A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.
NINETEEN
(Headline of the Britannian Imperial – April 3, 2005)
Victory; Britannian Special Forces strike hits North African League main camp in Northern Sahara; High ranking North African League military leaders killed; North African League on the retreat after losing their commanders
Gibraltar, Gibraltar – Britannian soldiers cheered at the arrival today of members of a unit from the Imperial Britannian Grand Fleet Marines. This Special Forces unit had recently scored a major victory at the front in the ongoing war between the Holy Empire and the North African League when they chanced upon the headquarters of the North African League Army unit that was in charge of the advance through Britannian territory in the Northern Sahara.
Outnumbered with only ten men in their unit and two unable to fight after an earlier encounter with a North African League patrol during their force reconnaissance mission, the unit led by a marine lieutenant nevertheless decided to attack what they initially thought was a regular enemy camp in the middle of nowhere.
Displaying superior training, strength, courage, and devotion to duty as well as displaying valor beyond the call of duty, the nine marines and an attached reconnaissance naval officer managed to kill an unidentified number of North African League soldiers including several high ranking military officers of the North African League. Amongst those that had been confirmed to have been killed during the fighting are four North African major generals who are in command of four of the five North African divisions that is advancing across Egypt, and their commanding officer, the North African lieutenant general who is in command of the corps that is believed to be the primary North African unit tasked with invading the Holy Empire.
After the lightning raid, the Britannian marines liberated a Prussian made North African military vehicle and moved eastward toward the Britannian lines at a sedate pace but not encountering any North African unit. All Britannian servicemen were able to return safely back to Britannian-held Egypt through a corridor secured by the 14th Division attached to the Eight Army.
As a result of the death of their superior officers, North African League units that had been advancing toward Britannian-Egypt suddenly turned around and retreated westward as they attempt to find new cohesion, and new commanding officers.
General Neville Tovey, commanding officer of the Britannian Eight Army, the principal Britannian Ground Forces unit in Egypt, had announced a major victory celebration two days ago saying that the actions of the Britannian Special Forces marines and sailor had "ended the battle, not with a torrent of blood and casualties, but with relatively few bullets and a surgical strike aimed at the head of the enemy," before announcing that he intends to see the servicemen decorated and awarded for their contributions to the battle.
"Certainly, awards and decorations would be part of the tribute given to these men," the commander of the Eight Army said when questioned about what kind of awards or decorations would be given to the servicemen, "but at this point in time, it is too early to actually say what those awards would be."
In Gibraltar, Lord Alexander, Commander of the Mediterranean Theater and direct superior officer to General Tovey, echoed the sentiments of the commander of the Eight Army, "Certainly, these men would be awarded," the General-Admiral of the Grand Fleet said, "and if I have my way, I'd be giving them the Fleet Cross, but I think that High Command would not be swayed that easily though I could predict Distinguished Service Cross, at the least, for all ten men."
The Fleet Cross is the third highest military decoration in the Imperial Fleet, coming in after the coveted Britannian Cross and the Distinguished Service Order. Both awards carry with them automatic induction into the Order of the Britannian Empire, itself another award available to servicemen and civilian citizens of the Holy Empire.
A Distinguished Service Order is awarded for gallantry during active operations against the enemy. As it is a parliamentary award, a formal petition must first be filed by the Britannian military before the Imperial Parliament at Pendragon where a senator must sponsor the petition and turn it into a Bill. The Bill calling for the recognition and awarding of the decorations would then have to be voted upon by Parliament as if it is an ordinary Bill, though only a majority – and not the required two-thirds vote required for a Britannia Cross – is required before the Bill becomes a law.
Her Majesty would then have to sign the law to make it formal and only then would the award be formalized. The normal processing time for such decorations is three weeks given that the Bill is considered to be urgent.
In other war related news, a division of Britannian battleships under the personal command of Lord Alexander recently engaged in a brief artillery duel with North African armored cruisers in the Alboran Sea before the North African armored cruisers turned tail and retreated back to the safety of waters near their coast where they are protected by coastal guns.
"The enemy fled the moment that they saw who they are attempting to challenge to a fight," Vice Admiral Richard Granger, senior adjutant to Lord Alexander, said when he was asked how the fight started and ended. Vice Admiral Granger was present aboard the flagship of Lord Alexander, HMS Iron Duke during the brief encounter.
"We were able to close the distance to about eighteen kilometers when High Admiral York opened fire with the main batteries of our battleships," Vice Admiral Granger narrated, "The North Africans probably realized that they are attempting to tango with our battleships at that moment because they suddenly decided to flee home at maximum speed rather than stay and fight."
