A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.
FIVE
Imperial Parliament closes Raleigh Point Shipyards; says 'no' to further Duke-class battleships
Raleigh Point, Duchy of New York – In a stunning move that left many high-ranking officials of the Imperial Navy stunned, the Imperial House of Lords had decided to weigh in on the issue of the further acquisition of the Duke-class battleships, lending their support to the leadership of the House of Commons and putting an end to construction of the sixth vessel as well as canceling the four others that are yet to be laid down.
At two hundred fifty seven meters overall and weighing more than one hundred twelve thousand tons at full load, the Duke-class of super dreadnought battleships were envisioned to be the lead ships of the Imperial war-fleets well into the twenty first century, but it appears that this would no longer be the case as the formal order to begin dismantling the hull of HMS Viscount of the Nile – named after Vice Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, Viscount of the Nile and hero of Trafalgar – was received this morning by the management of the only shipyard in the whole world that are capable of building the massive behemoths that are now mostly tasked with showing the flag.
Originally conceived by Fleet Admiral Sir Walter Thomas Burns, then First Sea Lord, the Duke-class super dreadnought battleships are built around a new and improved command and control suite that allowed the battleships to function as command ships, and the new Mk XXII (20') heavy gun, twelve of which are carried by the super battleships in four three-gun turrets.
Coupled with a heavy anti-aircraft suite – nearly one hundred forty millimeter anti-aircraft guns spread all over the ship – and an armored citadel with steel armor twenty inches at its thickest, the Dukes are the most survivable of current Imperial warships, and is envisioned to be leaders of Britannian battleship divisions and dedicated command ships in the Air-Ground Concept of Operations pioneered by Fleet Admiral Burns and Field Marshall Jeremy Townsend, then Commander of the Imperial Army. The protection of the ships, however, was achieved at a cost of more than seventy one million Britannian Pounds per ship.
"We would be saving seventy million pounds per year, seventy million pounds that we can use for other, far more important endeavors like education and medical care," Daniel James Bean, MP for Belhaven and Head of the Federalist Party, was quoted as saying during one of the budget debates at the floor of the House of Commons.
"It is true that seventy million pounds would be well appreciated by the Ministry of Social Affairs," High Admiral Kyle Forlani, Third Sea Lord and Commander of the Imperial Airfleet, admitted during a recent interview with BNN's Marian Attenborough, "but all the money in the world would mean nothing if we could not defend our country, and the Dukes serve that purpose not by sinking enemy ships, but just by existing as a fleet-in-being. As long as they exist, any potential enemy would have to take them into consideration."
Sources within the Crystal Palace are reporting that the Empress is not ready to take sides in this growing debate, but without a dissenting opinion from Her Majesty, the debate may well have been already decided.
"The crux of the matter in the Crystal Palace is the fact that the Duke-class are yet to prove themselves in battle," an anonymous source from within the Crystal Palace had revealed, "For Her Majesty – who has a grandson aboard one of the Duke-class battleships – the weighing scale is all about balancing the budget, would it be cheaper in the long run to continue building the Duke-class battleship – with their price-tag but a powerful ship for future foes to consider and defend against – or would it be better to fall back to the original Hermione-class replacement – cheaper, but absent the morale factor brought about by the larger Duke-class battleships."
Either way, however, it would appear that the Imperial Fleet would have to wait before a new battleship would join her growing line of capital ship. The last of the Duke-class battleships placed the number of Britannian first-rate battleships at one hundred sixty nine hulls, supported by seventy one first-rate battlecruisers and forty four first-rate aircraft carriers.
The hull of the first of this new class of warships – HMS Duke, named after the original twelve Dukes of the Holy Empire – was launched in 1983, seven years after the ship was first proposed.
Unique among Britannian warships, the Duke-class battleships are referred to as 'he' rather than the more traditional 'she'.
HMS Duke formally entered service six months later after trial and commissioning with the Empress herself as the primary sponsor. The lead ship of the class is now in service with the Imperial Home Fleet where she serves as the flagship of High Admiral Sir Cyrus Hughes, General-Admiral of the Imperial Home Fleet.
The last ship of the class is HMS Iron Duke, named after Field Marshall Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and commander of the defenders of Cornwall prior to the Passage of Tears. HMS Iron Duke was launched three years ago. He is currently the flagship of Lord High Admiral Sir Alexander Charles York, newly appointed Prince of Wales and Scotland, General-Admiral of the Imperial Grand Fleet.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness
Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia
October 18, 1995
Hermione stood in relative silence with Harry beside her, his attention aimed toward the sky and toward the direction of one of the huge mountain ranges that seem to surround the castle housing the school at three different directions.
