joint press conference between the Weyr and the British Government. Because of that we cannot get ourselves involved in an incident which results in the death of nearly one hundred Russian nationals. Attacking that boat while it's in the channel, or still in the north sea risks someone witnessing it. It's a risk we have to take, but sinking that ship in those waters is sure to leave traces of that fight. There's no way we could clean up the area enough to escape detection. The channel is one of the most accurately mapped bodies of water in the world. Admiral Slater told me a new wreck on the bottom would be picked up fairly quickly."

He sighed and shook his head. "So instead I arranged for them to be murdered," he said a bit bitterly.

"What?" exclaimed May breathlessly.

He looked away from both of them, refusing to see the loathing he was sure was there in their eyes and he explained about the Chinese and how since they created the problem, he had cajoled the ambassador into going to his government with a request that they handle the prisoners. He admitted that he knew full well that the Chinese would most likely execute them, but at least it wouldn't be done by the dragons or the British; and just as importantly, it wouldn't be covered by the world press.

A hand reached out and lifted his chin gently. "No one but Hermione and I know for certain what being our Weyrleader costs you. Oh Luna might suspect, but no one other than we two truly know. You did what you thought was right, you did what is right. You protected our reputation even if the cost of that protection is this guilt you now feel," May said firmly. "Your job is to look after the Weyr and dragons."

May gestured to take in Hermione and herself. "Our job is easier. Our job is to take care of you and help you in times like now, when you're doubting yourself and your humanity."

Harry stared into her green eyes intently for a moment, then he looked at Hermione just as intently. There was no loathing in the gazes he saw, no disgust, only concern and compassion for him. Hermione nodded and reached out to caress his cheek. "May is right. These people would gleefully murder us. Something had to be done. Between the Royal Navy, the Chinese and the Weyr, we're the only group capable of moving that ship quickly and efficiently. Its only right that we do our part, just as the Navy and the Chinese will do their part."

"You don't think what I did was cruel?" Harry asked dubiously.

Hermione smiled at him and shook her head. "Would it have been crueler to let them come and perhaps kill a few of us before we slaughtered them?" Hermione countered. She leaned back against the edge of the tub and looked up. "I thought about this for a long time. I know without a doubt that I would kill anyone trying to hurt my Comaloth."

She looked at them with a distinctly unhappy expression. "I don't like it. But my Mum once told me that she would have died to protect me. She was trying to help me to understand what your Mum did Harry. Mum said I wouldn't really understand until I held my own child, but I think I do understand.

"We do what we must to protect what is ours. Comaloth is mine, you are mine, in a way May is mine too and I would fight to the death to protect each of you. But the more I considered it, the more I realized that all of the dragons were mine too. If they came here Comaloth and I would have protected our Weyr with every means available.

"I don't want to call it maternal instinct because I think all of us, guys included, feel the same way but the effect is the same. You could have done nothing, and let the Royal Navy take a bruising in the press along with the political crisis that would have ruined the lives and careers of everyone from Prime Minister Major to the Captains on the Navy ships. Instead you found a solution that reduces the risk of this becoming public. It's a solution that only the Weyr could offer, even if in the long run it hurts you personally."

"Harry," May added, drawing his attention. "every one of us breathed a sigh of relief today when you explained how we'd be lifting that ship and dropping it in a place where the army could arrest those people. When you first started to explain the weapons they had and what their plans were, every one of us was afraid. We trained to avoid missiles but I kept hoping that the army, or the police, someone would stop them from coming here. When you started to explain what we were up against I was terrified."

"We may still have a fight on our hands May, it all depends on the Chinese at this point," Harry countered. "Our plan can work only if we have surprise on our side."

"I know that, and I also know my Weyrleader and the man I love will do whatever is necessary to protect us," she replied. "Even if it frightens me." Despite the hot water May shivered in the water setting up gentle ripples. Harry reached out and lightly gripped her shoulder and she gave him a weak smile. Through the open doors into the living room all three of them could hear Trath crooning softly, trying to comfort her rider.

May was an incredibly strong and courageous young woman but Harry quickly came to realize that wasn't the case when it came to conflict. She could be strong in the face of terrible injuries and illnesses, but she wasn't a fighter unless forced into it. It was a different kind of courage and he didn't think any less of her because of it.

May would fight if she had to, but she would freely admit her fear, and hate every second of it.

He nodded slowly, seeing their point of view even if his own self doubt still nagged at him. Finally he took a deep breath and looked up at both girls. "Thank you," he said. "I can't begin to tell you both just how important you are to me."

He tapped his forehead. "Even with Cheki in here, telling me it's right, sometimes I can't help worry. I mean those men would kill us. Instead our plan calls for them to die and I don't feel sorry for them. That's what had me concerned. I wasn't sorry for them. I wasn't sorry that their lives were going to be thrown away and probably no one would ever know what happened to them."

"You started to worry that because you weren't concerned for them, you were losing your humanity?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry looked up and nodded. "Exactly."

"Harry, your humanity isn't at risk of being lost. Not when you put so much value on children that you send dragons to guard schools full of kids you don't know and will probably never know," May countered. "You are one of the most caring people I know and I don't doubt for a single minute that you're going to make a great father despite those Dursleys."

Harry blinked and his eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"

May suddenly looked unsure and she glanced at Hermione. "Well you see..."

Hermione grimaced and decided to help May out. "Harry, we don't talk about it because it makes you uncomfortable, but we have a pretty good idea how your aunt and uncle treated you. Besides the scars you carry, you still occasionally have a nightmare and say things in your sleep. The muggles say that someone who is brought up in an abusive environment is more likely to abuse their children."

Harry stared at her. The idea appalled him. "Please say it isn't so." he whispered.

May moved closer and placed an arm around his shoulders. "Do you trust us?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"Then trust us when I say neither Hermione or myself think you'll be that way. And believe me when I say that if I thought for a moment you'd abuse your children, I wouldn't be in this bath with you or in your bed," she said firmly.

"If anything we feel that you may end up spoiling our children," Hermione added. "Solely because you want them to enjoy all the things you were denied."

He looked between May and Hermione who nodded at him. "Believe it Harry, we do," May said fiercely.

He nodded, a bit unsure, but he trusted them completely. Hermione stood and announced she still had some studying to do before bedtime, then she climbed out of the pool. Harry nodded and watched her go. He couldn't help but admire her form in the tight fitting bathing suit. As soon as she was gone he turned his attention to May who looked just as fine in her suit.

May moved closer and straddled his lap, then she started kissing his face softly. "Someday you're going to be the father of my children and we'll love them together," she said softly between her kisses.

