After a few more bold proclamations on how he was going to see Harry Potter thrown in Azkaban for life for daring to escape Britain and build his own country, Fudge stormed out of Dumbledore's office, his simpering pink lackey on his heels.

"Fudge is a fool," Barty as Moody grumbled, his good eye narrowing while his artificial eye gave a few aimless spins in its socket. Bones rolled her eyes in a way that indicated she was already well aware of that fact. "We cannot arrest the leader of another country without very good reasons. The ICW would eat our ministry alive."

"Ah." Dumbledore leaned forwards in his seat, looking very much like he knew something the rest didn't, the conceited old tosspot. "But Harry's new country isn't officially a country recognized by the ICW yet."

"Harry said they were in the process of applying for that at the ICW," Tonks muttered, appearing thoroughly confused and just a bit shaken by everyone's extreme reactions. Severus wondered if she even had what it took to work as an Auror, and an undercover one at that. What he'd seen of her so far in her job didn't fill him with a lot of confidence.

"Paperwork can easily get lost, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore said with an amused chuckle, eyes crinkling with obvious pleasure.

"Why?" Barty as Moody took a step closer to Dumbledore's desk and leaned one gnarly hand on it so he could loom over the headmaster. "Do you really want to arrest Potter for no reason at all? Building a new country in international waters isn't illegal as far as I know."

Bones shared a knowing glance with Tonks, both apparently sharing Moody's sentiment that there didn't seem to be a true reason to go after Harry Potter at that time. Severus was thoroughly impressed that Barty as Moody was able to question just about every single one of Dumbledore's suggestions without ever appearing out of character. Alastor Moody had always been a stickler for the rules, no matter how paranoid he became in his old age. The real Moody wouldn't tolerate anyone, not even Albus Dumbledore, skirting the law to try to see an innocent man punished without reasons.

Dumbledore's bushy brows drew down in a genuinely annoyed frown as he stared up at Moody. "Apparently Sirius Black, a convicted criminal, is on the loose in Harry's country."

"Sirius Black served his sentence," Barty as Moody pointed out with a challenging grin that drew even more attention to the deep, disfiguring scars that marred his face. "He was sentenced to be tossed through the veil, which he was."

Dumbledore seemed at a loss how to respond to that while he ran a hand down his beard. Then his eyes started gleaming again. "Harry Potter is a self-professed necromancer, Alastor. That is the darkest magic there is. He should not be allowed to lead anyone, let alone a whole country."

Moody snorted and rolled his good eye while shaking his head. "I despise Dark Magic, as well you know, Albus. But in the end I'm a law enforcement officer for the British wizarding world. Do you know how many countries around the world allow Dark Magic? Do you know how many international leaders are Dark Wizards? Far too many, that's what." Moody took a few steps away from Dumbledore's desk, as though to distance himself from his old friend and his unwelcome opinions. "I don't bloody well care what anyone does in a foreign country, as long as they don't do it on our shores. If Potter sets foot in Britain and performs Dark Magic, I'll be the first in line to arrest him, but until he does I suggest we just leave the boy alone." And with a huff Moody crossed his arms and gave Bones a questioning look, clearly wanting to see if she agreed with him.

Bones was a witch known for her unfailing sense of fairness, so Severus wasn't at all surprised when Bones gave an agreeable nod. "Quite right, Alastor. As long as Potter doesn't break our laws in our land, we will not arrest him, no matter what you or Fudge thinks, Headmaster. I for one am pleased that Mr Potter made the effort to not break our laws, first by actually studying our laws and later by creating his own country once he understood our laws were too restricting for his tastes."

"I am deeply disappointed in both of you," Dumbledore said, as though Moody and Bones were naughty schoolchildren that had been caught skipping class. Neither Moody or Bones seemed at all impressed by Dumbledore's statement as they stared at him with blank faces. Dumbledore might have said more, but there was a furious knocking on his office door.

Filius Flitwick pushed the door open, clearly out of breath as he stumbled inside. "Albus," Filius panted, rubbing a hand across his own chest as he tried to get his breathing back under control. "They've found remains."

"What?" Dumbledore's eyes narrowed as he stared at Filius.

"Human remains. Bones and long red hair." Filius swallowed a few times before he could continue. "I believe it might be Ginny Weasley that they've found."

Severus briefly closed his eyes. While he didn't particularly care about the Weasleys, he did not like the idea of a student, any student, meeting their end in the school. He wasn't sure what had happened to Miss Weasley, but he wouldn't be at all surprised if the Dark Lord was somehow involved.

