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The upper aft wardroom, fifteen minutes later…
"So you ASKED the Lady Negako to help Dora — and Mandy and Pansy as well! — become Avalonians all to give Kingsley the necessary votes in the Wizengamot to finally put a stop to Malfoy and his idiots filibustering every attempt he, Percy or Harry make to push through reforms?!"
Luna nodded. "Of course, Hermione. Believe it or not, Lady Negako is quite willing to assist people who request her help when it's for a good cause."
Everyone stared at her…save Harry, who was currently trying to calm down the very passionate woman now glued to one side of him. Mandy and Pansy were also missing; both had been taken by Negako down to Sick Bay to have them undergo their body-swaps. "Um, not that we don't mind your helping us, Luna, but why…?" Percy demanded.
She sighed. "Percy, do you have any idea how bad it could have been thirteen years ago?"
People blinked. "What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"As you know, Ron, I do have a Seer's gift," Luna explained. "With that gift, I had a good idea of what might have happened hadn't Professor Springfield and Tsukiko-sensei stepped in to train Harry during his sixth year to put down Tom and his friends, not to mention get rid of Tom's delightful trinkets." No one, of course, ever mentioned the word "horcrux" in public. "If Harry hadn't been properly trained by them — given that Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to care about giving Harry any sort of serious training because of his blindness due to that prophecy Professor Trelawney gave in 1980 that stated the whole mess — what could have happened?"
The others considered that. "It would have probably taken much longer than two months for Harry and all of you to get rid of the Death Eaters and eliminate the rest of those things before he could face Riddle down and make sure he stayed dead when he was struck down," Percy noted. "In the meantime…"
Everyone else nodded. "There but the grace of the Fates go I," Horace mused.
"So by restoring Amanda's and Pansy's magic to them…" Severus moved to recap.
"They can then serve as proper proxies to Harry since he — as head of both the House of Potter and the House of Black — controls eight votes in the Wizengamot," Luna finished. "As Director of the DMLE, Harry can't vote. As we're all quite well-aware, Draco and his friends have taken advantage of that. Without the Potter/Black votes, the current number of seat votes that could be used is 78. Of them, 30 votes are aligned to Draco and his coalition. The remaining 48 votes are now divided between a neutral block of nine votes and the 39 votes that normally support the reform movement Kingsley, Percy and Harry have championed over the last decade. With the eight extra votes now in play…"
"It would finally overcome the fifty percent-plus-one vote parity needed to pass legislation in the Wizengamot," Horace completed for the younger woman. "Given that most of the neutral votes would align with the reform movement if given the chance — and if they weren't so scared of Draco and his friends — that would ALSO get past the sixty percent-plus-one vote parity necessary to shut down any filibustering in the Wizengamot chambers." He then chuckled. "Luna, why on Earth weren't you a Slytherin?!"
"Oh, that's not all, Professor," Luna said with a knowing smile. "Think of what just happened to Dora here. And think of what will soon happen to Mandy and Pansy."
Eyes locked on the contently-smiling Dora. "Oh, my heavens…!" Filius breathed out. "Fifty points to Ravenclaw, Luna! Well done, my dear! Well done!"
"I don't get it," Ron mused.
She smiled. "It's simple, Ron. Dora here was nearly stripped of all her magic when her aunt struck her down. Yet here she is, more powerful than ever — I recall her last Neuwied Test scoring her at 189 points in 1996 — and ready to take up her duties as Teddy's mother. We all KNOW how Avalonians feel when it comes to the care of children, don't we?" As people nodded, Luna smiled. "We can play up on that. After all, Harry's cousin was rescued by two Avalonians from the Dursleys, remember? Not to mention what happened to Rose, Raven and the others?"
"No doubt, Malfoy will try to play up the connection between the Avalonians and this ship to make magicals in Britain be afraid of them, Ron," Charlie added. "By helping Dora recover from what her aunt did, plus give Mandy and Pansy their magic back…"
"It could easily make Avalonians as a whole look to us like what most normals in Britain see them as: Angels of the stars," Horace stated.
"Why thank you, Thoughtmaster-prime!" one of Hood's stewards, Zoe McConnell, called out from the bar nearby before she turned back to the cups she was cleaning.
The current head of Slytherin blushed on being called that. "Not that the titles they use for teachers aren't the least bit wrong, either," he then whispered.
Everyone else laughed. "And with Avalonians interbreeding with normal Terrans, the chances are quite good that we'll be seeing Avalonian witches and wizards attending Hogwarts in the next decade," Minerva added. "With their powers…"
"Most magicals don't have problems with metahumans, Minerva. Especially given the example of the War Hawks when they helped Albus put down Grindelwald," Severus noted. "Avalonians — when one tears away all the complaints about their artificial and alien origins — are metahumans by the classic sense of the term."
"Harry…"
People's heads snapped around…
…and then they gaped as two typhoons of VERY happy Terran-turned-Avalonian witches lept over to swamp the Man-Who-Won with hugs and kisses. As a beaming Nell McAndrew watched from nearby, an amused Moroboshi Negako contently nodded before she perked. "Winky!" she then called out. "Come here right this instant!"
Pop! "Did someone call for Winky?" a curious house elf then asked as she looked around in confusion.
"I did."
Winky turned…
…and then her eyes went VERY wide on seeing the woman in black standing nearby. "The Great Angel of the Earth…!" the former house elf of the Crouch family then breathed out in reverent awe before she bowed her head politely to her. "You called Winky, Great Lady?!"
"Indeed I did, Winky. As you will see there, Harold is about to engage in considerable carnal congress with Amanda, Pansy and Nymphadora," Negako said as she nodded towards the three giddy witches piling on Harry Potter. "Would you transport them to their bedroom at Grimmauld Place so they can enjoy some privacy, then transport Theodore here home so he could get some sleep?" She indicated the blushing young metamorphmagus beside her. "He has had a most emotionally exhaustive evening."
After nearly fainting on sensing the incredible power now billowing from her Mistress Mandy, Mistress Pansy and Mistress Dora, Winky then grinned. "Winky will do that, Great Lady!"
Pop! The four adult magicals and their teenager charge vanished. "Wait a minute!" Hermione then declared. "The wards on this ship prevent house elves from coming aboard Hood! How in Merlin's name did Winky teleport herself up here?!"
Negako gazed at her. "Magic, of course. How else would she come here, Hermione?"
As the normal-born gaped in shock, the other magicals fell over laughing. "In the meantime, Percival, I require your assistance," Negako then called out as she turned to leave.
Percy perked. "My assistance, Lady Negako?"
"Yes. Given what I just discovered concerning Nymphadora, I believe I can assist both Franklin and Alice Longbottom in recovering from what Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and brother-in-law did to them in 1981. The staff at St. Mungo's will have to be alerted as well; I sensed the backlash in magic when I used the soulsword to sever the curse bonds between Nymphadora and Bellatrix that rendered Theodore's mother nearly comatose in 1997. Come along now."
The third-oldest Weasley child blinked, and then he raced off after Negako. "Blimey!" Ron then breathed out. "Is the Earth Angel always like that?!"
"So I've been told," Luna noted before sipping her tea…
Islington, 12 Grimmauld Place, Saturday 10 July, just before lunch…
The fires of the floo burned bright as a very stocky and muscular man came through. A soft pop! then heralded the arrival of Winky from the kitchen. "Master Neville!" the smiling house elf said before she gave a curtsy to the Marquess of Holdenhurst. "Come in! Come in! Master Harry and his wives are still asleep now, but Winky will make some tea for Master Neville while he waits for them to wake up!"
Neville Longbottom blinked…before he gaped. "Merlin! You mean…it's all true?! The Earth Angel actually helped Pansy and Mandy get their magic back?!"
Winky rapidly nodded as she tried not to bounce up and down in sheer joy. "Yes! Mistress Dora is recovered, too! Master Teddy is so happy!"
Neville gaped…and then he laughed before moving to take his seat in the guest chair. "Smashing! Some coffee instead, Winky! I've had quite the morning with my parents now on their feet!"
"Right away, Master Neville!" Pop!
"That's wonderful news, young man!" Orion Black then declared from his portrait.
"Did your mother have to become an Avalonian like poor Dora did?" Walburga Black then asked; she had travelled over to her husband's portrait to be with him that morning.
"Fortunately, no," Neville said as Winky popped back in with a cup of coffee. "The Lady Negako said that by returning Mum and Dad to the ancestral home a few years ago, the family magics helped heal their bodies from the damage that was done to them by the Lestranges and Barty Crouch. Dora didn't get that sort of chance when she was moved here since this wasn't her grandmother's home." A sigh as Winky popped back out again. "Probably explains how Barty was able to pretend to be Alastor Moody back in fourth year FOR A WHOLE YEAR — even with polyjuice! — after over a decade of being under the Imperius; he was kept hidden at his family's home in Wells all that time. Can't believe that no one ever considered that…!"
The portrait of Phineas Black nodded in understanding. "Understandable. Before St. Mungo's opened their permanent spell-damage ward, people who were comatose from things like long-term Cruciatus Curse exposure were always cared for by house elves at the family hearth. What about Bellatrix, though? I know about the soulsword and what it can do. Did she survive the Lady Negako using it to help heal your parents?"