His actions clued her to the fact that the people whose arrival they are waiting for would come from that direction, so she would also turn her attention toward that direction every few minutes to see if the people that they are expecting had already arrived. So far, however, there were no indications, and if the formally attired soldiers that are gathered in front of Hermione are to be of any assistance in this endeavor, it was the fact that although all of them are in formation, they are still relaxed and not standing in active attention. Hermione knew enough about the military to know that if the arrival is imminent, their officers would call them to attention.
More often than not, however, the attention of Hermione would be focused on the young man that stood beside her. Harry stood at a position that he had been standing on for the past week, not in terms of location perhaps, but in terms of whom he stood with. For the past week since the arrival of the brigade at Hogwarts and since their introduction to each other, Harry and Hermione had stood at the side of the other for as long as often as their respective schedules would allow them.
Class work, prefect duties, homework, and other extra-curricular activities had meant that Hermione had not as much time as she would have wanted with him, but she considered that fortuitous since his own duties had conspired to keep him away from her as well. The two of them consider themselves lucky that they have enough time to hang out with each other, often under the guise of further discussions pertaining to their duties as liaisons for their respective organizations.
Today, however, was a special day. For some reason, the Headmaster was aware that someone important was coming, and had required the students to attend the welcoming ceremony that was to be held outside the school. It was a good thing that it was a weekend because had it been otherwise, Hermione was sure that the Headmaster would have cancelled classes.
The hand of Harry found hers, and she turned her attention toward him with the intent of raising her eyebrow in an unasked question, but when she turned her gaze toward him, his gaze actually remained ahead of him, toward the sky where she was sure their visitors are going to arrive from. A smile crept up the face of Hermione at that, and instead of asking him the question that she wanted to ask, she merely gazed at him and took in how good he looked in his dress uniform.
As with his classmates, Harry wore a sword at his left hip, kept there by a black sash that went from his right shoulder diagonally across his chest and the front of his dark gray uniform, but unlike his classmates, he wore a dark gray combination cap over his unruly black hair with an anchor device displayed prominently on the cap. Harry had told her that the device was representative of the fact that he is a naval cadet, and that the reason that he was the only one wearing a cap – his classmates all wore dark gray berets – was because he was their de facto commanding officer.
Hermione removed her gaze from Harry and turned it toward the opposite direction. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and his staff looked either bored or amused by the formation of military men that they had their gazes focused on. Hermione neither felt obligated nor said anything to any of them that those men that they are now staring at might look too pretty for war, but at the same time that they stood in formation, they are carrying loaded rifles slung on their shoulders.
This past week had seriously eroded the faith that Hermione had with authority figures – or at least, those who are not doing their jobs properly. In the aftermath of the attack against her perpetrated by Ginevra Weasley, Hermione had lost a lot of trust with the professors. The reason for that is aside from the detentions that she had received the Weasley girl had not received any other punishment. Sure, it was a simple prank gone wrong, as the Headmaster had placed it when Hermione complained, but what the Headmaster failed to realize was that the liquid nearly got into the eye of Hermione. That would have caused damage to her vision at the least, though Madam Pomfrey, the school healer, had warned that it could have led to the lost of her sight or perhaps, even death if the liquid had managed to penetrate as deep as her brain.
Her lost of faith with her professors was one of the reasons that she stood by the side of Harry amongst the military instead of the other students, despite the fact that she knew that her open display of allegiance would have not made her friends amongst the Hogwarts students. In any case, however, Hermione knew that things would change after this event because her uncle is amongst those that are slated to visit today.
A nudge from Harry tore Hermione out of her reverie, and when she looked at him – this time with the accompanying raising of her eyebrow as a questioning gesture – Harry smiled at her once before he motioned for Hermione to turn her attention toward the direction where he and his classmates – as well as the other soldiers – had been looking at for the past ten minutes or so since they moved into position.
At first, Hermione could not see anything when she turned her gaze toward the direction that Harry had indicated, then she saw the massive dark figure that seemed to have been disgorged by the very clouds.
The dark shaped figure was huge, easily more than a hundred feet high, yet it floated amongst the clouds at ease. The distance had muted some features of the incoming object, but as that distance shrunk, Hermione could not help but suck in a breath as she realized that she was looking at the business end of six massive naval artillery pieces pointed at her. She turned her attention toward Harry and mouthed a question, "Battleship?" she asked.
Harry nodded, but for a few moments, he did not say anything, though he motioned for Hermione to return her attention to the skies. For a few moments, she looked miffed that he would not reply to her question, but she knew that there must be something that he wants to show her if he is motioning for her to look at the sky.
Her eyes widened once more when she saw that in the interval that she needed to turn her attention toward Harry, four other dark figures – battleships, she assumed – had emerged from the clouds, their noses pointing toward rear of the ship that they are following, forming an almost straight line of five battlewagons heading toward – obviously – the surface of the lake of Hogwarts.