Bones, Moody and Tonks marched out of the office at once, followed immediately by Flitwick to show them the way to the potential crime scene.

Severus wanted to leave as well, to see what he could make of whatever was left of the missing Weasley, but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Severus, a quick word."

Severus schooled his face into a blank mask as he gave Dumbledore a long look. "Headmaster?"

"I want you to find out what you can of Harry's new country," Dumbledore said with a dark look on his face, eyes shadowed and mouth drawn down. "See if Marvolo Gaunt has anything to do with its creation."

"And when do you intend for me to do this? Do you expect me to follow in Miss Tonks' footsteps and go undercover in Potter's blasted land? I do have a full-time job teaching your students," Severus couldn't help but point out in a snappish tone.

"No, no," Dumbledore said quickly in a placating voice while raising a hand in surrender. "Not right now, at least. Though perhaps over the summer you might like to take a holiday there, to see for yourself what Harry is up to. For now I merely expect you to keep your eyes and ears open, see if some of your old friends are unreasonably interested in this new country."

"Certainly, Headmaster." With a tight nod, Severus waited if Dumbledore had more to say. When the old wizard remained quiet, Severus stalked out of his office to go see about a dead student.

Harry and Tom had just finished dinner in the kitchen of Harry's castle when Charis came flying through the door.

"I have news," Charis said with an urgent look. "About Fudge and Dumbledore both."

"Let's retire to the library. Violet, tea for two in the library, please." Harry pushed himself up from the table, V hopping onto his shoulder, and he followed Charis, Tom not far behind. As they served themselves cups of steaming tea in front of the library fireplace they listened to Charis' detailed report about Dumbledore's meeting with Fudge earlier that day.

Harry laughed, long and hard, when Charis told him Fudge planned on arresting him and throwing him into Azkaban.

"I don't see what's so amusing about this," Tom said while giving Harry a disbelieving look. "You can't forfeit the second task or you'll lose your magic."

"Don't worry," Harry said quickly, still chuckling. "I have no plans of skipping the second task. They can arrest me all they want, but they won't be able to hold me in Azkaban."

"Of course they won't," Tom said at once, cup of tea clutched tightly in his hand as he leaned forward in the leather chair he was occupying. "I'd break you out at once."

"That sentiment is certainly appreciated," Harry said, still chuckling. What a corrupt mess the British Ministry turned out to be. Harry was doubly happy he'd created his own country and he wouldn't have to deal with those bastards more than absolutely necessary. "But there are several ways I could leave Azkaban by myself. Open a portal, or walk through the deathlands. I can do those things without a wand."

"That's good to know." Tom's face relaxed a bit, his frown evening out. "I still suggest we make Project Azkaban our top priority. Get out the people we want to rescue as quickly as possible."

Harry sat up and gave Tom a bright grin. "And once we've done that, we could simply level the whole building and do away with the dementors entirely! That way Fudge simply won't have a prison anymore to throw me into. Problem solved."

"Prison go boom, prison go boom!" V crowed from the back of Harry's chair, hopping around in excitement. Apparently the unintentional collapse of Hogwarts had made V very fond of demolition.

Charis seemed terribly amused by that suggestion, but she managed to keep her composure as her eyes crinkled and her lips twitched.

Tom merely rolled his eyes, barely even looking at Harry. "You truly are a Gryffindor, Harry, with every fibre of your being. It matters not that you've never officially been sorted."

"How is this a bad plan?" Harry demanded, honestly confused why Tom wouldn't go along with causing some good old-fashioned destruction. V clapped his beak and lowered his head while he glared at Tom with narrowed eyes, clearly displeased as well.

"Because the British Ministry could take such an act to the ICW and call it international terrorism," Tom said as he put his teacup down with far too much force, liquid spilling over its sides.

"How would they know it was us?" Harry muttered, hunching his shoulders a bit. He hated someone shooting down his awesome plans with reason and logic. Harry just wanted to cause a bit of destruction without anyone pointing out the consequences, thank you very much.

"Because you're the only person in the entire world who's ever destroyed two dementors, in public no less." Tom looked at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes and a rather tired look on his face. "Who else would it be?"

"Fine." Harry stared off to the side, gaze fixed on the dancing flames in the fireplace. "We'll leave Azkaban standing, for now. But it probably is a good idea to get your followers out as soon as we can." Harry perked up again when something else occurred to him. "And while we break into Azkaban to give them the potion, I can learn its layout and study the wards, just in case I do get chucked in there anytime soon."

