Disclaimer: The characters used within this are mostly the property of others. I have a few originals, but the vast majority are not original. Everything here is fiction. This is for entertainment only and not for profit.
-=oOo=-
To Green Angel Tower - Chapter 10
-=oOo=-
Less than twenty four hours later they had over one hundred of the strongest witches and wizards around, and two dozen of the strongest goblins.
Gar'nok, the head curse breaker for the goblins was of of the few in the main meeting room. He listened carefully to their plans.
"Are there any questions or comments? Maybe a way to make this a lot more feasible?" asked Adriane.
"You need a ritual chamber to establish this gate. You must negate outside influence or this is liable to go badly," said Gar'nok.
"We also need to move through a lot of rocket engines and potentially other equipment, and ideally we don't want to expose them to any more magic than necessary," said Adriane.
"Then we build one, but we are going to need someplace underground at minimum," said Gar'nok.
"The design center for the," started Harry.
"We will use it and deal with the consequences later. Harry, Hermione, anchor here. Fleur, Daphne go there and open the other end. We might as well get some practice with these things."
Fleur and Daphne vanished. A couple minutes later a crackling oval portal formed in the air, grounded at this side by Harry and Hermione.
Gar'nok directed about half of his people through it. Everyone in the room save for Harry and Hermione went as well. They apparated right after they dropped the portal entrance.
-=oOo=-
Garnok immediate saw the titanium ship model.
"She is called the Tempest. We actually plan to build one eight times that big. Had we known about this we would have already done so. We are actually building her now, but it won't be done in time for this," said Fleur.
"Any of this base may be used for the area, but along the main route where we can get trucks in is helpful," said Adriane.
"Search the area. Learn what you need to find the best place and no more. Return back," commanded Garnok.
"How long would you need to build that?"
"We only just figured out one key piece we needed, though we certainly could have built one by now, had we been willing to spend the money and ignore some of our goals. The math said wait. As it is, even with the round the clock work it likely will be far too late. We might complete it a week or so before that thing hits, but we need to stop it way before that," said Ken.
"That wouldn't really be finishing our plans. It would just be cobbling something we could use for this," said Kevin.
The team with Bill Weasley came back first.
"We talked to the others. We think the room at the end is best. It is two story and there is a freight elevator down to it, as well as stairs. It is about forty feet wide and approximately round."
"Could it be made perfectly round?" asked Gar'nok.
"Maybe. It depends on how things get in and out."
"Let's go take a look."
They got down there and looked around.
"My people can handle this work. You have the arrays we need to create?" asked Gar'nok.
"I have no problem with that, but if we can do anything, just ask," said Adriane.
"We want to make this into a perfect sphere. The door when closed should complete the sphere. The door should be made out of the same rock."
"How are we getting the rocket engines into the gate?" asked Ken.
"I need to see one."
They went back about half way till they reached an assembly area. "There are more elsewhere, but two of the prototypes are here. They use an array we developed to store several thousands times as much fuel as it appears," said Adriane.
"This isn't a problem. We can create a carrier sled. The sled will be magic, but will isolate what is on it."
"Can the sled stay on this end, with another sled or similar be used on the other end?" asked Ken.
"We can make that work. Bill Weasley, I believe you have created such before to transport things in sensitive situations."
"I have."
"Work with Adriane and whomever you need. Get these built."
"We will get right on it."
-=oOo=-
Harry, Fleur, and Albus were called in to levitate out massive chunks of rock onto waiting truck beds, while the goblins and just as many dwarves that appeared nearly on their footsteps rapidly carved the room into a perfect sphere. The new room had an invisible but clever solid rock door.
Finally, it was done, including runes inscribed all over checked by half a dozen experts. Adriane's and Bill's material floats were also done. All the work had taken another precious day.
"Okay the initial flight is going to contain two of our magically expanded oxygen cylinders, with the correct regulators. One contains nitrogen. This is not the normal use of these so be careful. Your primary goal is to hollow an underground staging area. You want to use 21 percent oxygen there, so you have a lot more oxygen than you can use. Too much is a severe fire hazard. If there was space, I'd be going," said Kevin.
