Standard Disclaimer: Still don't own anything of the Harry Potter empire. Crap. Just playing in JRR's sandbox (thankfully, there are no cats in the vicinity).

Timeframe: Hogwarts immediately after the Battle, with some slight alterations of events during the battle. AU afterwards.

Warning: The aftermath of a battle is never pretty. Some nasty language, and character bashing.

Chapter 14: Conversations

Summer 2031

Teddy Lupin and Harry Potter were riding in a government military vehicle with markings on the sides specifying that it was part of the motor pool assigned to MOD Camp Narcissa. They both held the identity cards that their new friend (and relative) Bil had sent them, warning them that they would not be able to get on the site without them. Being as the site had been Black family property until Bil's existence was discovered, this was a bit of a change from what the two wizards had been used to before Bil took possession.

They had needed to arrive at the local train station to be picked up by their official driver, one Corporal Gaunt, whose family had been a distant cadet branch of a family whose fortunes and reputation had fallen badly some generations before.

As the vehicle drove along the country road along the south Somerset coastline, the two were impressed by the location that Narcissa Black had been given as her dower property, and impressed that the mistrusting nature of the head of the Black family had protected it from the rapacious nature of Lucius Malfoy and his master. As they came to the beginning of the new fencing around the property, they saw official signs stating 'H.M. Ministry of Defence Camp Narcissa, Convalescent Hospital and Training Grounds, MA clearance required', and others saying 'Entry Protocol Omicron in Force, Authorized Personnel Only' (below which, some local wit had hung a sign 'If you have to ask, you ain't').

As they came to the entrance gate, the driver rolled down his window and showed his pass, saying "The general's guests". The armed sentry then looked at Harry and Teddy, who showed their identity cards, after which he checked a clipboard, then saluted and waved them into the facility. As they crossed the 'sleeping-policeman' speedbump into the property, both wizards felt themselves passing through some very powerful protective wards.

Pulling up to a door on the side wing of the manor house, the driver let Teddy and Harry out, saying "This way to the general's quarters". He led them through a door to an office area where a number of soldiers were doing their administrative work, and announced "The general's guests have arrived". He then turned to Harry and Ted, saluted and left.

An officer near the rear door of the space rose and gestured for the two to follow him. He knocked on a door with a paper sign stating this was the private office of Brigadier General Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, taped over the actual sign. A familiar voice was heard from behind the door, and the officer let the two wizards into the office and left, closing the door behind himself.

Bil rose from his desk and shook their hands. Tea was offered and accepted. He pointed out that due to policy, the nature of operations and the time of day, stronger drinks would have to wait until adjourning to the officers' mess.

Teddy pointed at the door with a questioning expression. Bil laughed. "We have a bunch of Doctor Who fans on base, and they decided that with the goblins and elves they see around here, I must be related to The Doctor's military counterpart in UNIT. I saw no harm in it, so I left it up. They even dressed up one of our water-jet bomb disposal units to look like a Dalek. It helps morale if the men feel the CO has a sense of humour too – that's even more important if he doesn't".

Harry asked, "I thought you were a colonel?

Bil nodded. "Being this, at least legally, is my personal property, the all-important 'They' decided to make me the base commander. As such, I needed a bump in rank, so officially I am now Brigadier General Bilbo Baggins. However, as a serving officer, I can't take extra pay for the use of my private property unless I actually sell the place to the Ministry, so the lease rent is being put into a trust fund for my kids and grandkids' education. The goblins tell me that there are restrictions on what I can do with properties that have magical connections, so that's what we worked out as a solution."

Teddy asked, "I think we can figure out the MA clearance requirement, but what is the deal with the 'Entry Protocol Omicron' signs. Isn't the military nature of the camp enough?"

Bil shook his head as he chuckled. "When they told me that I was going to be the boss of this place, I had no idea either, and I am supposed to be cleared for anything and everything including the end of the world. By the way, that has been postponed a couple of years minimum, according to the plans, and you didn't hear that from me. Anyway, it seemed to be a need-to-know item, and as camp commander, I needed to know. In the military, you get told things when you need to know them, and usually not any sooner. It's kind of like the Statute of Secrecy with the obliviators; if you weren't supposed to see something, at least officially, you forget that you saw it."

