Chapter 69 - Past, Present and Future
July opened hot and sweltering, a heat wave across southern England that showed no sign of letting up soon. The heat did nothing to dissuade crowds of shoppers in London who were checking out the hot new arrival on the fashion scene, the Foxy Lady label which was being taken up by another retail outlet every week.
The stores were also running hot, selling more and more of the gorgeous, well-priced but most of all cool dresses to the teens and younger ladies in their market niche. Microscopic Fuinjutsu arrays lined each of these dresses that reacted to cues like sweat to adjust to the weather. It had been a lucrative brainwave from Jennifer that unlocked that ability for their seals and now, they were reaping the benefits.
Already, there were questions coming in from other fashion houses, ranging from the direct, and unsuccessful, "How do you do that?" to more subtle queries whether they would licence out the technique to others for a modest fee. Negotiations on that point were stalled while the Clan and the Alliance as a whole tried to make up their minds.
While it could be a real money earner, it would either require one of them trained in the art to apply to each and every piece, or letting out the knowledge of seals. That was one of their biggest advantages and dangerous knowledge in its own right.
On the other side of the shroud of secrecy, Narcissa Malfoy was turning out to be their best form of advertising, especially once she saw the discount she got for bringing in new customers to the shop. Naturally, she could not talk about the private fittings she enjoyed, but with her seal of approval, the new 'Muggle-tainted' business was taking off faster than before.
At the end of the first week, Jennifer, Lavender, Angelique and Ino gathered around a table at the Kitsune Compound, examining the figures both for that week and overall.
"I have to say," Angelique purred, "that 'Lady' Malfoy has really turned things around for us. Since her first time in the shop, every week has seen more people in Bewitched than the last, even more than our projections."
"We have also started making a real profit." Jennifer pointed out. "Even our best projections didn't anticipate that for another month or two."
"It helps that we already owned the site." Ino replied. "And that it wasn't a profitable business either."
"True," Jennifer allowed, "but it does highlight how much influence one person can have."
"Like Harry," Lavender said with a grin. "Merlin, if those ladies knew that their clothing had been designed and hand-made by the Boy-Who-Lived!" She laughed delightedly.
Angelique frowned. "Yes, our sales would go through the roof, but poor Harry! He would have to go into hiding!" She waggled her eyebrows as she finished her little joke.
"Ah, he is very special." Lavender said. "I can't wait for my date tonight with him."
"Where will he be taking you?" Ino asked.
"Everywhere, I hope." Lavender replied.
"Not what I meant." Ino replied repressively, though her small smile said she wasn't angry.
"We're heading to the beach at Brighton, a moonlit walk and dinner at an Indian restaurant he found."
"I must confess," Angelique said, "I still do not see ze attraction in some of those dishes. Far too spicy! It is all you can taste! And then what are you to do with dessert?"
Jennifer laughed. "I agree. Some spicy food is fine, though. I need to have variety."
Angelique nodded and blushed as thoughts of variety went to other places, though she still agreed.
"We are still not moving as fast as on the regular side of things, though." Jennifer brought them back on topic. "Even if we sacrificed our Harry that way, the magical market is simply not big enough to outstrip regular demand for long."
"Very true." Ino's eyes danced as she recognised where the other girls' minds were. "There is a lot more variety in the regular market, as well, and that only emphasises the differences. Add in the different expectations and it adds up to the magical market being far smaller even for the size of population. The regular fashion world is all about having the right dress, the right look for right now."
"And the magical world wants a dress that can last." Angelique replied.
"Mhm, one that lasts as long as Harry does." Ino grinned at the expressions on their faces. Teasing them was such fun!
As time passed, Harry noticed a change at the 'dance club' at the Kitsune Compound. Before, the place saw only sporadic use from the Angels who mostly left it to Harry and his Jewels, especially Michelle, the eager little dancer.
In the last few weeks, the Angels were using it a lot more, ever since he got home from Hogwarts. They were even dancing with him and not just the kinds of dancing he thought Hinata-mum would approve of. Honestly, Harry had a ball, too, getting to try moves that his Jewels couldn't handle just yet and giving the girls fresh ideas.
In the end, however, he decided he had to know so he approached Anko-mum and, while they were out on the dance floor, he asked her the question that had been plaguing him. "Why?"
"Because." Anko answered impishly.
"Be serious!" Harry complained.
"Ask a real question and I might!" she hit back. "It's like we never trained you to be precise, the way you are acting."
"Why are you dancing with me like this? Why has Hinata-mum allowed it?"
"Do you really think she would force me to stop?"
"No, I think that you wouldn't be out here dancing the Mamba with me if you hadn't cleared it with the others first, no matter how much fun I am having."
"As it happens, the fun you are having is a big part of why I am out here dancing with my sexy son. The fun I have is the other."
"But what about..."
"Hinata knows, Harry. And you were right, of course. No matter how much fun dancing with a talented partner is, it isn't worth causing trouble in my marriage so we did talk about this."