"She did…but somehow, she got enough magic in her to apparate herself right out of St. Mungo's!" Neville reported, which made all the portraits in the living room gasp in shock; Britain's primary magical health care facility had very strong wards to guard against incidents like that, from both inside and outside. "I've alerted the aurors about this. She doesn't have a wand, but if she could do THAT…!"
"What a disgrace that girl was!" Walburga then muttered.
"'Morning, Neville…"
Neville perked as the Man-Who-Won came into the living room, dressed in a housecoat. "'Morning, Harry," the visitor from Bournemouth mused as he gave his friend a knowing look. "I take it that your night was quite exciting."
Harry moaned as he collapsed into a nearby chair, and then nodded thanks as Winky popped in with a cup of breakfast tea. "They wouldn't stop, Nev…!"
Neville laughed…and then he turned as the hearth flames flared to allow Ron to walk in. "Hey, Ron! How are things at your house with Ginny?"
Ron had a delighted grin from ear to ear. "Mum's beside herself right now…oh, thanks, Winky!" he said after taking his seat and being handed a cup of breakfast tea by Winky. "Ginny's asleep in her bedroom now; she just did the body-swap a couple hours ago and she needed some rest. That nice mediwitch from Hood — Nell McAndrew — is watching over her now."
"They don't call them 'mediwitches' on Hood, mate," Harry noted.
"What do they call them?" Neville asked.
"Well, according to Lucy and Shelley, the Sagussan equivalent of a mediwitch or mediwizard is called eii'sagh, which literally means 'second-rank healer,'" Harry explained. "Fully-fledged healers and doctors are simply i'sagh or 'healer.'" He then gazed on Ron. "So Molly's no longer complaining about the Hood, I take it?"
Ron snorted. "After helping Ginny recover from what that bastard Lestrange did to her before Cassiopeia got at him, Harry? What do you think?!" he demanded. As his fellow Gryffindors laughed, the youngest Weasley son then sighed. "Still…"
"Still what?" Neville asked.
"What the heck does marei'cha mean?"
Harry jolted. "Why are you asking that?!"
"I heard Nellie call Ginny that before I came here."
Neville gazed on a white-faced Harry. "Um, Harry…"
The Man-Who-Won sighed. "Ron, I hate to break this to you…but as of whenever Ginny and Nell soul-bonded, she became your sister-in-law."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
Ron's eyes rolled into his head as he dropped to the floor in a dead faint. Staring at his best friend, Harry sighed. "He took that very well. Didn't he, Nev?"
"Sure did, Harry," Neville mused as they sipped their drinks…
The City of Westminster, the Diagon Alley branch of the International Mercantile Bank of Gringotts, an hour later…
"My baby's married…my baby's married…my baby's married…!"
"Molly."
Molly Weasley jerked on hearing that toneless voice from nearby.
"Do cease that. You are embarrassing both Ginevra and Nell."
The matriarch of the Weasleys of Ottery Saint Catchpole rapidly nodded her head as her husband Arthur gave Negako an appreciative look. Watching this from behind his desk, Griphook — who, atop being the estate manager for the combined Potter/Black accounts, also was manager to the accounts of many of Harry Potter's friends — tried not to smirk too much at the sight of the normally boisterous woman being humbled by the Earth Angel with just a look and a flat statement. Nearby, both Ginny Weasley and Nell McAndrew-Weasley — as the latter would now be referred to officially in British magical records — were sharing a content look as they grasped hands and allowed their foreheads to touch. Sensing the powerful bond of magic and psionic power forging between the young Terran-turned-Avalonian witch and the Terran-form Avalonian would-be Royal Navy medical assistant, the goblin then turned back to Negako; within the halls of Gringotts, the ninjutsu grandmaster was automatically seen as the legal guardian of any pure-born Avalonian from the Earth Defence Force…even if legally, Nell was an adult by British normal law. "So you give your approval to the marriage and soul-bonding between the Young Mistress Ginevra Weasley and Apprentice Healer Nell McAndrew, Lady Negako?" he ritually asked.
The visitor from Japan nodded. "I do, Griphook. The marei'cha bond between then was forged shortly after Ginevra underwent the Awakening and they saw in each other their perfect mate." As Molly sobbed on hearing that and Arthur moved to shush her, Negako added, "Once the marei'cha bond forged, the magical soul-bond marking their becoming a married couple by British magical law was also forged and registered in the Department of Mysteries. Terrance Boot contacted me to inform me of that; that is why I am here. He also promised that the official public revelation of Ginevra's soul-bond to Nell will await the next legislative meeting of the Wizengamot. And the time that Amanda Brocklehurst-Potter and Pansy Parkinson-Black are permitted to formally take up their shared husband's family votes in that chamber."
"Harry's married…Harry's married…Harry's married…!"
"Do cease that, Molly."
Molly gurgled as she felt Negako's annoyed stare fall once more on her. As Arthur chuckled, the grandmaster then gazed on Griphook. "Now, I have been told by Cambria, Britannia and Caledonia that they wish to have their accounts within Gringotts managed by an energetic administrator," the visitor from Tomobiki added. "Would you desire to perform this task, Griphook?"
The Weasleys watched as the goblin before them literally explode with pride on being asked that. "Please inform the Lady Lieutenant Nelson, the Lady Captain Wellesley and the Lady Flight Lieutenant Mannock that they can count on me, Lady Negako!"
"I will do so, Griphook. Now, if you will excuse me, there are certain problems I am required to help resolve concerning a new friend of the family back home."
The goblin deeply bowed. "Of course, good lady."
With that, Negako walked out of the room. The Weasleys watched her go, and then Arthur turned back to Griphook. "Manager Griphook, who was the Lady Negako speaking of?"
Griphook grinned. "Your country's Steel Angels, Director Weasley!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
Molly grew faint as Arthur gaped. "Wow…!" Ginny breathed out…
Minutes later, the Weasleys and their new in-law stepped out of Gringotts. Much to Ginny's embarrassment, the front door guards snapped to attention and bowed their heads in their direction. Nell — who was in Number 1C dress uniform — saluted in return. "Thank you, Resource Guardians," she ritually declared, using an old Sagussan title for those who protected the wealth of the community from theft. "Peace, logic and harmony to you all."
"You are too kind, Lady Healer," the bank guard to the Weasleys' left then ritually stated. "May your skills in saving lives never fail you!"
"Good day."
And with that, the four people stepped onto Diagon Alley, heading over towards Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes right beside the Flourish and Blotts Bookseller store in the general direction of the Leaky Cauldron. Stepping out of the bookstore at that time was a smiling Hermione Granger…with, as a grinning Ginny was quick to note, a bag of books in one hand. "'Mione!" the youngest Weasley called out to her old housemate, waving.
Hermione's head snapped over…and then she squealed on seeing Ron's sister now on her feet and clearly recovered from the horrid curse Rodolphus Lestrange had unleashed on her thirteen years before. "GINNY!" she called out as she ran over to draw the younger woman into her arms…and then she blinked. "Oh, my…!" she breathed out before her eyes fell on Nell, and then she grinned. "Congratulations!"
"Um, Director Granger…?"
Hermione turned…and then she smiled. "Ms. Braithwaite!" she said as an older woman — Betty Braithwaite was a Gryffindor who graduated from Hogwarts the year after Voldemort fell the first time — came up to her, accompanied by her cameraman. "I'm sure the readers of the Prophet would be interested to learn how my friend here was allowed to recover from a thirteen year-long near-coma at the hands of the traitor Rodolphus Lestrange thanks to the Avalonians."
Betty — who was, in the opinion of Harry Potter and his clique of friends, a much better reporter than Rita Skeeter — blinked. Staring at her, the older Weasleys could imagine the Illuminating Charm go off in the reporter's head, flashing STORY! again and again. As people who had overheard Hermione's statement stopped to stare wide-eyed at Ginny, Betty quickly recovered herself as she drew out a pad and pen — as a normal-born, she REFUSED to use a Quick-Quotes Quill! — and then she smiled. "Well, first of all, I hope I'm speaking for all of wizarding Britain to say how wonderful it is to have you back, Ginny. How does it feel to be up and about?"
"Horrendously disorientating," Ginny admitted as she gently squeezed Nell's hand. "I mean, to me, it still feels like the summer of 1997 and I should be in the Forbidden Forest waiting to help Harry fight Riddle and his idiots!" As people around them all laughed, she then smiled. "As many know, I had a big crush on Harry for the longest time. Hearing that he's now with three witches who love him very much…" She sighed. "Well, if I had died that day near Hogwarts in '97, I would want Harry to go on and be happy. He's more than happy with Mandy, Pansy and Dora…not to mention helping them raise his godson Teddy. I want all the best for him…even if it, in a way, hurts."
"Would you be willing to try to seek a marriage or request to sire contract with Harry, Arthur? Molly?" Betty then asked as she gazed on the elder Weasleys. "As Ginny just indicated, her feelings for him are well-known."