"His Grace is a military officer, and he is the commander of the Imperial Grand Fleet," Harry said, finally turning his attention toward Hermione, a small smile on his face, "It is but fitting that he use his flagship when visiting any place, though admittedly, this is mostly because he is due further north," and at the confused look on the face of Hermione, Harry added, "Orkney Islands, he's building a new base for the Grand Fleet there, away from the primary base at Portsmouth," he shrugged and tried to convey the impression that he has no idea for the reason, "Strategic considerations," he added.
Hermione opened her mouth, but then she nodded and closed it. Despite the fact that Harry tried to show that he does not know the reason, Hermione was sure that the young naval cadet was well aware of the reason, but since he did not see fit to tell her just yet, she is going to trust him.
By this time, the five battleships had closed the distance enough for the students and staff to discern the features of the five ships. Hermione was easily able to conclude that while the first ship looked larger, more powerful, and more intimidating, the four ships that followed her looked almost similar with each other.
"HMS Iron Duke," Harry said as he motioned toward the first battleship, "and his consorts, HMS Hermione, HMS Daphne, HMS Arethusa, and HMS Leda."
Hermione did not reply to the introduction of Harry, she was so focused on the ships. By this time, the ships are already floating over the surface of the lake, about fifty feet and slowly losing altitude as whatever it was that kept them floating in mid-air slowly disengaged for a controlled descent.
The four battleships all have four turrets located along the centerline of the vessel, two fore and two aft, while the leading ship had six turrets along the centerline. It was, however, obvious that those twelve massive guns – there are four turrets with three guns each – are not the only weapons of the ship. Smaller turrets housing smaller guns were scatted along the side of the ship, located amidships.
What took the attention of Hermione, however, were the smaller guns that bristled all along the ship, unmanned perhaps, but intimidating nonetheless.
"There are twenty other ships of this size out there, Hermione," Harry said, forcing Hermione out of her reverie. She looked at him just in time to watch him say, "This is Lord Alexander's personal battle squadron, but I am sure there are other ships within range, probably the battlecruisers of Admiral Bingham and other battleships," he shook his head and returned his attention front as the bottom of the hull of the ships gently slipped into the water.
At the same time that the bottom of the hull split the surface of the water, a gangway was loosened from where it was secured on the top deck. Working fast but with amazing precision and well practice choreography, a team of four sailors had managed to run the gangway out at the same time that the battlewagon – HMS Iron Duke – had stopped sinking into the water. A team of marines that are already on the ground secured the gangway at the other end before they took their positions along the side of the passage and stood at attention.
Ten minutes later, a gaggle of officers emerged from within the superstructure of the ship and made their way to where the gangway was attached to the ship. Hermione expected them to descent from the boat at the same time, but when the gaggle reached the quarter deck from where the gangway was, they stopped and allowed one person to descend the stairs first.
All attention was turned toward this man, even those of Hermione, so that they could study him. A combination white and black combination cap adorned his head, but he was too far for anyone from Hogwarts to see the badge on his cap. His black tail coat had a standing collar, white with gold edgings. A black and gold belt, gold-laced trousers, polished black dress shoes, black gloves, two gold shoulder boards and a sword – but without the sash worn by Harry – completed his ensemble.
"Lord Alexander," Harry said as the man took his first step at the gangway. At the same moment that the Duke took his step, the sailors and the marines that set up the gangway for him saluted despite the fact that they are not facing him. The salute was taken up by the other soldiers who waited for one of the highest ranking military officers and peer in the Empire.
Harry and Hermione watched as Brigadier General Arnott – wearing his formal dress uniform as well – stepped out of his place the moment that Lord Alexander stepped into the ground. Salutes and handshakes were exchanged before the brigadier motioned for Lord Alexander to step out of the shade, but the Duke shook his head and instead turned his attention toward the battleship again.
Harry and Hermione turned their attention toward the gangway just in time to see a young lady – relatively – descending the gangway. Hermione noted that this lady looked calm and controlled, and there was actually a smile on her face as she descended. Having no idea who this young woman was, Hermione turned her attention toward Harry with the intention of asking him.
The young cadet, however, already noted the question of Hermione before she could even ask it, "Lady Emma Charlotte Spencer, Marchioness of Montana," Harry said, "Lord Alexander's childhood friend, his closest advisor, and fiancée."
Hermione watched as Lady Emma took her position to the left hand side of Lord Alexander, but as with Lord Alexander, she refused to move from her position when Brigadier Arnott motioned for them to move into the shade.
"There are other officers that are going down," Harry answered the unasked question of Hermione.
At the same time that Lady Emma descended from the gangway, a few meters away from where Harry and Hermione stood, the staff of Hogwarts watched, most with deference, aware of the fact that the young man that had just descended from the gangway was not only the grandson of the Empress, he is also their landlord. The witches and wizards the form the teaching staff of Hogwarts are well aware of the powers of the newly named Prince of Scotland and are acting in deference, except for one Professor Snape.