"Excuse me. We need to do something officially here." Pressing a button on his desk, he asked, "Major McGuffin, could you come in and bring 'The Book' with you? I need to clear these gentlemen for some information."

A moment later, and officer entered the room carrying a large binder. He looked at Bil with an obvious question.

The general nodded to his staffer. "Major, these men are Harry Potter, Head of House Malfoy and House Potter, and Edward Lupin, Head of House Black. Until a year ago, they were the historical owners and heads of family for the people who inhabited this property. They probably know more about its secrets than our wardmasters. They need to know about the entry restrictions in case they need to meet with our warders and provide further information to them. They are already cleared under the statute, and I can personally vouch for them. I need to read them in for the entry protocols only. Can you please witness my clearing them for this, and also witness my signature?

Major McGuffin nodded. "Certainly, sir", and saluted. He pulled out his wand, waved it over the binder, and then presented it to Harry, then Teddy, for them to sign on an official-looking form, then passed it to the general who signed at the bottom of the form. The general nodded, and said "Thanks Freddy. That will be all for the moment". The Major nodded, and left the office with the records book.

Bil smiled sadly. "There is always paperwork. The curse of command."

"Anyway, as we spoke of before, the Ministry of Magic has a tendency to stick its nose into our business. It doesn't help that the British military has a long history of recruiting or accepting recruits, particularly in wartime, of persons whose birthdates are not quite far enough in the past to be officially acceptable. In our case, we have persons with magical abilities who are equipped and proficient with their wands, in spite of Ministry policies on underage magic."

"The primary purpose of the Omicron is to keep the Ministry's nose out. Anyone who tried to enter the camp by magical means hits the powerful wards and gets bounced about a hundred meters out to sea, stripped of their clothing, their wands and portkeys. A secondary function is for safety purposes and to prevent breaches in secrecy including the Statute."

"This base conducts live-fire training with both magical and mundane armaments. If a soldier has gone to the local pub and gotten a snootfull and then tries to re-enter the base while still inebriated, they are endangering us all, so they are portkeyed to an auxiliary location to sleep it off. If the wards detect that the same soldier has done this multiple times, on the fourth attempt, their clearance is revoked, they are obliviated of the operations at this camp, and returned to their original unit. From there, it is common for them to be discharged from the service. The wards also detect if they have jeopardized the Statute while plastered – if so, the repercussions are rather more harsh."

"On the matter of secrecy, as a soldier leaves the base, their service unit badge is hit with a notice-me-not charm so no-one without clearance can tell where they are from and what this base is up to. We try to keep as low a profile as possible while maintaining good relations with the locals, such at patronizing the stores and pubs. It wouldn't be good if someone with nefarious interests in our activities would notice a lot of comings and goings by people with a flaming dagger badge on their shoulder, now would it?

"Anyway, to the reasons I asked you both to come. We have two issues, one of a more modern occurrence, and one which is more in your field of jurisdiction."

"Firstly, since time immemorial, military forces have used drugs and potions to strengthen their soldiers and increase their chances of success. Many of these involve ingredients which make the soldiers stronger, or reduce their fear during hazardous operations, or both. These have included magic potions which allowed a small Gaulish village to hold out against Julius Caesar's legions, an extra portion (called a tot) of overproof rum mixed with lime juice (for which the Royal Navy is credited for inventing the daiquiri), of the amphetamines given to fighter pilots and bomber crew in the Second World War and so on."

"In the magical branches arms of the British miliary organizations, a multitude of potions have been developed by the boffins to increase the intelligence level, the magical power rating, physical stamina and the like. As many of the military's magical people were disgruntled wizards and witches pissed off by their treatment in the British Magical society, or low-magic rated folks like myself who had been discarded by the same, a range of potencies were prepared for use under differing circumstances. To identify the differing levels, to prevent misuse, the potions were labelled numerically, and in reference to a popular muggle story, they were designated by the Letters 'FFA' (A/N: after 'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes). As in the story, it was soon found that once the effects of the potion had worn off, the person reverted to their initial magical level."