Anko looked seriously into Harry's eyes, observing his reactions. "So, I pointed out that we aren't staying on this world forever. Eventually, you will grow up and move on with your life and we will have learned everything we can here. Our study holiday will come to an end, and we will go home to the Elemental Nations."
Harry's eyes widened and only his training kept his body moving on autopilot as his mind tried to shut down. "You're all leaving me?" Harry asked in a small voice. His mind was racing. Naruto and the Angels had rescued him from the Dursleys. They taught him so much, starting with how to love himself, the starting point for loving other people like his Jewels. 'How can they abandon me?!' he thought in a panic.
Anko kissed his forehead. "No, Harry. We aren't abandoning you. At some point, you won't need us any longer. You will have your own life to lead and will need to move out of our shadow. It's something all parents have to deal with, the day when your children are adults in their own right with their own lives and you have to step aside. We most certainly are not going to leave while you still have that stupid Prophecy over your head and a diseased society to treat. Nor are we going to leave you to deal with a world close to annihilation. We have been working hard to clean things up so when you do go out into the world without us, it's a better one than we had."
Harry nodded, proud he had his voice under control as he replied, "Progress."
"Exactly. That job isn't finished, it won't ever be completely finished, but there's still a lot we can do to help you, and we will."
Harry relaxed slowly. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Anko teased. "For having a perfectly natural fear reaction, or for not taking advantage of the fact you have a sexy woman in your arms."
Harry realised with a start that they weren't dancing at all and quickly led them into another dance, getting back into the swing of things with the music doing its own part to relax him further. "So, the reason you and the others are dancing with me is because our time is limited?"
"Yes, Harry. We want to make sure that we take the chance to have fun and make good memories while we can. It's not a bad strategy for life in general." Anko added seriously.
"I can see that, I guess." Harry replied.
"And when we return, we don't know if our efforts to come back here will work or not," she added with a grin.
"Oh you! You mean -" Harry growled at her, letting her laughter wash over him, relaxing completely and then changing up the dance steps without warning, testing her adaptability for a change.
Harry wasn't the only one being tested. Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, both until recently of Hogwarts, found themselves repeatedly in a test for their very lives. The reluctant team were hunting up and down Britain and into France for special items of significance to Tom Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort.
As per one of the memories he had shown the young Potter boy, Albus had led his trusted ally to the old Gaunt shack. It had been deserted for many years since the young Tom Riddle engineered the death and incarceration of his remaining relatives. He could feel something in the ruins calling to him even before he reached the edge of the property, even through the wards that had been thrown up which told him there was something of value here, at least at one time.
After a quick glance at his young accomplice, he drew the Elder Wand and started casting spell after spell, not to attack but to understand what he was facing. The sheer number of spells on the property was intimidating.
"There's a Blood Boiling Curses, half a dozen separate Bone Breaking Hexes with different triggers, and a Blood Rotting Curse that I don't fully recognise. Here's a ward that triggers some spell a hair short of the Imperius in its power to control our actions, presumably to lead us to our deaths." Albus muttered, cataloguing the full list.
In all, there were over a dozen different types of enchantments they could trigger, ranging from the immediately lethal through to the horrifying slow death. Where both Voldemort and the Clan would have sent in disposable minions to clear out something of this magnitude, Dumbledore had neither the option nor the need. Instead, aided by the Elder Wand, he sapped at the power of each of the spells gradually while his young friend Severus kept watch that they remained unseen. While they couldn't risk the use of other magic to aid in that regard, nor in using the Supersensory charm, for fear it would be detected and draw the notice they were hoping to avoid, they could always abort the mission at any stage. The Anti-Apparation Jinx on the property was so weak it only acted as a notification at this time.
Spending over an hour to drain away the power of the defences, and spending much of his reserves to do so, was a nerve-wracking time for the pair, Snape especially who was an impatient man by nature. It took all his self-control not to snap at the doddering old fool to hurry up! But finally, it was done, and the call of the magic within burned strong and clear to their senses.
Striding confidently, Albus led the way, ignoring the hissing from the snake nailed to the door as he headed inside. There wasn't much left of the shack. Decades of neglect had ruined just about everything that had survived the poverty and wrath of the Gaunt family who lived there.
The only exception was a single floorboard that looked rough hewn but suspiciously intact. A lazily cast detection spell revealed only a minor trap on the floorboard, one Albus activated and dodged the dagger. After that, the floorboard was levitated out of the way and a small jewellery box was seen underneath.
Snape's sneer was automatic, seeing the overly gaudy packaging. 'No doubt it is some amateurish attempt at workmanship.'
Albus' reaction, however, was alarming. The ancient wizard dropped to his knees and reverently opened the box with his bare hands, ignoring all the basic precautions of their field trips. He gasped on seeing the contents, hidden from Snape by the lid, and immediately put a ring on his finger! "Albus! Are you out of your mind?!" Snape demanded, pulling his wand to train it on his partner, aiming to save him from himself.