"That stupid muggle contraption should not have been allowed here, Headmaster," the surly man complained as he fixed the five battleships with a look that he reserve for Gryffindors, in other words, with those that he had nothing but contempt for, "The man is attempting to intimidate us."
Before the Headmaster could answer to slightly admonish his potions professor – it was far better that it be him who would admonish the man rather than the tongue-lashing that Minerva was sure to deliver, or the look of pure contempt that Filius would give the man – but before he could even open his mouth, the Gryffindor lioness jumped into the conversation, "Aye, Snape, he is, and you should be intimidated," she said.
"Minerva..," Albus began.
That turned out to be the wrong move for the Headmaster because at that moment, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts turned toward her boss and gave him his own tongue-lashing, "That 'stupid muggle contraption' as Professor Snape points out is carrying at least twelve cannons, and from the size of those cannons, I daresay that not even the wards and the walls of Hogwarts combined would protect us."
The Headmaster blinked, "Minerva, surely..," he began.
This time, it was the turn of Professor Flitwick to enter the fray, and as always, he was in agreement with Minerva, "Minerva is right," the half-goblin, half-human professor that not even Professor Snape wanted to cross said, "there are five of them, and the man that we are going to meet is the Prince of Scotland and a grandchild of the Empress, there are more of them out there, just keeping out of sight, of that, I am sure."
"I think you overestimate their capabilities," Professor Snape said with a sneer, "They're just muggles."
"I know you underestimate their abilities, young Severus," Professor Flitwick replied, emphasizing a certain word that caused the potions master of Hogwarts to turn a shade or two redder than normal, though before the man could say anything, the charms professor continued, "Who do you think invented that machine that allowed those machines to operate in the air? Their mainstream history books would tell you a complicated process of electrical reactions in confined spaces and what-not that does not really tell you anything at all, but I only need to look at it once to know how it works."
"Charms?" Minerva asked, her curiosity actually getting the better of her. Unlike Professor Flitwick, she was not a master in charms, but that was hardly surprising considering the subject that she teaches.
"Among others, yes," Professor Flitwick admitted, "Runes as well."
Professor Snape looked ready to comment, but before he could do so, the attention of everyone returned to the officers who were coming from the ship. A trio of military officers descended from the ship before the staff continued their debate, thus missing the fact that a certain Hogwarts student smiled at the sight of her uncle coming down from the flagship of the Britannian Imperial Grand Fleet.
"So they needed help from us, that proves that we are superior to them," Professor Snape said, reopening the debate.
"I should have known that you would not lose that attitude, Professor Snape," Minerva replied, a sarcastic tone attached to her use of the term professor, "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater."
The potions master again turned a shade or two redder than usual, but before he could comment, the Headmaster cut into the argument, "Minerva," he admonished his deputy, "I trust Severus," he said in a tone that suggested that he fully expected that that would be the end of this discussion.
Minerva looked belligerent for a few moments, and she would have continued the argument had the Headmaster, at that moment, not gasp at something, as if he was surprised and it was difficult to surprise the old man.
Curiosity got the better of the professors and they turned their attention toward the direction that the Headmaster was looking at when he gasped. Before they could help it, the professors also gasped as they recognized the features of the couple that was walking along the gangway toward the ground, taking a step into Hogwarts grounds for the first time since they left the magical world nearly fifteen years ago.
James and Lily Potter had returned to their school, and to Magical Britain.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness
Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia
October 18, 1995
The meeting was supposed to be an informal meeting, but with the number of people involved – at least half a dozen on both sides of the table – there was no way to excuse this as an informal meeting. Sure, the topics that are going to be discussed would probably be informal in a sense, but the highest ranking members of the two sides are gathered here, their respective staff surrounding them, forming a half-circle centered on their leaders as the two men glared at each other over a table.
Lord James Charles Potter, Viscount of Lisbourne, allowed his eyes to wander. The office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts had not changed much in the nearly fifteen year interval since he and his wife had disappeared from the magical world, though in the case of this office, it was probably closer to twenty years now since the last time that James was called into this office to answer for something that the staff believed he had done was when he was in his fifth year of schooling.
'That was a long time ago,' James said to himself at the same time that he glanced at his wife. Lily kept her attention straight, but she was not staring at Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts who sat in his throne, no, the Lady Potter was staring at the still stunned visage of her former best friend and the man who had insulted her in front of the whole school when they were in fifth year, Hogwart's Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape.
James would have smiled at that point as he realized that his childhood rival would welcome the stare of Lily, had it not been for the fact that as Lily stared at her old friend, her stare was marinated not with sympathy or happiness at seeing her old friend again, it was practically shining with contempt and an almost casual disregard for the fact that he exist.
'That's probably the reason why he is still stunned,' James said to himself, though he would not claim that that is the reason why the rest of the staff appear to be in the same limbo as their youngest member. The Viscount of Lisbourne, however, knew the exact reason behind the stunned visage of their former professors.