"Some major problems were soon discovered when the potions entered the 'field trial' phase of their introduction. As field trials in the military could be rather dangerous, these were first conducted under simulated battle conditions. The first problem showed up when they administered the highest potency formula to one of their most magically powerful soldiers – his wand exploded trying to carry the amount of magic, injuring his wand hand requiring extensive treatment for burns and nerve damage."

"After that discovery, various grades were given to those of various power ratings to determine the useful limits to the potions. The subjects were highly trained soldiers with high levels of both magical and mundane stamina. We ran the tests both with and without the drugs.

Harry thought about this for a moment, then asked "Are there any patterns that you found that were consistent, or are all the situations different."

Bil opened the folder on his desk. "Well spotted. So, to try and get a handle on the parameters, we ran all the subjects to exhaustion, and then let them recover completely. By the way, they were all volunteers for the tests. We then reran the tests, first without the FAA potions, and then with various grades of the mixtures."

"The results for the mundane time to exhaustion were all over the place, depending on the subjects' own stamina levels. This is what we expected, and is being incorporated into our training programs. Those with higher mundane stamina recovered quicker than those who were not as fit."

"The results for magical exhaustion were puzzling. The times to exhaustion seemed to correlate with their original magical power ratings, and instead of increasing their time to exhaustion with the potions, the times decreased sharply, and was related to the grade of the potions they were given. For example, when given the potion which appears to double their magical power index, their time to exhaustion was cut in half. Also, recovery time was much longer for those with higher magical power ratings, but did not seem to change at all with regards to the potions they were given. The recovery time seemed to correlate with their base power ratings alone. These seem to contradict the mundane results completely. What do you think?"

Teddy looked to Harry, and said "Sounds like the reservoir hypothesis." Harry nodded, and tilted his head towards Teddy indicating it was for him to explain.

Ted began "I guess I should explain a bit about my background and our joint history. My dad was a werewolf, and a very good friend of Harry's parents. Harry got to know him before the Battle at Hogwarts, where he was killed along with my mother who was a metamorphmagus. That means she could change her physical appearance at will. Hair colour, facial shape, and so on."

"Because of these facts, Harry and I have what might be an unusual level of compassion for the werewolf communities. My wife, Lobelia, is a werewolf, and two of my kids are as well."

Bil reacted. "Not another Tolkien nut?"

Ted smiled and nodded "Yep, afraid so. Anyway, given that Harry and I can afford the best treatments and top quality wolfbane potions, their monthly transformations are much less onerous than they might be. We are working on a vaccine, but no luck so far."

"My youngest daughter Remi also inherited her grandmother's metamorphmagus abilities, and so at full moon we have a kaleidoscopicly-coulored cub running around the house. Really cute. If you'd like to come and see…""

Bil cleared his throat. "Back to the point please?"

Ted smiled sheepishly. "Right. Sorry. Because of the increase in strength when transformed, the days after the full moon, werewolves tend to be completely exhausted or at least very tired. Harry and I have been talking about the reasons for this for quite some time. What we have come up with, we call the reservoir theory."

"You are familiar with the concept of the magical core." Bil nodded, indicating that he understood, so far, and that Ted should go on.

"The idea is that the magic power rating is actually a measure of the capacity of the magical core to produce magical effects. The more powerful, the stronger the magic that you can do, because you have this larger reserve of magical energy in your core. The birth tests for magic, we think, are actually measuring the capacity of the reservoir rather than magical ability which doesn't develop until years later. Too small a reservoir, little magical power, and you get designated as a squib."

"It sounds to me that your FFA potions don't increase the actual magical power, but rather increase the rate that the subject can utilize the power stored in their core. The higher the grade of the potion, the faster the drain on the system, so if you raise the so-called power by a factor of two, you drain the core twice as fast. The greater the magical stamina, the greater the capacity of the core, but the drainage rate is still there."

"The exhausted human body, apparently, can only restore the core at a given fixed rate, which seems to be the same to all people regardless of their inherent power rating. So the greater the initial capacity of the core, the longer it would take to refill the reservoir."

Harry was nodded at Teddy's explanation. He commented "It is rumoured that I have a larger than normal magical core, and the times I have exhausted myself, it has taken me several days to fully recover."