Vice Admiral Granger went on to narrate that at the speed that the old North African armored cruisers made when they ran, he would not be surprised if a few of them would soon require major engine refurbishment.
"And they cannot do that in Tunis or in any of their deep water ports," the Vice Admiral said, "They would have to send those cruisers north to Prussia where they were built, and when they do, the Grand Fleet would be waiting for them."
Headquarters, Britannian Imperial Grand Fleet
Gibraltar, Holy Empire of Britannia
April 3, 2005
The office of Lord Alexander was exactly what Harry had imagined it to be. Never one for luxuries, the General-Admiral of the Britannian Grand Fleet had selected a generic room from the administrative building of the naval base and had his staff transform the place into a makeshift office for his use.
As Harry allowed himself to look into the room while he was seated at one of the many chairs inside the room together with the marines of Marine Force Recon who had accompanied him during the mission – including the two men who had been taken captive during the encounter – he noted the absence of anything that would actually mark the room as the office of the man who is the absolute lord and master of the most powerful fleet in the Holy Empire and, likely, the whole world.
In fact, if not for the sign at the door, Harry was sure that the marines would have assumed that this was the office of a junior officer of the fleet.
There were two doors inside the room; one of them leads to the hallway that connects the many offices in the building to each other and the lift and stairs that service every floor of the building, while the other one leads to the personal quarters of Lord Alexander.
A personal quarters that, Harry was sure, would be the same as the personal quarters attached to these offices, which means his own washroom, a single bed that could barely fit one man and complete with a pillow that barely deserves the name, a locker to fit the personal things of the officer occupying the room, a shoe rack, and a window. Knowing Lord Alexander as he had, Harry was sure that the General-Admiral would not even have bothered to decorate the room with anything that would personalize it.
Having seen the personal quarters of Lord Alexander aboard his flagship, Harry was actually sure that the amenities in the room that Lord Alexander had picked for himself in this administrative building was better than the ones aboard his own flagship.
The office itself was threadbare and basic. A single generic desk that seems to be filled with papers, albeit arranged in a manner that is known only to the General-Admiral dominated the office. Behind the desk was a generic wooden chair without even a cushion, though one with armrests on the side.
The rest of the office was filled with chairs – some of them more comfortable than the chair that was meant for Lord Alexander – and a single board at the far end of the room on the surface of which were maps and other drawings that Harry instantly recognized as notes made by Lord Alexander as he reviewed and surveyed the ongoing campaigns in the Northern Sahara.
'And the campaign is going well,' Harry thought. The raid that he and the men of Marine Force Recon had conducted had not only netted one mage prisoner – and said prisoner was now in the custody of Imperial Intelligence – it had also facilitated the withdrawal of the North African League corps that was rampaging eastward toward Cairo.
The sudden reversal was something that was not expected even by the most fanatical Imperial soldiers so there was some confusion when radio intercepts indicated the withdrawal of the North African League, but General Tovey took a gamble and his gamble paid up spectacularly.
XVI Corps, the most mobile of the corps under the command of the commander of the Eight Army, charged from the lines held by units of II Corps mere hours after General Tovey gave the order. In less than four days of fighting – and it was not even hard fighting – the tanks and armored infantry fighting vehicles of XVI Corps had all but recovered all the territory lost by Britannia since the fighting began.
General Tovey had ordered the corps to hold for the time being at the pre-war border while the rest of the Army attempts to catch up with the Corps, though the general had not vetoed any raids conducted by units from the Special Forces command attached to his Eight Army. None of those raids, however, had netted as much success as the raid conducted by Harry and the men that he is now with.
Harry knew that the reason that Lord Alexander had asked for them to be delivered to his headquarters was not to congratulate them for a job well done. Sure, the General-Admiral would probably be amongst the first who would be lobbying for medals and decorations be given to Harry and the other marines, but the General-Admiral was also a man who sticks to the rules and procedures, unless it suits him not to, which, most of them time, is always the case when it comes to his ambitions.
Harry knew that the reason that they were ordered to the headquarters of the commander of the Grand Fleet was so that the commander of the Grand Fleet can warn them of the consequences of talking with anyone about magic. Harry was sure that the marines and he would be getting the sermon of a lifetime regarding state secrets, but at least the marines would only be getting that.
Harry was more than prepared to bet that he is going to get a double dose of whatever it is that Lord Alexander is going to give the marines, after all, Harry was the one who had introduced the marines to the magical world despite orders to the contrary coming from Lord Alexander himself.
'in my defense, there was no other choice,' Harry thought as his mind flashed back to that time when he and the marines were at the North African supply dump. The first moment that he realized that they were under magical attack, Harry reacted the way that he was supposed to react. It was not something that he regretted since at the least he was able to stop the attack and accomplish his objective.