Molly gaped. "After all the trouble Harry had with poor Mandy and Pansy?! Certainly not!" she snapped. "Harry was never properly raised in wizarding society after his parents were killed. While I did agree with Albus about keeping him safe from Riddle's lunatics by having him raised by his aunt, the fact that he was totally cut off from learning how to perform his proper duties as the heir to the House of Potter — and the House of Black seeing that Sirius always marked his godson as his heir in his will — has hurt him badly these last few years. What happened to Mandy and Pansy proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt!" The older Weasleys knew about what had just happened to Harry's lovers — Harry himself would come to Gringotts to update his will and deal with the various inheritance issues later today — but given what Luna so wonderfully planned when it came to finally defeating the dark families in the Wizengamot, they wouldn't hint that Mandy and Pansy just had their magic restored. That was the surprise for Monday. "Yes, I would have gladly welcomed Harry as an in-law, but Fate had other things in mind. Besides…" She gazed on Nell. "My daughter is soul-bonded to the young sailor beside her, so they'll be deciding on their own how to make us grandparents."
"Though requesting that Director Potter serve as our surei'cha — the father of our future children — IS a possibility, Lady Herald Braithwaite," Nell stated as Ginny blushed on hearing her wife publicly declare that.
Gasps escaped many of the people in the crowd as Arthur and Molly shared a delighted hug. "A soul-bond…?!" a white-faced Betty Braithwaite gasped as the Lumos spell inside her mind began flashing PAGE 1 STORY! again and again.
A wild whoop made people turn to see a pair of twins dance a jig in front of the doors to their store nearby. As people laughed and cheered at Ginny's good fortune, the cameraman who was with the Prophet reporter moved to take a picture of the new couple. Given Nell's uniform — with her ship's name proudly displayed on the tally of her cap — Betty knew whatever objections many of the pureblood lords like Draco Malfoy now expressed towards those "evil muggle golems pretending to be human" would dry up in an instant. Even better, any attempts by the Marquess of Avebury and his allies to press for any action in the Wizengamot against the Avalonians would fail. Unlike her more well-known co-worker, Betty Braithwaite ALWAYS did thorough research when it came to preparing a story…and she intended to make as thorough a story of Ginny's soul-bonding to Nell as she could to finally ram it home to Voldemort's robe-kissers that they were totally helpless this time.
After all, the Magical Royal Proclamation in Concerns to Relations Between Her Majesty's Magical Subjects and Her Majesty's Avalonian Subjects — proclaimed on Good Friday this year, when the Queen officially received the Ambassador of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Avalon to the Court of St. James's, Madame Alice Holmes — flatly forbade the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot from classifying Avalonians in the United Kingdom as "magical creatures" under the applicable clauses of The Magical Beings, Beasts and Spirits Act of 1811. Further, the Magical Royal Proclamation Regarding Her Majesty's Starship Hood and Affiliated Units of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in Concerns to the Separation Act, 1692 — proclaimed on May Day — removed the restrictions of the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy towards non-magicals learning about magical societies from members of Hood's ship's company and all units directly assigned to her such as 41 Commando of the Royal Marines and 51 (Space) Naval Air Wing of the Fleet Air Arm.
In effect, Nell McAndrew-Weasley was legally DOUBLE protected from any harm from wizards.
Too bad.
The age of "staleblood supremacy" is finally coming to a befitting end, the reporter from the Prophet mused to herself as she turned to ask some questions…
Islington, 12 Grimmauld Lane, Sunday 11 July, breakfast…
"Damn…!"
"What is it, Harry?"
Harry perked on hearing Pansy ask that, and then he turned the copy of the Sunday Prophet around to show his wives and his mistress.
GINNY WEASLEY HEALED!
Sister of Man-Who-Won's Best Friend Healed by Avalonian-Briton Healer from H.M. Starship Hood; Now Shares Soul-Bond With Woman Who Saved Her!
by Betty Braithwaite
DIAGON ALLEY, London: Ginny Weasley (29), daughter of Director Arthur Weasley (60) of the Department of Non-Magical Artifact Abuse at the Ministry of Magic and his wife Molly (60) — and one of several who were victims of the arch-traitor Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as "Lord Voldemort," who driven into a magical coma by the late Rodolphus Lestrange at the Battle of Hogwarts in 1997 before he was killed by his daughter, Magistra Magi Cassiopeia Lestrange (29) — was seen stepping out of Gringotts' Diagon Alley branch on Saturday morning fully recovered from her wounds and in the company of her parents and a young sailor of the Royal Navy assigned now to Her Majesty's Starship Hood.
Immediately spotted by former Gryffindor housemate Director Hermione Granger (30), Special Adviser of Non-Magical Affairs to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was visiting her favourite bookstore at the time, it was soon revealed that Ms. Weasley had been restored to perfect health thanks to the virtue of becoming an Avalonian, one of the beautiful race of alien women who fled to Earth earlier this year to escape chattel slavery. In becoming so, the horrid curse that deprived Director Weasley and his wife of their only daughter for thirteen years was broken once and for all…thus delivering another sound blow against the forces of Darkness.
Even more so, when she was restored to life and health, Ms. Weasley found herself soul-bonded to the Avalonian-Briton healer who literally saved her from a permanent magical coma…in virtually the same manner former auror Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin (37) was restored to full health on Friday evening while aboard Hood at a levée in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen celebrating the first successful mission of Britain's first starship.
Said healer, Royal Navy Seaman Trainee Nell McAndrew (physical age 20) — now officially "Mrs. Nell McAndrew-Weasley" under British wizarding law — was more than happy to reciprocate the soul-bonding with her new wife when Ginny awoke in the starship's cockpit early Saturday morning. "One never expects when the urge to seek out one's marei'cha comes on meeting a potential mate," Mrs. McAndrew-Weasley explained to this reporter, using her native term for a soul-bonding. "But when Ginny woke up and we gazed at each other, it just clicked in right then and there and we bonded." Here, she snapped her fingers. "Given how much my bond-mate has missed these last thirteen years since Thoughtmaster-prime Riddle sought to overthrow Her Majesty's Government, I'll be spending a lot of time with her when I'm not on Hood or undergoing training to make her feel once more at home with her friends and family."
When asked about the uniqueness of her soul-bond with an alien of all things, Ms. Weasley laughed it off. "When I heard about the Avalonians and how much they suffered at the hands of the monsters who enslaved them for over a century, I knew Her Majesty did the right thing when she issued a Magical Royal Proclamation welcoming them as Her subjects here in Britain back in April. I am friends with Magistra Magi Rose Potter and her schoolmates who came to Hogwarts during my OWL year to help train Harry in putting Riddle and his bastards down. I just got the chance to meet the Earth Angel, the Lady Moroboshi Negako, as she was aboard Hood at the time performing some special work for Her Majesty, so she was more than happy to act as my wife's magical guardian when we registered our marriage with Gringotts."
"Lady Negako was more than willing to arrange with friends of hers from the Húŋkpapȟa Nation in America to allow Ginny and Nell to be bonded properly using their rites as soon as Nell graduates from basic training at H.M.S. Raleigh in a couple of months," Molly Weasley added. "Even better, Nell's captain agreed to allow the ceremony to be held on Hood. We just felt so honoured that they would do that for us!"
"We have a new sister-in-law now," Ms. Weasley's elder brother Fred Weasley (32), co-owner of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon with his twin brother George, added. "She's no different to us than our elder brother's wife Fleur."
"Even better, Nell's going to be a healer, keeping her sisters and friends on Hood safe and healthy," George Weasley added. "Of course, we'll be happy to do our part to help the folks on Hood and their friends across Earth keep us all safe from aliens. We can't let the Lady Negako's poor brother do all the work, after all!"
When an unnamed bystander muttered that the Wizengamot should declare Avalonians "beasts" under the Magical Beings, Beasts and Spirits Act of 1811, Director Granger immediately warned this: "If there are attempts at harming Avalonian-Britons — who are protected by a Magical Royal Proclamation issued by the Queen in April — by malcontents, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The DMLE is already liaising with Avalonian-Britons across the United Kingdom to ensure any attempts at abuse of those poor women are stopped before someone is hurt. Many Avalonian-Britons carry a weapon known as a Lawgiver, powered by mesonium and bauximite…which are two elements magic CANNOT defeat! As it's been known all along by the Ministry of Magic, they have authorization from the Home Office to use lethal force in self-defence.
"As for those who would try to keep pushing their backwards attitudes on other people, it has been explained time and time again since Riddle was done away with that ALL attempts at trying to override a Magical Royal Proclamation is seen as Treason Against The Crown," the Man-Who-Won's best female friend added. "If someone is caught doing that and Magic Itself responds to such a crime, those guilty of such crimes will forever lose their magic. Her Majesty told Minister Shacklebolt on Friday evening while we were on Hood that her patience towards this insane refusal to catch up with the rest of the world is at an end. She will not hesitate to use another Magical Royal Proclamation to forever strip us of our due protections under the Separation Act of 1692 — or Merlin forbid, ask the War Hawks to come in and deal with it! — to put those idiot attitudes Riddle championed into the grave once and for all time."
It was announced in Wednesday evening's Prophet that Supreme Mugwump Emeritus Heather Thompkins (94) of Canada — a rear admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy who was the magical world's representative in the team of warriors called the "War Hawks" during Grindelwald's War and Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation — was appointed as Flag Officer Commanding of the Earth Defence Force, which is the international military formation H.M.S. Hood is a part of.