Teddy guffawed at Harry's saying his core was just somewhat 'larger' than typical.

Harry smiled at Teddy's reaction, then continued. "I think if you plot out your results on a graph, you might find that this is consistent with your results. There will always be some fluctuations and odd-ball results, just because there always are. Often, the weirder the results, the more interesting the reasons for the anomalies can be."

Bil smiled as he looked up from the dicta-quill pad which had been taking notes of Teddy's explanation. "That sounds good, and it looks like we overlooked what should have been obvious correlations. I'll have Dr. Jordan and her team take a look and see what she thinks."

Harry was surprised. "LaBarbara Jordan works for you?"

Bill nodded. "I am surprised you know her. She left the main magical world years ago. My team met her during some jungle training in Jamaica, where some of our boys and girls came down with some wierd local diseases and allergies. The Doc was doing a tropical disease course and was able to help. Our platoon commander offered her the job right away. That was some twenty years ago. How do you know her?"

Smiling, Harry said "Her husband, Lee Jordan, was a couple years ahead of me at Hogwarts, and is a partner with me and George Weasley in a number of projects. One of which is the magically resistant body-armour your people wear. LaBarbara Conrad was a couple years younger that us, a Ravenclaw and the top of her class and her year. She went on for training at St Mungo's but failed to get her qualifications as a full healer. As the saying goes, she 'went muggle' and achieved accreditation as a GP from Bell's in Edinburgh. She married Lee shortly after that, and we have had them over for dinner and parties for years."

"She always said she couldn't talk about her work, so we always assumed she was working somewhere secret in the MOD, like MI-6. I don't understand how she failed as a healer. She was just that good."

Bil nodded sadly. "Harry, consider who you're talking with, and what my background is. She is Jamaican, black, female and muggle-born. Pick your bigotry. I know you and yours are working to weed out the old fossils and their attitudes, but it is a lesson the military has had to learn over and over that until the old guard dies off, the attitudes stay. During the Crimean war, the generals were still trying to fight the Napoleonic wars, and during the so-called First World War, they were still ordering cavalry charges into machine gun fire."

"Thanks for your input on that. Anyway, moving on to our other issue. We have a ghost who is getting rather annoying, and refuses to move on."

"She wanders around the convalescent wards in the middle of the night, howling and moaning. She pops into offices when people are trying to work and pesters them."

"I am a serving officer charged with running this place in an efficient manner, and it is becoming impossible with her around. We have considered calling in an official CofE exorcist, and yes they still have them, but we haven't been able to find one with the appropriate security clearances."

"This is where the two of you are essential, as you are the current Heads of her birth and marital houses. Harry, I understand from her that you have some acquaintance with her but no friendship, but I don't believe Teddy has met her yet."

Harry smiled. "I gather your problem is Narcissa Malfoy. Your mother."

Bil nodded. "The mother who abandoned me as soon as I was born, like a piece of garbage! Probably on the demands of her husband and his overlord, but still. You know, in the Army, when you are given a task, you do it. If there is an obstacle in your way, you go around it, over it, or through it. If required, you remove it, forcibly if necessary. This damned ghost is preventing me from properly doing the job I have been given. She has to go!"

"We named the camp after her as a way to placate her, but that hasn't worked." Chuckling a bit, he added "You know Harry, I find in ironic that you were rejected by your relatives because you were magical, while I was rejected by my birth mother for not being magical enough. She refuses to speak with me, saying she has no time for a squib. I reminded her that if she didn't come to some agreement, she would have all the time in the world to bitch about it."

Bil reached into his desk, and withdrew two pill bottles. Taking one pill from on container, and two from the other, he popped them into his mouth and swallowed. At Teddy's raised eyebrow, he explained "the single pill was an FFA2.0 so for a short while, I can be effectively at a rating of 16 and can actually see her. It should last about four hours. A larger dose and I would be good for a day, but then useless for two or three more – not the best use of resources. The other two were for the headache meeting with her always generates."

While waiting for the slight buzz the drug would produce once it took effect, Bil looked to Harry and asked "I know that years ago, you told her that you couldn't care less about her. Why are you willing to help her now?"