Without his magic, Harry was sure that he and the marines would not have been able to kill the high ranking North African League commanders as well, so it was probably a good trade-off. In any case, the marines of Lieutenant Richardson would most likely follow instructions and not blab about what they had seen. Frankly, Harry was not sure who would believe them even if they would.
The door to the outside world suddenly opened, prompting Harry and the marines inside the room to jump to their feet. They had not been informed when their ultimate commanding officer would arrive to speak with them, but they are all certain that he would be coming from outside the room.
News reports are not reporting it, but Harry had heard from the grapevine – actually, from Admiral Cline who was at the dock when the light cruiser that Harry and the marines had used to travel from the frontlines to Gibraltar – that the reason that Lord Alexander had not chased the armored cruisers that he and his division had encountered was because the North Africans actually fired back, and their lucky shot managed to hit the bow stabilizers of the Iron Duke, prompting Lord Alexander to order his flagship and escorts back.
Harry guessed that that was where Lord Alexander was now spending most of his time, at the dry dock and overseeing the repairs to the bow stabilizers of his flagship. Harry was also sure that the mood of the General-Admiral would not be the best.
Although it was mostly a lucky shot – it was the first and only salvo fired by the North Africans and only from one of the four armored cruisers that began running the moment that they realized that they would be up against battleships rather than the relatively smaller ships that hitherto patrolled the Mediterranean – Harry was sure that Lord Alexander would still be not in a good mood.
Lord Alexander walked into the room with his chief-of-staff and chief military advisor following behind him. The expression on the faces of the three senior officers was as neutral as possible, but Harry could gleam the faint worry lines on the face of Vice Admiral Ashford. It was unusual for the chief military advisor to be worried as it was usually Admiral Cline who wears worry lines on his face.
The General-Admiral of the Grand Fleet was wearing his Class 'A' uniform, consisting of the navy blue, double-breasted jacket and matching trousers, but the sword that he carried by the chafe of the scabbard on his left hand was not a standard part of the Class 'A' uniform. For Lord Alexander though, having his sword beside him no matter what uniform he is wearing is standard. There had even been talk amongst the Imperial Knights – of which Lord Alexander is the nominal commander despite not being magical – that Lord Alexander would be carrying his sword even if he were to wear a utility uniform and go to combat.
'At least he is not wearing his medals,' Harry thought, though he had to concede that that was expected. Lord Alexander was not one for wearing medals, and Lady Emma actually had to convince him to wear his decorations and the real medals during their wedding. The Archduke always complained that the original medals are 'too flashy, too heavy, and makes me look like a walking pin cushion'.
Behind Lord Alexander, his chief-of-staff and chief military advisor were both wearing the same uniform as their commanding officer, but neither men had chosen to carry a sword, and again, that was expected. Harry knew, however, that both men were wearing shoulder holster and their service sidearms are holstered on the same.
Ignoring the men who was waiting for him inside his office, Lord Alexander made his way straight to behind his desk without even bothering to turn his attention toward the direction of Harry and the marines who remained standing at attention even when Lord Alexander tossed a folder toward the direction of the surface of his desk where it landed with a thud.
It was only after he had taken his seat behind his desk that Lord Alexander had turned his attention toward the direction of the Harry and the assembled marines. By this time, both Admiral Cline and Vice Admiral Ashford had also taken their position, but unlike in a normal formal gathering, the two staff officers were not standing behind Lord Alexander, rather, they joined Harry and the rest of the marines.
"Take your seats," Lord Alexander said dismissively at the same time that he waved his hand in a 'go ahead' motion toward the gathered men. The General-Admiral returned his attention toward the papers that he had tossed at his desk, and did not return his attention toward the men in front of him until after forty seconds after they had taken their seats.
When the High Admiral spoke, it was in a tone devoid of congratulations or pride, "I suppose you are expecting me to congratulate you for doing a wonderful job at that raid," he began, "And you do deserve those congratulations, just as you deserve the medals and awards that are going to come your way soon, but that is not the reason that I had asked for all of you here."
Harry had to admit that when he first received the summons from the General-Admiral, he had thought that something like this would happen. It would seem that he was right, but he also knew that the Archduke of England was only putting up a show. If Lord Alexander is really angry, he would not have bothered to meet with the men.
"You are here because you of the actions of Lieutenant Potter," Lord Alexander said at the same time that he focused his full attention toward the man that he had named. Harry had to stop himself from swallowing audibly, though he realized that he should not even have bothered because Lord Alexander continued, "the lieutenant had exposed the unit to something that only very few people in the whole of the Holy Empire, and the world, know."