On behalf of the staff of the Daily Prophet, this reporter can only wish Ms. Weasley and Ms. McAndrew-Weasley — and all of Hood's ship's company — all the best.
EDITOR'S NOTES:
For a review of the Weasley family of Ottery Saint Catchpole, see A Recent History of the Weasley Clan of Ottery Saint Catchpole on Page 2.
For more details on Avalonian-Wizarding relations, read The Text of Her Majesty's Magical Royal Proclamation of 2010 in Concerns to Her Avalonian Subjects and Relations with Her Majesty's Magical Subjects on Page 3.
For more on Hood, see A History of the Fourth H.M.S. Hood of the Royal Navy on Page 4.
For more details on the Earth Angel, the Lady Moroboshi Negako, and her family, read A History of the Moroboshi Clan of Japan, The Siblings Who Defended Earth From Alien Invasion on Page 5.
For a review of what Moroboshi Ataru's actions were in concerns to aliens during the latter half of 2009, read A Half-Year of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in A Suburb of Tōkyō on Page 5.
Pansy giggled as she took the paper in hand. "Poor Dracy-poo!" she said in the very nauseating voice she had used back in school when she had sucked up to Draco Malfoy due to her house-mate's domination of Slytherin until Voldemort was finally destroyed.
"He's not going to like reading any of this when he gets the paper," Mandy noted.
"If he actually reads the paper!" Dora noted. "He cancelled his subscription to keep his mother clueless about Raven, remember?!"
The others all giggled. "Strange that they didn't say more about Mummy being better," Ted noted as he nibbled on his jelly toast.
"We're holding off on that for the time being, sport," Harry said as he sipped his tea. "The smart ones like Daphne, Tracey, Blaise and Millie will pick up on it right away. It's a pity that Mike won't be back at Keerford until early tomorrow morning."
Winky then popped in. "Master Harry, Master Blaise is here."
Harry turned as a very handsome, dark-skinned man with a mixture of Mediterranean and African ancestry on his face walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Blaise! Tea?"
"Please," Blaise Zabini said as he walked over to gently kiss Pansy's cheek before he did the same to Mandy and Dora, then he shook Ted's hand. He then hummed as his own magical senses picked up on the sheer power in all of Harry's female companions. "So what's this about Dora becoming an Avalonian, Harry?!" the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot — who was a damned sight better at the job than Albus Dumbledore had been, the Man-Who-Won had long believed — wondered as he gave Harry a knowing look.
"Sit down and we'll explain Luna's nefarious plot against the Death Nibblers, Blaise," Harry bade.
Blaise gaped, and then he laughed…
Level Ten of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (located under Northumberland Avenue east of Trafalgar Square) in the City of Westminster, London, Monday 12 July, morning…
"Harry!"
Harry turned and smiled. "Mike! How are you doing?!"
"Surviving, my friend, surviving! Hey, Pansy!" Michael Parkinson said as he shook the offered hand from his sister's husband, and then he moved to gently embrace her before doing the same to Mandy. On doing that, he blinked before he pulled away to gaze intently at Pansy for a moment, immediately sensing that something was quite off about his beloved sibling. "What happened?" he whispered.
"That, my friend, you're about to find out," Harry whispered back.
Michael stared at him, and then he gaped. "You are kidding me!" he hissed.
"It was quite easy in the end," Harry affirmed with a wink. "And right now, I can properly and finally address you as my brother-in-law."
Hearing that, the Earl of Keerford blinked before he smiled as he firmly grasped the hand of the Marquess of Taunton Deane and Grimmauld. "Well met, brother. Well met! And thank you!" He then gazed on Pansy before staring back at her husband. "I assume…!"
"She'll vote the Black proxy until we have an heir that's old enough to take up the vote. Or we allow Ted to fall into that role when he comes of age as he is descent from a Black through his mother. As long as I'm serving in the Ministry as head of the DMLE, Mandy votes the Potter proxy," Harry said as he indicated his other wife.
As heir to the headships of TWO houses of the Wizengamot, Harry had the right to seek TWO separate spouses by ancient custom to ensure the succession in both families as it was traditionally seen as wrong for one person to hold two such high-ranking seats. It was even more bothersome since Harry was currently also a department head in the Ministry of Magic. In Wizengamot meetings, Harry would sit at the Minister's side along with Percy Weasley at the head of the room; these were the places where, in normal court sessions, judges would preside. Because of laws that forbade Ministry department directors from voting in the Wizengamot, Harry had not been able to cast his families' votes in legislation since he became the head of the DMLE in 2005. That — as Luna Lovegood reflected on Friday evening — had been taken advantage of by the old pureblood crowd led by Draco Malfoy to slow down or stop the heady pace of reforms Kingsley Shacklebolt had been driving for since his elevation to the position of Her Majesty's Minister for Magic in 1997. With the Potter and Black votes now legally active again and under Mandy's and Pansy's control — Harry trusted his wives to vote their consciences whenever sensitive issues might come up — that would dramatically change…much to the detriment of the would-be Death Eaters.
"The legal arrangements were registered at Gringotts on Saturday. All the clerks at the Ministry should be getting the notices far too late for all the busy-bodies to try to muck it all up," Harry added.
"Too bad." While the Parkinsons were traditionally a "darker" family in the eyes of society, Michael was swinging away from overtly influencing the government as his father and grandfather had done in years past. While this could potentially provide problems as Draco Malfoy had pretty much taken after his father when it came to bribes — though Kingsley and Percy were FAR above reproach on that matter, so the effect of said bribes was actually at a fraction of what it had been when Cornelius Fudge was Minister and under the thumb of Lucius Malfoy — it demonstrated a much greater trust in government by the leaders of the pureblood gentry. This would translate to a greater trust in government by normal wizards across Britain; all adult wizards had the right to directly vote on the position of Minister in elections normally held every decade. When it came to eventually forming a magical "house of commons" — which was the primary reform people like Harry and Kingsley had in mind for the future concerning the legislative branch of Her Majesty's magical government — that would matter quite a bit with the electorate. "Shall we go inside, Lord Potter?"
"After you, Lord Parkinson," Harry replied.
They headed into Courtroom Ten, the largest of the courtrooms in the lowest level of the Ministry; this also served as the normal meeting place for the Wizengamot during the weekly legislative sessions. Once inside, Harry was quick to notice many eyes lock on him and his companions as they made their way to the lower tier of seats over the centre stage of the room, where the senior members of the Wizengamot — the "Seven and Ten," traditionally formed by the seven Noble and Most Ancient Houses (the magical marquessates) and the ten Noble and Ancient Houses (the magical earldoms) of the Wizengamot — sat. Harry escorted Pansy to the long-empty Black seat, leaning in to kiss her on the lips as she sat, and then he did the same to Mandy at the Potter seat before he moved to ascend the dais to take his place beside Percy Weasley.
"Um, Harry…what's going on here?" the Senior Undersecretary rhetorically asked.
Harry secretly winked at him. To the shock of many who knew him personally, Percy had developed quite the comic streak over the last decade. In the wake of the Battle of Hogwarts — where Fred had nearly been killed by Rodolphus Lestrange before a quick shield charm by Harry had saved his life — the once stiff and formal Head Boy of Hogwarts for the 1993-94 school year had mellowed, renewing ties to his family as he sought to help the Ministry of Magic overcome decades of bribery and inefficiency and make it run as it always should have been operating. It also allowed his own personal life to progress; he was married to a lovely lady, the former Audrey Simpson — an American who had studied at the Salem Witches Institute before coming to Britain to help with post-war reconstruction as a junior administrator from their Department of Magic — and they were now expecting a daughter. "Watch."
Percy looked…and then gaped — a little too dramatically, Harry mused — as Mandy and Pansy drew out their wands and moved to activate the lamps indicating that they were ready to perform their sacred duties as voting members of the Right Honourable the Lords Magical of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Wizengamot assembled. He wasn't the only one who appeared stunned to see that the two would-be wives of the Man-Who-Won were once more able to do magic. Daphne Greengrass, who had been Pansy's housemate in Slytherin at Hogwarts — and as the Countess of Mutuantonis, possessed the right to sit at the same level as the Parkinsons, the Potters and the Blacks — squealed in delight as she lunged over to swamp Pansy with a sobbing hug. Despite Daphne being let into the secret the previous afternoon, her delight on actually seeing Pansy once more a witch was understandable; she — along with the other "Slytherin Vixens" from their school year, Tracey Davis and Millicent Bulstrode — had been quick to ignore whatever their parents said concerning renouncing their friendships with the "squib" and helped Harry settle the then-devastated Pansy into Grimmauld Place. Seeing Neville Longbottom smile a knowing smile from his chair, Harry then smirked when he gazed on Draco Malfoy…who was now gaping in disbelief at the sight of his once-lover holding the Black proxy vote, which could spell big trouble for him and his allies. If you pick thistles, expect prickles, Drake! the Man-Who-Won mused as he recalled an old eastern European folk saying.