Albus' absently cast Banishing Hex caught Snape in the stomach and flung him against a wooden wall. Only a hasty Cushioning Charm saved Snape from worse than a few splinters.
"Albus! Snap out of it, old man!" Snape was trying to see the other wizard's eyes, getting enough of a glimpse to see him consumed with awe! "What in Merlin's name is that thing?" And what was it doing to him? Already, Snape could feel the Dark curse on the ring taking hold of his partner.
"Hm? Oh, the Resurrection Stone." Albus' mind was obviously elsewhere as he reached down to twist the black stone set into the ring in accordance with the legendary tale of the Peverell brothers. Before he could, Snape snapped off a hasty spell and the interaction of the Banishing spell, aimed at the ring, and Albus' own efforts did what the spell could not have done alone: removing the ring.
The instant it was off his hand, Albus seemed to regain his old self though he rapidly lost all colour. "Quick, Severus, quick! My finger!"
Snape moved closer. There was a blackening band on one finger, the same one that had held the ring, obviously. He reached for a potion in his pack, dribbling the lurid yellow concoction over Albus' finger and frowning when it turned black immediately. He grabbed a second potion, a stronger one than the first to neutralise the poison but it too failed, though it seemed to slow the poison down.
"It's no good. We will have to get you to my lab immediately!"
Albus nodded, keeping the ring and stepping out more gingerly, then rushing when Snape pushed him to go faster. They reached the edge of the wards and Snape took the old man to back to his place, not trusting him to Apparate safely in his condition.
When the squeezing sensation was over, Snape glared around his lab, grabbing items seemingly at random while his left hand shoved Albus into a chair. Thankfully for Snape's continued health, Albus understood and sank into the chair rather than reacting lethally to the treatment.
An hour later, Albus' drooping eyes shot open when Snape forced a vile potion down his throat. "There, Albus. That's the best I can do."
Albus felt himself grow stronger everywhere except for his ring finger which was fully black now. A raised eyebrow conveyed his question and Snape scowled.
"I cannot repair all of the damage, Albus. It's your own damned fault for putting it on in the first place. You knew it was almost certainly cursed! What in Merlin's name were you thinking?"
"I don't know," Albus lied. He knew exactly what he was thinking when he saw the fabled Resurrection Stone seated in the Gaunt ring. He wanted that Hallow more than anything else. It was the only artefact rumoured to be able to call up the shades of loved ones who had already moved on to the next great adventure, and he so missed his sister Ariana. He wanted desperately to get her forgiveness for her death.
Snape shook his head, aware that Albus had probably lied to him. The damned old man loved his secrets, a trait they shared more than he liked to think.
"Whatever it was," he said, ignoring the issue, "that ring cursed you. Despite my best efforts and a fully stocked potions lab, you will do well to see out the decade. You will not see out the next."
"I understand." Dumbledore replied calmly with the return of his twinkle, disguising the panic he felt. He needed more time to get things done, but he had lost the Philosopher's Stone and only phoenix tears could cure him now. Fawkes would not shed any tears for an old man past his time who was dying at last.
Naruto looked at his son and shook his head. He was covering it well, but Naruto could see that Harry was still thinking about Anko's reminder of their departure. They were not leaving for at least a couple of years, his Angels would hang him if he tried to take them home before their boy got married, but the news had shaken his normally confident son.
"Harry, let's go for a drive."
Harry knew from the tone that it wasn't a casual suggestion. Leaving a clone in his place, he walked out to the garage with his father, looking him over for some clue as to what was going on. Naruto stayed quiet until they got onto the road, miles from home..
"You've been thinking about it, haven't you?"
"Yes." Harry sighed. "I know it's only natural in the circumstances, but it makes me feel such a child to be afraid of what will happen when you all leave here."
"And that's one reason we aren't leaving yet. We didn't spend a decade raising you as part of our family only to hurt you."
"I know that! I know. I even know you're softening the blow by giving me a lot of warning."
"Years of it." Naruto cheerfully confirmed. "Son, you're allowed to feel this way. It will pass in its own time as they always do so there's no need to feel guilty or embarrassed about it."
Harry nodded. "The knowledge isn't doing me much good right now, though."
"Of course not! If it had, you wouldn't be feeling conflicted."
Harry shook his head, smiling. He settled in, paying real attention to his surroundings for the first time in their journey. As he quickly checked his memory, he nodded to himself. Naruto had been driving them in a circle around Cranleigh until they finished their little talk and now he was taking them to a neighbouring town.
They got out at their destination, a sporting shooting range where his parents had a long-standing membership, and Naruto grinned at his son.
"Now, we get to have some fun."
Inside, they went through the usual routine. Harry was signed in as his father's guest for the day, they signed out the guns they wanted and walked out to the range. Harry used the familiar routine of checking his gun and loading it, relaxed by the physical activity which used up the energy his mind had been putting into his worries.