Harry supposed that he could have taken comfort in the fact that his liege lord referred to him as 'Lieutenant Potter' rather than 'Sub-Lieutenant Potter'. It simply meant that Lord Alexander had already signed the promotion papers, and if Lord Alexander had already signed the promotion papers of Harry, then the promotion is already official.
Harry also knew that Lord Alexander had already signed the promotion papers of the marines that were with him during the raid. Lord Alexander, after all, was not going to show favoritism toward Harry, not when a secret as big as the existence of a magical world is at stake, and promoting the marines and giving them awards and decorations was a method of keeping their mouths shut.
'I suppose the fact that they were all promoted would mollify them enough that they would not hunt me down the first opportunity they get,' Harry thought.
The next words that came out from the mouth of Lord Alexander tore Harry out of his reverie, mostly because of the words that the General-Admiral said, but Harry would be lying if he would claim that the tone that the Archduke had used had nothing to do with him being torn out of his reverie.
"Gentlemen," Lord Alexander suddenly said in a tone that would broker no argument even if the men in front of him were in the arguing mode, "I need not tell you that what you had witnessed Lieutenant Potter performing while you were in the field is classified as beyond state secret."
Lord Alexander stared at the nine marines that was in the room with them straight at their eyes and Harry had no doubt that the Archduke was able to instill a sense in every marine that he was not joking when he said what he had just said.
Frankly, Harry was certain that that was not necessary. The marines were members of one of the most clandestine organizations in the whole of the Holy Empire. Sure there are more secretive organizations – and here, the thoughts of Harry flew to the three most secretive organizations in the Holy Empire, the Ministry for Magical Affairs, the Imperial Central Intelligence, and the Imperial Knights Corps – within the Holy Empire, but Marine Force Recon had already proven that they could keep a secret.
"I need not remind you that violating the official state secrets acts is not only a crime in the eyes of Imperial Law, but also in the eyes of military law," Lord Alexander said, "We may have removed the death penalty from our statute books, gentlemen, but that only applies in situation of civilian character, none of us in this room are civilians and, as such, we are under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
Harry understood what his liege lord was saying. The death penalty had been removed from the statute books but only for civilian offenses – and even then, Harry knew that there is still one crime, civilian in character, that could result to a death penalty, and that is the successful assassination of a member of the Imperial Family. Violating the state secrets acts automatically makes the offense a military offense, and subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. With the secret of the magical world, the penalty is death by firing squad.
"Do you understand?" Lord Alexander suddenly asked.
Harry and the nine marines nodded their understanding of the words of Lord Alexander, prompting the Archduke to nod back, "Good," the General-Admiral said. He paused for a few moments before he let out a sigh and returned his attention toward the marines in front of him, "Captain Richardson," he said, surprising the marine who had not yet been made aware that he would be promoted, "You and your men did a very good job with that raid, and it was a hasty one too," the Archduke allowed himself one smile toward the direction of the marine captain before he added, "Good job."
"Thank you, sir," Captain Richardson – who now had to think of himself as 'Captain' instead of 'Lieutenant' – replied.
"You understand, of course, that while we would have a public awarding ceremony, most of the people there would be the reporters that are covering this war," Lord Alexander smiled before he shook his head and added as an afterthought, "and even then, they get reports five days after the event had happened because of security protocols."
Turning his attention toward his chief-of-staff, Lord Alexander said, "Admiral Cline, if you could please brief Captain Richardson and his marines on the awarding ceremony, while Lieutenant Potter and I have a private talk."
Admiral Cline nodded, "Yes sir," he said, "Shall we…?"
"No," Lord Alexander said, raising his hand in the universal stopping motion, "You can keep the office, Kevin," and so saying, the Archduke stood from his chair. Harry followed a few moments later, even without the Archduke motioning for him to follow.
Lord Alexander, instead of turning to his personal quarters, instead turned toward the door that he had used to enter the room and stepped out. A confused Harry followed a few moments later, hurriedly exiting the office of Lord Alexander and nearly bumping into the man himself because Lord Alexander stood just a few centimeters away from the threshold.
Harry recovered quickly and was about to offer his apologies to Lord Alexander for nearly crashing into him, before the Archduke waved off the unspoken apology, "With the things that we are going to be discussing Harry, apologizing now would be the least of your worries," the Archduke promised.
Imperial Britannian Embassy
Madrid, Kingdom of Spain
April 3, 2005
Hermione knocked once on the door before she heard the voice of Lady Emma beckoning her to enter. The voice of the wife of her liege lord caused Hermione to turn the single knob on the door and gently pushed the said portal forward, revealing to her the interior of the office and personal quarters of the Archduchess of England.