James returned his attention to his lord and lady, both of whom were seated in front of the Headmaster. A smile crept up the face of the Magical Advisor of the Prince of Scotland when he saw that beneath the surface of the table – and away from the field of vision of the Headmaster and any of his staff – Lord Alexander held the hand of Lady Emma on his own.
At some unseen signal, the Prince tightened his grip around the hand of his fiancée, but rather than turning his attention toward her and engaging her in conversation, the prince kept his gaze straight toward the Headmaster – who looked neutral, a trick that James knew was just that, a trick – politely inclining his head toward the older man before he opened, "Headmaster," Lord Alexander said respectfully, acknowledging the fact that Albus was older than him, but at the same time, his tone emphasized his authority, a tone that could only have been accomplished by someone like Lord Alexander who was trained from a very young age that he is a lord.
James could not do it, and neither could Lily despite the fact that both of them are members of the Imperial Britannian peerage.
"I must say," Lord Alexander continued, not even giving the Headmaster a chance to enter the conversation, "I am most pleased to see that your students are very welcoming of the soldiers of the Holy Empire."
James hid a snicker that threatened to come out of his mouth, feigning a cough as he turned his attention away from his front and toward the rear. By the time that he was done and had returned his attention to the front, two people were staring at him with raised eyebrows, his wife and his liege lord, but while the latter would let it go, James knew that his wife was going to be a different story. Fortunately, Lily was not going to make a commotion in front of everyone, well, no more of a commotion than their reappearance had already made.
"We are servants of the Golden Throne," the Headmaster replied neutrally. The rest could not be said about his staff, however. The three Heads of Houses who are aware of the power behind the Oath – McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout – looked the most neutral. They know the power behind Lord Alexander despite the fact that he is muggle.
The same could not be said about the other members of the staff, though most of whom seem resigned to the words that came out from the mouth of the Headmaster. One, however, looked ready to complain – and complain to high heaven from the look of anger in his face – had the Headmaster not glared at him to shut him up.
Having experienced the glare of the Headmaster before, this was not a novel experience for Severus Snape, but the intensity of the glare caused the Potions Master to visibly flinch before the sour-faced man settled down and closed his mouth, whatever it was that he was about to say completely forgotten in the face of an angry glare from the Headmaster.
"Good," Lord Alexander said. James knew that the prince pretended not to notice and note the interaction between the Headmaster and his staff, but Lady Emma did not even bother with that lights show. Lord Alexander might ignore the pointed gestures from their hosts, but not Lady Emma and James knew that that was how the two operated, Lord Alexander focuses on the big things while Lady Emma would be in charge of subtlety.
"I trust that Cadet Potter had informed you that I had given him a secret mission regarding your school, Headmaster?" Lord Alexander asked.
The shocked reaction from the Hogwarts staff told James and everyone in the staff of Lord Alexander that the Headmaster did not see fit to inform them of the meeting between himself and Harry – or at least, it appeared that the Headmaster neglected to inform the lowest members of his staff.
Headmaster Dumbledore, however, ignored their shocked reactions and focused his attentions toward Lord Alexander. The self-declared Leader of the Light, for a few moments, thought about entering the mind of the young but powerful – not in terms of magic, perhaps, being a muggle, but politically and militarily, this man in front of him, Albus knew, is one of the most powerful in the Empire, if not the world – but almost instantly dismissed it.
Occulumency is a rare art in the sense that muggles could learn it, and the Headmaster had no doubt that a man as powerful as Lord Alexander would have neglected it. The Headmaster also knew that there is at least one more magical in the staff of Lord Alexander, a magical bodyguard whose job it was to protect the Prince from magical attacks, and Albus knew that retaliation from such person would not be conducive to his health. In any case, it was not the magical retaliation that the Headmaster fears the most.
Albus glanced slightly toward a window that faced the Black Lake of Hogwarts. The row upon neat row of uniformed color tents and armored personnel carriers was more than enough to chill the Headmaster to the bones. He had no doubt that those men would react if their liege lord – 'Actually, seeing that he is my landlord, he is supposed to be my liege lord, as well,' Albus thought to himself – was in any danger.
As terrifying as three thousand angry soldiers armed with rifles, heavy machineguns, and grenades are, however, they pale in comparison to the five battleships that float idly on the surface of the Black Lake, forming a neat line.
Their armored turrets housing their big guns might be pointing fore and aft right now, but the Headmaster had no doubt that those turrets – and those ships – could swing toward where he is in less than five minutes. Despite the ramblings of his potions master, Albus knew exactly just how powerful those guns could be, having encountered them during his youth – well, relative youth – while hunting for Grindelwald in mainland Europe.
It was for this reason that the Headmaster of Hogwarts decided against entering the mind of Lord Alexander, forcibly or otherwise. The Headmaster made a mental note to warn Severus about this later at the same time that he hoped that Severus would use his admittedly powerful brain to think about the possible consequences of an unauthorized mind probe in the direction of Lord Alexander.