Wordlessly, father and son took their places. For the next hour, very few words were spoken but Harry felt his father's love and concern. Besides, the test of skill, getting exactly the right misses and final score, was a good challenge and potentially useful in its own right. By the end of it, Harry had a sore shoulder, a low score that wouldn't raise any eyebrows from observers, and a cool drink with his father while he soaked up the quiet praise.
As July came to an end, activity around the Kitsune Compound grew to a fever pitch, for it would soon be Harry's birthday and the Clan has something special planned. Beyond the normal things like inviting his friends and putting on dancing and a fantastic spread, his sixteenth was to be the occasion where much of the full Potter Alliance and the Lily Potter Foundation would be present.
While Voldemort had been quiet of late, none of the Clan were counting on that staying the case for his nemesis' birthday celebration so security had been quietly increased, too. The Lifeguards would put on a demonstration of duelling and combat for the guests while other divisions of the LPF would show off their own talents both to raise awareness as well as to bolster their morale. The point of all of this was that young Harry, days away from his sixteenth birthday, was the figurehead for the Foundation as the Boy-Who-Lived but more importantly as Lily Potter's son. The overall plan called for Harry to take over their reins of the company over the next couple of years in as smooth a transition as could be managed. His birthday was one event along that road towards his full control of the largest company in Wizarding Britain's history. This company, not even four years old, was already more powerful than some European Wizarding nations.
For the moment, however, nothing so grandiose was on Harry's mind as he listened to Athena describing her dreams as she sat on his lap.
"And recently, I have been curious about, well, biology." Athena blushed. "We've got living examples of different species from another world here at the Compound, and I am really wondering how different they are at a cellular level. Especially given chakra and bloodlines and, and all of that stuff!"
Harry nodded, "I know, their stories of snakes and slugs and toads as big as skyscrapers really take a lot to swallow."
Anko was listening in and inserted herself into the conversation. "They are just as shocking to see in person, kids. If they didn't have massive reserves of chakra, they couldn't exist let alone fight as they do when summoned. The number of times we saw Konoha wrecked by those fights was sickening during the Loops, and you don't want to know how many times that Manda, the giant Boss snake, killed us!"
Harry shook his head. "I still want to understand the Time Loops better, but each time I think about it all I get is a headache."
Athena grinned. "It's simple, Harry -"
"Oh, shush you." Harry replied with a grin. "I know what they were, but you try drawing up a timeline for them! I had to try a dozen times thanks to someone." He added a glare for Anko-mum who just laughed at him.
"Oh, please, you wouldn't take our word for it. You had to try for yourself."
"Very scientific of you." Athena teased him. "Getting results from repeated testing."
"Or is that insane?" Anko put in with a mock thoughtful tone. "I always get those mixed up."
Harry laughed, more than used to the ways his Jewels and the Angels could seamlessly work together to tease him.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for Harry, their efforts were cut off as it was time to move onto the more formal part of the day. Naruto took Harry to meet the various division heads and senior staff of the Lily Potter Foundation. With each of them, Naruto emphasised that Harry would be taking up the reins of the large company as he matured into the role. He let Harry's interactions show his intimate knowledge of their reports and their current problems, as well as what they were trying to do to solve them. Between them, they saw respect for the last Potter increase, approaching the levels he would need to work with them and over them in the future.
Mixed in with that was a lot of mingling with the various families that made up the Potter Alliance. Some of them he already knew very well, since their daughters were among his Jewels or their sons among his friends, but most of them he didn't have anything like that level of familiarity and this worked both ways.
A number of them showed hints that they thought Harry was the kind of Boy-Who-Lived they had read about in those children's books, especially after his comprehensive victory in the Triwizard Tournament. This was mildly disturbing to Harry finding that the myth he had tried to deconstruct was hanging on by the fingernails despite his best efforts.
Tsunade surprised him with a hug, grinning wickedly when she got a blush out of him for pushing his head to her generous chest and let him up. "Better. No brooding, Harry. You know the rules."
"'That way lies the Uchiha path'." Daphne quoted for him, looking like the bombshell she was in her summer dress. "And you know we won't let you do that, Harry." She gave him her own hug, a pleased smile on her lips when he reacted to her closeness. "Now, get back in there, mister. You still have a lot of work to do!" A quick kiss to his cheek and she was gone again, Harry's eyes tracking her ass as she walked away.
"Once more unto the breach, right, Harry?" Tsunade's businesslike voice brought him back to his surroundings.
"Right."
It wasn't all business, however. After a speech from Hinata and a toast to the birthday boy, Harry was free to relax fully. He knew he still had a lot of eyes on him so he was on good behaviour, but at least he didn't have to make any speeches of his own. He spent fifteen minutes congratulating the others who shared his birthday, or close to it, in the interval before the dinner was served. At one end of the main table sat Naruto with Hinata to his right and Hana to his left. At the other end, Harry sat with Hermione to his right, and Susan to her right, and Daphne to his left and Meaghan to her left. The rest of that table was filled with the rest of the Angels and Jewels, mingling freely as they ate inside in air conditioned comfort with a simulated starfield above their heads, mirroring the sky outside in the same way as at Hogwarts.