"I will be going. Once you connect the gate, everyone else will come through, wearing suits of course and bringing more supplies. The hard part will be coming up with a way to go out without losing air," said Ken.
"We think a modified runic shield charm will work. It seemed to in our testing in your lab," said Perenelle.
"Good. The ship is loaded with space suits. You have a full set of magical space suits, that we have been developing, and a full set of regular ones we got from the European Space Agency, plus one full set more that are very primitive, and are basically just an oxygen tank on each and a very basic regulator.
The team is Ken, Harry, Fleur, Daphne, Harmione, Gar'nok, Bill Weasley, and Albus Dumbledore. Ken will be the pilot. He has the credentials, and we need to keep this flight light, given how dangerous it is and how much you are carrying. You have a go to launch. God speed," said Kevin.
-=oOo=-
Ken sat in the seat as the others got in.
"I did get type rated on the unmodified craft. We should be fine. Taking off."
They were pushed into their seat as the others provided magic for the engines.
"How long will it take to get there?" asked Bill Weasley.
"That depends on how fast we go. Once we are completely in empty space we could, in theory, go very fast. I'm debating what speed is sane," said Ken.
"Define very fast," said Bill.
"I'm guessing around 100 thousand miles per hour or so. That is a number from our actual space ship design, not this converted jet. We need to go around that rate to intercept the asteroid in the next two days. The good news is in about three hours we stop accelerating, save for course corrections."
"That's insane," muttered Bill.
"That is barely practical space travel."
"Won't we need to decelerate for three hours as well at the other end?" asked Hermione.
"Probably more. Maybe four. We need to actually change directions and match its speed. It is all fun manual piloting, with your help of course. That reminds me, we still don't have a great way of estimating distance at extreme range. We will have to work on that. For now we are about to break atmo."
-=oOo=-
"And there you have it. The experimental space ship code named Falcon from France is on its way to the asteroid we now have confirmed will impact our world, if not stopped in thirty days. We are told it is made from an old business jet using a form of propulsion that is still top secret. As you can see it has no visible engines. We will let you know more when we know more. We are told the ship was never intended for a trip outside our planet, though it has done so before to bring medicine to the space station."
He paused to drink his coffee and then listened to his earpiece.
"Correction, we are told that that ship was damaged badly and this is an identically modified model."
-=oOo=-
"I had no idea space travel would be this boring," noted Albus.
"We are going very fast, though it doesn't feel like it I know. Fleur is doing fine taking the helm," said Ken as he carefully eat a sandwich, trying to prevent food from flying all over.
"I went through the latest readings we got with point me. I know we don't have a precise determination of our speed, but I can estimate from the tests we do where we change our course slightly that we are about twenty two hours from our destination," said Hermione.
"I so will be glad when we get the real space ship done with technology and magic," said Ken.
"Your not the only one. It makes no sense to be flying this, and just remaining still forever and seeing nothing," said Fleur.
"I know. That is why we are doing the half hour checks."
"Perhaps Adriane and I can come up with something better, while we wait," mused Albus.
"Might as well try."
-=oOo=-
Panic erupted all over the world. Thousands died. Billions were lost in looting and fires as the world struggled to retain order. At Hogwarts, families were moving in. They were preparing to raise the war wards, in the hope that it would do some good.
-=oOo=-
"Well, it is in sight, but it is also breaking off crap left and right. I can't sneak up behind it. We'd be pulverized. Keep feeding us the modified point me data. We will have to approach from alongside," said Ken.
"How will we land if that keeps happening?" asked Bill.
"I'm hoping it is more stable up ahead."
It wasn't. The entire asteroid was slowly fragmenting, not that that helped them. In ten years it might be a non issue. They had twenty eight days.
"I'll go, and begin the work. I can apparate out with my suit and get over there," said Harry.
"You are not going alone," said Hermione crisply.
"No he is not," insisted Fleur.
"It is unanimous," added Daphne dryly.
"If a sacrifice must be made," started Albus.
"I need you to provide power to this ship, once the magic they fed runs out," said Ken.
"You all know stability arrays. Don't worry about digging. Start etching them and powering them, then get back," said Adriane.
"We will," agreed Fleur.