By then, Kingsley Shacklebolt had arrived. Regal and dignified in his formal robes of state, the former auror appeared stunned silent for a moment on seeing both his chief law enforcement officer's wives seated at where they should have been all along hadn't their fathers been so stupid. Noting this, Harry smirked; Kingsley was as much of a good actor when it came to faking his emotions as Percy. Finally, after a moment, the minister recovered and then moved to take his place. "I trust there's an explanation," he quietly mused — just loud enough for Draco to hear — as he sat down as he gazed knowingly at Harry.
"It's coming," Harry promised.
By then, Blaise Zabini — the position of Chief Warlock/Witch of the Wizengamot was always given to the head of a Noble House (a magical barony) as they only had one "seat" point vote in the Wizengamot in lieu of the three votes allowed to each of the magical earldoms like the Parkinsons and the Greengrasses and the four allowed to each of the magical marquessates like the Potters, the Blacks, the Longbottoms and the Malfoys — took his place at the lectern before the dais where the Minister and his senior subordinates sat. "Ladies and gentleman, if you all can take your seats, please!" he stated in a clear voice. As soon as people had shifted to their positions and dimmed their voting lamps, he smiled. "Excellent. I hereby call this, the twenty-eighth meeting of the Wizengamot in this legislative year to order." He smiled at his former housemate. "Recognizing the presence of the Director the Lord Potter's wives, who clearly have regained their magics as well as affirmed their bonds of matrimony to him, now in the chairs to be held by the lords of the Most Noble and Ancient Houses of Potter of Taunton Deane and Black of Grimmauld. I would assume, Lady Potter, Lady Black, that you wish to take up your proxy votes?"
Both women rose. "We do, Lord Chief Warlock," Mandy stated for herself and her co-wife. "Such was registered at the noble International Mercantile Bank of Gringotts on Saturday morning per the applicable clauses of the Treaty of 1779. Our husband does have copies of the forms required to allow our taking our husband's place as active voting members of this Most Noble House for your perusal and that of the Minister's as well whenever you may desire to see them. With your gracious permission, may we proceed with our oaths?"
"You may do so."
"OBJECTION!"
Eyes then locked on Draco, who had bolted up to his feet. "Overruled, Lord Malfoy," Kingsley flatly declared. "The Chief Warlock currently has the floor and is conducting the proper business of this House by welcoming the Lady Potter and the Lady Black into this House as their families' voting proxies. That has been set down in law for over three hundred years. Do not interrupt again." He then nodded as Draco sank into his chair. "Ladies, my deepest apologies. Please proceed."
Mandy waved to Pansy. The raven-haired witch raised her wand and said, "I, Pansy Isabella, the Lady Marchioness Black of Grimmauld, do solemnly swear on my magic — and in the name of my beloved husband, Harold James, the Lord Marquess Black of Grimmauld — that I shall conduct the business of Her Majesty's magical subjects within the confines of this Noble House, the Right Honourable the Lords Magical of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in Wizengamot assembled, with impartiality and justice for all those protected by the Separation Act of 1692 and the Magical Royal Proclamation of 1692. So I have sworn before Magic Itself and these witnesses, so mote it be!"
Mandy did the same thing with her own wand as she swore her oath, "I, Amanda Grace, the Lady Marchioness Potter of Taunton Deane, do solemnly swear on my magic — and in the name of my beloved husband, Harold James, the Lord Marquess Potter of Taunton Deane — that I shall conduct the business of Her Majesty's magical subjects within the confines of this Noble House, the Right Honourable the Lords Magical of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in Wizengamot assembled, with impartiality and justice for all those protected by the Separation Act of 1692 and the Magical Royal Proclamation of 1692. So I have sworn before Magic Itself and these witnesses, so mote it be!"
Both their bodies glowed with pure magic to "seal the deal." On seeing that, Michael then rose. "So we all have witnessed this day, so mote it be!"
Others quickly got to their feet, screaming out, "SO MOTE IT BE!"
Delighted and relieved laughter then filled the room as people took their seats. "Well, in noting that Magic did respond to the Lady Amanda's and the Lady Pansy's oaths to this Noble House, I think any questions about they still being squibs can be cast aside," Blaise stated before he gazed knowingly at Harry, a smile crossing his face. "And I think Director Potter and his wives will prefer to keep such knowledge as to how this happened to themselves. Though I pray I'm not too premature in hoping that your coming prides and joy will give all of you many happy days in the years to come."
Harry tried not to laugh at Blaise's wordplay while knowing grins and snorted laughs echoed from the audience. Like Daphne, Tracey and Millicent, the Baron of Lewisham had been always supportive of his former housemate after Pansy had lost her magic. And as he had shown yesterday, Blaise was no fool; one didn't survive the politics of Slytherin by being an idiot, despite what some people thought of those such as the late Vincent Crabbe — who had perished at the Battle of Hogwarts; he was the only member of the freshman Class of 1991 to have died before final graduation in 1998…even if some of their peers such as Sally-Anne Perks had left around the time they did their OWL examinations — and Gregory Goyle, Draco's constant companions throughout his first six years there. "No, you aren't too premature…but it is still quite too early to judge, Chief Warlock," he stated.
A roaring laugh echoed through the chamber — no doubt, those who hadn't read the previous morning's Prophet believed that Harry's magic somehow had restored his wives' magic while they were making love to each other — as Blaise nodded. "So be it," he said before turning to his fellow Wizengamot members. "Now that we've got that out of the way, is there any business to bring up today?" He nodded as Mandy made a motion with her wand to light up her voting lamp. "The House recognizes the Lady Amanda Potter of Taunton Deane," he said with a bow of his head.
"With thanks, Lord Chief Warlock. I shall not be long," Mandy ritually said as she rose, bowing her head in turn. "My fellow lords and ladies of this Noble House, much that my co-wife and I are pleased to be finally able to perform our sacred duty within these halls on behalf of our husband and our families, we've taken note of a disturbing trend that has begun to swell within the hearts of many over this last week. We all remember the morning of Monday, the fifth of this month, when we had no choice but to accept an ugly fact of reality that those of us who have friends in Japan learned last summer:
"We are not alone in this Universe."
She paused to allow shudders and hissed whispers to echo through the halls, such then being silenced by the banging of Blaise's gavel. "But we also should take great joy at the fact that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is at the very forefront of the defence of all of Earth," Mandy continued. "As so represented by Her Majesty's Starship Hood, which was commissioned into Her Majesty's most Royal Navy that very morning by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales…and returned from her first deep-space deployment on Friday just last with, thank Merlin, no loss of life among the ship's company. AND with their mission against aliens from the planets Uru and Phentax Two — who plotted to conquer this planet of ours and enslave all of us, magical and mundane alike! — a complete and unqualified success!"
The whispers and hissed voices began again, this time even louder as people exchanged heated words with friends and allies. They were once more silenced by Blaise and his gavel. "Ladies and gentlemen, I remind you that the Lady Potter still has the floor," he sternly declared. As begrudging nods came from the others in the room, he turned to smile once more at Mandy. "Lady Potter, my deepest apologies. Do go on."
"Again, with thanks, Lord Chief Warlock," Mandy stated. "While we wizards and witches have long done our best to live our lives away from the influence of the normal world, we have accidentally done ourselves a great disservice by constantly ignoring what was happening beyond the magical barriers of places such as Diagon and Hogsmeade," she continued. "And while for the most part, it seemed as if our normal cousins were still lagging behind in certain places, they were quickly gaining in others. Thanks to what happened last summer in Japan, the desires and concerns of our normal cousins to further press the limits of their technology were enhanced with the grim knowledge that beyond the limits of our own solar system, there were other races with the potential to reach out and visit us with great ease. And if they so desired it, conquer us!"
She paused as sucked-in breaths echoed through the room, and then she closed her eyes. "Thus, when the opportunity finally came a little over four months ago when the Lord Moroboshi Ataru of Japan and his noble siblings brought with them back from a two-month journey to other worlds fifty starships…AND the technology to support them and create more such ships to properly defend our world from future alien threats, normal governments worldwide — including our counterparts in Parliament just up the Thames — grasped that chance with both hands. And they did not let go!"
Total silence fell as Mandy took a deep breath. "Yet what did we do?! On seeing Hood for the first time last week, we panicked! Just like we did when the arch-traitor Tom Riddle somehow restored himself to life at the end of the Triwizard Tournament in 1995 and launched the Second Purification War! And some of us plotted ways by which we would destroy Hood and try to subdue if not kill off the Avalonians in their crew, not to mention those of that race that have now become Her Majesty's subjects and are starting new lives for themselves here in Britain. Are we so afraid of our own shadows that we would gladly plot to kill people — who fled a life of SEXUAL SLAVERY! — who came to OUR world seeking refuge?! And in doing so, gladly gave all the people of Earth access to ALL their advanced technology to help them better defend themselves in case other races came to attack and destroy them…AND US?! Why?! Because we can't stand the idea of the normals possessing the power Hood represents? That we can't stand the thought of the normals evolving non-magical psionic and other paranormal powers that matched the best magic we weld? That they could actually ACCEPT us as EQUALS?!"