'Come to think of it,' Headmaster Dumbledore thought to himself, as he turned his attention slightly toward the young lady who sat by the side of the Prince, 'It's probably not a good idea to probe the Marchioness as well.'
"Yes, Cadet Potter had informed me of the mission, but not the specifics," Albus replied a few moments later, earning more shocked looks from the faces of his staff as they realized that not only had the Headmaster not informed them of that meeting, it would appear that the Headmaster had allowed the unknown mission to proceed despite the fact that the Headmaster was completely unaware of the specifics of the operation.
Strangely, they seem more insulted with the fact that the Headmaster was unaware of the specifics of the mission than they are about the fact that the Headmaster had not seen fit to inform them of the meeting.
Lord Alexander nodded, "This is an important mission," the Prince said in a matter-of-factly voice that would broker no argument, either from his side or the side of the Headmaster and his staff. The Prince looked thoughtful for a few moments before he added, "National Security, not only of the mundane, but also of the magical, world is at stake here, and I am happy that you had allowed my people to do their job."
Albus smiled at the Prince despite the fact that deep within him, he wanted to scream at the man and inform him that there was only two choices available to him at that point, either cooperate with the demands of the military men that are encamped just outside his gates or be crushed by those same men that are encamped just outside his gates. There really was no decision to make.
Speaking of those military men that are encamped just outside his gates…
"Highness," Albus began, and a frown crossed his face when he saw that Lord Alexander did not look at him when he used the honorific term. The Headmaster looked perturbed and was about to say something else when he was cut off, and the interference came from an unexpected source.
"'Your Grace' would be the appropriate term, Headmaster," Lily Potter said from her position beside her husband, "His Grace prefers the honorific term for a Duke rather than a Prince because His Grace has been a Duke far longer than he has been a Prince."
"Of course, Lily, I…," the Headmaster began.
Once more, Lily cut him off. Using a tone that was both disrespectful and respectful – at the same time, no less – Lily said, "The proper address for me and my husband is Lord and Lady Potter, Headmaster," she said in a matter-of-factly voice that caused a grin to appear on the face of James, though again, he hid it from the rest of the occupants of the room. The Viscount of Lisbourne had no doubt that even Lord Alexander and Lady Emma had grins on their face that point.
"Seeing that we were once your students, Headmaster, I think we could dispense with the honorific terms for us, but the same could not be said for the Prince or the Marchioness," Lily suddenly said.
"Yes, Lady Potter, of course," the Headmaster stammered, "Quite an honor you have bestowed upon me, Lily, to allow me to call you and James by your first names."
"We were your students, Headmaster," Lily replied with a tone of finality that caused James to smile. Essentially, his wife had pulled the breaches of the Headmaster, spanked him, then pulled the breaches back where she had found it, giving the staff of Hogwarts no reason to complain at all.
Judging from the looks on the faces of the staff, it was obvious that complain was the one thing that they wanted to do right now.
"Your Grace," Albus began a few moments later, letting bygone be bygones – mostly because he knew that he could not win – and when Lord Alexander turned his attention toward the Headmaster, Albus said, "May we talk about the men that are stationed outside the gates of the school?"
"Certainly," Lord Alexander replied, "'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division, under Brigadier General Winston Arnott and augmented by ten cadets from the Imperial Naval Academy, Headmaster, as I believe you had been informed, they are here to conduct some maneuvers."
The Headmaster wanted to point out that since their arrival, the only thing that the brigade was doing was sitting around and apparently waiting for something to happen. There are certainly no maneuvers being conducted, and the Headmaster was about to complain about that when he realized that while the Prince might decide to pull this brigade back where it came from, another would just take its place.
That brigade might be accompanied by a different team of cadets, and the Headmaster wanted Harry Potter in Hogwarts right now, so he decided against complaining, "How long would we host them, Your Grace?" Albus asked instead.
Lord Alexander shook his head, and with a smile, he said, "To tell you the truth, Headmaster, I have no idea," he replied truthfully, but instead of waiting for a reply from the Headmaster, he turned his attention toward one of his uniformed staff members and asked, "Vice Admiral Cline?"
Vice Admiral Kevin Francis Cline, chief-of-staff to Lord Alexander, replied right away, "The brigade has enough supplies for one month of deployed and continuous operations, Admiral," he reported, "I suppose that they are going to stay until their supplies run out, after all, they are Army, we are Navy."
Lord Alexander nodded and turned his attention toward the Headmaster with a look on his face that clearly asked the Headmaster if that answered his question.
The Headmaster nodded, happy that within a month, the soldiers would be leaving, though that meant that he only had a month to convert Harry Potter. He expected no problems with converting the young Potter to his way of thinking though.
