Ch 40 Taking the Crystal Ball to Switzerland

Rose Granger-Weasley woke up Saturday April eight, in the master bedroom of Malfoy Manor. She looked at the largish mounds her breasts had become. She felt down to the bump growing down below. Someone else was waking up, rolling around and pushing against the uterus that was confining her. "Scorpius, feel the baby," Rose whispered. Scorpius sleepily put a hand on Rose's baby bump, and felt the movement. There was something magical about feeling their child roll around and push against Rose. Once he could feel the baby move things had changed. He was eager to meet this new person. "Are we really creating an eternal being?" Scorpius asked, feeling the baby bump, in awe of what they were creating.

"I'm not a theologian, Scorpius," Rose replied. "I know we live on after death. The ghosts, the people who came out of the nothingness to heal you, the four founders, Uncle Harry and Albus's stories, all testify to that. But forever is a long time. I don't know. I just know that if you really believe and try to live a good life it is better, and being Christian helps me."

"The fact that the spells and other things about the farms were so anti-Christian makes me want to believe," Scorpius mused. "I wish it was simple. It was anti-Jewish as well, but I'm not Jewish. I guess in the East, where they are finding similar hidden farms, it is more anti Buddhist, or against other moral codes. You and your mother, Albus and Cleo, are Christian. As best as I can discern, I need your religion to be my religion and your God to be my God."

"I'm excited that you are going to be baptized and joining the church tonight," Rose smiled. "Meanwhile we have to go to the tent at the Malfoy farm and listen to Father Charlie Brown and his wife Marylyn try to explain Easter and Christianity to the people from the English farms."

"I think they want to become Christian because their rescuers are," Scorpius thought.

Cleopatra Potter woke up to movement in her uterus. She looked over her breasts, way too much of them. The last weeks had reinforced that too much was too much. She was very grateful she was a witch, with levitation spells to keep from being weighed down by the massive bumps her pregnant breasts had become. Too much. They were in the way as well. Too big, too much. Albus was looking at her. "Adam is moving," she told her husband. He felt down to the baby bump as the baby in Cleo stretched and moved. Albus poked, and the baby moved away. Albus knew, because his mother had told him, that he had poked back, but Adam just tried to move out of the way. Children were different before they were born.

"Easter sunrise, well Saturday night, service tonight, to see Scorpius received into the church," Albus thought. "Monday getting ready, and taking the Crystal Ball to Switzerland on Tuesday."

Albus and Cleopatra worked on packing up all their possessions Saturday morning. "I've packed the Fertility Goddess robe," Cleo told Albus. "There is no way I want to march into Switzerland wearing that robe. I could have most of the fertile witches in Switzerland pregnant at the same time, and that would be just wrong. I wore it for our wedding, but really that was too much as well. It would have been OK if it had been a small wedding, maybe, but I didn't know how to control the wand and dress well enough."

Albus and Cleo had worked on how to limit the magic of their two wand to themselves when they made love, and only use their erotic magic in a very controlled way. It had become better, much better, but with Cleo always a little too close to being out of control.

Richard and Annabella Fagan were going to take Albus and Cleo's possessions to Switzerland that afternoon, along with their possessions. The Fagans were going to have an apartment in the castle, at least for the time being. Jesus and Ginny were also going to move their possessions to Switzerland. "I feel bad about kicking your parents out of the Regent's quarters," Jesus told Albus.

"My father is relieved that he is not going to be the Regent," Albus assured Jesus again, something he had to do often the past few months. "He is worried enough about The Lord of the Dementors, and about the battle that the worldwide Aurors may have to fight. Not being Regent is, he tells me, a relief."

"So Ginny and I are stuck with the responsibility," Jesus kidded.

"You more or less volunteered," Albus reminded Jesus and Ginny. "Sometimes getting what you want is more of a curse than a blessing."

Saturday afternoon Harry Potter arrived at Grimmauld Place to escort Albus and Cleo first to the St. Merlin and Mungo's Church, and then after church services back to Grimmauld Place.

"The Lord of the Dementors is getting frantic trying to keep you from bringing the Crystal Ball to Switzerland," Harry told the couple. "I know Rose and Scorpius want you at the Easter Sunrise service tonight, but you need to be guarded. We are taking you into the church early, via a secure Floo. You are going to be upstairs in the choir loft."

"I didn't think the church had a choir loft," Albus thought.

"It didn't," Harry confirmed. "It does now, although it is not going to be used for the choir. It is mostly for extra seating, and extra secure seating."

Saturday night was the biggest of the Easter services. It lasted two and a half hours. As part of the service some adults were baptized. When Scorpius realized that Christians believed baptism washed away your sins he felt that maybe baptism would help him feel a little less guilty about what he had done when his father had Imperiused him, plus Christians had a moral code. Rose and her mother were Christians, and good people. He hoped that being Christian would keep him humble. He did not want to live his life with the arrogance of his grandfather.

The church was full. Harry wasn't sure how much of it was because of religion and how much was because Scorpius and Rose, Albus and Cleo were going to be there. It was late when the church services were finished. Albus and Cleo, accompanied by several Aurors and Elves, were some of the last to leave the church, Albus and Cleo for their bedroom at Grimmauld Place.

