Lyrical Wizardry
-Chapter 2: First Encounter-
Jaeger's office was sparse. As much experience he had with fighting on other worlds, he kept no trophies of his victories. The only things in his office were his desk, his spear-like device which sat in the corner of the room, and a workbench to tweak and adjust his gear. It naturally wasn't very hospitable, but he was not expecting to be a host here; in fact, he generally borrowed a classroom for the purposes of dealing with discipline among students.
Not that he needed to of course; his teaching methods and training instilled a sort of discipline and respect that none of the other staff members could ever place. Some even looked at him in awe. He was glad that this wizarding world didn't have anything like a standing army.
Turning his thoughts and attention to the letter he'd received earlier that day regarding the break in at his vault, he was shocked, but unsurprised. The investigation showed no clear motive, and that only one item was taken. The fact that it was the VR set that was taken clued him into what the motive could have really been.
"I should have expected this I suppose," said Altima.
"Are you referring to the break in?"
"Not exactly. I'd bet my salary that it was Reina who robbed Gringotts. Warbeast, have any messages come from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in the last six hours?"
"Yes Sir. The only communication is from George Weasley about a hour ago."
"On screen."
As this happened, a holographic image of a piece of parchment appeared ahead of Altima. He scanned the message quickly, taking in its contents. It seemed like a plea for help almost, with a job offer attached.
"So he wants me back?"
"It appears that they are in need of assistance, yes."
"Hmm... It's a shame that I don't have a working stock ticker," said Jaeger. "Alright, respond with this."
"You may dictate your reply at any time."
"Thank you for contacting me in this dire time. Unfortunately, as I am currently under a contract to continue teaching at Hogwarts for the coming year, my role will only be an advisory one, which I feel is, to be frank, not enough to warrant the pay you are offering me. I do however have a design for a prototype broom, which should meet one of your needs to expand into the personal broom market. I offer this with my advisory role in lieu of my full time employment under Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Defence Department. Will this be acceptable? End Message"
"I have transcribed this message onto paper and it is ready to send."
There was a whirring noise from the corner of the room ass a piece of parchment rolled out slowly from a floating dark red Belkan Magic Triangle.
"Great. I'll do that in the morning. Now, for the school's defences..."
"Is that truly necessary sir? This is a school."
"This school is also one of the safest places on U97. Which is precisely why Reina will come here."
"Do you have proof that it is her?"
"Eyewitness reports said that it was a woman with long, back length black hair, she was wearing a bodysuit, and tore a dragon apart in a head on attack. The artist's impression also shows her with an arm mounted blade. That's Reina's personal style, even if she's not using the IWS Raptor."
"Would the enhancements she had as a child still be active?"
"There is that possibility. We can only guess if Simmons was caught. Tonight, I also need you to calculate the primary weaknesses in the wards on the grounds here and in London. I will present those in a staff meeting tomorrow, and I'll be sending instructions to Chief Potter in the morning, so I need that report to be ready."
"Initiating quiet Wide Area Search. Good Night."
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
Harry arrived home very late, his eyes tired, his brow glistening with sweat from what was left of the summer heat, and the highly sensitive situation they were all in. A break in at Gringotts had been unheard of since his own break in whilst on the run from Lord Voldemort's followers. However, this break in was different. From what he was able to gather, she used overwhelming force to smash through their defences, using a mix of physical attacks and magic to kill a dragon.
In fact, he had been offered a claw as a souvenir by a traumatized guard, who most likely didn't quite know what he was doing at the time.
The information he had managed to gather there, while spotty, did give a few clues; whoever broke in knew a very unique way of at least implementing her true powers. She was also incredibly strong. The way she took on the dragon wasn't through trickery like how they were expected to get past the dragon in the Triwizard Tournament. She got physical with it, slicing it down its wing.
'It seems appropriate,' thought Harry. 'The wizarding world advances, then a new threat emerges... its going to be chaos tomorrow.'
Speaking of advances, there was no doubt that now Altima Jaeger was doubling security around Hogwarts, with his extensive knowledge of magic being rivalled only by the degree of secrecy he kept around himself. Naturally, nobody knew what he did before he appeared out of nowhere for the teaching post, then moving to work for George, then coming back to teaching. In fact, nobody seemed to know why he did any of these things.