This was not the first time that Hermione had been summoned to the office and personal quarters of Lady Emma, and because of that, Hermione was not really surprised at how utilitarian, yet elegant the office of the Archduchess can appear. Hermione knew for a fact that everything inside the rather spacious office was exactly where Lady Emma had planned for them to be and because the Archduchess had memorized where she had placed something, she could have a copy of a report or a paper in her hands within a few seconds of realizing that she needs the same.
Of course, since very few people are actually allowed in the office of Lady Emma – because the quarters of Lady Emma are also here, and Lord Alexander could be a possessive man, Hermione suspected that it was by the instructions of Lord Alexander – very few people could actually witness the genius of the organizational capabilities of the Archduchess of England.
The first time that Hermione had met with Lady Emma at this office, the young witch understood the reason why Lady Emma is referred to as the 'Gray Duchess' amongst the highest ranking nobility circles back at the capital. She may seem to be unconcerned about things in public, often acting submissive toward her husband at public functions, but in private, she was a force to be reckoned with. Hermione now also believed the claims of Harry that Lady Emma is the only one who could actually kick Lord Alexander – both figuratively and literally – and get away with it.
"My Lady?" Hermione asked as she stepped into the room. She was not surprised to see that Lady Emma was busy reviewing some papers, papers that Hermione knew are reports sent in by various sources throughout the city. Hermione should know, she reviewed them all before sending them to the Archduchess, "You sent for me?"
"Yes, I have," Lady Emma replied. The Archduchess tore herself out of the papers that she was examining and focused all of her attention toward Hermione, something that Hermione had grown accustomed to over the few weeks since they had been working together.
Following the declaration of war between the Holy Empire of Britannia and the North African League, the Britannian ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain had opted to retire – and here, Hermione suspected that the man has had enough of the balancing game between the Holy Empire and the Prussian Empire in the Iberian Peninsula – and Lady Emma was sent by the Golden Throne to take over the position.
It was a very delicate position, and the choice of Lady Emma was turning out to be a superb one. Although the Kingdom of Spain was wary about the first female ambassador of the Holy Empire, the King of Spain had soon realized that with Lady Emma as the ambassador, the Grand Fleet was right at the corner and she has the authority to actually consult with the Golden Throne instead of the Lord President of the Council who, more likely than not, was more worried about his own political future.
"For the record, Hermione," Lady Emma said, making Hermione turn her attention toward the direction of the ambassador once more, "It also irks me that I had not been informed of what is happening the moment that it had happened and been reported to him," and so saying, the Archduchess of England handed Hermione a paper.
The first thing that Hermione noted about the paper was not the giant headline at the front page of the paper, rather, what she noted first was the date on the paper. Hermione was easily able note that this was the latest copy of one of the most popular newspapers back in the mainland, and because it was popular in mainland Britannia, all overseas territory of the Holy Empire prints a copy of the same.
Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the Holy Empire, so Hermione guessed that that was where this particular copy came from.
"Promotions and decorations and awards aside," Lady Emma said, "Alex still should have informed us of this," and with those words, Lady Emma directed Hermione to the biggest headline on the front page of the paper.
Hermione – who was still not used with thinking of her liege lord simply as 'Alex' – had a hard time understanding what the headline of the newspaper had to do with the short fuse that Lady Emma was obviously on, but then Hermione realized that Lady Emma would not have bothered to show Hermione the headline unless it had something to do with Hermione or, more importantly, with the man that Hermione loved.
"It was Harry wasn't it?" Hermione asked even before she started reading the paper. Two-quarters of a minute later, Hermione finished reading the paper and was able to confirm exactly what she had just said, "A single naval officer with a team of marines, it was Harry," Hermione said.
Lady Emma nodded, "Yes, it was him, along with some marines from Alex's embarked marine force," Lady Emma said, she produced a paper on the surface of which Hermione could see the nearly written block letters that was the signature handwriting of Lord Alexander, "Of course, he informs me about it at the same time that the world gets to be informed," and the Archduchess actually sounded annoyed.
"My Lady…," Hermione began.
Lady Emma stopped Hermione before the young witch could say anything else, "Do not mind me, Hermione, I am annoyed at my husband, not at you," and so saying, the Archduchess actually smiled toward Hermione before she asked, "Actually, Alex wanted to me to ask you if you would be willing to travel down south to visit Harry for the awarding ceremony, it is supposed to be a public ceremony, but there would be few reporters there, and Alex thought that Harry would appreciate seeing you after so long," and with a low voice, the Ambassador of the Golden Throne to the Kingdom of Spain added, "and after Alex had finished with his admonishment of Harry for the stunts that your boyfriend had pulled while on the field."
