Ch 25 Boxing Day
Boxing Day was January twenty-sixth, Monday.
Harry, Ginny, Albus, Cleo, Lily, Ivana and Minerva ate breakfast together in the kitchen of twelve Grimmauld Place. Hermione and Ron with Hugo joined them.
"Cleo and I are going to spend the next four days on the island," Albus announced. "It is too difficult traveling back and forth every day, and it is awkward with the time difference as well."
"You are going to have to give the island a name," Hermione suggested.
"The Island of the Pirate Witch Queen isn't true anymore," Harry noted.
"The Island of the Fertility Goddess?" Ginny wondered.
"I hope not," Albus retorted. "The island is not that big, and Cleo really has to control that aspect of her personality."
"She does," Ginny confirmed. "If the prophetesses thought you needed to wear that wedding gown, I guess you did, but I doubt if all the babies born because of it are going to be wanted. That gown is going to put many families in awkward positions."
"I know," Cleo sighed.
Just then several owls flew towards Albus and Cleo. Albus opened a small bag he was carrying, took out a large bag of owl treats, and gave each owl a treat. He then took a quick look at each letter. He did read all of two of the letters. He then shrunk the letters and put them in the bag.
"Sometimes I wish the owls took a day off," Cleo complained.
"People are acting like we are the next rulers of the Magi," Albus told the table. "Even if we will be, we are not yet. I've looked at enough of these letters to know that they all should be answered individually, but Cleo and I don't even have time to read them all."
"You need a personal staff," Hermione suggested. "People whose job it is to read the letters and, under your direction, answer them. They may end up doing other things for you. I know Winky does more for me than I thought she would, and at the Ministry Jack Miller and his staff handle much of the routine matters that otherwise would overwhelm me."
"Richard Fagan and Annabella Bulstrode!" Albus exclaimed. "I wonder if they married. They were going to. We have worked just enough with Richard to know he could do the job, and Annabella seems to be a nice, hardworking-person. They want to marry, but actually marrying may be very awkward.
"Richard is at Hogwarts. His parents disowned him when he went to Hogwarts. I don't know where Annabella is."
"I will go to Hogwarts to try and find out," Hermione replied. "Boxing day is a holiday at the Ministry, so I don't have to go to work."
"I am going in to work," Harry informed everyone, wincing when everyone groaned. "I'm still dealing with how short staffed we are because of all the Aurors who are dead or disabled. The Creevey family, Dennis and Mary Lou, covered for me during the weddings and Christmas, but they are taking all of today off."
"I thought Albus and Cleo won, and everything was over with?" Hugo asked.
"There are problems large and small that still have to be dealt with, and dangers large and small. The largest is, we think, some ways off, but the Lord of the Dementors and the evil, Christians would call it the Devil and his demons, are apparently frantic. Prophesies suggest that they will suffer a big loss sometime after the Pirate Witch Queen is defeated."
"There are really scary prophesies," Albus confirmed. "Plus, there is a big conflict between some of the old fashion goblins and the newer Elf Goblins and other descendants of the High Elves. We have not been very involved in that, and I hope we are not, because it is scary, and violent at times."
"I'm worried about Rose and Scorpius too," Harry continued. "There is much evil in that family. We have not examined Godiva Greengrass Malfoy's rooms yet, but her Elf Gritrude has indicated that we may find some things that may explain why she tried to kill Rose. And I still don't trust Lucius Malfoy nor Draco, and Scorpius has told us some things that make me even less inclined to trust Draco."
"It's not Happily Ever After, then," Hugo observed.
"No, it's usually not," Harry unhappily agreed.
Albus and Cleo were sitting at the dining table in the big house on the island with Sandy and some other Elves, all sharply dressed in their new rented uniforms, and several other Magi, when Hermione walked in, accompanied by Richard and Annabella.
"Annabella marrying Richard without her parent's permission in England was a little harder than I thought it would be," Hermione announced. "I told the couple that the laws on this island should allow their marriage, however, and once the legal documents were properly filled in, and the marriage was consummated, that the Magi in Great Britain would have to honor it.