-=oOo=-
They apparated near the asteroid in two different places and floated down to it. As soon as they landed Harry formed a hemispherical shield around Daphne so she could work. Fleur did the same on the other side of the asteroid as they sought to temporarily increase the asteroids stability.
Every ten minutes or so a hundred mile an hour or faster rock would bang against their shields, but they held. They did one location per hour then swapped who was shielding. They worked for a fourteen hour shift before they apparated back.
"Did we do any good? The rocks still seemed to keep hitting," said Daphne tiredly.
"You cut the resulting debris being cast out by more than half. We still can't land. I know you need to rest. After you have rested, do you think one of you can provide shielding near one of the places you stabilized, and then start with the excavation?" asked Ken.
"We can do that," said Harry tiredly.
Albus pulled out four vials. "This was what Nick had extra. They had just drank a dose. They last about a year. They also help magical recovery for a few weeks after you drink them. It is not eternal life, unless you drink them at least yearly, but it should help."
"What about you?" asked Hermione.
"I have one more vial. It goes to whomever has the greatest need. I do not seek to delay death his due, unless it is necessary to finish this," said Albus.
"Drink it. We are on the clock," said Adriane.
They nodded and drunk up. They suddenly glowed with energy before fainting. Albus caught them all with his magic and settled them into chairs.
"I must have forgot to tell them they would pass out for half a day after drinking," said Albus dryly.
Gar'nok laughed.
"They needed that much rest regardless. They had to have it," said Adriane.
"Agreed," added Gar'nok.
-=oOo=-
Fleur woke more energized than she had ever been. She had to force herself to eat and drink and even use the wizarding bathroom before they started again. She could tell the others felt the same as they suited back up. Their suits still had near a half a days oxygen left in them, so they used the same ones. They arrived and Harry cast the shield that protected the entire area.
"I'll hold it. I'm fresh. I can go for several hours."
"Then we will get to work," said Fleur.
They quickly used slicing spells to sever approximately four foot by four foot wedge shaped blocks that were twice that deep. Then a gentle summons pulled the rock out, before they banished it far away through Harry's shield.
This same technique was repeated for hours before Fleur insisted on swapping with Harry, who not only had to protect them from rocks, but also from the magic that was used every time they banished a big chunk through his shield.
This repeated for another two hours before Daphne swapped in for two more.
"I'm done. I know you are all exhausted. We need about twice this much removed, but we need a break," said Daphne.
They apparated back.
"We are going to eat a light meal, take a potion to sleep for few hours, and resume. Bill, Gar'nok, you may be able to help a bit next time. Just don't kill yourselves," said Daphne.
"We understand," said Gar'nok.
They were out less than thirty minutes later.
"Once we get more people up here this should be a lot easier. I wish we could land, but we can't. The ship would be destroyed," said Ken.
"If they can get the portal operating, it can be guided into the rock, though no, then you would have a pile of rock at the other end," said Gar'nok.
"I could try to send a patronus message," said Albus.
Suddenly Fawkes appeared in a ball of fire.
"Fawkes. Can you truly travel so far?" asked Albus.
The bird gave him a look like he was an idiot.
"I'll write a note. If they agree to the plan we can coordinate setting up a temporary portal somewhere else. I wouldn't trust anything we care about to such a thing, but it is just rock," said Adriane.
Fawkes took her note back. Fifteen minutes after that they got approval. They would be ready for their signal when the others were ready.
-=oOo=-
"So, we are just going to create the gate and then force it to remove as much material as possible?" asked Hermione dubiously.
"That is the plan," confirmed Gar'nok.
-=oOo=-
A group of a three dozen wizards stood near a similar set of runes carved at the bottom of a semi abandoned quarry as they sent magic into them and commanded the portal to form way in the air almost two hundred feet above and away from them.
It reached, searching for its opposite as it suddenly snapped into place. Massive pillars of varied rock and stone began being disgorged from it.
A dozen of the wizards immediately shifted to shielding as the quarry was fast becoming filled with asteroid. This went on for the better part of two hours before the portal and their runes disintegrated.
-=oOo=-
"Damn, I think that worked almost too well," said Bill.
"We can make use of this. Bill, help me repair the hole in the ceiling," said Gar'nok.
The goblin didn't really fit their smallest space suit well, but he ignored it and kept at it.