He wrapped his arms around her and wondered what he had done in a previous life that had resulted in him getting so lucky.

Office of the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Magic, July 5th...

"Sir William?"

Sir William glanced up from the email he was reading. "Arthur, please, just William. Let's save the titles for special occasions."

Arthur nodded a bit nervously. He hadn't been working in the office long and he was still uncomfortable with it.

Sir William leaned a bit closer and motioned for Arthur to sit. "Now how can I help you?"

Arthur sat and he opened a folder he had found in Albus' desk. "How familiar were you with the projects that Albus was working on?"

Sir William leaned back and looked thoughtful. "I would like to say very, but something in your tone makes me believe you found something that is a surprise?"

"Yes sir, I found notes and a crude outline for a plan to reveal magic that is very different than what everyone has been working on," Arthur replied.

The 'plan' as it was called in the Ministry building was totally stalled. The ministry had a mandate for revealing magic to the mundane population, but there was no clear cut idea how to accomplish that goal. In fact some muggle psychologists had offered the opinion that if not handled properly it could create a wave of resentment that would be nearly impossible to control.

It didn't help that with the overthrow of the previous administration, the primary goal of the current Ministry was to get British wizarding society back on it's feet with an effective ministry running the show.

"A different plan? Different how?" pressed Sir William.

"Sir, Albus hadn't finished his alternative plan, but I believe I can fill in the blanks. The one principle difference is that under Albus' plan, it would take decades before the government would finally admit that magic exists. He outlined an idea that would start by attempting to legitimize potions for some medical uses. He wanted to slowly reveal pieces, potions to cure the common cold, then let unicorns be discovered to exist, that sort of thing. Carefully, over decades, piece by piece, the wizarding world would be revealed until all that remained would be the existence of wizards and their society. Albus felt that long before then muggle society would have already worked out for itself that magic was real and revealing wizards would merely be the final step."

Arthur fidgeted nervously and glanced down at the file. "Throughout his plan, the government would continue to deny magic until magic was believed by everyone, then we'd admit to its existence. But there's a lot of holes in his plan and he didn't take it far enough I think."

Sir William stared at Arthur for a long moment, then he spoke. "Arthur, do you think you can take his rough notes and put together a plan we can present to the prime minister?"

Arthur blinked in surprise then he nodded. "I could sir, but it's still not enough. Magic doesn't just exist in Britain. Albus was building a plan that involved Britain, but we need to go farther. We need to get the ICW to buy into this plan or our efforts could still spark a war between wizards and mundanes elsewhere."

"Yes that is a possibility," Sir William admitted. "Assemble your plan Arthur. Include a general timeline so that we can get a feel for what's involved. If we can sell this to the PM, I'm sure he'll have you present it to the ICW."

Arthur stood and smiled. "Yes sir."

"One more thing Arthur?"

"Sir?"

"Where do we stand on the population issue?"

Arthur smiled. "Percy and the Department of Revision is working up a comprehensive tax relief package that provides significant bonuses for families that have more than one child. Also part of that package are business stimulus items to promote research into new products. Finally the Department of Magical Education has been tasked with examining the idea of using part of Hogwarts to open a school of advanced studies. It's a daunting task and I'll admit it can't be fixed overnight, but we're trying."

Sir William smiled broadly. Arthur was working out far better than he had expected. "Very good, thank you Arthur. Make that plan a priority, I'd like to be able to present it to the PM soonest," he said.

"Yes sir," Arthur said, then he stood and walked back to his desk.

Sir William watched Weasley retreat to his desk and he gave a sigh of relief.

The population issue seemed to be heading in the right direction, and now it looked like they may have a workable plan to reveal magic to the world. The Ministry of Magic had a royal mandate to reveal magic and it was the one thing that had him tearing his hair out. Their plan wasn't working because they had too many other problems to address. Hopefully Weasley could take Albus' ideas and turn it into a plan they could really use.

Hangar Two, Campbeltown Weyr, July 7th...

Dusk was fading fast and darkness enveloped the Weyr. Harry stood with most of the riders outside of Hangar two. The Weyr had returned earlier from a trip to Skula Sgeir, everyone now had a clear picture of where they'd be jumping to, and they'd made more than a dozen jumps just to lock in that memory. Harry and Ronan had taken a Royal Navy helicopter out to the island, then called their dragons to them. From there, they had returned to the Weyr and passed the jump imagery to the Weyr then they spent several hours jumping back and forth to get used to the location. The island was surprisingly bleak and uninviting a perfect place to dump a boat load of terrorists in Harry's opinion.

Now, they were tired after a hard day and were anxiously awaiting the results of Sir Robert's efforts. The science complex was visible in the distance and everyone could see it was a beehive of activity. Up until an hour earlier the Weyr had been settling down for the night when Karen Khan received a frantic call from Millicent Bulstrode telling her that they had to shut down all of the electronics in the Weyr. They were about to turn on the test power station for the first time when someone realized that the Weyr was on the same circuit. They could disconnect the entire base from the power grid, but the Weyr itself was still wired to the local circuit.

The original plan had been to separate the Weyr and the science complex onto two distinctly different circuits, but there hadn't been enough time.

Harry glanced at his watch, then he looked up. A horn blared from the science complex for half a minute, then the lights at the Weyr, science complex and the new SAS base suddenly went out.

"That's not good," Sirius murmured.

"Sir Robert said they would be disconnecting the Weyr from the national grid, they probably just did that," Remus murmured.

"Ohhh national grid, you going all techie on us Remus?" Sirius said with a snicker. "This is what happens when you fall in love with a scientist."

"Sirius?"

"Yes Remus?"

"Shut you flea bitten cur," Remus said mildly. Several of the riders chuckled at the antics of two older wizards.

"Is everything turned off?" asked Harry suddenly, trying to distract Sirius and Remus before they started wrestling on the ground.

"Everything except the roadway and runway lights. Sir Robert wanted them left on to provide some power drain," replied Remus. "I personally checked all of the offices in the admin building to make sure everything was off. Millicent said they spent the afternoon shutting down the laboratories. Besides, it's too late now to worry about anything still turned on."

Harry nodded and glanced down at his watch. The Weyr was still totally dark, the sun had slipped below the horizon and now was only a faint glow to the west. The only electric lights came from the soldiers who were still settling themselves into their new base attached to the science complex. Harry could see lights of several land rovers moving slowly along the roads; here and there were hand torches of soldiers on foot patrol or just gathering outside to watch. In the distance to the south a soft glow signaled the direction of the town of Campbeltown on the coast.