Harry knew that there were Magi from the Lord of the Dementors, and some who had gone over to the Lord of the Dementors when Jezebel was defeated, close to the church. They were trying, so far unsuccessfully, to compromise the Floo and Closet networks. Harry was worried.

Sunday the Weasley family gathered at The New Burrow as usual. Molly asked Albus, "Do you know when you are going to bring the Crystal Ball to Switzerland?"

"We are leaving for Resort Cleo sometime between tonight and Tuesday," Albus replied. "We are bringing the Crystal Ball back sometime next week."

"You are that worried about telling people when?" Molly wondered.

"Yes, grandmother," Albus responded. Albus looked at his father.

"The International Aurors are sure that The Lord of the Dementors does not want the Crystal Ball that is at Resort Cleo to be in Switzerland," Harry replied. "This is the biggest threat the Dementors have faced in many centuries. The problem we have is that all the prophesies say that Cleo has to personally carry that Crystal Ball back to Switzerland, so she and Albus are in danger until they are safely in Switzerland."

Molly wondered, "Are you going to be able to be at my Sunday gatherings from now on?" looking at Albus.

Al looked at Cleo, who beamed, "I hope so. Not every Sunday, but as often as we can."

"We do not know exactly what will happen once we are in Switzerland with the Crystal Ball," Albus let the group know. "We have some idea, and we know we will be expected to make our home there, but there is much we are not sure of."

Sunday evening Harry and Ginny sat down with Albus and Cleo. They were meeting in the living room, a smaller and more intimate room than the large drawing room. Somehow it felt more secure as well, and Harry had closed the door to the room and done privacy spells just to make sure.

Minerva was in bed, and Ivana was in her bedroom doing something. Lily was also upstairs, either with Ivana or in her own room.

Harry and Albus went over in great detail how everyone was getting to Resort Cleo, what they were going to be doing when they were there, and how they were leaving to go to Switzerland. Several contingency plans were also reviewed.

"It sounds like you are almost as worried as you were when Jezebel appeared at Malfoy Manor," Ginny observed.

"I think we have more control over the situation," Harry told her. "I am just worried that there will be more beings, Magi and Dementors and who knows what else, trying to attack Cleo and Albus."

"Is that why you do not want people to know how Albus and Cleo are traveling, and when?"

Ginny asked to confirmed.

Harry and Albus both nodded 'yes.'

"There are several Closet networks in the Americas, and you have to leave one and enter another at transit points," Harry explained. "I'm less worried about being attack at the transit points than I am about being spotted. I'm also a little worried about the last transit point between the islands and the one on Resort Cleo."

"Both ways?" Ginny wondered.

"Both ways," Harry confirmed. "I am more worried about them going to Switzerland with that Crystal Ball, however."

The next morning four Auror Gray Range Rovers left the large underground garage between Grimmauld Place and NewBright Street and headed to the airport. Once there the pulled into the hanger where Dursley Potter and Weasley LTD stored their airplane. The airplane was reasonably small for one that could fly transoceanic, smaller than the commercial airplanes that flew over the ocean, but still sizable for a private airplane.

The airplane made one stop to refuel before landing in Miami, Florida, USA. The airplane was met by four of the Auror Gray SUVs the North American Aurors used, and Harry and the people accompanying him were taken to an Auror building, where the vehicles were driven into a garage so they could be unloaded in secret.

From the Auror building groups took a Closet network to Resort Cleo. Harry had a map along with him, one that showed him who was within one hundred feet (thirty meters) of him. It was very advanced magic, and very few other than Albus and Harry had seen this permutation of the magical map.

Harry did spot several suspicious characters outside the Closets during the trip, but everything was happening so fast, people were moving through the Closets as quickly as they could, and nothing happened.

Maybe it was because no one had spotted Albus or Cleo.

Once in the Miami airport Albus, Cleo, along with Frerin and Dis, Ben and Karen Nguyen, Apparated directly from the inside of the DPW LTD airplane into a hanger some distance away. (You were not really supposed to Apparate when you were as pregnant as Cleo, but her understanding of Apparating was so deep and unusual that she assured everyone that it was safe for her and the baby.) They boarded a seaplane, which took off without, it appeared, being noticed. The airplane flew south, but not directly towards Resort Cleo. It stopped to refuel, and eventually almost flew past the island before turning and heading towards it.

The airplane was a true seaplane, with the bottom of the fuselage like a boat, and it landed on the water and taxied close to the shore. The six beings jumped out of the airplane and waded onto the shore, where they were immediately surrounded by other beings. Using spells, they dried themselves, and then they were rushed up to the house at the top of the island, where they were met by Harry, Nausicaa, Steven Bushman, Elves and others.

Nausicaa showed the group a Crystal Ball, explaining, "This is the Crystal Ball that Godiva Malfoy used to communicate with Jezebel. I want to see if we can use it to communicate with the Crystal Ball in Switzerland, and then leave it here."