Over dinner, Sally-Anne got together with Ginny and cornered Yuugao, the Angel who was most concerned with their ongoing training, to talk about their favourite subject, the birthday boy himself. Yuugao had no objections, the two girls were eager to improve themselves and took her seriously as a teacher.
"I wanted to thank you again for putting in all that time and effort to help us." Sally-Anne told her.
"Me too!" Ginny chimed in.
"You're welcome." Yuugao replied and inclined her head in thanks. "You have both been a pleasure to teach. You try hard to absorb the lessons and put them into practice, and you ask questions when you have problems. If only all my students were as good as you."
"But, who?" Ginny was confused. "None of us Jewels would disrespect you. Harry was good at helping us understand how important these things are."
Yuugao gave a small smile. "He learned the hard way, girls."
"Harry?!" Ginny was scandalised. He was her hero, her living example of what could be done. "How could Harry not be perfect?"
Yuugao laughed at that. Seeing the glares, she settled for an amused smirk. "Oh, you wouldn't believe the trouble I had out of Harry. Despite a fine mind, those Dursleys had done their level best to ruin him. At first, he couldn't believe we thought him worthy of training and when we were finally getting over that hangup of his, he still had major issues with attacking any of us at all. And that damned Vernon," she growled, "put some damn fool notion in his head that women are weak and helpless. There he was, six years old, and he was afraid that he would really hurt us."
The girls' jaws dropped.
"It was almost as bad when my dear husband got over his laughter and tried to train Harry himself. He was pathetically afraid of upsetting us, but he also didn't want to hit us. We had rescued him and turned his life around, and he knew you didn't hit people you loved." Yuugao admitted with a fond sigh.
"Eventually, we got him past all of that, but it was very trying for me. I almost cried the first time he landed a blow, tears of relief and joy, mind you. After that, he started to let his anger out, which I admit worried us. No one could go through life without any anger, especially not what he went through, so we expected it to come out and prepared for it. Once it did, well, he has been working since on learning to deal with it rather than acting on it or bottling it up. That's where his pranking came from, really. A way to let out some of his stress without hurting people."
Sally-Anne nodded. "We saw that, and he uses pampering us in the same way. We don't really mind, of course."
"I'll bet." Yuugao said snarkily.
"But there are times we want to do things for ourselves too."
"Besides, he could stand to learn to really relax." Ginny added wistfully.
"Ah, I think we might be to blame for that." Yuugao blushed. "We taught him the Shadow Clone, of course. He had the reserves for it and there was so much to teach him and we had no idea how much time we had. That made us push him to keep going as much as he could. Every time he got a new clone, that meant he got more to do. Not all work, by any means, and we tried to keep the work and training more like fun and games, but he doesn't like to be lazy. Our method of rewarding his hard work means he pushed himself on, letting him learn a great deal, but also made it hard to get him to stop."
"We've noticed." Sally-Anne said dryly. It was one of the things she loved and hated about Harry. Sometimes it tired her out just to watch him working that hard, but then he brought the same energy and attention to detail to their love, too. "And I do believe we've been rewarding him for managing to relax, undoing some of that tendency of his to overwork himself."
"Good!" Yuugao said, and meant it. "Just because we had no choice but to push him hard to meet unknown threats doesn't mean we liked everything it was doing to him. Thank you, ladies, both of you." She gathered the girls for a hug, her hold hinting at the strength she held in reserve. "It does a mother proud to see her son so well loved."
There were other serious conversations taking place, too, starting with Ayame's talk with Jennifer, Ella and Sue Li about the future of the Lily Potter Foundation.
"...So we are still picking up more business on the Continent, but here in Wizarding Britain we have just about reached maximum profits. While we could expand into the remaining market niches, there aren't that many profits available simply because there isn't that much demand for the products. There's only so many self-repairing and self-cleaning brushes you can sell to someone, for instance, and while there are millions of housewives who would gladly buy them, we're forbidden from selling to them."
Sue Li nodded. "Thank you, Ayame. I know I was worried when Harry didn't care about the costs for the rituals, but now I see why."
"Exactly. We need to keep the money moving, too, and much of it is going between our own divisions as we ramp up production, so it doesn't cost that much, just brings certain plans forward, and means you girls get to be even more magical." When Ella raised an eyebrow, Ayame laughed a little. "Well, most of you."
Ella grinned when Sue gave her a hug. "Oh, don't worry, Sue, you know I am happy just the way I am. I am Harry's Jewel just like you, and that's something I'll never change."
"Good! Losing Megan was hard enough." She cleared her throat of the sudden obstruction. "So, what can we do to expand it all?"
"One thing we can do is to move more heavily into overseas markets. The Greengrass contacts have been very useful for that but I think we need to exploit the opportunity more heavily." Jennifer suggested, proud she had been listening to Ayame's business course.