He glanced back towards the hangar and stifled a chuckle. The riders were barely visible in the darkness, but the dragon's eyes glinted in the darkness. Many dragons were clearly visible with that strange streaky twirling glow of colored light that signaled an emotion. His own dragon stood nearby with softly glowing green indicating his own amusement. The glow had even attracted the attention of a Marine Biologist at Condron weyr who wanted to study how the dragons utilized their bioluminescence.

Harry turned back towards Remus when the older man spoke. "Sir Robert is still experimenting with the heating chamber design, but they wanted to get the power station up and running; at least enough to power the science buildings and the Weyr," Remus said in the darkness. "He said he hoped to have the design finalized by the end of next month, but they will run with their current chamber design. There's already a team of engineers scaling up the design for a 750 megawatt power station. Sir Robert seemed to think it was important to have the station running."

Harry smiled at hearing the older wizard throwing around muggle terms, "Of course they want it running. Sir Robert wants to be able to include a working power station on the press tour that we'll be giving. The more Sir Robert can demonstrate, the more impressive it will be. Lee has even included a presentation of the hot rocks and power generation in his press kit."

Harry chuckled. "Fortunately I talked him out of handing out sample hot rocks. He wanted to take a bunch of small stones, heat them to a few degrees above body temperature and attach a key chain to them. I told him it's a good idea, but not for this event."

The others nearby chuckled, it was a prime example of how Sir Robert's enthusiasm often got the best of him.

As it stood Lee's press kit was big enough to fill a mid-size piece of luggage, containing posters, disks of photos, printed information on the riders and video tapes. Lee had sent a complete kit to the Prime Minister's office which had farmed out the duplication effort to various government groups.

Mariah's insistence, they had special t-shirts made up with the black and white dragon logo identical to the flag that they used in front of the administration building. Each kit contained two adult t-shirts and two child sized shirts and several cloth iron-on patches with the same logo.

When the shirts first appeared in the Weyr all the riders clamored for several and now it was one of the most popular items among the riders.

Harry inhaled sharply when the lights across the Weyr flickered several times before coming on full, then they dimmed again and went out. There was a minute of darkness, then the lights flared to life again and burned with a steady brightness. Everyone held their breath, but the lights held steady. Minutes ticked by until the science complex signaled success by sounding a horn three times in rapid succession.

The Weyr was now running on dragon power!

Harry grinned broadly and several riders cheered. It was one thing to talk about generating power with the hot rocks, it was an entirely different issue to be able to demonstrate a working system as an accomplished fact. It was a very positive sign.

Harry turned to Remus. "Give a call to Sir Robert and find out if it's all right for us to turn our electronics back on. Draco gets too grumpy if he misses an episode of Doctor Who."

Remus grinned, he couldn't blame Draco ever since he had discovered Fawlty Towers.

Office of the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Magic, July 7th...

Alejandro entered the office smiling broadly. Both Sir William and Arthur looked up from their desks.

"What's got you grinning so broadly?" asked Sir William.

"I think we just caught a major break in our little rebellion," Alejandro announced. "One of the men we picked up last night said that Carlos the Gerbil seems to have fled to the continent. He also rolled over on the names of six different cell leaders. The problem with a cell based organization is that if you catch someone high enough up, they know everyone lower in the organization."

Sir William started to smile broadly. "So Carlos fled when his attack failed?"

Alejandro nodded. "Apparently the idea was for one big attack that would draw attention and support to their cause. With the attack being thwarted by dragons and our press conference a few days later highlighting the complete failure, the group of rebels collapsed. Most have gone into hiding or are trying to flee the country. Carlos among them."

"Excellent," Sir William murmured. This was really good news. It would have been better if Carlos had been caught, but at least things would calm down here with him gone and his organization scattering. "Are we certain this is the case?"

Alejandro paused a moment. "Certain? Well what we know for a fact is that a great many of the British subjects that joined up with Carlos' group have either been arrested or have vanished, presumably fleeing the country or hiding. Carlos has not been seen since prior to the attack on Percy Weasley and Hawthorne, the man we picked up last night, said he's fled the country. I've asked the ICW to pass the word to us if he's spotted anywhere."

"So we've broken the back of our little rebel group?" asked Arthur. Arthur had been offered Albus' old job based on a letter Albus had written prior to his death, recommending that Arthur replace him.

"It looks like it," Alejandro said with a big grin.

Sir William nodded and turned to his desktop computer. It was time to share the news with his boss. He was certain Prime Minister Major would be relieved to know that this particular danger seemed to be past.

"Thank you Alejandro, stay on top of this, and make sure the MLE puts every effort into rounding these people up. I don't want to find out a year from now that Carlos is back and stronger than ever," Sir William said in warning.

Alejandro nodded and walked over to his desk to sit. He had his own memos to write.

Each man turned back to their tasks and Sir William glanced around and smiled. The office finally felt like things were working again.

Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown Weyr, July 8th...

Harry placed his tray on the table and sat down next to Hermione and May. Like every morning he stopped in at his office and did a fast email check before heading out to get his breakfast.

"No word?" May asked.

Harry shook his head worriedly. Since his meeting with the Prime Minister and the Chinese Ambassador, he had been waiting, hoping to hear that the Chinese had agreed to help deal with any prisoners. The Ambassador had flown back to Beijing the very next morning after the meeting and since then, they had heard nothing.

The Weyr had been splitting it's time between preparing for the unveiling and practicing covert approaches to shipping in the Irish Sea. In the past week they had popped out of Between just yards from all kinds of shipping in the Irish Sea and Harry was never so grateful as now for the dragon's ability to remain unseen.

"No, nothing," he replied, then he opened his notebook and started to check what was next on his list while idly sipping his tea. He stared at the item for a long moment, then he looked up at Hermione suddenly with narrowing eyes and she looked at May for a moment before looking back at him. "What?" she asked worriedly.

"What are your plans for today?"

"Wing two is supposed to be working on cleaning up hangar four today. Its the last hangar for us to check over," she replied.

He nodded. It was more of a sprucing up instead of cleaning up. Marty Benson and the others were checking each dragon stall and sprucing them up by hanging photos and other items. The dragons were very appreciative of photos of their mates, and of Harry. Nearly every stall had a picture of Harry in it much to his chagrin. The house elves had already cleaned the hangar, now Wing two was making sure the dragons were comfortable.

Cheki's bed space in Harry's house, for example, contained a group photo of Harry, May and Hermione, along with photos of Trath and Comaloth. Comaloth's bed space was virtually identical except that she had one of the two prototype dragon book readers mounted on the wall. More of the readers were on order, but since they were largely hand made, it would take time before they could be delivered. Four new readers were due in a week, but for now they had to make do.