"We just need a formal betrothal and wedding contract to modify," Albus replied. "I think there is one somewhere in these documents." He pointed out a couple of piles of documents three feet (one meter) high.
"Can you just modify the British form?" Hermione wondered.
A wizard, who introduced himself as a constitutional scholar familiar with international law, examined the form, made a few changes, and then announced, "This will be the approved formal betrothal and wedding contract for Resort Cleo, if the ruler of the island approves.
Albus quickly read over the form, pointed out a few key passages to Cleo, who nodded, and then put the form down. Cleo took out her new wand and touched the form. It glowed and then settled down into an official looking document. Albus duplicated the form and gave it to his Aunt Hermione.
Hermione read over the form with satisfaction, and then guided Richard and Annabelle as they filled in the form.
"I have a standard set of wedding vows," Hermione then announced. "Will these do?"
The legal expert looked at them. "They do not need any formal approval, as long as Cleo approves."
Cleo looked at them and nodded 'yes.'
"You are Hermione Granger-Weasley, I believe?" the wizard then asked Hermione.
"Yes," she answered.
"Cleo has to perform marriages right now, although by the end of tomorrow we hope to have all this legal and magical documentation set up so her parents can as well," he told the assembly. "You could be one of the witnesses, if you want."
So, to her total delight, Cleo performed her first marriage, with Albus and Hermione as witnesses.
Hermione proceeded to set up a file, similar to what she had done often before, so letters and other critical correspondence could be sorted out, and then dealt with. Albus and Cleo spent a little time going over how to answer various letters, with advice from Hermione and the legal expert.
And just like that Richard and Annabelle Fagan (Annabelle wanted to take her husband's name; she was not fond of the Bulstrode name) became Al and Cleo's personal assistants.
Later on that afternoon Ann found Richard and Annabelle and had them take what luggage they had to a room on the island. "You are staying here until Cleo and Al go back to England," she said. Ann then took the couple to a small store on the island so they could obtain clothes suitable for wearing in the tropical climate of the island.
"Roger Davies has a recording he wants you to listen to," the assistant told Harry as he handed him a Muggle memory stick. "It comes from Bowman Flint and the witch from Jezebel he has been meeting with, Felicia Rocha."
"Where is Roger?" Harry asked.
"The Hog's Head is super busy, from what he told the Aurors in Hogsmeade," was the answer. "Every room is full, the bar is swamped, and he really doesn't have time for the … well, listen to the recording. Roger got an extendable ear connected to a recorder into the booth that Bowman and Felicia were sitting in, but the recording is rough. I understand that Bowman and Felicia were fighting, and both are under guard and recovering at St. Mungo's."
Harry put the memory stick into a computer on his desk and listened.
"I need a place to stay," Felicia started. "You owe me."
"Why … static," from Bowman.
"You messed up when … loud noises," from Felicia
"I put the potions in as instructed. I even p … more yells from the crowd," from Bowman.
F "You did not need to add a second vial Friday night and Saturday."
B "The potion was not supposed to work until Scorpius and Cleo were hol … more noises."
Bowman again, "... someone from the island can examine the left over leftover potions and …"
F "… is captured and I have no place to stay, you …"
B "… were in charge of getting Godiva's blood, Felicia. Maybe they can … "
F "… that if anyone tries to check the potions with magic the blood will disappear."
F again, "… sex for a room? That is all you seem to be interested in, you bas …"
"QUIET!" from Roger. "Take your arguments outside. All of you!"
Harry could hear some shuffling of tables and people.
Harry called in one of his Aurors who was good at examining a crime scene. "Tom, I want you to listen to this recording. Then I want you to examine Bowman Flint's home at Hogwarts without magic and see if you can find these bloody potions. If we can obtain one of them without magic, there is a Muggle DNA analysis we can do on it."
"Yes, sir," Tom replied. "It is more tedious examining without magic, but I can start that way."
Harry thought that getting answers as to how the, he thought, twenty-one, at least twenty-one witches became pregnant would not really solve anything, at this point, but it would be good to know.
Al and Cleo had dinner on the island with Cleo's parents, but also the Fagans'. At dinner Cleo asked her parents, "How did I end up at Malfoy Manor?"
Ann Smith started to tell the story.