Of course, the Headmaster assumed that when Vice Admiral Cline mentioned 'deployed and continuous operations', the man meant exactly what the brigade was doing right now. The truth was, the brigade was on reduced operations deployment since they were deployed. While it is true that the brigade only has a month's worth of supply with them, that was for continued battlefield operations – a shooting war which meant that the brigade was always on the move. That was hardly the case here. The truth was, the brigade had enough supplies to last them more than a month.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness
Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia
October 18, 1995
Harry instantly snapped to attention – as did the nine other naval cadets with him – when Lord Alexander entered the command tent where Harry and the cadets were waiting for him. Hermione stood from where she was seated just a second or two after the naval cadets.
Lord Alexander was quickly followed into the command tent by his staff, both military and civilian, but Harry restrained himself from running to his parents to greet them, waiting for permission from Lord Alexander.
The Prince waved them back to their seats, but while the nine others resumed their seats, Harry remained standing, and because Harry remained standing, Hermione remained standing as well, "Your Grace," Harry began.
Lord Alexander removed his sword and gently handed it to the waiting hands of Lady Emma – alone among the Britannian peerage is Lady Emma, when it comes to holding the sword of not only an active military officer, but the sword of a member of the Royal Family – who took it without words before she secured it inside a briefcase that was carried by an enlisted man who was part of the staff of Lord Alexander.
Only when the Prince had removed his weapon – and his headgear, revealing his short, black hair – did he turn toward Harry with a questioning look. It not the first time that he had seen Harry with the beautiful young lady that now stood by his side – after all, he had seen them this morning – and the Prince quickly realized that the son of two of his most trusted advisors was about to introduce the young woman to him.
"Your Grace," Harry repeated, his tone suddenly strained and high as he attempted to contain his nervousness, "May I present, Miss Hermione Granger?"
Hermione curtsied in front of Lord Alexander and the Prince acknowledged the curtsy with a slight smile and by politely inclining his head toward Hermione, "Any relation to Rear Admiral Granger?" the Prince asked.
"My uncle, Your Grace," Hermione replied. She had thought about using the honorific 'Your Highness', but since Harry used that honorific, Hermione figured that it would be for the best if she were to follow suit and use that honorific term instead.
The smile on the face of Lord Alexander widened at that, "Yes, Richard has been a godsend," Lord Alexander said a few moments later, he inclined his head toward Hermione once more before he said, "Do forgive me, Miss Hermione, but I would be in your debt if I could borrow young Harry for a few moments?"
Hermione blinked, "Yes…, of course, Your Grace," Hermione stammered, taken aback by the words of the Duke, though she was paying attention when the Duke actually bowed toward her before he turned toward Harry and motioned for him to follow.
A sigh escaped from the lips of Harry – and he did not even bothered to hide it – as he followed the Prince. First, they went out of the tent before they climbed into the rear of the command vehicle of Brigadier General Arnott. Harry was surprised to see that the command vehicle was empty, something that almost never happens because there are supposed to be people on duty here at all times.
He would later learn that for the duration of the visit of Lord Alexander, headquarters had been transferred to the bridge of HMS Iron Duke, where the flag-captain of Lord Alexander and his marine commander are on duty.
"How goes the mission?" Lord Alexander asked Harry without preamble. At the same time that the Prince asked that question, he pulled a chair and sat down before he motioned for Harry to do the same. Uncomfortable with the fact that he was alone with someone as high ranking and as powerful as his liege lord, Harry was grateful for the permission to seat, he felt as if his legs would give up under him.
"We are scouring the castle for the item, Your Grace….," seeing the frown that appeared on the face of Lord Alexander, Harry quickly amended the honorific term, "Admiral."
"The week has been busy," Lord Alexander commented off-handedly a few moments later. The Prince paused for a few moments before he added, "General Arnott had forwarded the schedule that Cadet Brooke had came up with, reflecting your division of duties as well as your search of the castle, and I find it intriguing, Harry, that you found the time to romance the niece of one of my most trusted officers at the same time that I am expecting you to be doing your job."
"Sir, I..," Harry began.
Lord Alexander raised his hand and motioned for Harry to stop, and against that, the young naval cadet had no choice but to follow instructions. The moment that the mouth of Harry closed, that of Lord Alexander opened, "The schedule reflected that you are pulling your own weight, Harry, I have no complaints with that, and certainly no complaints had reached me that you are going over your scope of duties and abusing the power that has been granted to you for the duration of this deployment," he said.
"She was appointed liaison officer with us, Admiral," Harry replied, and when Lord Alexander raised his eyebrow toward him in question, Harry continued, "The Headmaster thought that it was a good idea if we have liaisons with the student body, just in case."
Lord Alexander looked thoughtful for a few moments, but then he nodded, "You realize that his goals since the disappearance of your family from the British Isles and the magical world had not changed?" he asked, "He still wants you and your parents to joint his faction."