"Fine." Tom shook his head and then focussed his attention on Charis again. "Did anything else occur during the old man's meeting?"

Charis told them about Barty as Moody's rather successful attempts at calling Dumbledore out on his bullshit and about how the meeting was cut short in the end by the discovery of human remains in the castle's ruins.

Harry nodded a few times, glad to hear that Ron's family would finally get some closure.

"I wonder if the discovery of the remains might actually have some negative consequences for Dumbledore," Tom mused with an eager glint in his eyes. "He's already in hot water over the collapse of part of the castle. I imagine the knowledge that a student actually died there a few years ago isn't going to do him any favours."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Harry shared an amused grin with Tom and then thanked Charis for her report before dismissing her back to her spying work.

Tom seemed deep in thought as he stared at the fireplace, a small frown on his face. "I believe I can shuffle a few things around in my agenda the coming days and spend most of my time finishing the magic masking potion."

"The sooner, the better," Harry mumbled in agreement. He truly wasn't worried about what Fudge might try to pull during the second task. Then he realized that Fudge might very well try to have him arrested before the start of the second task, and risk Harry losing his magic by not letting him compete at all. A cold shiver swept across Harry's skin and he gave Tom a worried look. "I need to break this fucking contract."

"What?" Tom blinked at him in confusion.

Harry swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. The thought of losing his magic was more than Harry could handle. "I'd like to think I'm powerful enough to fight off Fudge and a couple of Aurors, but I'm also old and wise enough to know you should never underestimate an opponent. If Fudge tries to have me arrested before the start of the second task, he risks me losing my magic."

"No, no!" V clapped his beak, hopping from the backrest to the armrest and looking up at Harry with beady, black eyes. "Keep magic, keep magic."

Tom's face paled considerably as he considered Harry's announcement. "We cannot let that happen."

"I know. Now how do I break the contract?" Harry's entire body was taut with tension and he sprang up from his chair to pace across the library.

"I'm not actually sure." Tom chewed on his thumbnail as he sat deep in thought. "The problem is that we've not ever seen an actual contract. It's created by the Goblet of Fire. That's what holds the magic of the contract."

Harry stopped pacing at once and gave Tom a triumphant grin. "So I go and steal the Goblet of Fire."

"Steal goblet, steal goblet," V cawed as he danced up and down the armrest of the leather chair.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Tom answered Harry's grin with one of his own, full of dark amusement. "Have fun. Don't get caught. I'll be in Gaunt Mansion working on the potion."

"I should probably go right away," Harry said, more to himself than to Tom. "There's bound to be a lot of people moving in and out of the castle right now, so one more signature in the wards won't stand out."

"Take your invisibility cloak," Tom suggested, which Harry appreciated since he'd all but forgotten he had the bloody thing. "And leave the bird here."

"V go, V go." V narrowed his eyes as he glowered at Tom, looking ready to fly at his face and peck his eyes out.

"No, he's right, buddy." Harry gave V an apologetic smile. He loved his companion but V was not well suited for stealth missions, especially when Harry had to spend all his time under his invisibility cloak. "I'll be in and out in no time at all."

V very demonstratively turned his back on Harry, beak in the air. Harry rolled his eyes and ignored his dramatic friend. He gave Tom a wink and a wave and hurried out of the library. He had to think for a few moments about where his invisibility cloak even was, until he remembered that he'd stashed it inside his satchel. He pulled it out and wrapped it around himself as he strolled out of his castle. Once through the doors, Harry apparated to just outside the gates of Hogwarts. It was dark already, but there were still plenty of people moving in and out through Hogwarts' gates. Most seemed there to rebuild the castle, but Harry also spotted a few red Auror robes amongst the visitors.

Harry didn't waste any time and hurried across the path and slipped inside the castle unnoticed. He spotted Bones and Tonks standing with a few official looking Ministry people near the stone staircase. Moody stood beside them and his fake eye spun wildly once it looked in Harry's direction. Could that eye see through invisibility cloaks? Harry wasn't sure, but he still grinned and waved in Barty's direction before quickly moving along.

The Goblet of Fire stood on the pedestal in the Great Hall, still on display while the tournament was in progress, even though the goblet itself was cold and dark. There were a few construction workers sitting at the Hufflepuff table, enjoying a late meal. Harry made sure there was no one looking in his direction before he snatched the goblet from its pedestal and hid it under his invisibility cloak. Not a single one of the workers paid him any attention and no one seemed to notice that the goblet had suddenly disappeared.