She pointed to Steven. "Steven has one of the more common Crystal Balls, one that you cannot use for communication."

Steven showed the group the other Crystal Ball.

Nausicaa, Cleo, Albus and Sandy the Elf went up to the office. Nausicaa took the one Crystal Ball down from where it was sitting, and replaced it with the Crystal Ball that Godiva Malfoy had been using, and then Nausicaa, Cleo and Sandy used it to talk to Sibylla Papadopoulos and several other beings, Magi and Elf, that were in Switzerland.

That evening after dinner Harry went over the entire plan with everyone who was going to be involved in taking the Crystal Ball and escorting Albus and Cleo to Switzerland, including diversionary tactics.

Resort Cleo did not have cell phone service, but it did have limited internet access at only the office, and both the island and Harry did have satellite phones. Between those and using a Patronus Harry was confident he could contact the other Magi and Elves involved in moving Al, Cleo and the Crystal Ball.

He was still worried. More than worried. All the intelligence he and the International Aurors had received indicated that The Lord of the Dementors was frantically trying to intercept the Crystal Ball.

Monday night it was apparent that enemies has guessed that Cleo might be on Resort Cleo. There were a few Magi on brooms flying around the island, and Harry was concerned about a couple of boats.

Tuesday morning a large group left Resort Cleo. They Apparated to one nearby island, and then to another one that had a Closet. Harry had a map of the island, as did another Auror, and they successfully had everyone enter the Closet before their opponents could intercept them, although there were suspicious characters trying to get to the intermediate island.

They went through three more Closets before arriving at the secure Auror office in Miami. The four American SUV's in Auror Gray left the Auror office, and traveled with invisibility spells on at a high rate of speed towards the airport, where they rapidly entered the Dursley, Potter and Weasley airplane. As they rushed into the airplane they were attacked, and a large contingent of Aurors held off the enemy.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, both the attackers and the defenders were invisible to the No-Maj on the ground, because of invisibility spells and the Statue of Secrecy. Because the attackers were invisible and no one in the control tower could know there was a problem, Harry could not figure out how to take off before it was their turn. Having gotten into line, it wasn't possible to just disappear and not cause major problems with secrecy, even if they could make the airplane disappear. It seemed to Harry to take way too long to take off. They were in a line of almost a dozen airplanes waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Harry could see a battle going on outside as the airplane rose in altitude. The North American Aurors were mostly fighting in pairs, one driving the big Honda motorcycles that they used instead of brooms, the other one doing most of the fighting. The allies of The Lord of the Dementors were mostly on brooms, which were more maneuverable but not as fast or as well protected.

All of the combatants had Invisibility Charms on them, along with Re-Visibility Spectacles so they could see each other, so the battle was mostly invisible to Muggles (or No-Maj, this was North America, after all.) There were Obliviators to modify the few that did see evidence of the battle.

The North American Aurors had a group of healers and what they called 'catchers' who flew under the battle, catching any DMLE Magi who had been wounded or who had fallen, and despite a number of injuries none of the North American Aurors were killed. The allies of The Lord of the Dementors were not so lucky.

The airplane flew to Toronto, Canada, to refuel. It then flew to Bern, where four big SUV's in Auror Gray were waiting for them. This was going to be the riskiest part of the journey, and Harry was worried. They knew that The Lord of the Dementors could discover where you had Apparated to, and send his allies there within minutes. Harry and others also sensed a large number of anti-Apparition spells; trying to Apparate through them was dangerous or impossible. The Floo and Closet networks were usually secure, but Harry and his team were prepared for a major assault on them if they sensed that they were being used by Cleo carrying the Crystal Ball.

About halfway to the secure entrance to the Swiss valley traffic stopped, some sort of accident totally shutting down the road. Harry could sense the sudden appearance of anti-Apparition spells. There were too many people in front of, in back of, and beside them to just disappear without causing major problems with The Statue of Secrecy. Harry had what he thought were plenty of escorts, but suddenly over a hundred Magi on brooms were surrounding the four SUV's.

Harry Potter sat in the back of the lead SUV looking at his map trying to figure out how to best deploy his guards when he heard a very loud crash. The SUV shook. Looking back Harry saw that the third SUV, the one that contained the Crystal Ball and … It seemed like a very large rock had flown down towards the third SUV. The rock flew toward the SUV much faster than if it had just been dropped, and it demolished the middle and rear of the vehicle.

Several of the Magi on brooms rushed the vehicle, and one of them grabbed a Crystal Ball and flew off.

Harry saw red on his map of the convey, right where the rock hit. This was bad. Harry immediately called Switzerland.

This was really bad.

"It is going to take a couple of hours just to clear the road," Harry told Raphael Vaud, describing the situation to the Swiss Head Auror on his Magical Mobile. "We have been Obliviating people, but could use a couple more Obliviators. I do not dare to do anything but proceed with driving the SUV's to the valley. We are still being watched, still being followed. The ruined SUV is on a lorry, and we will be bringing it all in as soon as we can."

"We have several things waiting for you, Harry. This tragedy has changed many of the plans here, obviously," Raphael replied.

2022