"The French in particular. Not only are they a large market but they should be more open to certain things. Our clothing line and Clan-style cooking should both get a decent welcome there. Angelique confirmed that magical France is much like regular France in that and the Foxy Lady label is already picking up in Paris. Unsurprisingly, she and the other Veela are just as enamoured of the cooking you introduced as anyone else."
Ayame tilted her head, considering the idea. In truth, they had already looked at a range of options. "You make a good argument, Jennifer. And they are the closest market, too. Thanks to gaps in the magical and regular laws, we can import the clothing and other things into regular France easier without qualifying as a business there so long as we aren't selling them to the best of their knowledge. While for the magicals, they will appear there without using magical transportation so they won't qualify for their import laws."
The three Jewels laughed. "That's crazy! You mean we could avoid sales tax and all of that by taking things through the Chunnel or by boat?"
"It would have to be the Chunnel, but yes. Boats would be assumed to be magical since they're carrying goods for the magical population. As long as we don't use any of those, we can claim they are made in France and so not subject to import duties and their horrid paperwork!" Ayame finished in triumph and disgust. 'Really, it's just like they never cleaned out their bureaucracy when their 'Muggle' neighbours did in their various revolutions.' Ayame complained silently.
"And from there, we could work the rest of Europe by truck, rail or airline!" Sue Li exclaimed.
"In theory, yes. We'll see what actually happens, of course, but that's the plan. We will be looking into the idea of franchising out the businesses to local allies to avoid more taxes and red tape, too. We're still examining the labyrinth of laws passed by the Wizengamot to make sure but it's hopeful. As for the 'Colonies', well, who knows. They're even more closed off than most of the European magicals. All we know for now is that they are hostile to the Europeans."
"We will have to find out, then. Has anyone volunteered to make the trip?"
"We've got a squad of Lifeguards who all want to go. They would get danger pay, obviously, but we aren't sure that it would be advisable to send them. Right now, we're looking at some of the younger Muggleborn employees who could use a holiday."
The Jewels nodded, understanding that it wasn't going to happen just yet. The Clan hated to send their own into unknown danger.
Amelia had decided to bring up a more delicate subject when she spoke with the Angels. Gathering Diana to her, they went off to talk to Tsunade, the oldest of the Clan, though like the rest her body was still young.
"Thank you. I was hoping to get your opinion on our Harry's most ambitious plan."
"Reuniting the two worlds?"
"Without starting wars or witch hunts, yes." Amelia was worried. "I can understand why he wants to do it, and he's certainly proved his point that we are stronger together," she added, gesturing to the large gathering, "but I have to think of all the dangers involved! There are billions of them and only millions of us, and we've never had to coordinate on a global scale. If it came to war, they would slaughter us. How can I risk that?"
Diana was shocked, hearing it put that boldly. "You really think regular people could do that to wizards and witches?"
"We have no army. We have a few dozen Aurors. They have more soldiers, and far more deadly weapons, and are used to organising on these scales. We aren't."
"That's assuming it comes to war." Tsunade put in mildly. "One thing that we have been doing for over ten years now is working to prevent their wars from killing the Clan. A side-effect of that is making your people safer."
"How do you know it would help us like that?" Diana asked curiously.
"The biggest danger would be a nuclear war. It could start half a world away and yet this nation would be attacked within hours by weapons that destroy cities as big as London. By working behind the scenes, promoting rumours and views conducive to more moderate people in places of power, we have accelerated the fall of the hard-liners in the Soviet bloc and China. We have occasionally resorted to executing the very worst of them, people who have committed the worst of atrocities but were too well insulated from the consequences of their actions. We don't like doing that, not when we're supposed to be enjoying time off from our day job of combat, assassination and espionage. But it's necessary, so we did it."
Tsunade paused and waited for the pair to digest that. "We have also been working to reduce other dangers to our Harry, such as the kinds of bigotry that would lead to riots and so on. Where possible, we have worked within the constraints of ethics to cure that problem. It's far from complete, but in the last five years, though we had close calls in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, there have been no genocides. Compared to the rest of the century, that is a major improvement, and the changes are gathering pace. Racism and sexism are down, education is increasing, all paid for by a vibrant world economy, arguably our biggest achievement."
Ashley walked up during Tsunade's little speech and nodded. "Tsunade is right. News agencies in our world have noticed the changes, and just like Fudge would, a lot of politicians have claimed responsibility. Crime rates are also down since the economy is up, too."
Tsunade smiled. "As it happens, a number of those politicians are right, to an extent. Thanks to our encouragements, they have been able to fix things more than usual."
"That's a first!" Ashley joked.
"What is?" Tenten asked as she came in.
"Politicians telling the truth, politicians being responsible for good things, politicians fixing problems rather than causing them. Take your pick." Ashley replied.
"And that's the other major task." Tsunade said. "Restoring faith in politicians has required getting politicians in power who deserve their faith, but without that faith in place it can be almost impossible for them to deserve that faith."
"So you're the ones breaking the cycle." Amelia said.
"Right."
"Ok, so tell me honestly. Could we repeal the Statute of Secrecy?"