"I suspect that that is the case, sir," Harry replied, "Nevertheless, I can assure you that it would not happen, the Potter family siding with those that had betrayed them in the past."
Lord Alexander smiled, "You are not Head of your Family yet, Harry, you cannot tell me that," he shook his head before he added with a broader smile, "Fortunately, I am happy that Lord James had said the same to me," he shook his head and the smile on his face disappeared, "What makes you think that Hermione Granger is not a tool of the Headmaster to entice you to remain in this backwater place?"
"Sir, she is the niece of one of your officers," Harry complained.
"She is also magical," Lord Alexander replied, "And not just any magical like yourself, she is a student of this school and, no doubt, had been influenced by the Headmaster and his ways, the danger remains," he shook his head before he added, "You actually suspect as much, hence, the reason that you had introduced her to me."
"The mind-reader reports her loyalty to the Golden Throne is not suspect, sir," Harry replied, instantly jumping to the defense of Hermione. He looked uncomfortable before he added, "There is also something about her…," he trailed off.
Lord Alexander shook his head, forcing Harry out of his reverie. The young naval cadet focused his attention toward his liege lord and watched as Lord Alexander said, "You have a mission to fulfill, Harry, and I need not remind you, I hope, of the importance of this operation."
"Yes sir," Harry replied, his face taking a more determined tone. For a few moments, silence descended in the interior of the command vehicle as the two men stared at each other. Harry broke that silence, "Sir," he said, "We have been patrolling the corridors with our wands out in an attempt to detect the item, we had been over the castle twice on all floors including the dungeons, and while we had detected numerous dark items that would probably require a truck or two to haul away, we are yet to even get a wisp of the item that we are searching for."
"It is well hidden, of course," Lord Alexander replied, "if it was not, things would not have been as interesting," and though he said that, it was obvious that the Prince was irritated, whether it was because of the lack of progress or if it was something else, Harry could not be sure.
An irritated sigh escaped from the lips of Lord Alexander and the Prince gave Harry a focused look, "We have Intelligence coming from within the castle," he said, "According to our intelligence, there is a room inside Hogwarts that is the perfect hiding spot in the castle, mostly because the room itself is hidden," he smiled as he stared at Harry, "I would expect that he hid it there."
"Sir, if its hidden…," Harry began.
Lord Alexander reached for a piece of paper that he had placed inside one of the pockets of the tailcoat that he was wearing and handed it to Harry, "Instructions, from intelligence," Lord Alexander replied, he smiled and shook his head, "The eggheads are prepared to bet that this is where the item is, and I had never heard intelligence say something as definitive as 'we are sure of this' before."
Truth to tell, neither had Harry, but he was a first year naval cadet, though if Lord Alexander says it is, then he has to take the word of the commander for it. Harry took the paper that Lord Alexander held for him.
The young naval cadet did not even look at the contents of the paper before he folded it neatly into quarters and tucked it into his pocket, "We would begin our search as soon as possible, sir," Harry said.
Lord Alexander nodded, "Not at least until Monday, though," the Prince replied with an amused smile, and at the questioning look on the face of Harry, the Prince added, "We are going to have a little celebration tonight, Harry, I imagine neither you nor your classmates would be up for much work tomorrow."
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness
Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia
October 18, 1995
The young blonde aristocrat clutched the letter in his hand with a snarl on his face at the same time that his mind told him that this letter could not possible be the work of his father.
Draco Lucius Malfoy fought the urge to growl as he tossed the parchment where the latest letter that was purported to have come from his father was written into the burning fire. For a few moments, Draco watched as the flames consumed the parchment, but he turned his attention away from the slowly disappearing parchment before it could be fully transformed into ash.
'Draco,' his father had written, 'I cannot emphasize this fact well enough, and I do hope that you would listen to this.'
Normally, that phrase would mean that Draco would take to heart whatever it is that was written on the letter, but this time, it was something that the blond Slytherin Prince could not follow, it was an abhorrence and goes directly against everything his father had taught him since he was young.
'Do not antagonize the newly arrived muggles at all,' his father had told him in response to his earlier query about what should be done against the muggles that are now polluting the school.
Personally, Draco does not see why his father was so afraid of them, so the young Slytherin postulated that the letter must not have came from his father, rather, it had came from some muggle-loving fool, possibly, the biggest muggle-loving fool who is in charge of this school, and it made sense too, seeing that the Headmaster appeared to be afraid of the newly arrived muggles.
A smile came across the face of Draco as he joined his waiting friends – 'though bodyguards would be a more apt term for some of them,' Draco thought – at the foyer of the common room. Dinner was going to be served in a few minutes, and if the Headmaster was trying to be a good host, then the muggles would be invited, and it was there where Draco plans to make his move.
He would show Hogwarts how muggles should be treated, and he would earn the respect of everyone in the castle – 'or at least, everyone that really matters,' Draco thought to himself with a smile.