Four hours later they were done. The area inside was sealed, with the one large block of rock they could remove when necessary to bring things out. The jet was brought inside with a portkey. Additional runes and magic sealed the area to air. They decided not to open the reserve tanks they had, but kept using space suits as they finished the inside and sending the debris outside.
Fawkes sent the message off to connect, and that they should expect air to rush in a short time after they got done. Thirty minutes after that the portal closed with a whole army of people, two dozen rocket engines, fuel, and fresh air, for awhile.
Everyone was already wearing space suits, so teams started using the material floats Adriane had made to bring the rocket engines out and get them into position.
"Excellent job everyone. We about freaked when that much asteroid came through. If you don't mind, once we get this going, we might continue reducing the mass of this mess that way. They have to setup another site on Earth anyway," said Kevin.
"Can we substantially impact the mass in time?" asked Hermione.
"You four can't. Not even you can supply that much magic. Fortunately we have a whole world of magic users that are eager to help. The numbers say we may be able to cut the mass by maybe a fourth, if we work around the clock, which makes it way easier to deflect," said Kevin.
Hermione smiled.
"I'll caution that is an optimistic calculation. The fact that it is mostly just sustaining the connection that costs energy not the material that is moved is behind most of it. It's amazing really."
"What is next?" asked Daphne.
"You need to honestly rest, unless I miss my guess. We have enough people to sustain both ends. I want you rested for when something goes wrong," said Ken.
"So same old same old," said Harry with amusement.
Hermione glared at him, but nodded.
Two hours later a four seat dune buggy came out of the portal, with all its sides replaced with bolted on printed titanium panels with the same runes required to assist the gateway. It had no engine, and was clearly moving with the aid of magic. The four wizards in it looked like they were having the time of their life as they managed to reactivate a portal and then cause the car to go at insane speeds.
Another wizard filled the hole with a slab of rock and then fused it with magic to seal it for now to preserve their air.
"Some wizards just may be insane. I hope they can handle all that. Thankfully they were wearing space suits," said Ken.
Twenty minute later they activated the portkey they made at the beginning bringing the vehicle and them back.
"You were saying?" asked Kevin.
"What works works. Keep at it. Just be careful."
Another group got on after talking to the first group and drove off even faster. The same wizard blocked their exit, so they again kept most of their air. Everyone else kept going as normal, save for an hour later when the oxygen started being a bit thin. They opened the oxygen tank and sent a message via Fawkes that they would need more in the next twelve hours.
-=oOo=-
"We now have a view of the asteroid through the Hubble telescope. It is using the last of its maneuvering thrusters to give us this view. If the control room will zoom in you can see the rocket engines they have attached to the thing. There is now a total of fifty of them, though the later type seems to be whatever they can cobble together. More are being added all the time it seems. We have asked if that is enough to divert it and so far all Nasa would say is maybe and that the astronauts on the asteroid were going to work tirelessly to the end no matter what to give them the best odds."
"We at the station do not understand how rockets can be fired for so very long from one trip up there. If anyone knows, call us. We would like to know."
-=oOo=-
"Out of wild curiosity, just what material are we bringing to Earth from all these portals?" asked the president.
"It's all over the place. Nothing radioactive at least, but, well, it is a mineral feast, so we will certainly have raw materials for awhile. A lot is just useless rock of course, though we can certainly break that up and sell it as well."
"Are they going to meet their estimate of a fourth of the material brought to Earth before we run out of time?"
"Unlikely. The rate is fine, but all the witches and wizards that have been recruited are growing exhausted. We need to recruit more if we are serious about that. Those portals consume magic like a river does water. Not that many can establish them, even in groups. They are the bottleneck."
"Will it miss us if we don't?"
"The estimate assumes they continue for a long time and resume as they recover. If everything goes right, we should."
"I'm not relying on that. Convene the magical UN. Bring the data."
He nodded.
"More rockets may help, but the design they came up with also requires mages to implement. France was doing the right thing. If we were half that proactive we would already have a magical ship."
"Get the meeting going. Present what we need. Let's get this done. If necessary, I can authorize nuclear weapons to be deployed."
"They are terrified that sending one through a portal might cause it to detonate. They really don't want to."