People stared at her. Some were fascinated. Others were totally shocked by her boldness. Others still were shaking their heads in denial. "Well, I for one refuse to see our society be destroyed because there are those — most likely the same type of people who refused to raise wands when my husband was fighting Voldemort, if not actually fought on that half-blood bastard child's side! — who can't stand the idea that other human beings had elected not to remain in their caves and made something of their lives," Mandy finished, ignoring the angry looks from several in the audience on her referring to Tom Riddle with such derogatory terms…which struck her as completely hypocritical as the truth behind Voldemort had been known for over a decade. "I for one refuse to condone any attempts by any selfish fool who might want to provoke a fight with those who possess no hatred towards us as a people and society. And I'm afraid I've got some bad news for those who would walk down that path: As Director Granger said to the Daily Prophet on Saturday, the cries for action have made their way to Buckingham Palace! The Queen now is fully aware of what's going on here! And she — when my husband, my co-wife and I met her on Hood on Friday — told us this…"
She ignored the horrified gasps from several places in the audience; while the loyalty to the Crown was ALWAYS acknowledged, to actually go VISIT the Sovereign was seen as something wizards normally did not do unless they were summoned by her…which Mandy conveniently forgot to mention. "If ANYONE under the protection of the Separation Act of 1692 — if any WIZARD or WITCH living in Britain, in other words! — tries anything against Hood, members of her crew or any Avalonian who has come to settle in Britain and swears the Oath of Loyalty to become Her Majesty's subject, they will no longer seen as worthy of BEING protected by that Act!" the Marchioness of Taunton Deane warned. "They will be declared TRAITORS to the Crown and MAGIC ITSELF!" Mandy smirked as shrieks echoed from the crowd around her before she finished, "And then spend the rest of their lives as squibs, forever forced to fend for themselves!"
"SHE CAN'T DO THAT!"
Eyes locked on Draco, who was now totally white-faced as he stared in denial at Mandy. Before Blaise could shout him down, Kingsley's deep voice echoed throughout the room, "She can, Lord Malfoy! She's the Queen! OUR Queen! Remember?!"
The Marquess of Avebury gulped before he sank into his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. Watching this, Harry could only shake his head; clearly, the stupid blond inbred idiot obviously hadn't got the underlying message the articles in the Prophet had put out. "So instead of trying to reject them because of what differences they have with us, let's look for the similarities between us and our new countrywomen from the stars. And use those similarities to forge a bond of friendship that will benefit both sides and last for ages to come!" Mandy finished. "For if they begin to intermarry with normal people in Britain — or magical people as we all know that my sister-in-law, the Lady Healer Magistra Magi Rose Potter, and all her old classmates from Meridiana who were given new life thanks to both Headmistress Hufflepuff's curse and the actions of the Elder Mother of all Avalonians in the United Kingdom, Madame Alice Holmes, are Terran-turned-Avalonians themselves — the chances are very good that sometime in the future, we may be seeing Avalonian wizards and witches go to school at Hogwarts!" As jaws around her dropped in shocked surprise, she shook her head. "They could be the salvation for the future we've long sought for our society these last few decades! The salvation that the late Headmaster Dumbledore always passionately believed lay in the normal-borns that join our society every year when they're invited to learn about magic at Hogwarts!" As people gaped in disbelief on sensing no acrimony in Mandy's voice on mentioning Albus Dumbledore — who had been effectively responsible for her being rendered a squib for twelve years! — she added, "No matter how much some of us try to deny it, the charter that was granted to Hogwarts by King William and Queen Mary over three centuries ago states that all born in the British Isles and blessed with magic have the undeniable right to learn of their gifts at that great old castle in Scotland! Do we deny the rights that charter guarantees to future children who are not just blessed with magic…but with telepathy, empathy and an eight hundred year lifespan potential?! I say it would be stupid beyond belief to alienate them!" She then curtly nodded to Blaise. "I yield the floor, Lord Chief Warlock."
She sat as many of the people in the room — including a large crowd in the visitor's gallery, all of the Weasleys and their new in-law among them — applauded. Watching the known "dark" members of the Wizengamot, Harry was quick to see them shaking their heads in denial over realizing that their hopes of regaining control over their society was slipping even further and further away from their fingers. After the noise finally died down, Blaise perked on hearing someone clear his throat. "Do you wish to make a statement, Minister?"
"I would, Chief Warlock," Kingsley said. "Much that I too sometimes find the advances in normal technology quite perplexing — and truly find what I saw of Avalonian technology when I was aboard Hood on Friday evening as being almost magical in its own way — we can't forget that the normals in this land have as much right to live their own lives as they choose to do so as we do. That was the basic argument that made the Separation Act — and the Statue of Secrecy — reality in the first place. That too many seem to have forgotten that is something that is quite disgraceful in my eyes. And I will not risk the Queen's wrath if this attitude ends up hurting people who — as the Lady Potter just so indicated — wish us no ill will. To that end, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will continue to maintain open contact with Avalonian-Britons throughout the United Kingdom — especially those who have joined Her Majesty's Armed Forces, both regular and part-time…as well as those who no doubt are moving to become members of civilian policing agencies across the country — to make sure that we guard against such miscreants who would disrupt lives for no logical reason. And yes, while this does potentially risk exposing our society to too many outsiders, I believe the potential benefits far outweigh the potential pitfalls. We have sat too long on our laurels and done nothing for ourselves. Voldemort resulted from that! We were lucky the last time; Prophecy came to help us. We may not be so lucky the next time!"
While there were still looks of denial in the faces of some — like Draco Malfoy — others were quick to nod to what the Minister for Magic just said. After Kingsley then took his seat, Blaise turned to the members of the Wizengamot. "Is there any further business that needs to be looked at today?" He then smiled politely on seeing Daphne light up her lamp. "The House recognizes the Lady Daphne Greengrass of Mutuantonis."
"With thanks, Lord Chief Warlock. I shall not be long," Daphne said after standing. "I would like to reintroduce the proposed bill concerning the striking of The Defunct Lords Act of 1957 from the law books, such having been introduced in the first session of the current legislative year." As some people gasped — with the removal of that law, those normal-borns who were descent from former lords of the Wizengamot who could have claimed their family seats under traditional rules would be able to sit at last among their fellow magical lords…such as Hermione Granger, who was descent from the Noble House of Carter of Ifield — at the sudden introduction of such a hot piece of legislation, Daphne then smiled. "While we have two new members who have joined us today, I can say that both the Lady Amanda Potter and the Lady Pansy Black are fully aware of the text of this bill, so I propose also that we waive off a re-reading of the legislation."
Neville Longbottom then tapped his voting lamp, moving seconds before Draco could. "The House recognizes the Lord Neville Longbottom of Holdenhurst," Blaise said.
As Draco tried not to hiss in anger at being beaten by the man who had helped destroy Voldemort's last horcrux at the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville rose. "Lord Chief Warlock, as the Lady Daphne has indicated that the Lady Amanda and the Lady Pansy are aware of the contents of the proposed bill, I would like to second her proposal to waive off the re-reading of the legislation…and move immediately to vote on the legislation."
Since the voting lamps would always go dim when the Chief Warlock recognized one of the Wizengamot's members, Blaise then glanced to his right as the lamp of the person next to Daphne's was lit, "The House recognizes the Lord Michael Parkinson of Keerford."
Michael stood. "Lord Chief Warlock, I would like to third the proposal by the Lady Daphne to waive the reading of the proposed legislation…and also second the Lord Neville's proposal to move immediately to vote on the legislation."
Blaise tried not to smirk too much; thanks to Pansy's brother, he could move this debate on to its proper and long-overdue conclusion. "As there is a proposal to waive re-reading of the proposed legislation to strike off The Defunct Lords Act of 1957 from the Rolls of Magical Law — one that has been seconded and supported by two of the Seven and Ten — a vote will be held now.
"All in favour…?"
The Leaky Cauldron, lunchtime…
"So, Lady Granger…how does it feel to be part of the Wizengamot finally?"
"Well, I'll have to see how becoming a voting member would affect my other duties, Molly. Even though I'm not officially a director of any Ministry department, I am pretty high up in the DMLE hierarchy," Hermione stated after everyone drank from their cups of tea and coffee after toasting the first major blow to have been struck against the legacy of Voldemort in five years. "Atop that, all the other would-be lords and ladies who would have been denied their place in the Wizengamot because of that act will have to be asked if they want to join up as well. I know several from my class at Hogwarts who'd qualify."
"Who?!" Ginny asked from beside Nell; the would-be medical assistant was in a beautiful kimono decorated with mythical Western animals and flowers. She was also wearing her green meson earring with the symbol of a Royal Navy medical assistant on her left lobe.
"Dean Thomas, Kevin Entwhistle and Lisa Turpin," Hermione stated before she gazed in amusement at Mandy. "You as well, Mandy; your mother's family…"
"The Noble House of Lynch of Knapton. I know," Mandy stated. "That was the reason my father drove so hard to get me married to Harry. When Mum and my brother died, I was seen as the magical heir of the house…but couldn't claim the seat in the Wizengamot thanks to Malfoy's grandfather. Once I was married to Harry BEFORE he came of age…!"
The others in the room nodded. "Pity that I claimed both the Potter and Black seats — and gained my emancipation — just after Sirius died," Harry noted. "That was the first thing Tsukiko-sensei insisted on my doing before she started training me in earnest."