Looking at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was two am. Lily and Ginny were probably asleep by now.
'It doesn't do well to dwell on this. I can't do anything until tomorrow anyway. Everyone is resting, though some will be sleeping a lot less than others.'
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
The next day, a paper airplane memo arrived for Harry Potter in his office, flying straight for his face the first thing as he came into his office. Ducking the black sheet of paper as he put his briefcase on the floor, he suddenly realized that this wasn't a regular ministry communication; normally intradepartment messages were written on green paper, inter department messages were on yellow, and urgent messages concerning ministry wide alerts were sent to department heads using red paper. But black was reserved for people that communicated with Harry with messages so urgent that they had to bypass the system.
Harry only got one of these once from Altima Jaeger when he sent a message urgently asking him to interfere with a battle over the Trinity Missiles in 2015 and 2016.
Stalking Colonel William Bishop was not a task that he would like to repeat.
He opened the letter. The previous time they were forced to use code black correspondence, Harry was completely taken off guard, and unable to even imagine what Jaeger had to say before. He didn't expect this to be any different.
Mr Potter
I'll be blunt. I suspect the robbery of Gringotts has more to it than a simple thug going through someone else's belongings. The adversary is a completely Out of Context Problem, and we need to tighten security and scrutinize every contact that we have with the outside world. I know this goes contrary to what you've worked towards, but there is a legitimate threat involved. Just one of them can take on the guards at Gringotts and defeat a dragon in head on combat, and is armed to the absolute teeth with magic that we do not understand.
I recommend the following measures
-If the Welcome Wagon systems in the Inter Society Contact Points are still working, activate them, and be prepared to question anybody that comes through.
-A general increase in security at those areas.
-Response teams for the major points such as 9 ¾ and Diagon Alley to intercept anyone that is unfamiliar.
There will be disruptions to daily life, but for all we know, wizarding society is being raided. If these precautions are unnecessary, then there will be no harm done. If they prove to be needed and we do indeed catch the perpetrator, or any cohorts she may hvae, we should be able to learn more about them and what they want.
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
[Hogwarts - Staff Room]
"So this is how it is," said Altima, finalizing his abridged fifteen minute long report. "The wards have gaps that need to be plugged, and the protection itself needs to be upgraded."
His audience seemed to shake out of boredom as he finished. He was sure that some of the staff had slept through his assessment, and there were some otherwise overtly showing their boredom.
"Any questions?" he asked, just to see if anyone had been paying attention.
"Yes," said Neville, who was only just tuning back in. "Why do you feel the need to increase the defences of this school because of a bank robbery?"
"Honestly, professor Longbottom, I don't have an idea myself," lied Altima. "But that's the problem. Nobody has any idea who or what she was, and she appeared out of nowhere with overwhelming force and took on Gringotts best defences. We also have no idea when, or if, she will strike again, and if others will follow her, or where..."
"Alright alright," said Neville. "I get your point. So what do you want us to do?"
"Be vigilant," said Altima. This seemed to have struck a chord with some of the staff, whoe simply nodded in agreement. "If you see anyone you don't recognize immediately, ask who they are. You would be surprised how well you can remain hidden simply by blending into the crowd."
"Should we tell this to the students as well?" asked one of the teachers.
"Yes," said Altima. "We need the headmaster to give the notice. I'm going to be… busy."
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
[A week later]
Fate awoke with a yawn. The ship inter-dimensional ship Sandalphon was orbiting the Earth. She did bid Nanoha and Vivio a sad goodbye before she left for Earth, but she was starting to miss home already.
Because Nanoha had been ordered to rest, Fate wasn't allowed to take her down for the mission. Normally, this type of assignment would be perfect, because it typically only involved academic type work, but there was the slight problem that there were Lost Logia involved.
Looking down on the blue marble-like planet, Fate felt a pang of regret. She knew that Nanoha was worried about her well being, and that if anything happened here, she'd go ballistic. Vivio would cry over Fate-mama as well, and there'd be teary hugs when she got home.