The dragon stalls in Harry's house lacked the extra walls that the hangars had. Chekiath didn't want any walls between him and his consorts. Because of that, it wasn't uncommon to see all three dragons watching the telly or sharing Comaloth's book reader.

Harry was certain that Comaloth was moving into the role of a true harper to the other dragons. She could often be found in the dragon lounge when not helping Hermione, there she would repeat back the stories she had read with an amazing accuracy.

"Margret Sheppard is bringing her boss to the Weyr today. I am wondering if you would be interested in helping with that?" he said.

"Me? Are you sure?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry held up a hand. "Yes, but I need to tell you, this could mean eventually that you have to give up your position as Wing second. Right now I don't see that happening, but who knows what it'll require in the future. We need the services of Margret and her company but we also need someone of our own to be our contact point between us and them. I foresee a time when the Weyr has it's own home grown solicitor."

He paused and played with the mug in his hands for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Each of us are finding our places in the Weyr. Karen for example right now is learning the business and accounting aspects of maintaining the Weyr under Lord Mills. In a few years time she'll be fully in charge of our finances and James will be just a consultant for the business aspect."

He gestured towards the table where Susan and Mariah sat talking animatedly. "Susan has taken it upon herself to ensure the physical structure of our Weyr is working. I know for a fact she's looking into learning how to design buildings like apartment complex design we paid for. If she can learn that then Susan can design Weyrs for any environment and she can still be in charge of our physical Weyr.

"Mariah is likely to become our chief public relations spokesperson with Lee working in the background since he has Wing three also. Lee enjoys the work, but he's already told me he would prefer to concentrate on running the public affairs office instead of being spokesman."

"It's an important position," Hermione said a bit uncertainly.

Harry looked at her in surprise, he had never known her to shy away from hard work or shy away from responsibility. "Hermione I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you couldn't do it. You may find you really like it and want to study law. The Weyr needs someone that can do this and I know you can."

May leaned across the table. "Try it Hermione, you may find it enjoyable, or in a couple months you can tell Harry and he'll find someone to replace you."

Harry nodded, he knew he was parceling out very important positions to the first riders, but they were the ones that were furthest along in their rider training and in the maturity of their dragons. He didn't want to assign people to such positions until their dragons had passed the point of their first shagging flight.

"Albert Ford will be showing Margret and her boss around the Weyr this morning," he said, then he glanced at his watch. "If things went to plan they are watching the video introducing dragons in his office right now. I expect them in my office later this morning. Come to my office around eleven and I'll introduce you."

Hermione nodded, she understood that Harry was trying to help her, and the Weyr at the same time. He needed someone to fill a position and he knew she was still hoping to find someway of being more useful to the Weyr. "I'll be there," she said quietly.

Harry smiled and turned back to his breakfast before either girl could complain he wasn't eating enough. He had filled out very nicely thanks to all the work he had done in the last year, but Doctor Sheppard had made both girls aware that he considered Harry nearly twenty pounds underweight. Both girls watched what he ate and how much and weren't afraid to bug him if he didn't eat enough.

Two hours later Harry was surprised when Hermione managed to let herself into his office without him noticing. If was only her soft laughter that caused him to look up. He was busy reading a book from Sir Robert which explained how power generation worked. Along with the book was a report explaining the differences in what they were doing. There was a lot of technical information that he was struggling with, but he felt he needed to understand this in case someone asked him.

Two dates loomed large in his mind. July 17/18th was the expected date that the terrorists were expected to make the channel landing and July 31st the date they planned on publicly revealing the Weyr and dragons to the world. He wasn't sure which one was more important, but he knew that the terrorist attack threatened their going public.

And if that wasn't bad enough, come July 26th the Weyr would be playing host to a variety of press personalities and technicians as everyone prepared for the press conference. News companies would be bringing in their people on the 26th for a full briefing as well as setting up video links to their parent news organizations. The work crews would be sequestered at the Weyr until noon on the 31st.

Time was getting precious and Harry was feeling really stretched thin.

"You know, there's something about a guy reading that I find very attractive," she said with a smile.

Harry looked up in surprise, then he grinned at her. "I'm afraid it's rather dry reading, but Sir Robert thought it would help."

"It's a shame there's no time," she murmured, then she licked her lips a bit hungrily. Neither of Harry's girls was above seizing an opportunity when it presented itself.

He grinned and glanced up at the clock, then back to Hermione. "Unfortunately they should be here any minute otherwise I'd be happy to help. I know a lot of this is going to be new to you, but I really need your help with this love. I need a rider, someone I trust on the inside of this."

Hermione flushed with his praise and nodded, then she took a chair and reached into her bag for a book. She barely had the time to read a full page when the door opened again. "Harry? You ready for us?"

Harry smiled and waved Albert Ford into the office along with Karen Khan, Margret Sheppard and a man he didn't know. "Weyrleader, may I present Richard Haskins, senior partner of Haskins, Mitchell and Glower," Margret Sheppard offered. "Richard, this is Harry Potter, the Weyrleader for Campbeltown."

Harry stood and offered his hand to the shocked man. He shook Harry's hand and then sat heavily in a chair. His worldview had been turned on its ear this morning and seeing a teenager for a leader was just another blow to his sensibilities.

Harry sat down and chuckled softly then he gestured to himself, and Chekiath sitting in his cubicle attached to the office. The man was staring at the pair intensely. "Mr. Haskins I realize today has been filled with shocks to your idea of what the world should be, but believe me when I say we didn't invite you here just to mess with your head. We need your help very much. He gestured toward a map which contained more than two dozen yellow pins and just three blue ones, plus a handful of black pins.

Harry stood again and walked over to the map and pointed. "Each pin represents a population of dragons. The yellow ones are unmanned Weyrs that can someday be a working Weyr like this one, the blue ones are manned Weyrs, and finally the black ones represent places that are unsafe or unfit for humans and dragons and will have to be moved to another location before the Weyr can become a manned Weyr.

"Every Weyr will need local legal assistance, and we need someone coordinate that from here. We need a firm that can direct the other legal companies, helping us set policies and directives that they will have to follow."

Haskins glanced at Albert who was grinning at the man. "I know what you're thinking," Albert said. "I thought the same exact thing when Harry offered me the job of negotiator for the Weyr. How can someone so young be in charge of all this."

Haskins nodded. "The thought has crossed my mind," he replied gruffly.