"Legally? You don't need to. The ICW has responsibility but no authority to enforce anything. Maintaining the secret has simply been something every magical government has chosen to do. After all, if they didn't, they'd have to give up their power." Tenten offered with a wry smile.
"Politically and socially speaking, I would recommend not dropping it just yet. There is still a lot of legwork to do before the plan is complete. Without that preparation, and the more favourable public opinion it will generate, the chance of real witch hunting is unacceptably high, over 80% if you did it tomorrow, dropping by around 6-7% per year after that." Tsunade made the pronouncement with all her authority and presence gained over her long life.
Diana made the calculation first. "A dozen years! So soon?"
"It will never go down to 0%," Tsunade hedged, "but yes, around then it should be safe enough. Wizards and witches will have mostly reintegrated into the regular economy and society, doing needed work that helps undo damage people have done to the planet. That should provide a fair amount of good will to offset the revelation that since your people went into hiding you have slaughtered millions of regular people and stolen memories from even more." Her eyes hardened at the end, her disgust and anger plain.
While Diana dropped her head, Amelia kept hers held high, safe in the knowledge that she had been working all her life to prevent that.
"Good." Tsunade said with a smile. "Don't forget it though. Neither the many crimes against regular people, for which they will be angry and justified, nor the way that you have opposed those crimes."
Eventually, the serious conversations came to an end and it was time for most of their guests to head home. The exceptions were a small number of outstanding employees who had been invited to stay over a day or two in luxury on a paid holiday, and the Jewels and their families were invited too.
When the clock struck midnight, Harry had slipped away from the party, leaving a clone in his place, while he and his Jewels headed to their private wing of the Compound. Sharing smiles with his ladies, they started to dance to an old waltz. While the others were content to stay in the air conditioned comfort of their dance hall, Luna and Harry wandered outside after the first tune finished. Still humming, Luna turned her head to look up at Harry.
Some fireworks went off and his emerald eyes flashed in the night, captivating Luna all over again and she reached up to pull him in for a sweet kiss. When the couple came up for air, Luna heard a new beat, faster, modern, and smiled a different smile at her beau.
"Come, Harry, dance with me again," she offered, and he swept her off her feet literally making her laugh and cling to him.
They danced some more in the warm summer air and Luna felt herself grow even warmer as time passed and their dancing sped up. Somehow, her shoes ended up on a bench as they danced barefoot under the stars, Luna breaking off from Harry and smiling as she slowly removed her clothes, putting on a decidedly different dance for her gorgeous man. When she finished, she was sitting in his lap, both arms around his neck and pressing herself into him. For his part, Harry was supporting her cute little butt as he kissed her passionately, in no hurry despite his body's urges. Luna had other ideas, wriggling against him and driving him to moan into her mouth, then standing up as he sat on the lawn, letting his gaze rake over her body.
In the morning, she woke up, head back on his hard chest and his arms around her, keeping her safe and warm, just how she liked it. "Good morning, Harry. Thank you for last night."
"Luna, isn't it supposed to be me who says that?"
"Of course not, silly! You wouldn't say good morning to yourself."
Sometimes, you just couldn't beat Luna.
After the party, Ayame decided that it was time for Harry to pay a visit to Potterville, the small town that had sprung up as the Lily Potter Foundation started to hire out of work wizards and witches for their company. They were mostly Muggleborns with the occasional werewolf and Halfbloods, lacking the connections that would see them hired by the few businesses that looked beyond their own families.
By the end of its first six months of operation, it was already the largest business in Wizarding Britain and still expanding, accepting more Muggleborns and others fresh from Hogwarts. Mostly they worked on the restoration division, using the Repair spell to fix old or damaged items ready for sale and cleaning as needed. Their story in the regular world was that they had found a proprietary method for making refurbishment and recycling more economical. Indeed, they were now involved in the art and antiques world and making money hand over fist from some of the more valuable works that had fallen into decay over the centuries.
Now, three years after its founding, the LPF had come to dominate the economy and had a vertical monopoly in a number of fields including potions ingredients through to finished potions and were hiring and training more accredited Healers. Amelia and Minerva were both intrigued by the night courses the Clan offered using some of their existing Healers to help train the new ones. It wasn't as fast as full-time study but it was already bearing fruit with a dozen passing their exams.
Potterville, which had started as a village of a dozen magical families and using electricity and modern conveniences where they were better, had become by far the largest settlement of wizards and witches in Europe. Its population now included over three thousand people, almost all of the Muggleborns in the country and many of the previously poor, all now enjoying rich rewards for their hard and valuable work.
Protection and law enforcement were both provided by the Darwin's Lifeguards, a company of trained soldiers employed by the LPF. Indeed, the Foundation was providing every other service by now that was needed from a government except for foreign policy. In that, it had to work through the Ministry of Magic under the friendly gaze of Amelia Bones.
The Clan's efforts to win the hearts and minds of Wizarding Britain had paid off well as they had a large group far more loyal to them than to the Ministry or the Wizarding World as a whole. If the Clan asked them to bring down the Statute of Secrecy, or bring down a foreign Wizarding government, they would give it a try.