"Make sure the option is there. I'm not saying we are going to do it, but I want the option there and on hand."
"Understood."
"One more thing. Have our research staff research defending against nuclear weapons being sent through portals."
"My god, if that works.."
"Classify all the research or even that the research exists top secret code word special access only."
"Of course."
-=oOo=-
They met back aboard the jet.
"We aren't going to make it. It is not moving as much as we thought it would, and the mass removal has slowed due to exhaustion. We haven't diverted it enough," said Ken tiredly..
"We will, or rather you will," said Albus.
"Agreed," said Gar'nok.
"What are you planning?" asked Adriane curiously.
"There are things far far worse than Fiendfyre that Gellert and I studied in our foolish youth. I assume you know a few as well Gar'nok."
"I do. We will need to create a rune set I have brought the notes for with me. Everyone must get out. Harry and the others will charge it and get out as well. Someone has to stay and activate this particular mess," said Gar'nok.
"And you both must die?" asked Adriane seriously.
"I doubt what Gar'nok has in mind is the same as mine. We can't risk this failing," said Albus.
-=oOo=-
The ship was gone, port keyed outside the asteroid and flying back to Earth.
Albus looked over at the noble goblin. His life blood spilled out of his fingers as he drew his the final and critical set of runes, to go with the runes the others laid, that were radiating power in waves. He completed the final rune and lit it with the power of his life.
It was time to get his own show on the road, before that consumed him too. He hoped this was real. He chanted, bringing his magic to its maximum, holding nothing back, not even to stay alive.
Darkness beyond the blackest pitch
Deeper than the deepest night
King of darkness who shines like gold upon the sea of chaos
I call upon thee and swear myself to thee
Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the powers you and I possess.
Giga Slave.
At first nothing happened. He repeated the words and finally felt it catch the attention of the being it had been called to summon.
His body burned and suddenly a voice not his own was heard.
"It has been thousands of years since one has not just said the words, but had the correct intent to summon me. I grant you the destruction you seek, so that the rest may be saved."
The world burned as white as the power of the strongest entity ever mentioned in magical writing combined with the Life Fyre Gar'nok had summoned destroyed everything.
-=oOo=-
Tears rolled down all their cheeks as the two great men sacrificed themselves to finish what they could not. The world was saved, but two great men were gone.
"Take us home Ken," said Adriane.
"I'm on it."
-=oOo=-
Luna Lovegood was surprised when a crying Fawkes appeared near her. She gently held the noble bird as they mourned the passing of a great man.
-=oOo=-
"What just happened?" asked the reporter.
"Something destroyed the asteroid."
"Was it nuclear?"
"No, I don't think so. It was too slow."
"What do we know?"
"The main one is the threat is gone, however it happened, the threat is gone."
"I just don't get it. None of this makes any sense. I'm not complaining, but really, how is any of this possible?"
"I don't know."
-=oOo=-
Harry and the others returned to Hogwarts after the mission. They walked in to wall to wall applause.
Fleur was on his left. Hermione on his right and Daphne was just in front, between Fleur and Harry. Harry held up a hand. The voices stopped.
"We did our job. Had we thought to plan more perhaps two great men would be alive now. That we planned this much, well, it could have been much worse. We do not consider ourselves heroes. Countless people, including some of the teachers here worked to do this. What we did, combined with some very brilliant muggles saved us. Never forget that. They had the vision that we did not. I ask you to work hard, learn, and make a difference."
"Did Daphne write that speech for you?" asked a familiar drawl.
"Didn't you graduate?" asked Harry.
"I'm a teacher now."
"And yes, her and Hermione wrote it."
"Can we ride in your space ship?" several third years asked.
Harry started to turn.
"Don't think of dodging Harry," whispered Hermione.
"Unfortunately not. Sorry. Still, if you work hard you might make the next generation of space ships one day."
Fleur stepped forward a bit. "There were dozens of serious injuries from people helping get the jet engines installed. There were no other fatalities due to our healers, but four lost limbs. They are also heroes."
"What was it like out there?" asked Draco.
