Sorry for the delay but my surgery went well, even though it was more involved than was original expected.

I hope to be back on schedule from now on.

s-david-m: The spelling of a motor will be discussed in a later chapter.

ryusbreath: Erick and Bethie... it is the same universe... and his band has been mentioned...

Once again I OWN NOTHING!

Thanks again to my editor the mighty pazed!

READ! ENGJOY! REVIEW!

Chapter 41

"Mr. Dumbledore?" a voice said. "Mr. Dumbledore? May I please have your attention?"

Albus looked up from the stack of papers before him at the man. "Please, pardon my lapse Mr. Dagget." He let loose a long sigh. "Even seeing the documentation and photographs you have provided, I find myself at a loss… It is hard to believe a muggle vehicle could be so expensive."

"Are you disputing my client's records?" he asked bristling visibly. "I can assure you…"

Albus interrupted. "No… No I am not. I am merely stating it is at the edges of my comprehension… You see the only times I have been concerned with the cost of an automobile is when it is a budget item within my purview as chief wizard of the Wizengamot… the last purchase for a ministry car was in 1967 if I remember correctly. Six were purchased along with a bus… and at nowhere even approaching this." He shook the paper.

Mr. Dagget chuckled. "I imagine it is quite a shock then. Many things have changed in those few years Mr. Dumbledore. Do you remember what they were?"

He thought for a moment. "They are quite large, for a muggle vehicle, something called a Daimler Majestic… Purchased, at the time, for what I thought was a ridiculous sum, 1,000 Galleons each."

Mr. Dagget shuffled his papers for a moment, checked a couple of numbers, then calculated a figure. "So somewhere around five thousand pounds sterling… That was quite expensive at the time. Today something comparable would be much more expensive…" He did a bit more figuring. "My Jaguar, for instance, was around seventy-three thousand American Dollars, or… just under forty-six thousand Pounds Sterling….Nine thousand two hundred Galleons."

Albus looked dumb struck. "Your auto… cost over NINE THOUSAND Galleons?"

Mr. Dagget nodded. "It is a very nice car… Now about a payment plan…"

Sirius opened the door and stepped into the well-appointed office. "Good morning Amelia," he said as he moved to sit.

"Sirius," she said looking up briefly. "What can I help you with this morning?"

With a 'clink' he sat a stack of gold coins on the edge of her desk. She looked up from her paperwork and quirked an eyebrow at him. "And this is for?"

"Scrimgeour's wand," he said with a smirk. "Harry stepped on it and broke it when he went to 'escort' Harry to that farce of a hearing."

Her eyes narrowed. "Really…" She spun her chair around and opened a drawer behind her and pulled out a file. "It says here his wand was broken after Harry fell after the port-key… Took funds from the general fund to replace it…"

Sirius shrugged. "I would tend to believe Harry and Lady Ako. Scrimgeour tried to grab Harry, Harry side stepped his grab, Scrimgeour fell and hit his head, Harry stepped on his wand as he tried to get around him."

"Hmmm…" she said absently. "I wonder what else he 'left out'."

Sirius shrugged again. "Harry promised Lady Ako he'd pay for it… so there it is."

She placed the folder on her desk and scooped up the coins and placed them on the folder. "I doubt that is the only reason you dropped by, Sirius."

"Quite," he said with a smile. "First, have you spoken to Mr. Bagman?"

She sighed. "I did. I was on his doorstep the morning after he arrived home from his tour." She sat back in her chair, a look of aggravation on her face. "The man is a self-important idiot… And that may be a bit generous."

Sirius snickered. "I've never had the honor."

"Oh believe me it is an honor you would just as soon avoid," she said with a small smile. "It took me some time but I finally got him to talk about writing the contract, and looked at his notes from the meetings he had with the headmasters. They were a mess… In the end he just made it as simple as possible."

"And Dumbledore's involvement?" he asked.

"Minimal," she said, "but after speaking with Bagman I believe that was by design." He looked at her with a confused expression. "Bagman told me he was often unavailable or would be in a hurry when he tried to speak with him."

He nodded. "So you believe he deliberately left him with minimal support, or instruction?"

"Correct." She nodded.

"It won't be enough for them…" he said somewhat upset himself.

"I didn't think it would be," she said honestly. "Unfortunately I see very few options open to me to pursue. I wish it was different but there was nothing illegal done."

"I would expect a grievance to be filed by the muggle government on behalf of Harry in short order," he replied. "I have been told that they do have laws concerning something called Criminal Negligence." He held up his hand to stave off her objection. "They understand that little will come of it, but they are playing by the rules of the muggle governments for this."

"Why, in Merlin's name? What good will it do?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Possibly nothing, at least here at the Ministry, but…" he leaned forward, placing his elbows on her desk. "Ames… You knew Lily… Did she ever take you anywhere… in her world?"

Amelia smiled softly. "We went to the cinema once… She was a fan of someone named… Audrey Hepburn... she wanted to see one of her shows and James was off with you someplace. It was… good."

He was glad she had such a memory. "You knew I went with Harry back to the States?" he asked. She nodded wondering what he was getting at. "I went to the cinema with them several times, James and Lily that is… but after this trip… Ames you have no idea what it is like out there."

He stood up and began to pace, then stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Sorry, old habits… They have made amazing advances… Things that once you know about… they would be difficult to give up."