Harry strolled out of the Great Hall, winked at Barty who he was now sure could see him. Barty's mouth dropped open for a second as he saw Harry carry the Goblet of Fire out of the castle, but he quickly composed himself and went back to playing Moody.

Thankfully no one else spotted Harry and he was able to leave Hogwarts' grounds at a quick pace. The second he passed the wards he apparated back to his castle.

Except he didn't land in front of his own castle. He landed smack in the middle of the Transportation Hall just as he pulled the cloak off himself.

"Passport, please," a young witch behind the nearby counter said. She had long, brown hair and her nametag on her shirt read 'Joan'. Harry had never seen her before, he was sure.

"Er…" Harry licked his lips as he held the large goblet against his chest. He didn't actually have a passport. "I'm the Governor. This is my country."

Joan gave him a dubious look, obviously unsure what to do. "That might be so, Sir, but people travelling into Magica from abroad need a passport."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Harry sighed. "You're absolutely right, Joan, but I haven't had time yet to get a passport. I swear I live here. I made the bloody country."

Joan, however, would not be moved and she shook her head. "Without a passport I cannot allow you entry, Sir. You need to leave again."

Fucking hell. Harry considered just launching himself through the doors and into the air, but he didn't want to freak out the obviously determined employee. Besides, he had to set an example, being the leader of the country and all.

"Harry?" Remus stepped out of one of the offices in the back of the hall. "What are you doing here?"

"He doesn't have a passport," Joan called out at once, obviously relieved the Head of Immigration himself had shown up. "I was just telling him to leave."

Remus' grin was entirely too amused. Harry just knew he was going to tell everyone he knew about this, and Harry would be hearing about it for weeks to come. "Oh, I think we can let Harry's lack of passport slide just this once, if he promises to rectify that oversight first thing tomorrow. He is the Governor after all."

"If you say so, Sir." Joan still looked like she wanted to send Harry packing, but she was willing to let her boss have the final say, thankfully.

"I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Joan," Harry said with his most charming smile. He studiously ignored Remus, who was still grinning like he hadn't been this amused in months. "I'll get that passport tomorrow morning, promise."

And while still clutching that giant goblet to his chest, Harry all but ran out of the Transportation Hall. As soon as he felt the cool evening air he flew up into the sky. By the time he arrived at his castle most of his embarrassment had vanished and he couldn't stop himself from laughing when he saw Tom walking towards him in the castle's entrance hall.

"I was almost kicked out of my own country because I don't have a passport. Also, someone needs to give Joan a raise, because she did her job very well." Harry shook his head and then held up the Goblet of Fire while giving Tom a triumphant look.

"Actually, I'm glad this just happened to you, because I haven't bothered getting a passport either. Let's rectify that when the Ministry opens tomorrow morning." Tom gestured at Harry to put the goblet down on the floor for a moment. "Take a few steps back and let me cast some spells on you to check if you're even under a magical contract. That way we can verify if the magic is broken once we destroy the goblet."

"Destroy?" Harry asked with a frown. Not that he objected to a bit of destruction, on the contrary, but he had imagined they'd be studying the goblet to find a way to break the contract, not just do away with the bloody thing entirely. Though now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but wonder why they'd not considered doing that before.

"Goblet go boom, goblet go boom," V cawed as he came sailing through the air to land on Harry's shoulder. He puffed his breast out, feathers standing on end, as though he had come up with that genius plan all by himself. Considering V's appreciation for demolition those days, he might very well have.

"I figured that's the quickest and most efficient way," Tom said with a bit of a shrug as he swished his wand through the air three times.

Harry started glowing purple. "What does that mean?"

"That you're under a magical contract." Tom marched out the castle, picking up the goblet as he went. Harry hurried after him while the magic around him started to fade.

"How are we going to destroy it?" Harry followed Tom through the darkness across the grass until they were a fair distance away from his castle.

"With something that destroys everything." Tom gestured at Harry to step away from the goblet as he placed it on the ground. With a swish of his wand, Tom said, "Fiendfyre!"

A whole array of giant, fiery creatures burst from Tom's wand and devoured the goblet. Harry saw a basilisk and a dragon and a giant bird of sorts. Their flames filled almost the entire night's sky and between them they rendered the goblet to ashes in seconds.

Harry stared up at the impressive display of magic with wide eyes, his heart beating faster and faster. "That was fucking amazing. You need to teach me how to do that."