Chekiath opened his eyes and he turned his large head so he could see everyone. "My rider only appears young to your eyes," he said. "He has fought for us and paid with his blood, he has earned the respect and love of his mates and his dragons world wide. He can tap into memories of countless generations of dragons who walked the Earth long before mankind could even make fire. He commands the respect of the Lord and Lady Holder of this land."

Haskins blinked, then he turned towards Chekiath, "I meant no disrespect to you or your rider, master dragon, but by our standards your rider is still a child."

"And that is why we have a number of adults acting in our stead for the next few years," Harry replied smoothly. Hermione glanced at Harry in surprise. This was his training in diplomacy coming into play and it was the first inkling she would have of the Weyrleader as a statesman.

"For example Lord James Mills officially handles the Weyr finances and British Government liaison, while Karen here learns the business of running the Weyr. In less than a year she comes of age, Lord Mills will continue to help out, but Karen will begin to assume the duties of chief financial officer for the Weyr with Lord Mills helping her. I have a dozen other people that stand to move into adult positions once they come of age. Albert handles our negotiations and answers to our Weyr council that is made up of riders and adults. He'll continue to handle most of the commercial stuff after I turn seventeen, but I could easily do the same job were I not so busy.

"We are the first manned Weyr the world has ever seen and because of that, some allowances have to be made for our apparent ages. Ten years from now this won't be an issue, and only new riders will be so young. Some of our riders are already of age, and within three years, nearly everyone of the first riders will be a legal adult in this country," Harry said firmly. As he spoke he had walked over to Chekiath and scratched his eye ridges.

"Think about it Mr. Haskins, in less than a month's time the world will know of us and some of our abilities. We will have people banging down our doors for access to the Hot Rocks. Sir Robert tells me that within a week of our going public he'll be submitting over twenty five international patents which will be jointly owned by the Weyr and the British government. And then there will be the requests for endorsements, or to appear on television shows. Albert will handle initial talks with the various countries looking to allow a Weyr in their territory, but once he is done we'll need local solicitors to represent that Weyr, and someone to coordinate them so that the Weyrs follow our lead," Harry added softly. He glanced out the window to see a line of dragons walking by his window and he smiled. They knew he was in an important meeting and wanted to provide a little reinforcement. Still smiling he turned back to Haskins.

"We'll need someone to draft contracts for licensing our technologies, and contracts for hiring our services. We'll need legal representation to press the governments of the world to accept dragons as no different in the eyes of the law as other people. Any country willing to consider dragons as a people, perhaps strangely shaped people, but still people, will find the Weyr and dragon-kind will treat them as friends and work eagerly with them."

Haskins nodded nervously, the parade of dragons walking by was driving home the scope of the effort. "All right but who will speak for the Weyr now? It still has to be an adult."

Harry nodded. "The Weyr council is composed of mostly adults. For all legal matters Lord Mills has authority but he cannot act without the approval of the Weyr council which in turn takes direction from myself. Karen has been closely monitoring the business aspects, but Miss Granger here will be involved in the legal aspects as well as all attempts to coordinate the various legal firms around the world so we are adequately protected. It will be another year before she can sign off anything as an adult, but I asked her to become involved now."

Haskins looked at Hermione who hadn't been introduced to him. "I'm sorry," Margret said suddenly. "Richard, this is Hermione Granger, Wing second of wing two and Comaloth's rider."

Haskins nodded to Hermione offhandedly, dismissing her as another kid, she bristled slightly and dropped her outstretched hand. "Relax," Comaloth said suddenly. "The Weyrleader wants you to relax Hermione."

"Mr. Haskins," Harry said in a frigid tone. "Miss Granger, might be young, but is your firm so well off that it can afford to throw away a lucrative contract on a discourtesy? There are other firms that would kill for the opportunity I'm offering here."

Harry named a few firms including two that were known world wide for representing the Royal Family and some of the richest people in the world.

Haskins stared at him incredulously then he flushed. He had never been dressed down by a teen before, but he had also never met a teen like Harry. "You are right and I apologize. I'm afraid the age issue is harder to put aside than I thought it would be."

He turned to Hermione and offered his hand. "I'm sorry Miss Granger, I was rude to you and it was uncalled for."

"He means it," Comaloth sent to Hermione privately, although she suspected Harry could hear all dragons, even when they spoke privately to their rider.

Harry nodded to Hermione, only increasing her suspicions, then she reached out and shook Haskin's hand. "I accept your apology," she said softly.

Haskins nodded and turned back to Harry. "Why would you turn down law firms like that. It can't be because of their rates, Mr. Ford here tells me you and your dragons are going to be as rich as some OPEC members combined."

Albert looked at Harry with interest, he too, had been interested to know why Harry was picking this small, unheard of law office.

Harry moved back to his chair and sat. "Two reasons actually, the first being it is true that the British government suggested some very well placed and famous firms. However a great many of those firms either currently represent the royal family or have close ties to the government. While I am willing to acknowledge that the Weyr owes a great debt to the British nation, I prefer to know that the people representing the Weyr, are truly representing us and not British national interests."

Haskins nodded in surprise, the reasoning was solid. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a notepad and placed it on his knee. "And the second reason?"

Harry grinned. "When I first talked to Margret about your firm, I looked you up on the internet. According to what I could find, your younger brother is a solicitor in Canada, working for a company that has represented the local Inuit tribes in several cases against the government. We're in a similar situation here, and there is a Weyr located near Bannf national park that can become a manned Weyr. I am not looking to be antagonistic to our host countries, but I want legal representation that won't be afraid to stand up to them if need be."

Haskins smiled suddenly, the Weyrleader might be young, but he was clearly capable of doing his homework. He didn't advertise about his brother who was a junior partner in an Edmondton law firm but it was listed in his official online biography. He started to realize that this was even bigger than Margret had alluded to and he wanted it very badly. This would put his company on the world stage, right up there with the giants of their field.

He also knew who he had to thank for this dropping into their lap and decided it was time to start rewarding her as well. "Do you have any problems with Mrs. Sheppard being our principle point of contact?"

Harry shook his head. "I was hoping you would offer her the position since she's effectively living here at the Weyr and I'm certain Hermione won't mind working with her. If she needs it, we'll provide office space so that she can set up an office here. There are still a great many offices in this building that are unused."

"How much autonomy do the other Weyrs have?" Haskins asked.

"Weyr's are autonomous at the local level. They have a Weyrleader and a senior dragon or dragons. And at the local level they can pretty much decide what they want to do. Some aspects however I am reserving entirely to us alone. No Weyr can contract out for hot rock production. Campbeltown will handle all hot rock production and see the contributing Weyrs get a share in proportion to their effort.