'If I get home,' she suddenly found herself thinking. She shook that thought from her head. Just because there was a Lost Logia, didn't mean that there was anything for her to be afraid of. Usually Lost Logia were pretty inert as long as they didn't do anything stupid like drop them or hit them. It wasn't like this was the first Lost Logia case she'd had ever. But her instincts as an investigator kept telling her something wasn't right, and that something would complicate things; unadministered world 97 tended to do that when it was involved in official TSAB business.
"Back here again, eh Enforcer Harlaown?" said the voice of a young woman from behind Fate.
"Captain Xavier," said Fate in response, turning to face the woman, maybe two or three years Fate's senior, dressed in an impeccably clean deep blue TSAB naval uniform before her. "I believe this isn't the first time you've been here yourself."
"Mmhm," said the captain, looking out, down towards Earth. "This would be the third time I've been assigned to observe this place. Apparently, once they realized that your friends Colonel Yagami and Captain Takamachi came from this unadministered world, they wanted to keep an eye on things here, but you already know this of course. So, as you are the one who discovered the society by accident, can I count on you to be my team's semi-guide?"
"It's your operation, so its your decision," said Fate. "I'll try to find some nicer civilian clothes."
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
[Later, in Leicester Square]
"Is it normal for the commanding officer to be on the ground for things like these," asked Fate as she walked through the London crowd with Natalia, acting like, well, tourists. Nobody batted an eye at them, because they looked just like the typical pair of travelling students, trying to make the most of summer before university started again.
"Well, yes," said captain Xavier. "And while I'm here, it's Natalia, or Samantha, if you prefer my middle name."
"NSX... its really strange," said Fate. "We all have names that happen to be the same as car makes all over this planet."
"It is a strange coincidence," said Natalia. "Nobody has any hypothesis that actually fits, so we've just chalked it up to it just being a strange twist of fate. Photo time!"
Natalia held up what looked like a smartphone., and the two of them posed in front of it. Fate felt a little silly, but was glad for the chance to be just a normal person without big missions involving things like Lost Logias or the like.
'Of course, we're actually marking this area and trying to scan for any additional traces of unknown magic' thought Fate.
They continued to meander around London. Fate was pretty sure that this was only partly because Natalia actually enjoyed being a tourist on a world with approximately twenty one percent oxygen and civilization; she remembered hearing her say that this was going to be such a nice mission for a change.
Finally, they made it to King's Cross station, where they were moving slowly towards the ninth and tenth platforms. Suddenly the group became quieter.
"Is everyone getting this?" asked Natalia. "There's a region where space doesn't quite fit in."
Fate nodded. A telepathic voice in their heads also chimed in.
"This is Sandalphon, we confirm the odd readings. Tracking is working at maximum efficiency. You're good to go."
"Well then Fate, if you would show the way."
It wasn't long before Fate found the barrier which she first noticed a few days ago, between the platforms. She looked intently at it, almost as if checking for something, before giving a satisfied nod and bringing her hand towards the barrier.
"This is definitely it," said Fate.
"Okay," replied Natalia. "After we cross, no verbalization of mission details." Fate nodded in response.
"Initiating Crossover," said Fate as she pushed against the barrier...
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
... and ended up on the other side.
"Enforcer Harlaown, do you read me?" said the message from the Sandalphon.
"Loud and clear," replied Fate telepathically as the rest of the team came through to the other side of the station. "There are no vital signs around, we're safe to proceed."
"Woah! Where the hell are we?" exclaimed Natalia as she came through. Looking up, she stared the massive hidden platform. "Play along. Pretend we're lost. Someone might be watching us."
"I… I don't know," said Fate, in pretend surprise. "I couldn't recon the surrounding area without arousing too much suspicion," said Fate mentally.
"This place looks deserted though," said Natalia mentally.
As soon as they were about to start working though, they received a transmission from the Sandalphon's mission control.
"Heads up! I've picked up fifteen contacts approaching your position from the air! Vector 190. Contact in two minutes."
The two women tensed up.
"How much leeway are we given if we come under attack?" asked Fate as she brought her hand around Bardiche's triangular crystal idle form in her pocket.
"Rank B responses only," said Natalia. "Retreat for now, back through the way we came."
As they tried to head back to King's Cross station, they found a slight problem with their plan.