He turned to look at her, she looked confused. "I'm not explaining this well." He ran his hand through his hair. "The reason they want do things this way is…" He sat again. "The British muggle government is having serious problems with our way of life…"

She sat forward quickly. "WHAT? I know a few of them know about us but..."

Sirius cut her off. "Ames… It's not that…" He sighed. "It's more than just that… Do you remember the man that owned the campground the Ministry used for the world cup?"

She had to think about it for a moment. "John… No Johnston… Yes I remember him."

"Do you know how often his memory was modified?" he asked.

She stood and walked to a cabinet along the side of the room. Rummaging inside she pulled out a folder. "Fif… Fifty-seven," She stuttered stunned by the number.

"Ames… He's in their version of the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo's… He's having problems with his memory… He can't seem to form new memories correctly… And he's not the only one… They have case after case of people that have been Obliviated."

She looked stricken at the news. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, "I don't know if it was just carelessness, or something else… but according to one of the experts from the colonies it has to do with the lack of magical protection of the mind… as well as the people noticing the changes easier now… missing time, meetings, forgotten facts… these aren't the simple farmers from when the Obliviations started…"

Amelia made her way back to her chair as he continued. "It's not just that, they are noticing the Muggle Baiting as well… it has been caught a number of times by their versions of magical photographs. Not to mention the things that happened in the last war…"

She froze. "They have pictures…"

He nodded. "Of a couple of attacks that I saw. One led by the man himself… It was hard to watch… He was attacking a muggle born and his family… They have been trying to keep it quiet but that has been hard for them. They want to help these people and our government has been ignoring every attempt to speak about it. So when Harry turned up at Fairgrove they took the chance and began to receive assistance from the American magical community."

She sighed deeply, she had known that the Minister hadn't been in contact with the government often, but had no idea that they had wanted to talk with them about something like this.

She didn't know how long she had been lost in thought when his voice pushed through again. "…and with this new bank Keighvin is opening in Diagon Alley…"

She sat bolt upright. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Mr. Tannim, a pleasure to meet you," said Minerva, as she shook his hand.

"It's just Tannim ma'am. Nice to meet you too," he said as he entered her office. "May I present Joe Brown, Head of Fairgrove Security, he will be heading up our security for our stay." He offered his hand, which she shook. "I believe you know Maria Malden."

"Ms. Malden It is good to see you again," Minerva said, offering her hand to the woman.

"Pr- Headmaster McGonagall," she said icily, neglecting to take the offered hand. "Tannim I haven't much time, they will be heading to the classroom anytime."

The new headmaster was taken aback by her former student's reaction to her. "Ms. Malden? Have I done something to offend you?"

She scoffed at the woman. "You lied to me and my family! That is what you did!" She turned back to Tannim. "I need to get down and make sure everything is in order."

He nodded. "Alright, we'll be around all day." She nodded and walked back out the door and down the stairs.

Minerva looked confused as she moved back around to the far side of her desk and gestured to the others to sit. 'Odd… she was such a promising young woman. I wonder what she meant…'

Tannim motioned toward the chairs as he spoke again, "And of course you know Shar and Chinthliss."

His voice roused her from her thoughts. "Yes… of course. Please be seated. May I ask why you feel it necessary to have a security person? No offense Mr. Brown."

Shar spoke. "For our peace of mind, Headmaster. Harry has already been entered into a tournament he has no business being in, as it is for adults," She ticked off a finger and continued, "kidnapped twice, and his mind assaulted…" Minerva's eyes grew as large as saucers. "not once but twice! That is why!"

"Are you sure of this?" she asked. "Attacks on the mind are greatly looked down upon."

Shar laughed. "My Harry is more than certain! One of them not only tried with Harry, but he also did it to Headmaster Chinthliss, my mother, and me!"

"But… how?" Minerva sputtered.

"How did we know?" Shar's snarl turned feral. "Because we have dealt with better mind mages than he could ever dream of!"

Tannim's hand settled on her shoulder. "Shar," he said softly. "Please." She turned enough to face him.

She glared at him for a time before taking a deep breath. "Fine! We'll deal with him later."

He turned toward Minerva. "I hope you now begin to see our reasoning."

All she could do was nod her agreement, while wondering how deep a hole Albus had dug for himself with these people. "I am beginning to, yes."

"Now, is there anything we can do to help with this event Saturday?" he asked.

"No." She smiled, "I believe everything has been taken care of. Do you need any help procuring formal wear?"

"No, it is taken care of," he replied.

"Very well…" She was hesitant to ask but thought it was best. "Harry is aware that he must have a date, correct?"

Shar shrugged. "He is taking Luna, she would have been under age and he didn't think it would be fair to ask her to miss out on such an event when it is just the three of them."

Minerva's smile widened. "Indeed," she said, then chose to change subjects. "Do you have a copy of your class schedules? I find myself interested in the differences in what is being taught."

Tannim smiled, this is exactly what they were hoping for. "You will be most welcome, please feel free to attend any classes or drop by the workshop. Though if the workshop doors are closed we do ask you not to enter as the person or group do not want to be interrupted… I don't know that we have any projects that would require that but you never know."

Minerva made a note on one of the pages Shar had handed her. "Now," he continued, "we have a few other things to talk about as well."