"All scientific and technology research is approved by Campbeltown Weyr Council for now. I have plans to eventually replace the Weyr council with a Weyrleaders Council once enough Weyrleaders reach adult ages. And finally no Weyr can become involved with a nations military unless its required in order to defend that Weyr," Harry replied.

Haskins stared at Harry in shock and he shook his head. "Do you really think everyone will go along with those rules?"

"Harry is The Weyrleader," Chekiath said in the ensuing silence. "Every dragon in the world, including the bonded dragons of Condron and Maziang obey Harry. If he orders something, they will obey him, even if it means disobeying their local Weyrleader or their rider. The dragons know Harry would only give such an order to protect them."

Harry nodded and smiled at his dragon. Cheki had summarized it correctly. He would give the individual Weyrleaders a lot of leeway, but if he truly thought the dragons were in danger he would step in right away and topple the local Weyrleader.

"Richard, it might be best if you consider each Weyrleader as if they were a colonial administrator, all answering back to Harry. He allows them a great deal of local leeway, but in the end, he can remove any local Weyrleader that tries to go against his orders and the dragons will comply," Albert Ford added. "I admit I was surprised when I first realized that, but the analogy is apt."

Haskins eyed the tall thin man for a moment, then he nodded slowly. "I think its safe to say at this point that Haskins, Mitchell and Glower would love to take on this project. I know Margret has been mostly involved in domestic law, family and children issues, but I think she can come up to speed quickly enough. I'll see about bringing in some contract specialists to help her."

Yes, she'll come up to speed, plus with this kind of job we'll be able hire enough hands to do what we need to do, Haskins thought.

"Well she won't have to abandon those subjects entirely. I have a whole Weyr full of riders that are going to need help with family issues in the coming years," Harry replied. "Albert here will take you to Lord Mills' office and you can hammer out the arrangements. He has a list of items that need to be addressed immediately. Mail screening services need to be implemented immediately among other things," Harry said. "Hermione will work closely with Margret, but I would ask that she be allowed to sit in on any discussions so she can explain to me what is going on and what is involved. You might find that as a rider, she offers a perspective that is truly unique."

Haskins nodded eagerly and looked over to Albert Ford who smiled and stood, beckoning him to follow.

When Haskins and Ford left the room Harry shivered slightly. "I feel like someone just saw me as a deep money pit," he murmured, feeling a bit violated.

"Harry, Richard is really good at what he does. What you fail to realize is that we're a small local company with three senior partners, four junior partners and six associates. You just offered him the opportunity of a lifetime. He'll settle down and give you a good job. Right now he's just excited," Margret said.

Harry looked at her thoughtfully, then he nodded. "Very well, we'll see how it goes. James wasn't happy when I selected your firm instead of one from the list the government offered, so he'll probably work things out into yearly contracts until we're all comfortable with the arrangement. You have no problem with Hermione?"

Margret laughed. "Lord no, I know of her organizational skills and organization is a critical factor in law." Margret smiled at Hermione. "It looks like we're both going to be learning on the job."

Hermione returned her smile. "Everything about being a dragon rider has been a learning experience," she smiled, then she glanced at Harry and her expression softened. "I think it's been good for all of us."

Margret stood and Hermione offered to show her where she could set up for those times when she needed to work at the Weyr. The pair left, leaving a smiling Harry and Karen Khan still in the office. Harry turned to Karen. "Something on your mind Karen?"

"I just wanted to thank you for what you've done for Ronan. No one expected you to name him as your replacement should anything happen to you."

Harry leaned back in his chair. "You of all people should know we needed a fall back position, someone that could lead at least until the dragons select someone acceptable to them. Ronan seemed a logical choice, he's aware of the issues I have to deal with and Spath was willing to agree should something happen to me, Ronan is capable of leading the Weyr."

Harry didn't need to say it, but Karen understood. Ronan would assume a role similar to the other Weyrleaders. The dragons would most likely wait until another rider appeared that could talk to all dragons before bestowing the title of "The Weyrleader" on them.

"I do understand that Harry, but in picking Ronan you really boosted his confidence. He was a really good guy before that, but now," she trailed off and looked a little embarrassed. Harry's announcement came as a complete surprise to the Weyr, no one knew Harry was contemplating such an announcement.

"Karen I chose him because I trust him to do the job just like I trust you to handle the daily workings of our finances. We're all still trying to figure out who we are growing up to be besides just being dragon riders," Harry replied uncomfortably. "Ronan is more than just my wing second, he's a friend that I know I can rely on, that's important to me."

Ronan took the news in his usual quiet style, but Karen noted it's true impact on him better than any other. He was a little more serious and a little more determined now. He still indulged in his passion for radio control planes, but even that he approached with a more adult like attitude. Karen found the changes very appealing since they seemed to reinforce everything she found appealing in him.

Karen stood and smiled at him. Harry didn't understand what he had done for her Ronan and perhaps he never would, but she saw the changes in him and really appreciated them. Karen had always wanted a strong man in her life, and Ronan was reaching for his hidden potential that she always believed was there. She was proud that Garanoth had picked Neruth to be his consort.

"Thank you Harry," she said softly, then she slipped from the room.

Harry turned to Cheki in his stall. "Did I miss something in that conversation or what?"

"Spath says we're not meant to understand females Harry, but they are necessary."

Harry looked at his dragon for a moment longer, then he turned back to his desk. "I'll take your word for it mate," he muttered.

He pulled open a drawer of his desk that contained dozens of deposit statements, from muggle banks and Gringotts and sighed. Someday soon he'd talk to Margret about figuring out his finances and drawing up a will.

The Weyr had replaced the money he had spent in starting the Weyr. His Gringotts account now had nearly thirty thousand galleons in it, ten thousand more than he had started with. But it was the muggle accounts that confused him. There was a lot of money in multiple accounts that he really didn't need and he just wasn't sure what to do with it. Once a month he received statements from four different banks and he just stuffed them into the drawer. He wasn't a possessive person, he didn't need anything expensive. He had Cheki and Hermione and May and a roof over their heads. So what else did he need?

Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown Weyr, July 13th...

Harry stepped into the packed hall with a very serious expression on his face. One hand tightly clenched a copy of an email he had received only a hour earlier. It contained news that wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for.

The hall was packed, all of the riders and numerous others were also present. He had sent an all hands email calling for this meeting, then he followed up with an order sent via dragon that all riders were to be present.

He walked to the front of the hall and faced everyone. "Good evening," he said.