Hermione managed a smile before she enthusiastically nodded. It had indeed seemed to be a long time since she and Harry had some time together, just the two of them, and this was a chance to have exactly that. As for the stunts that Lady Emma had mentioned in her final comment, Hermione was reasonably certain that it had something to do with the existence of the magical world, and if that was true, then Harry certainly deserves the admonishment that Lord Alexander is even now, probably giving him.
Headquarters, Britannian Imperial Grand Fleet
Gibraltar, Holy Empire of Britannia
April 3, 2005
"What you had done was effective," Lord Alexander said as he and Harry walked toward the direction of the dry dock of the naval base attached to the administrative building that is now the headquarters of the Grand Fleet.
Of course, the two of them had to maintain appearances, so while Lord Alexander walked in front of Harry, the young wizard/naval officer walked half a pace behind Lord Alexander and to the left of the Archduke.
"I meant what I said when I said that you and the marines did a good job, Harry," Lord Alexander suddenly said, forcing Harry to turn his attention toward the visage of his liege lord. As the young wizard had expected, the Archduke of England kept his gaze forward – and kept walking – after he had said that, forcing Harry to quicken his pace for a few moments in order to keep up with the Archduke.
"We were lucky," Harry admitted as soon as he was within hearing range of the Archduke, "If those North African mages had not hit us and took two of the marines, we would not have found that camp."
"Yet luck is not a skill that you should underestimate in the battlefield," Lord Alexander replied as the two of them turned toward a relatively narrow corridor that Harry knew would lead to an underground passageway connecting the administrative building with the naval docks. It was supposed to be the secret path that would be used by the local ruling powers of Gibraltar in case the fall of the fortress was imminent. Today, it is a well known part of the administrative building and thus could no longer function as a secret path that could be taken. Then again, Gibraltar is widely accepted to be a fortress that would never fall.
For a few moments, the two walked in silence as they negotiated the straight path. When they emerged from the relatively short passageway, they found themselves staring at the massive shipyards that made Gibraltar one of the most strategic locations of the Holy Empire.
As Harry had expected, the flagship of Lord Alexander was docked at one of the yards, but the battlewagon that carried the flag of the Archduke of England does not appear to be damaged at all.
"Workers worked for over twenty four hours straight to fix that stabilizer," Lord Alexander said a few moments later. The fact that he was staring toward the direction of his ship when he said that told Harry that his liege lord had not, in fact, seen Harry staring toward the direction of the bow stabilizers, "Much as I would like to get revenge for what they had done to my flagship, I cannot take him out with the bow stabilizers fluctuating, so I ordered that it be replaced as soon as possible" he shook his head but there was already a smile on his face when he turned his full attention toward Harry, "the first shots fired in the naval aspect of this war, and my flagship got tagged."
Harry did not say anything in response, but it appeared that Lord Alexander was prepared for that because the Archduke continued, "At least we're having more success on the ground aspect."
"Its just the first shots fired, sir," Harry replied.
"Indeed," Lord Alexander replied curtly a few moments later. A sigh escaped through the lips of the Archduke before he added, "I have not read exactly what that North African mage that you had captured had said during his interrogation, but from the fact that the sheaf of papers is so thin, I could gather that he did not say much."
Harry nodded, "I had to pour water over his head in order to get him to talk when we were in the field," Harry admitted.
"Well, the boys at Intelligence are pouring more than water over his head, I can assure you of that," Lord Alexander replied. The Archduke paused for a few moments during which time he returned his attention toward the hull of his flagship.
Exactly what Lord Alexander was staring at, however, Harry is not privy to, because the young wizard knew that while the gaze of the Archduke was focused on the hull of his flagship, the General-Admiral was not really staring at the gunmetal gray of HMS Iron Duke.
'He is probably imagining a pair of black eyes and a beautiful smile,' Harry thought at the same time that he realized how much he misses his own life partner. With Lord Alexander, it was probably more, because the Archduke had already married his Archduchess and the two of them had never really been apart for as long as they are now. With Lord Alexander commanding Britannian forces at the front, however, and with Lady Emma having been assigned as the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, there truly was little that anyone could do about the situation.
"Harry," Lord Alexander said a few moments later, forcing the young sailor and wizard to return his attention toward his liege lord after he too started staring at the horizon, "I am sending you back in with Marine Force Recon."
Harry nodded. The young wizard knew that it really was not that unexpected. While the single North African mage that they had taken prisoner could prove to be a treasure trove of information when it comes to the North African League mage unit, having more than one source is always better.
For all that intelligence knew, the captive might be lying in order to get his interrogators off of his case.
"I understand, sir," Harry replied with a nod. Mentally, he was already making a list of the things that had gone wrong during the first raid and coming up with solutions to those problems.