"Many years ago, when I was a child, Lucius came to the island. I do not know why, but I think it had to do with some plants, maybe illegal or hard to find. I have no idea if he was growing them, or could get them, or was buying them. I may even be wrong about why he came.
"I do know that the magic of the island required that the head of the island has heirs. Jezebel had a bad habit of killing people, including her descendants. My mother escaped being killed by being totally subservient to Jezebel, but that subservience kept her from being an heir. You see, Jezebel followed the pattern of her ancestors, and took the wand by force and then killed her grandmother, put her naked on the altar and cut out her beating heart. So the only logical heir had to be one who could defeat her, and my mother was not qualified.
"So Jezebel needed a descendant stashed away somewhere where the descendant could not kill Jezebel, but also where Jezebel would not kill her. It had to be a witch. Lucius guaranteed that he could raise a child and make sure they obeyed even the most odious of orders, raise a child to hate. I know Lucius came back with Draco, and the four of us, Jezebel, me, Draco and Lucius, made a blood vow that one of my female children would be raised by Lucius and his family at Malfoy Manor. Draco and I were both children, too young, but a blood vow is a blood vow.
"I never liked Jezebel. I was afraid of her and did not like what she was doing. I escaped by spending as much time as I could in the ocean, swimming and fishing. Eventually I found a sand bar, a place where I could see the island but be far away from it, so I could spend more time in the ocean. I was there when Orwant found me. He is a powerful wizard, and he was drawn to the spot."
Orwant Smith continued, "My family lives on an island close to the Island of the Pirate Witch Queen, and we have been working with the American Aurors to try and defeat her for centuries. I received a prophecy that I would be instrumental in doing so, although it would be costly to do so. I have a sailboat and used it for fishing and taking tourists on trips. One day I was led to anchor the sailboat at a certain place and swim in a certain direction. I am not sure why, but I was praying, and was led to do it. And when I could just make out my boat, I saw Ann sitting on the sand bar, and I swam to her and we met. From then on we tried to meet at least once a week. And I told my parents about her, and we prayed, and consulted the prophets."
Ann continued, "All the witches on the island lose their virginity on their sixteenth birthday, if they have not lost it before. There was much child abuse on the island, but as the granddaughter of the Pirate Witch Queen, and as if I may say so a rather forceful person, I avoided it. I did have to kick a couple of bastards between their legs, hard, but I was a virgin. But that was going to end, and I was going to have to take part in the orgies and have many men … It is awful what was going on there.
"I told Orwant about it, and two days before my sixteenth birthday I swam with him to his boat, and we met his parents, and signed marriage documents, and on my sixteenth birthday we consummated our marriage.
"Grandmother was livid. I was told, and prophets confirmed it, that we had to spend at least a month on that cursed island, or we would both die. Also, that by living we might be fulfilling prophesies about ending Jezebel's rule. And I remembered the blood vow I had made, under duress it is true, but my blood was on it.
"Our first child was a son. Jezebel sacrificed him, cut out his heart on that altar. Cleopatra was our second. I was nineteen when she was born. We had another son who was sacrificed, and then your poor sister, Cleo, and then made a conscious decision not to have any more children until and unless Jezebel was dead."
"What would have happened if Scorpius and I had married?" Cleo wondered.
"My guess is that Jezebel would have forced the two of you back to the Island, and then killed Scorpius, or at least kept him prisoner. It would not have surprised me if she would have killed all the Malfoy family right there at the Manor, as long as she could make sure that Cleopatra was the heir, and if they needed a male consort to the heir, she would have kept Scorpius alive but as a prisoner."
"When I recovered my memories," Cleo thought, concentration evident in her face, "I did get some of Jezebel's as well. Mostly hate and fear. I do think that she or the people with her would have killed grandmother Narcissa, and maybe Scorpius's mother and father. Jezebel hated goodness. She hated weakness as well."
Cleo thought some more. "I think she thought Narcissa was good, which she hated, and Draco was weak, and Astoria was just useless. Well, I think Astoria is rather useless as well. I should be nicer, and sometimes I am sorry for Mr. Draco, but it is hard to be sorry for Astoria."
2022