A soft murmur of replies filtered back, but mostly everyone was anxiously awaiting what he had to say. The riders knew of the approaching danger and judging from Harry's expression and demeanor, he wasn't here with good news. It set the stage for the mood in the room.

"I have received a message from the Prime Minister's office concerning the Chinese response to our request," he said. "The Chinese are willing to abide by our request only if we first give the terrorists a chance to surrender peacefully so that they can be arrested and extradited back to Russia under recognized international law. The Chinese are correct, in as much as we should follow the law here, but clearly their answer was not the one we were hoping for. If these terrorists willingly surrender, they can be tried legally without any repercussions although I suspect Prime Minister Major would deport them back to Russia. I am also reliably informed that the amount of weapons on board would be enough to convict them in any court in the world. Even Russia couldn't dispute that evidence.

"The problem is, the moment the shooting starts, we have a publicity nightmare on our hands that involves Prime Minister Major's government, the Chinese government, the Royal Navy and the Dragons. It doesn't matter that we and the Navy would be acting legally, it would be a nightmare of epic proportions. The British government would not be able to keep word of what was done secret."

"Our original plan called for us to surprise the terrorists by sneaking in and just lifting the ship. Now they'll be alerted and know they are under attack. If the terrorists refuse to surrender, then we have a fight on our hands with armed terrorists that know how to use their weapons. Should they fight, the Chinese would be willing to accept any survivors that might be caught."

He paused and looked around the room. It was grim news, asking them to surrender would alert the terrorists to the danger and would significantly increase the risk of a dragon or rider being injured.

"Dobby," Harry said quietly.

Dobby appeared carrying a large poster which Harry took and stuck to the wall. It was an aerial photo of the ship. Attached to that photo was a line drawing showing the silhouettes of the ship.

"We have to assume that the terrorists will be armed and ready to fight by the time we get involved," Harry said then he glanced towards Lord Mills. "Correct me if I'm wrong James, but first they would try radioing the ship with orders to cut their engines, then perhaps sending small boats with armed marines over to the ship?"

James nodded grimly. "It doesn't happen often, but this isn't a police traffic stop. The Navy will try to minimize the risk as much as possible. If they send out small boats with a landing party you can be assured that they will be a covered by a frigate or two and a Lynx helicopter. Actually I would expect the first move would be a radio order followed by a flyby. The Lynx's used by the navy are capable of sinking that boat," he said, then he gestured towards the photograph. "That old tub is slow, unarmored and just one of the Lynx's anti-ship missiles would sink her."

Harry nodded. "Thank you James. It would be nearly impossible for the Royal Navy to hide any causalities of their people and any injuries to the terrorists would come out in a trial or once they hit Her Majesty's prisons, so I expect that the Navy will not try to board that ship unless they cooperate."

Harry glanced over to Lord Mills who nodded in agreement. As a former Navy commander he couldn't see any way the Navy would put anyone into small boats without some sign from the ship that they would surrender without a fight.

Harry took a deep breath. "So let's assume that the Navy puts a helicopter or two over that thing and they start shooting. The helicopters would pull back out of range and then we get our turn. We have several options, we can try to rely on our ability to remain unseen and swoop in an grab the ship. That means we'll have armed and desperate men on deck who are liable to fire their weapons randomly and it increases the chances of someone getting hit."

He paused and looked back towards the others and saw a lot of the riders agreeing with that assessment.

Harry started to grin. "You know, I hate that idea. But I know we're going to be dealing with a lot of very frightened men with guns. So I thought about it for a moment longer and then it occurred to me. They are going to be frightened. What if we gave them something to be really scared about?"

Everyone looked interested at his emphasis on 'frightened'.

"What do you mean Harry?" asked Sirius worriedly.

Harry turned and gestured towards the photo again. "Simple. First a couple of unmanned wings appear from Between and blast the ship with fire. Hot enough to burn and injure, but not incinerate the ship. That, coupled with the shock of dragons appearing might cause them to panic and scurry below decks. Then the manned wings perform our snatch and dump."

"There's still a risk," Ronan said.

Harry nodded. "I know, but if anyone has a better idea, I'm willing to listen to it. The Chinese imposed this requirement. The only other option and its one I have considered carefully, is to burn that ship and all aboard down to the water line. But! Not two weeks after this we are supposed to go public and if anyone ever leaks that the dragons were involved in killing so many, everything we have worked so hard for will go down the drain."

"Why can't the Royal Navy blow them up?" asked Mariah, "Isn't that what they are there for?"

Lord Mills stood, but Harry waved him down. "Mariah, the Royal Navy has essentially the same problem we do. If the news of the fight leaks out, they will take a pounding on the world stage, plus then the Russian nation could step in. The Prime Minister is concerned that this could ignite a war between Russia and Great Britain."

"Harry's right," Lord Mills said. "The last thing we want to do is to cause this to come to the attention of the media. That goes for the Weyr, or for the Royal Navy."

"Harry," Ronan said slowly, he was staring at the photo intently. "There's not a lot of lines running on that thing. What if we were to snatch the people off of the deck and go Between. We could empty the deck and then grab the ship and dump it as planned."

Harry turned and looked at the photo carefully, it was a recent photo and didn't show a lot of rigging. "It could work and might cut down the number of injuries we'd cause. But..."

Ronan nodded unhappily as he realized the flaw in his proposal. "Yeah we might be picking up people holding machine guns," he said unhappily seeing the point Harry wanted to make.

Harry shrugged. "Its not a bad idea Ronan, but dumping them Between is too much like executing them. There is something truly awful about dumping people Between. I've done it once personally and ordered dragons to do it to eight others. I am not going to inflict that on anyone else if I can avoid it. It's also too easy. If I offered that to the government, there was a chance they would come back to us in the future, asking for us to deal with people they didn't want to deal with. That is something I will never let us be used for."

There was a moment of stunned silence in the hall, then a murmur of agreement. It took a bit before the riders understood that dumping the ship Between would have caused a different set of problems for the Weyr.

James Mills sat silently during this. Harry had pulled him aside and explained why dumping the ship Between had never been offered by the Weyr. He had to reluctantly agree with Harry that while Prime Minister Major's government might not start asking the dragons to dispose of problems for them, he couldn't promise future governments would be so altruistic.

"Harry, what about a magic attack?" asked Sirius. "You riders can see via your dragons. Align a wing of magical riders above the ship and let the dragons select the targets. Then you transfer between and fire off a stupefy. You could clear the deck of people, then grab the ship and go."

Hermione turned in her seat. "Sirius, we don't have eighty magical riders. We barely have forty five of us."