Some of the older people there shuddered on hearing THAT name. "A prank worthy of a Marauder, mate!" George mused as people snickered. "Remember the look on Malfoy's face when the news came that Harry became Lord Black?"
"Oh, did he ever carry on and on about that when we got back to school afterwards," Daphne noted.
"I still can't understand why Albus hated that," Molly noted.
Ron sighed. "Mum, you've got to stop looking at the man like he was bloody Merlin reborn!" he stated. "He made mistakes! A tonne of them! Not letting Harry know a damned thing about what he was supposed to do once Hagrid took him to Gringotts the first time was just the start of it!" He shook his head.
"Pity none of us ever thought of that sort of thing," Fred noted. "We always assumed Harry knew these things. By the time we all finally clued into it…"
Harry shook his head. "Don't worry about it, guys. Let it be."
"So what will you do with your family seat, Mandy?" Lì Sǔ — who had been one of Mandy's two friends from Ravenclaw to remain in contact with her when she had lost her magic in 1998; the other one had been Daphne Greengrass' co-worker Lisa Turpin, who was busy down in the Department of Mysteries at this time — asked.
"Well, I'll need a proxy. Hey, Dora! Interested?"
Eyes locked on Dora Lupin, who was currently cuddling her son in her arms, a content look on her face. "Ask her when she's not so distracted," Pansy noted.
The others all grinned on seeing that as all the women in the room felt their eyes mist in sympathy. "So what will you do, Ginny?" Tracey Davis then asked.
Ginny sighed. "Well, I don't know. I missed out on taking my NEWTs and I don't know if I want to pursue a career in quidditch." She then hummed. "Still…"
"What?" Arthur asked.
"There is the military."
Silence.
"WHAT?!" Molly shrieked out. "NO! NEVER! YOU WILL NOT JOIN THE NAVY! YES, YOU'RE MARRIED TO A NAVY WOMAN, BUT YOU WILL STAY AT HOME WHERE I CAN…UURK!"
People gaped on seeing the elder Weasley's eyes roll into her head before she slumped unconscious in her chair. "Sorry about that," Nell said as she pulled her hand back.
Everyone gaped, and then the twins grinned. "Fred?" George began.
"Yeah, George?"
"Did I see our sister-in-law use a Vulcan nerve pinch on our own mother?"
"Indeed you did see that, dear brother, because I saw it as well!"
Both men gazed at each other…and then they dropped to their knees and began bowing deeply to the would-be medic. "WE'RE NOT WORTHY! WE'RE NOT WORTHY! WE'RE NOT WORTHY! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!" they chanted every time they bowed.
Laughter filled the main lounge as Arthur — who could understand why his sons didn't care too much for their mother's domineering attitudes at times — moved to help adjust the stunned Molly in her chair as Tom Dodderidge, the owner of the Cauldron, came up to refill people's cups before heading back to the bar. "Hey, Nell, tell me something," Ginny mused.
"What's that, Ginny-vayae?" Nell asked.
Ginny's cheeks turned a deep red on hearing her wife call her "My Darling Ginny" in Sagussan. "Are there married quarters on Hood?" she wondered.
"Unfortunately, no," Nell admitted. "Which is one of the things Tsukihana-oniisama and Ayami-onēsama forgot to put into those ships when they built them."
People chuckled. "Well, if you want, girls, you can use the spare flat above the shop," Fred said as the twins got back to their feet and sat down.
"Are you sure, Oniisan-tachi?" Nell asked.
The twins blushed — there was a magical translation field in the Leaky Cauldron due to it being a popular place for travellers from all over Earth — on hearing their sister-in-law call them "elder brothers" in Japanese. "We'll do it! But no using Nell for testing products!" Ginny declared. "I don't want to explain to the people at Raleigh why my wife has blue hair or gold skin or Merlin only knows what else!"
"No problem, Gin-gin!" Fred said.
"Given how powerful Dora is now…" George added.
"…and guessing you're the same way…"
"…we certainly do not…"
"…want to face a Bat-Bogey Hex!" both men finished.
People laughed on hearing the infamous twin-speak from Fred and George, and then they whooped as Ginny and Nell shared a kiss. At that moment, the would-be medic then tensed as five people walked through the main doors from Charing Cross Road. "Leilani! Zoe! Keeley! Madison! Hayley! What are you guys doing here?!" she asked as five of her sisters and shipmates from Hood — all dressed in beautiful casual wear with their ship's crest on their blouses and their earrings hanging from their left lower lobes — came up to them, clearly not bothered by the normal repellent fields that ensured that no casual passer-by could walk into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Oh, don't mind us, Nell," Leilani Dowding said as she and her friends gazed fondly on Ron…and then they looked at the twins and Blaise Zabini with very frank glances. "After all, you found a nice bond-mate among the magicals here in Britain."
"We wanted to see what potential child-mates may be available," Madison Welch said, grasping the hand of her bond-mate Keeley Hazell as her eyes fell on a wide-eyed Blaise before she turned to wink at a madly blushing Ron. "After all, Master Ronald here gave us such a good impression on Friday night."
"Not to mention seeking out bond-mates ourselves, sisters," Zoe McConnell mused as she gazed frankly at a wide-eyed Millicent Bulstrode…who had discovered her sexual orientation long ago while at Hogwarts and — upon learning of them back in February — privately hoped a pretty Avalonian-Briton would come along and select her as her lover.
"Oh, indeed we must," Hayley Coppin noted as she gazed on Daphne Greengrass.
"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" Harry wondered.
"We've got the week off before we head off to Raleigh, Director Potter," Leilani said. "Subject to special recall in case some idiot tries something stupid…"
"Which would probably not happen," Madison mused.
"Thank Lyna for that!" Zoe breathed out.
People gazed at them, and then laughter filled the room…
The End…For Now!
WRITER'S POSTSCRIPT
No real inspiration for this one other than a plot bunny that demanded to be let free of the cage and run around the briar patch.
WRITER'S NOTES
1) Translations: Marei'cha — Literally "the one with whom you raise a child" and normally translated as "bond-mate," this is the Avalonian version of a marriage bond; -tachi — The Japanese language convention that serves as the equivalent to the English plural "s" ending to a noun.
2) The rankings of the Houses of the Wizengamot in this story and my Icemaidens stories:
Noble House (a magical barony) — 1 point in the Wizengamot (34 houses = 34 votes)
Most Noble House (a magical viscountcy) — 2 points in the Wizengamot (18 houses = 36 votes)
Noble and Ancient House (a magical earldom) — 3 points in the Wizengamot (10 houses = 30 votes)
Noble and Most Ancient House (a magical marquessate) — 4 points in the Wizengamot (7 houses = 28 votes)
The grand total of all noble houses in the Wizengamot — including extinct houses — would be sixty-nine separate houses sharing a vote spread of 128 "seat" votes. Normal wizarding families (such as the Weasleys and Bulstrodes) are known as Loyal Magical Houses and only have influence on the Ministry (as noted in the text above) when comes time to elect Her Majesty's Minister for Magic (the only pure democratic process in wizarding Britain) every ten years (or whenever the sitting Minister is either impeached and removed from office [as Cornelius Fudge was in 1996 and Pius Thicknesse was in the wake of Voldemort's downfall] or dies in office [as what happened to Rufus Scrimgeour in 1997]).
As an aside, here are the place name locations for all the various lordships noted here:
The Marquessate of Taunton Deane (Harry Potter) — Named after the hundred (a sub-division of a shire that could hold a hundred households) of Taunton Deane, located in County Somerset around the county town of Taunton near the border with County Devon.
The Marquessate of Grimmauld (originally Sirius Black, later Harry Potter) — Named after the lane where the Black townhouse was located at 12 Grimmauld Place. I place that location in the London borough of Islington a kilometre east of Regent's Park.
The Earldom of Keerford (Michael Parkinson) — This is the medieval name for the modern town of Carnforth at the northern end of County Lancashire. The name itself indicates a ford over the River Keer about two kilometres inland from Morecambe Bay.
The Marquessate of Holdenhurst (Neville Longbottom) — This is the name of a small village at the eastern end of County Dorset near the border with County Hampshire. Holdenhurst is a suburb of the city of Bournemouth about three kilometres inland from the English Channel.
The Marquessate of Avebury (Draco Malfoy) — This is the name of a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles around the village of the same name in County Wiltshire in southwest England, about twenty kilometres north of Stonehenge. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe.
The Earldom of Mutuantonis (Daphne Greengrass) — This is the name of a Roman village said to have been located near the town of Lewes, which is the central town of the Eastern Ceremonial Ridings of County Sussex, about fifty kilometres south of London.
The Barony of Lewisham (Blaise Zabini) — This is the name of one of the boroughs of London, located on the south bank of the River Thames about six kilometres southeast of the City of London itself (which is right at the geographic centre of Greater London).
The Barony of Ifield (Hermione Granger) — This is the name of a former village in West Sussex; it was absorbed into the larger town of Crawley…which, as noted before, is just four kilometres south of London Gatwick Airport and thirty kilometres south of London.