Harry smiled. "A very good question, and one I have had to ask myself too. When she was alive, she was a member of one of the Houses I had jurisdiction over. As such, I was responsible for her physical wellbeing, but not her social or emotional concerns. She had, well, this dwelling, adequate income to survive very well and comfortably, and two house-elves to serve her. She had no real material wants or needs. Now, she is trapped by what her father, her husband and the dark idiot made her do. That is not her fault. Hermione used to say I had this 'saving people' thing, so I guess that's part of it. However, there is also the fact that she is causing problems to those I do have some respect for. So I would like to see her released from this plane of existence, for whatever reason. I guess in a way, I can understand that she was as much a victim of her upbringing and society as a lot of others were."

Harry looked off into space and called "Narissa Malfoy, please come here." Nothing happened.

Teddy Lupin repeated this process. Same result.

Bil cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, a bit of advice from a slightly older friend with some military experience. I know you guys prefer to deal with everybody on an equal-to-equal basis, but there are some times when you just have to pull rank. I think this is one of them."

The two wizards nodded with a slight grimace. Then Harry looked at the general with a sheepish look. "How do I do that?"

The officer laughed heartily. "You would have gone through that in officers' training. I sometimes forget that your education had been seriously flawed by going through the magical school system. Probably just another way the stuck-up bigots keep us 'lower-class' folks and mongrels suppressed and not question their self-appointed authority. Just another objection most of the people on this base have with the magical society and its shortcomings. What you do is call the person, state your position of authority over them and demand they show up. Immediately if not sooner."

All laughed.

Harry nodded. "Okay, I will give that a try."

Bil nodded. "Good. Just remember though, if you accept the authority, you also take the responsibility – that is something a lot of people don't understand."

"Ted, you should do it too. If she is called by the Heads of both her marital House and her birth House, and with you stating that you are invoking the ancient House Magics (if there are any, she might know that) she will almost certainly appear, and be rather contrite about it. Remember, if I understand it correctly, she was raised to obey her Head of House, and she was certainly brow-beaten to obey her husband and his dark Lord. But first off, did you review the documents that Gringotts sent over?"

Both wizards nodded. Teddy remarked, "her medical records were rather enlightening, so say the least. The transcripts of the conversations in Malfoy Manor, many of which they had surreptitiously recorded, were also very, very interesting. I don't know how the goblins snuck those recoding crystals into the Manor, but I am glad they did. It sheds a lot of light on how her husband and his master played her, her whole life. It also indicates that the goblins are much more aware of what goes on in the wizarding world than the powers-that-wish-to-be would like."

Bil nodded. "I gather that the goblins have risen up against the restrictions that the wizards have dictated, although the wizards agreeing to the goblins having the monopoly over the money and the inheritances strikes me as incredibly stupid. From what I understand, goblin society is almost always in a state of preparing for war. There is the old saying that 'Business is just war on a different battlefield', and the Japanese business community study a book of swordsmanship called 'The Book of Five Rings'. Knowledge is power, and I don't think the goblins would pass up an opportunity for what we in my business call intelligence gathering. And as the former head of reconnaissance, I have to say I admire their work."

Harry stood up and squared his shoulders. Teddy duplicated his posture.

Harry called out into the air, "Narcissa Black Malfoy, I am Harry Potter, Head of the House of Malfoy. I require your attendance. Come now!"

Teddy announced in a similar manner, "Narcissa Black Malfoy, I am Edward Lupin, the Head of House Black. I demand your presence at this time."

There was a long pause, and Teddy had started to shrug his shoulders when the ghost of Narcissa Malfoy appeared. She spoke. "Why have you called me here, and why is this squib here staring at me?"

Harry spoke in a harsh manner. "Madame, you have been complaining about being stuck on this plane of existence, and we are here to help you cross over to whatever is beyond. This so-called squib is your first-born son."

The ghost shook her head. "That is impossible. My husband swore to me that my squib offspring was killed as an embarrassment to the family. He was born a squib with no magic, and had no place in a pure-blood household, or indeed in any magical society! He had no right to live!"