"You are not going to go alone this time, Lieutenant," Lord Alexander added, forcing Harry to return his attention toward his liege lord with a confused look on his face. Before the young wizard could say anything, however, Lord Alexander continued, "Your old friend, Sub-lieutenant Brooke would be joining your command this time, and Colonel Carleton would be making available further resources from his command."
"Technically, the colonel would be in command of the operation, but out in the field, it would be your show and your call," Lord Alexander added, "This time, I want more than indications as to what the North African Mages are planning, I want specifics and, if possible, prisoners," he paused before he added, "and, again if possible, I also want prisoners, one that would actually sing when intelligence talks to them."
Harry could not help but smile, "I would get you your prisoners, sir."
Order of the Phoenix safe house, Trondheim
Norway, Scandinavian Union
April 3, 2005
Albus Dumbledore finally let out the sigh that he had been holding back since the start of the meeting of his relatively few remaining followers the moment that the men and women who profess loyalty not only to the light but also to the former Headmaster of Hogwarts started to file out of the basement that had been the location of one too many meetings of the Order of the Phoenix.
The meeting was not something that the Headmaster could call successful, for while he was able to outline his plans for the coming few months in relation to ongoing war that involves the Holy Empire of Britannia, somehow, during this meeting, there were even more naysayers.
The former Headmaster of Hogwarts – though in his mind, he is still the Headmaster of the school – could not help but wonder if his control over the Order of the Phoenix was beginning to crumble, and as he took a seat at one of the many empty chairs in the basement of the house that he now calls his own, Albus realized that that might not be too far off the mark.
In has been ten years since the Order had been forced to evacuate the British Isles, and Albus Dumbledore would have to admit that they are no closer to returning to the land of their birth as they were five – or even ten – years ago. Indeed, it now seems to the former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot that the Order is now farther from reaching their goal than they were ten years ago.
Britannian agents systematically hunt down Order members in cooperation with Scandinavian authorities within the Scandinavian Union. At the same time, Order assets – both human and material – in the Empire of the Rising Sun and the Celestial Empire are being seized by legitimate orders of the governments of those nations – something that Albus was sure the Britannian authorities have something to do with – while Gringotts is distancing itself from the Order as talks of a formal summit between the goblins and the Holy Empire of Britannia gain momentum.
While Britannia and her allies tighten the noose around Albus and his followers, over at Prussia, Albus had heard that Lucius Malfoy and his ilk had been steadily gaining power. There are rumors that the son of the patriarch of the Malfoy family would soon be given command of a Prussian Teutonic Knight unit – Draco having joined the unit at the insistence of his father five years after the Malfoy family had relocated to Prussia. At the same time, however, old magical families that are not friends of the Malfoy family are being run to the ground by the Prussian authorities.
As for the other major power in continental Europe, the less said about the situation of magicals in the Union of Socialist States and Republics, the better. In a country where being talented more than you are allowed to be is a crime, there were few witches and wizards that are fortunate enough to survive, and even then only because they exist outside of the law and are constantly at war with the authorities there.
A headache threatened to overwhelm the mind of Albus Dumbledore and he forced himself to not think about the situation of the magical world in general. He knew that he would be having a headache just thinking about the situation that his own organization was in these days.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs leading to the first floor of the house tore the Headmaster out of his reverie, but the footsteps that he was hearing was not going up. It was at that moment that the headache that the Headmaster felt disappeared. He turned his attention toward the direction of the stairs that connected this basement with the ground floor of his house and a smile blossomed on his face when he saw the Weasley sibling enter his field of vision.
"Ronald," the Headmaster said, nodding toward the man he had named as he stood before he turned his attention toward the other person and greeted her as well, "Ginevra."
"Headmaster," the youngest Weasley children greeted back. It pleased Albus that at the least the two would still refer to him by that term. Although both had graduated from Hogwarts, they did so after Albus and his ilk had been forced to evacuate Britain, so it pleased the former Headmaster that Ronald and Ginevra refer to him using that title even after Albus had, technically, been booted out of the position.
It spoke of the respect that the two have for Albus Dumbledore, but it really was not surprising considering who is their mother. Still, the respect and loyalty that these two have for the former Headmaster of Hogwarts was one of the few things that made them perfect for the operation that the Headmaster had in mind, though the real reason that the Headmaster had chosen them is because they are the only ones available who would have a modicum of succeeding in the operation.
After all, there are not many members of the Order who are still in their early to mid-twenties.
"I have a mission for the two of you," Albus suddenly said, deciding that it would be best to head straight to the heart of the matter, "Of course, you would be free to refuse it, though you must know that only the two of you are qualified for this mission."