All of these were apparent to Harry as Ayame guided him through the streets.
"Are you really the Harry Potter?" a cute voice behind him asked Harry.
"Hello, yes, I am Harry Potter." Harry answered a little boy of about six years of age, dropping to squat down and bring his height more level to the kid's.
"Mum wanted me to tell you 'Thank you for all of this'."
"Where is your Mum now?"
"She's working, do you want to come see?"
Harry smiled. "Sure. What's your name?"
"I'm Harry, too!" he replied with a grin.
Harry laughed. "After you, Harry." He and Ayame followed the boy past a few houses and into a clean, well-built two storey home. The inside was well lit and little Harry took them through the little entry hall and down a corridor to an office.
"Mum!" Little Harry's voice rang out.
"Harry James Morgan! What have I told you about raising your voice?" The boy's mother looked up from her work directly at the little boy.
"Sorry, Mum. Look! Look who's here!" Harry answered, going instantly from contrite to excited.
Mrs Morgan looked at Harry and Ayame, recognising him from the papers and her as one of the owners.
"Oh, I am so sorry." She got up hastily, a flick of her wand setting her piece of work down gently and another flick moving a lid over it. "I didn't realise you were there!"
"Quite alright, Mrs Morgan," Harry replied, smiling easily. "Ayame wanted me to get a better feel for the town and for the business so she brought me here. We were walking along and as I was admiring the houses along here, a little boy came up behind me and passed along your thanks. Harry here then invited us to come meet you."
"I see." she replied, giving her son a warmer look. "Well, my husband's out right now. He's delivering a load of restored furniture to the London store while I start work on the next lot. He won't be back for hours, though. And Abigail, my oldest, she's over at a friend's place for the day. Those two just about take it in turns which house they stay at. They're inseparable."
"Has she started at Hogwarts?" Ayame asked.
"Yes, she just finished her first year."
"Abigail Morgan? Black hair, round face, always has a pen behind her ear?" Harry checked.
"That's her." Mrs Morgan responded with a fond smile. "I'm surprised you remember her."
"She came up to me her second day and introduced herself, saying she wanted to be just as good at magic as I am." Harry explained. "She's done well in her classes from what I have heard."
"Yes, three O's, three Exceeds Expectations and an Acceptable in Astronomy."
"Congratulations, Mrs Morgan. You must be proud." Harry's voice was warm.
"I'd be happier if she did better in Astronomy too, but" she shrugged "you're right, I am proud of her."
"I'm sure she will keep making you proud. She's already made friends in each of the Houses." Harry took a quick look around. "If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me about your work?"
"Of course, Mr Potter. Robert and I both work for the Foundation. He mostly does deliveries. He says he likes the change of scenery but I think he likes being able to work on his own."
"And do you like your work, Mrs Morgan?" Harry asked honestly.
"I can't think of a better employer, Mr Potter. I get to work on interesting art and antiques, and if I want to work on something else, I can apply to transfer to another department."
Harry unobtrusively studied her face and body language, wanting to know how much of that was true and how much was just the words of an employee faced with her bosses' interest. As near as he could tell, she honestly believed that, while no job was perfect, working for the Foundation was close enough. 'Good enough for now.'
"I'm glad to hear that, Mrs Morgan."
"If I remember correctly, you have made a couple of suggestions for improvements, Mrs Morgan." Ayame stated rather than asked.
"Oh! Yes, I did. I felt that the Cushioning Charms on some of the machinery would be useful in reducing injuries."
"It certainly has." Ayame replied. "Thanks to your idea, costs have gone down overall despite the maintenance of the charms. Did your bonus go through okay?"
"Yes, it did, thank you. My husband and I went out to a nice Indian restaurant to celebrate."
"That's very good."
"Do you have any problems or concerns at work?" Harry asked.
"Not really." Mrs Morgan replied. "Sometimes I finish the day rather more tired than I would like, I admit, but we're trying to pay off this place as fast as we can. You're very generous about the rent here but there is a certain something to owning your own home, Mr Potter."
As they chatted, it was clear that the Morgans were happy with their lot. They had a primary school and telephones and televisions to keep in contact with the outside world, and a remarkably large library for the number of inhabitants, courtesy of the Clan and Harry's raids that copied the Hogwarts Library. In the evenings, both parents would talk to their kids, encouraging them to think critically and to embrace both societies.
The quality housing had been subsidised by the Foundation, part of a plan to create a new community with a friendly atmosphere and self-respect. Harry walked through the town, noting a small supermarket, bank, and a few shops, including a well-stocked bookshop.
Overall, Harry was impressed. It was a lovely town where magic and technology were integrated, each doing what they did best. He also noted that most of the inhabitants were becoming more integrated with the regular world and less with the Wizarding World. Just as the Clan had planned.
Thank you for reading and for your feedback. And my thanks go out as ever to my betas, whose hard work has saved me from many mistakes.