Bil looked at the ghost with utter loathing and said, "Mother, the tests for magical ability that you used were crude and inaccurate and centuries old! They have been vastly improved over the years. As you can notice, I can see and hear you, as I do have magic." He did not mention that his magical rating was very low and that he had boosted it by pharmaceutical means. It seemed better to shock the ghost with the idea that her whole rationale for abandoning an infant was seriously flawed. A typical military tactic - keep your opponent off-balance.

Harry looked at her. "Narcissa Black Malfoy, your husband lied to you about killing the new-born infant. He would have like to, but he was advised against it, both by his goblin account manager as well as his Master, your self-named Lord Voldemort, who was actually a half-blood named Tom Riddle. You had almost died giving birth, and had you died and the infant killed, Lucius would lose any claim he had to the Black fortune."

"You see, Voldemort was very much wanting to get hold of the vast Black family money, and he was desperate for any way of getting it. Lucius was already in thrall to Voldemort by the time he met you, and he lied to you for your entire life together."

Turing to Teddy, Harry nodded for the Head of Black to carry on. "Your father knew the kind of man Lucius Malfoy was, greedy and unscrupulous, and that he was already a slave to Riddle. This is why he set up your marriage contract as he did. He knew that sooner or later, there would be a war for control of the wizarding world and that there was a very good chance that Lucious would eat more death than he and his buddies planned. Good guess. This is why he set out that if and when this happened, you would have shelter, an income and servants for you and your offspring for life and that only your own offspring could inherit, and that Lucius and Voldemort could not touch either! If Lucius took a mistress or second wife, which was common in your society, they and their offspring would have absolutely no claim to your dower properties."

"We have records of your many miscarriages and several conversations that Lucius and your Dark Lord had in your house. You were sicker each time. You almost died multiple times, and of course in pure-blood society, any problems were your own fault and not your husband's. No, never blame the man, only the woman. A barren wife was a blemish on the self-declared 'honour' of the family. Bloody hypocrites!"

"If you had died, Lucius could seek out the abandoned baby and 'arrange' to have the official records altered to show the infant was actually magical, and therefore still have some claim to the Black family wealth. All at Riddle's demand, of course. After all, it had worked with the imperious curse defense, given the right pockets to fill."

"You were told that, in order to allow you to recover your health enough to bear another child, Lucius did not get you pregnant again for a number of years, after which you did give birth to a healthy magical child, Draco. After that, conjugal relations ceased with the excuse of not endangering your health, and you were left to be the Society Lady. Now as a hostess for the pure-blood aristocracy, you were just another tool in the Dark Lord's plan to subjugate wizarding society."

"You have complained that you did what your father, your husband and the Dark Lord told you. You did, but of the three, your father was the only one who did not lie to you. In your pure-blood society, your prime function was to produce an heir for your husband. A magical heir. You have done this."

"This gentleman here was your first-born son. He is the one who has the right of inheritance to this dwelling, the dower account and the house-elves which your father gave you as your own."

"Madame, you now know the truth of the situation. At this point, we here see you as a victim of their treachery. What do you plan to do about it?"

Bil spoke. "Madame, you are, or rather were, my mother who abandoned me. Given the options I have seen play out, this may have been the best thing you could have done for me, as in magical society I would have been a pariah. However and that said, I am not particularly pleased with your actions."

"Given your history, I doubt that you will end up in the same afterlife as your husband and his enslaver, and of that I am satisfied, because from what I have gathered from people with a firm idea of what the afterlife holds, I would not wish their fate on you. However, this is my house now, you are not welcome any longer, and I ask you to leave!"

The ghost looked at the three men and nodded. "I suppose it is better to be a fool than to be thought to be totally evil. I don't know what will become of me, but if you have a religion, please pray for me to whatever deities you hold in reverence. Not that I deserve it, given my complicity in the horrors that occurred, but I think I will need all the help I can get, wherever I end up." And with that, she faded from the room.

After a moment of silence at the events which had just occurred, Bil smiled. "I don't know about you boys, but I could use a strong drink right about now. So, the officers' mess?"

A/N: In an earlier chapter, I questioned how the Book of Magical Births could determine who was magical and who was not. I hope you like my answer.