Even Albus felt that the last was overkill. He knew that the chance that the two children in front of him would refuse to accept this mission is the same as a snowballs chance in hell. There was no need to tell them that they are, essentially, the only people that could do this mission, but Albus still felt that he should tell them because it may give the two children a much needed morale boost.
"Of course, sir," Ron replied. Ginny just gave a nod, but Albus could see the enthusiasm on the eyes of the young girl.
Albus smiled at them in his trademark grandfatherly way, "Thank you," he said, as if the two had already accepted the mission, but then again, they may as well have already. By thanking them already even before they accepted, Albus implanted in their minds a subtle suggestion that they should accept the mission, and that was not even a magical trick, "The mission would be for the two of you to go to mainland Britannia and locate a certain person to bring back here."
"Harry?" Ginny asked. The youngest Weasley had the decency to at least blush in embarrassment after she realized that she had interrupted her Headmaster, and she turned her attention away from him.
Albus, however, merely smiled at her, "No, not Harry," he said, he turned his attention toward Ronald and said, "His sister, Rose Charlene Potter."
For a few moments, the two Weasley children looked dumbstruck, but it was Ron who first recovered, "I did not even know that he has a sister," the lanky red head commented.
'So does most of the Order,' Dumbledore thought. He, however, thought it best not to mention the fact to the Order at large because he could not predict how they would react. The reaction of both Ron and Ginny was something that the Headmaster had expected.
"There are very few things that we are sure about when it comes to the youngest Potter child," the Headmaster said, choosing to ignore the last comment from Ron, "what we do know is her name, and that she is studying to be a lawyer, like her mother."
Ron and Ginny looked confused at the last statement and for a brief few moments, the Headmaster wondered how the two never learned what a lawyer is, but the former Headmaster of Hogwarts decided not to educate them on that point anymore, as he continued, "You would have to find her yourself, though we have some contacts across the Atlantic Ocean in the mainland Britannia that may be of assistance to you in this, and convince her to come with you back here."
'And with their daughter as hostage, the Order could then dictate to James and Lily what they should do,' Dumbledore thought, 'from the way that they stood close to the man that is now Archduke of England, one could not discount the political power that they now have amassed.'
"What about her parents?" Ron asked. That was actually a sensible question, but before the Headmaster could answer, Ron elaborated his point, "I mean, would they not try to stop us, and how are we even going to convince the girl to come with us?"
'That's two different questions now,' the Headmaster thought, but he still decided not to make an issue of it.
"James and Lily are currently at Britain," the Headmaster explained, "James is the personal representative of Lord Alexander, you might remember him as the man who visited Hogwarts with those great ships during your fifth year, Ronald, and Lily is, of course with him."
"As for how to bring her back," Dumbledore continued, he paused for a few moments as he made a show of trying to come up with a way, though in truth, he already had a way, "Well, you would have to think of a way to convince her," he turned his gaze toward Ginny and added, "Perhaps a resort to the history of your parents would be the best option?"
Ron, understandably and predictably, looked blank at that statement, but the same could not be said for Ginny. In fact, the youngest Weasley nodded as her eyes brightened, indicating to the former Headmaster of Hogwarts that she understood what the Headmaster was trying to say.
"I would be consulting with mother as soon as we arrive home, Headmaster," the youngest Weasley promised, much to the confusion of Ron who still has no idea what Ginny and the former Headmaster of Hogwarts were talking about.
Ron, however, knew that whatever it was, Ginny already knew, so he consoled himself with the fact that he could always just ask her later. That done, he returned his attention toward the former Headmaster and asked, "When do we leave, sir?"
"As soon as possible," Albus replied, and before the two could get the wrong impression as to how they are supposed to travel, the former Headmaster added, "Due to the distance involved, you would not be travelling exclusively magical, you would have to travel with a mixture of the muggle and magical means."
Ron and Ginny stared at the former Chief Warlock with incredulous expressions, and that was all that Albus needed to see in order to know that the two thought that they would just instantly pop over at the Britannian mainland.
"There are also magical wards around the entirety of North America, the Britannian mainland," Albus added, "They prevent magical transportation into and out of the Britannian mainland," he paused for a few moments before he added, "Attempting to apparate or disapparete into and out of the Britannian mainland would cause the witch or wizard to end up in their Office of Magical Transportation, but luckily, their security for non-magical means of entering their country is not as good."
Albus refrained from lecturing the two about his theory that the reason that Britannia has magically secured borders was because of the Napoleonic Wars, instead, he focused his attention toward his former students.
Having the gaze of their former Headmaster on them, there really was not that much of a choice for both Ron and Ginny, "We understand, Headmaster," Ron said, for both him and his sister, "We shall depart for the Britannian mainland as soon as our preparations are complete."