Sirius shrugged. "Borrow from Maziang and Condron to add to your numbers or use your crossbows. I know you have bolts enchanted with stunners," he replied.

Hermione looked up from her seat. "We have spent a lot time practicing with the bows," she offered. "This is why you selected them for us to use Harry. Have the manned Wings cover another group of dragons that does the lifting."

Harry nodded slowly. "I think I would rather rely on our bows. But maybe we should involve Condron and Maziang anyway? The three Weyrs working together would send a strong message to the other Weyrs."

"This is about defending dragons world wide Harry. If we do nothing, then we open ourselves up to attack from everywhere," Ronan said firmly. "Maziang and Condron have a right to be there. Why not explain what is going on and ask if they would like to help. A Wing from each Weyr couldn't hurt."

"Any other ideas?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "Combine the ideas, first give them a blast of dragon fire, then stun anyone that didn't run and hide."

After a moment of additional silence Harry nodded. "I think the double assault is probably the best way of ensuring no injuries. We'll break into three groups. The first, consisting of unmanned wings will make a flaming pass. We might be able to chase them all below decks if they make enough noise before they blast the ship. Then the second group of manned wings will swoop down and sweep the deck, stunning anything that moves. Finally another wing will land and grab the ship for transport while the second group covers them."

Harry looked around and noted the expressions of grim determination. They had a plan now that they could work with.

"Cheki, please inform Menth, Lokith and Jekrith that I need to see them tomorrow for an emergency meeting," he said.

"Yes Harry."

He turned to Draco who was sitting next to Michelle. "We're going to need a full load out of stunning bolts Draco, organize the riders that can enchant and fill our bandoliers," Harry said. Each bandolier carried forty bolts of which usually only twenty were enchanted with stunners. Harry was asking for a complete replacement of the other twenty bolts.

Draco nodded and shot him a thumbs up. He didn't feel as out of place as he once did thanks to Michelle, plus Harry had given him the job of bow training for all of the new wings. He was also now working with Remus and Sirius on the Weyr's magical security, studying wards of all kinds.

Harry turned Hagrid who he had specifically asked to return to the Weyr for this meeting. "Hagrid, I'm going to need you here at the infirmary. You've seen what a gunshot can do. We must be ready to deal with multiple injuries and pray that doesn't happen."

Hagrid nodded grimly.

"Alice?" he called.

Alice Wagner looked up from her seat, surprised to be singled out. She was the third most proficient dragon healer behind May and Hagrid. "Yes?"

"I want you to remain here to help Hagrid. May will set up with us when we fly out to the Illustrious," he said, then he turned to May. "Pick someone to help you. I want you standing ready nearby if we have injuries that can't make the jump back to the Weyr. You and your helper will not participate in the attack."

May blinked and looked a little relieved. "All right Harry, I'll get Katie Bell to help," she replied. She knew she wasn't dealing with Harry, her lover, but with the Weyrleader who was putting her where she could do the most good.

Katie Bell looked up at hearing her name and nodded to May.

"Issac, I don't need to tell you that you may have injuries to deal with," Harry said, turning to the next person he needed to talk to.

"No Harry, but I want to see all of the Maziang riders before they participate. I can get the medical records from Condron on blood types and such, but no such records exist for Maziang," Issac replied.

Harry nodded and made a note in his book, then he looked up at Issac, "Would it help if we asked Madam Pomfrey to be here? Just as a precaution?"

Issac nodded and looked grateful that Harry suggested it. He knew Madam Pomfrey's healing skills would be a big help if they had serious injuries.

Harry glanced around one more time. "Check your harnesses and your riding gear. Make sure your kits are fully stocked. Anyone that thinks they need more range time, see Draco and he'll get you scheduled in."

He stepped away from the front of the hall and made his way to the exit. As he left the riders glanced around and their expression grew determined. It was finally sinking in, the Weyr's very existence was at stake here and each and every rider understood they they must do their part to protect their dragons and their Weyr.

The Weyr was preparing for battle.

---

Author's notes and Mockeries:

- To everyone expressing their condolences, thank you. This has been a difficult time and your support and prayers were a comfort.

- Finally to those that seemed to think that the passing of my father influenced the passing of Albus Dumbledore, well I hate to burst your bubble. This story was completed and in the "can" roughly a week before I had to leave for New Jersey. Albus was already dead by then.

- Because this story is complete, I can firmly state this story will end with chapter 19 and the big reveal to the world.

- The follow up story to this is already in progress and tentatively entitled "Dragon Storm". Unlike the previous stories Dragon Storm will cover YEARS of time. The smart ones of you can find there are some clues to Dragon Storm in The Queen who Fell to Earth. Remus' book offers just a few of the highlights we'll in a story that will cover more than a decade of time.

There will be a rough gap of three months or so from the final chapter of Wings to the first published chapter of Dragon Storm. I want to have at least ten chapters completed before I start publishing anything and right now Dragon Storm is barely 110 pages long (roughly three chapters).

Now that I caught everyone attention with that statement, I'll add that bugging me during those three months won't get me to publish early. So please don't try. :)

- Several wanted to know about the fight between the McGonagall sisters. It's not really necessary to know exactly about it. Just know that they have been fighting like any other family that can take things to obscene extremes.

- At first I wasn't about to comment about the people complaining about how much time it took for them to read this story, or the fact that they read both this and the prequel in a single sitting. I mean really, between the two there are 600K words and this story isn't complete. Do you honestly think this can be read in a single sitting?

- Those that expressed the depth of emotion they felt in reading the last chapter, thank you. It says I succeeded in what I wanted to accomplish. Dumbledore is often bashed in fan fiction, heck, I'm guilty of that myself. But there is no bashing in this story at all. I wanted Dumbledore to be more human, and more loveable than he was in canon. To hear that chapter 16 moved some to tears says I accomplished just that. Albus will be missed, and for once, not hated.

- Carlos the Gerbil is out of the Wings story but by no means out of the storyline. Sometimes a villain has a bit role to play and sometimes he has a major one. In Wings he was always a bit player. The Gerbil will return in Dragon Storm.

- And now for the recommendation for this chapter. It comes from a favorite author of mine. KB0 enjoys bucking the anti-Ginny trend by writing Harry/Ginny and he succeeds with a mix of compelling writing and making a believable Ginny. In this particular fare he decided to explore a Christmas tale, albeit more serious that the one I wrote. (And if you don't know about my Christmas tale, check my profile.)

Harry's Happy Christmas by KB0
StoryID: 8830812

Give it a chance, it's a unique take, a book 7 alternative. If you like it, let the author know.