The Barony of Knapton (Mandy Brocklehurst) — This is the name of a village in County Norfolk, located two kilometres inland from the North Sea coast and about twenty kilometres north-northeast from Norwich.
As for the other normal-borns/normal-raised people mentioned by Hermione above:
Dean Thomas would inherit the Barony of Aelius Bridge, which is a variation of the Latin term Pons Aelius ("Aelian Bridge"), which is located on the north bank of the River Tyne in the modern city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne about ten kilometres inland from the North Sea in the modern ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear.
Kevin Entwhistle would inherit the Barony of Accrington, which is the name of a town in County Lancashire about thirty kilometres north of the city of Manchester. Currently, Accrington is part of the borough of Hyndburn, which is at the south end of Lancashire.
And Lisa Turpin would inherit the Barony of Brechin, which is the name of a town and royal borough now located in the old Scottish county of Angus. Brechin (in Scots Gaelic, Breichinn) is located ten kilometres inland from the North Sea coast about seventy-five kilometres north-northeast of Edinburgh.
3) The characters of Lieutenant Cambria Nelson of the Royal Navy, Captain Britannia Wellesley of the Life Guards (Britain's senior cavalry regiment) and Flight Lieutenant Caledonia Mannock of the Royal Air Force are my own creation; they would be the British participants in the Steel Angel War as depicted in the early volumes of the Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi manga series. I first used these girls in an episode of the Emperor's Army storyline at the Anime Add-venture that ultimately inspired Phoenix From the Ashes; they appeared in episode #235416, "Harry Gets A Harem and Negi Gets A Big Sister." As noted in Part 52 of PFtA, Moroboshi Negako promised all the Steel Angels that they would gain the chance to become organic humans.
Cambria, Britannia and Caledonia made brief appearances in Part 61 of PFtA.
4) Betty Braithwaite was a minor character from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; she interviewed her Daily Prophet co-worker Rita Skeeter concerning her upcoming expose on Albus Dumbledore in that story. I expanded on the character in the Icemaidens stories and gave her a history.
5) The concept of requesting to sire — as Crys introduced in Pureblood Traditions — means that a wizard can be solicited to help parent a child for a witch without the necessity of said witch marrying said wizard. The reverse process would be called requesting to dam. Any child of such a coupling can be raised either by the parent requesting someone to sire/dam said child (sole custody) or raised by both parents (joint custody). Inheritance issues — especially when it comes to scions of noble houses — could be decided at the time the request to sire/dam is placed in. This process would allow same-sex couples to have children of their own.
As an aside, in my eyes — stemming from JKR's revelation that Albus Dumbledore was gay — this would demonstrate some of the social advances magical society would have achieved long before like developments would occur in normal society; in the universe of this story and my Icemaidens stories, same-sex marriages became legal in wizarding Britain in the late 1800s.
6) The Húŋkpapȟa (literally meaning either "end village" or "head of the circle") compose one of the seven main groups (called council fires) of the Lakota people (often called "Lakora Sioux") who are native to the Great Plains of North America. The Húŋkpapȟa — as with the other Lakota — are concentrated these days in reservations that can be found in North and South Dakota. I was inspired to mention this group thanks to The Mandatory Marriage Contract Fic by Itsme66; the character of "He Cheated the Bearded Ones" — in fact, a magical version of the very real Lakota chief Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake AKA Sitting Bull (circa 1831-1890) — was a character in that story and will have a background role in Part III of this series of side stories. Many thanks, as always, to Itsme66 for the use of his interpretation of Elder Tȟatȟáŋka in my stories.
7) The Magical Beings, Beasts and Spirits Act, 1811 is my name for the official Wizengamot legislation that drew up the current classification list of all magical beings known to wizards and witches in Britain.
8) Mesonium (often nicknamed "meson") and Bauximite are fictional trans-uranium elements I sometimes use in my stories. The former — as described in The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone — is "the atom of the mind and soul…and thus, of magic." Mesonium is the element a Power Jewel is constructed of. Bauximite is a highly explosive non-radioactive element that can be as temperamental as nitroglycerine if improperly handled. Bonding atoms of bauximite with hydrogen can make it more stable.
As an aside, the Lawgiver — inspired by the like-named sidearm in Judge Dredd — is the standard sidearm of the Men In Black and various alien governments known to them.
9) Those fans of the Tintin comics should recognize the old folk saying Harry thinks of as he watches over Draco in the Wizengamot meeting near the end of this story.
10) I realize it would be quite odd to have a bank control and influence things such as inheritance issues and who assumes the headship of a family. In the normal world, this doesn't happen. However, it has long been a staple of Harry Potter fan fiction stories that Gringotts — officially titled in my stories as The International Mercantile Bank of Gringotts — has such powers; this concept usually runs hand-in-hand with the "helpful goblins" theme that have appeared in fan fiction stories, especially after the revelations made in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows concerning goblin law and customs as note how Griphook reacted to wizards possessing the Sword of Gryffindor.
As a nod to all those fanfics, I devised the Treaty of 1779 Between His Majesty's Ministry of Magic and the International Mercantile Bank of Gringotts to officially legislate this issue in the universe of this story. This treaty — which followed the last open goblin rebellion against wizarding influence and restrictions over the former race's internal affairs — did several things. One of them, of course, forbade the use of wizarding magic on the premises of Gringotts without the permission of the goblins; to even DRAW a wand in the presence of any employee of the bank unbidden would result in the wizard or witch being killed right then and there. Another clause — as noted by Mandy above — was to give Gringotts the right and duty to administer all matters concerning wills and all related matters such as disposition of property and the bestowing of lordships unto worthy heirs; along with this would be the right to administer such matters as the registering of voting proxies in the Wizengamot.
In essence, this second clause effectively wiped out all influence by the Ministry of Magic in whomever takes up a voting seat in the Wizengamot and the actual time such person can assume such a role. This would ensure that no one — not even someone as influential as Albus Dumbledore when he was both Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Conference of Magical Communities — could object when Harry Potter was made the Marquess of Grimmauld after Sirius Black died in 1996; on his becoming the new lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Harry was legally emancipated as an adult a year ahead of his achieving his majority and could then claim his own family seat to become the new lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter/Marquess of Taunton Deane. This potential outcome prompted the whole issue concerning Albus going behind Harry's back to force an engagement to Mandy Brocklehurst which so badly affected her life in the wake of the Battle of Hogwarts; it was hoped that by forcing Harry to marry Mandy, Mandy's father could influence the joint Potter-Black votes in the Wizengamot to keep them allied to the "Light."
In return, the goblins vowed to never institute any schools that taught wand magic that is learned at Hogwarts. Also, the goblins vowed to never have any commerce with any graduate of the Meridiana Magic Academy; this will be emphasized in detail in the next Wizards and Avalonians story. Both these concessions, however, really don't affect Gringotts' overall earnings. While goblins working for the British branch of the bank in Diagon Alley may be forced to adhere to such restrictions, goblins have their own magic — which is usually projected through metal implements such as swords and daggers — to defend themselves. Atop that, given that Gringotts is an INTERNATIONAL bank with branches worldwide, those branches in other countries could easily take up business with Meridiana graduates in those nations if need be.
11) Harry's sister Rose Potter mentioned by Mandy here in this part is the same character I created for my Icemaidens series of stories. As to how she came into being and how she became an Avalonian, that will be explained in the next two Wizards and Avalonians stories. Also mentioned in this story are Draco's sister Raven Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter Cassiopeia Lestrange; the first versions of both of them also appeared in the Icemaidens series.
12) The Defunct Lords Act, 1957 is my name for the legislation which officially declared various Houses of the Wizengamot "deceased" due to the fact that no proper magical heir — in other words, a child of magical parents who did NOT receive an invitation to Hogwarts at age eleven — had appeared to take control of the family seat in the Wizengamot. This is the explanation I used in my Icemaidens stories to explain why the Wizengamot only had about fifty members at the time of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; the fact that this law existed was one of the first blows Voldemort's allies among the pureblood nobility struck against the Ministry of Magic to ensure that normal-borns could not derail any legislation that would come to hurt them in the long term. As noted by Mandy above, the person who wrote the bill that would become the Defunct Lords Act was Draco Malfoy's late grandfather Abraxas.
13) Notes on the namesakes of Hood's Avalonian crew introduced in this part: Zoe McConnell (born 1981) first began topless modelling in 1999, but later gravitated to professional photography; Madison Welch (born 1990) would get the chance to guest-star on the popular automotive review show Top Gear; Keeley Hazell (born 1986) began modelling at age 17 and also gravitated to both acting and environmental activism; and Hayley-Marie Coppin (born 1983), who began modelling in 2003 and later gravitated to soft-core pornography.
As for their trades while serving in the Royal Navy, Zoe's namesake intends to become a Steward - Catering Services Logistician (the equal of a United States Navy Culinary Specialist who works in the wardroom). Madison's spirit-sister plans to become a Writer - Logistician (equal to a United States Navy Yeoman). Keeley's namesake will become an Engineering Technician (Weapons Engineering) (equal to an USN Gunner's Mate). And Hayley's spirit-sister will serve as an Engineering Technician (Marine Engineering) (equal to the rating of Machinist's Mate across the Atlantic).