It took Tom some visible effort to end the spell as the creatures writhed in a sea of flames to try to break free. But Tom persevered in the end and the flames died out, leaving only a trail of smoke in its wake. "The spell is not difficult to cast, but it is difficult to control. I'll teach you, but not now." Tom aimed his wand at Harry and cast the same spell as before. This time nothing happened.

"So the contract broke?" Harry asked with an eager grin, hoping with all his might that he was free from that ridiculous contract once and for all.

"It broke," Tom replied with a satisfied smile. "You will not have to compete in the second task and Fudge, or anyone else, won't be able to ambush you."

Harry threw his head back and laughed. "I can't believe it was that simple in the end. Just destroy the bloody goblet."

"Yes," Tom agreed while he stepped up to Harry and gave him a rueful look. "And I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier."

"To be fair, we have been a bit busy." Harry leaned closer and pressed a firm kiss to Tom's lips. "I'm just glad that whole circus is over and done with. Now how about we go to bed and you show me how happy you are I won't be losing my magic anytime soon."

"How can I possibly resist such a tempting suggestion," Tom muttered, eyes shining with amusement as Harry grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the castle, the small pile of ashes already forgotten.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast of oatmeal with stewed apples, Harry and Tom flew to the Ministry and got their passports sorted without much fuss. Thankfully no one mentioned that Harry had tried to enter his own country illegally by accident. As they stepped outside the building again, Tom turned towards Harry. "I suggest we still get Project Azkaban over and done with as soon as possible."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Harry agreed. Once the ICW processed their paperwork they'd probably be far too busy for a while to even think about breaking into Azkaban.

"I'll return to Gaunt Mansion and continue with the magic masking potion." And that is what Tom did the following days. Harry considered trying to help him, but the truth was that Harry didn't know all that much about potions. He'd learned the basics from his family in his youth, but most of the ingredients that were used in potions in the wizarding world weren't available in Santika, so Harry had never actually brewed any of them. And over the years, as he learned how to brew potions with the ingredients available in Santika, he'd forgotten most of what he'd learned in his early years.

So he would only get in the way if he hovered around Tom as he finished developing the magic masking potion.

Instead Harry spent his days checking up on his many projects. He spent time with Sabrina in the Ministry, making sure all the other departments were getting off to a good start. He also commissioned furniture for his own office and a few other offices from Claire and Erika. And he and Sabrina hired a few more assistants to man the office, freeing up Sabrina to work by Harry's side as he moved around the island as needed.

Harry also spent an afternoon apparating around Britain in search of English Longhorn Cattle, which was easier said than done. It truly was a rare breed, as Harry quickly discovered. After being sent from farm to farm, he eventually came across on older farmer who was willing to sell Harry some of his small herd, since he was getting close to retiring anyway. Harry purchased two cows with calves, two steers, and two bred heifers. He still needed to find an unrelated bull but that would have to wait until later.

Sirius didn't seem to care one way or the other when Harry opened a portal to his land and herded the cattle through. He did help Harry set up wards around his property, to keep the Longhorns in and the Highlands out. The cattle settled in quickly enough, since there was an abundance of grass to be grazed around Sirius' land.

Harry then checked up on all the work his house-elf inferi had done, planting commodity crops around the island. Harry made sure all those fields were well warded, so none of the wild or domestic animals would ruin their crops while they sprouted and grew.

As Harry flew across the planted fields he noticed the construction of homes near the coast. Sebastian had hired more construction specialists who had started on building their second town, Hexport. It was amazing to see how quickly their country and its towns were growing. Every single day Harry saw new streets pop up in Spellbridge, with dozens of new residents moving in. Magica had come a long way already from its start when Harry himself had spent days and days creating homes one by one.

There was no mention of the missing Goblet of Fire in any wizarding publication. Harry wondered if anyone had even noticed it was missing at that point, since most people seemed to be focussed on the discovery of Ginny Weasley's remains. It was confirmed that they were indeed her bones and the Daily Prophet had a field day speculating about what had happened to the poor girl and more importantly, who was to blame.

Dumbledore was raked over the coals more than once, while plenty of people openly questioned his suitability as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. After all, while he was in charge a student had died under mysterious circumstances while later the castle had collapsed. Harry loved reading all the articles calling for Dumbledore's resignation during breakfast every day, though so far the Headmaster still had his job.

On the fifth day, Tom returned to the castle for dinner with a triumphant smile on his face. "The potion's ready."

"Excellent." Harry gave Tom a grateful kiss. "Let's break into Azkaban then."