"Lethal. We split in two pairs to start. One shielded and another etched stabilization runes. It wasn't enough. There were still rocks flying at extreme speeds when we were done, if half as many. Once we had the larger group they immediately went to work installing the rocket engines even while others etched more stabilization runes, but very few could hold a shield strong enough to stop those rocks. We were lucky no one died," said Fleur.
"Did your suits work out there?"
"They worked very well. All the magic users were wearing them under their space suits."
"Do you still have mine?"
"I honestly don't know. We have had it for some time, but this ministry is still holding up sales, so we couldn't ship it. It might have been given out in the emergency," said Daphne.
"If it got given to someone, that's fine."
"No, it is not. We promised one, we will deliver it. We might have to build a new one is all. We can easily afford it," said Hermione.
Draco nodded. "I'll see what's up with the delay. Didn't Penny finish her work months ago?"
"She did. She works for us now," said Fleur.
"Ah. That could be it. They could just be pissed you stole their employee."
Fleur shrugged.
"It occurs to me that a lot of the witches and wizards that came to help and got sets of that were from this country," said Harry.
"I'll send them a note this evening reminding them that the British Ministry has not technically approved the suits, and ask them to let us know if there are problems," said Daphne.
"I suspect that if they arrested a few people that just saved everyone's lives, that the approval might be quicker," mused Draco.
Harry laughed and nodded. "At any rate, we just came to give you the news..."
"Won't you at least stay the night?" asked Minerva.
"You do know we can apparate to our home in France by ourselves right?" asked Harry.
"Care to tell us your secret?" asked Draco.
"We have no idea, other than my messed up life. If your asking why three incredible women put up with me, well I've just tried not to jinx it."
"Who says we are putting up with you? We mostly let you tag along," said Daphne.
"This is probably true," said Harry.
"Oh Harry," said Fleur and Hermione in stereo, before each kissed him on the cheek.
"Now he will let that go to his head," complained Daphne, before she turned and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
Snickers and oohs filled Hogwarts.
"If you are quite done with your inappropriate behavior," said the new Headmistress.
Hermione and Harry blushed furiously.
"Come on, let's go home," said Daphne.
They walked out the grand hall together, rose into the sky and vanished.
"They weren't even using the flying suits," said Draco dryly.
"How do you know?" asked Minerva curiously.
"The ones I saw covered more skin."
Minerva rolled her eyes.
-=oOo=-
About a year later Neville read a letter from Luna, her Father, and even Fawkes, who had pressed a claw print into it.
"Is anything new?" asked his girlfriend and now intended Padme.
"They are doing well going all overt the world. Luna says that Green Angel Tower is still on the way and asks that we help Harry if he needs it."
"Are you still okay? I know you loved her."
"She knew all along. Had she not been part seer, she would have married me, but she said she had a part to play yet, and that it was important that she do it, and that her future wife was quite attractive."
"Did she really say wife?" asked Padme.
Neville nodded.
"Only Luna."
"I don't know. Harry's group seems to have an interesting relationship."
"If you ever suggest such..."
"I won't. I promise."
"You'd better not," then to soften it she kissed him softly.
-=oOo=-
It took another two years before they considered the Tempest done. All of their technology now functioned normally. They had actual long range sensors, and not just the magical short range. The hull effectively negated the radiation present in space. The ship itself generated a modified shield that protected the ship at high speeds. They were in no way talking relativistic speeds, but journeys in the solar system were very feasible now. The ship also took a fraction of the magic the old one did, at least if they had hydrogen and oxygen onboard. That was their preferred fuel combination now.
They were also all rated to fly on their own now as well, if need be, which was fortuitous, as they later learned that evening.
They were sitting together watching a movie when the phone at their house rang.
Fleur was closest so she grabbed it.
"We will be right there," she responded in French.
"What's up?" asked Daphne.
"Remember that American ship that they launched a year ago?"
"The one they were so smug about, because their team beat us to a complete ship," asked Hermione.
"That's the one."
"Let me guess. It's broken and far away," said Daphne.
Fleur nodded.
"So we are what, going to give them a lift?" asked Harry.
"They want us to bring a couple of their engineers out to where they are in orbit of Pluto as well as quite a few parts," said Fleur.
"Sounds fun. Shall we go?" asked Hermione.
They smiled and nodded before quickly going to change into their uniforms and apparate to the hanger.