"What the!" said Natalia "The doorway's sealed shut! We can't make it out, shit!" "We can't negotiate surrender either," she continued telepathically." they locked us in, so they want to at least capture us."
"Whatever your plan is, I'm behind it," said Fate. "What do we do!?" she added.
"… alright," said Natalia thinking fast. "If they're a secret society, they must have a contingency plan for any accidental break ins. We are civilians who got lost. Mask your linker core. Code Black is in effect if we lose contact for more than twenty four Earth hours, or if an event which would result in such a scenario would need to be prevented."
"Yes," said Fate, releasing her grip on Bardiche.
"I've got a visual on the bogeys approaching. You're not going to believe what's shown up," said the Sandalphon's communications officer. Fate peered out of the station's exit, and over the railroad tracks. Her eyes honed from countless flight hours picked up a very strange collection of silhouettes gainst the sky. Meanwhile, Natalia was getting into character.
"Are those… broomsticks?" she asked as Natalia ran back to the barrier, and tried to bang on it. She then looked at what Fate was looking at, then ran to the front of the station, and began to wave at the fifteen men and women approaching, trying to flag them down. One of the broom riders accelerated and pointed something at her.
"Don't resist," said Natalia telepathically as ropes suddenly appeared around her, binding her arms to her torso. "… we can get out of these restraints without a problem. Sandalphon, keep contact every two minutes."
"Yes ma'am."
-Lyrical Wizardry: First Encounter-
Harry looked perplexed. Jaeger's advice that he'd received a week ago was right on the mark. They had just captured a pair of unknown non magical people who had somehow wandered their way into Nine and Three Quarters at Kings Cross. They weren't on the database of squibs and other muggles privy to the secret.
And they were sat before him, at wandpoint surrounded by aurors.
"Now," said Harry. "I'm sure you're wondering what is going on here, why we have you captive. I assure you I'm about to explain everything."
Ever since Harry had taken a look at the common practices within the Wizarding World there was one very disturbing finding that he noticed during an audit; Obliviators kept very poor records, and had little to no protocol, going so far as to disregard any rights and were somewhat inhumane in their methods. The way they obliviated muggles especially was disturbing; they would sometimes leave their targets in a near vegetative state due to the speed at which they had to work and thus the lack of control they were able to exert over their memory charms.
In the last ten years things had changed a lot. Right now, Harry was reading to these two women their rights and what situation they'd ended themselves in.
"There is no easy way to say this, and I ask you to keep an open mind. I will of course, answer your questions to the best of my ability," said Harry. "Before we begin, what are your names?"
"Dixie Walker," said the red haired one.
"Felicity Lamborghini," said the twin tailed blonde.
"Alright then Dixie and Felicity. My name is Harry Potter. I am the head of security for the wizarding government. I have to explain that you, as non-magical people, have somehow managed to stumble upon a secret society."
"… you're pulling my leg," said Felicity. "So where are we now?"
"Right now, you're in a holding facility for unauthorized access, but rest assured, you are not in any trouble. We have a statute of secrecy to keep."
"If we're not in trouble, why are we being watched by guards?" said the blonde one who identified herself as Felicity.
"We've had an incident recently involving a break in," said Harry. "It's why someone of my authority is handling a simple case like yours."
"I see…" said Felicity.
"What happened with the break in?" asked Dixie.
"… I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Our national bank was raided last week in a frontal attack. I can reveal that it was one person who did it. I'm afraid everything else is being kept classified."
"Fine fine," said Dixie. "But how long has this society existed? It looks fairly extensive."
"I can reveal that we've existed for several hundred years."
"Why the secrecy?"
"We have an old law that prohibits contact with the outside world, and demands the highest levels of secrecy. I cannot reveal any more."
"… we can't be the first people to have stumbled upon magic accidentally," said Felicity. "And you haven't killed us yet, but the secret still is being kept. I'm really curious as to why that is."
Harry was taken aback by the sudden change in tone. Even though the women in front of him were younger, he felt intimidated. The aurors around them began to fidget nervously as well, and some looked like they wanted to attack.
"You have a way to reliably wipe our memories," said Dixie. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. The room entered a state of total silence. You could cut the tension with a knife. The silence was broken when Dixie Walker screamed out two words that changed everything.
"Code Black!"
-To Be Continued-