I don't own Harry Potter or any of the series that may from time to time show up here. I apologize in advance if I use any OC's created by other fan fiction writers.
This story is my own, though it will be based on the crapilogue. The story begins with Harry being called into Shacklebolt's office and being sent on holiday.
The story takes the air date of Stargate SG-1 Secrets as Bane (21/08) as the day of the mission. I reversed the order of stories of Bane and Secrets for the purpose of my fan fiction.
The Governor in the story and his interactions with others is purely ficticious.
Johnathan Jon O'Neill was now in an empty cabin up in Minnesota. Cassie had gone back to be with her adoptive mother and Samantha Carter was taking some down time to be with her father, Jacob who was terminally ill with lymphoma. It hadn't been spotted early enough. His other newly made friend, Harry James Potter had returned to jolly olde England and he was a wizard, to boot. O'Neill didn't believe that he'd found nothing in his scans.
When O'Neill had started High School, some bullies had taken to call him JJ. O'Neill had hated that. He used the name Jack since then and didn't use his real name, unless he had to. Bullies being bullies hadn't stopped with name calling. Jack's father hadn't come back from Vietnam. Charles Francis O'Neill, everyone called him Frankie, had been one of the youngest Majors in the US army at the end of WWII; he'd been born in 1920. He'd fought in Korea, still a Major and was still a Major, when he went to Vietnam in 1968 for a two year term. He'd come back in 1970 and was drinking heavily. His wife had told him that if he volunteered again, she'd leave him. She'd been a Vegas 'showgirl'. He'd volunteered and she left taking Jack's sister with her. Jack had just turned 10 on August 20th 1960. His sister had been born August 21st 1962. He'd not seen her since. His grandfather, Tyrus Charles O'Neill, born in 1880, had come to look after him.
One of the bullies was the principal's son and he'd been given confidential information that Jack's father had been a drunk and his mother a whore. Jack began to use his firsts to persuade the bullies to shut up. They hadn't. Jack got used to Detention Hall. He started martial arts. He pushed himself, hard. He eventually just stopped going to assigned detentions. He slashed the principal's car tyres and put the man into hospital, followed by two of the lead bullies. He had a relatively quiet Senior year.
He'd gone to West Point to learn how to be an officer and a gentleman. His two elective languages had been Russian and Arabic. He'd graduated third in his class and was a Second Lieutenant in the US army. In 1982, some American businessmen had tried to make a deal with the Iraqi dictator and been hauled off to some undisclosed locations and were essentially being held hostage for US goodies.
The United States Airforce (USAF) put together a rescue squad. Officially, the USAF didn't have any Special Forces, so theirs had escaped the usual US practice of getting rid of its Special Forces after the end of every war. Originally, the USAF had put teams together to go rescue downed airmen and the teams had garnered plenty of special experience. The team consisted of a Colonel, Major, Captain and a Lieutenant O'Neil. O'Neil with one L couldn't be located, so O'Neill with 2 Ls got sent instead.
The mission had been a clusterfuck with the team, except for O'Neill, joining the businessmen. O'Neill had worked with locals to get everyone out. He'd been successful. Since O'Neil had been a Lieutenant and received a medal and a promotion, Jack became a Captain. He also stayed in the USAF. He got to learn to fly jets. He was also deployed to Afghanistan and learnt various dialects.
In 1983, he'd been in Little Rock and was giving himself a night exercise, when he ran across a situation. A couple of people in a car had got themselves held up by 4 men wearing balaclavas. That they were holding real guns at the two made the situation a life or death one. O'Neill killed the 4 men. The man and his underage companion, who was displaying more flesh than she ought, thanked him.
The man turned out to be the new governor of Arkansas and the young woman was not his wife. O'Neill drove the governor backto his residence and kept the car to drive the young woman back to her home. Her name was Sara and it wouldn't be the last time he'd see her. He returned the car to the governor and the governor thanked him. That was the start of a very odd friendship. Whenever Jack was stateside, the governor would call him and they'd talk about security and the National Guard.
Jack did see a lot more of Sara and married her in 1986. He'd flown missions against Libya and for the first time was under the command of a Colonel George S Hammond. Tyrus Charles O'Neill or Charlie had been born in 1987 and Jack felt like he'd beaten a family curse. For jack further postings in Afghanistan had followed until the Soviets had been driven out and the regime had fallen. Jack had seen action in the Gulf War, being captured and spending 4 months as a guest of the Iraqis before being shipped off to Iran and another 4 months captivity there. He'd been rescued by teams lead by Charles Kawalsky and Lou Ferretti. They'd become fast friends.
Jack was now a Colonel and got posted to Europe. That meant lessons in French and German. In 1994, Jack lead a USAF operation to crack a very large operation within the US army that dealt in drugs, selling stores to unsavouries and providing military intelligence to various militias operating inside the US. In 1995, Charlie had shot himself using Jack's gun. Now Jack had doubts. But it left him vulnerable and open to a one trip through the Stargate. Only it had not been one way. He'd survived. Sara had left him. He'd survived that.
Jack's grandfather had died in 1985. Jack missed that and the funeral. He was buried next to his wife, a woman he'd always described as his French bit he'd brought back from the Great War, as a Captain. She'd died before Jack had come under his grandfather's care. Jacqueline, Jack thought had been her name.
Jack had retired after Charlie's death and again after the mission to Abydos. Then the Gou'ald had come through the gate and he'd been recalled, again. Charles and Lou had both died on missions since then. He had lost control of the teams going through the gate. He was 2IC, but George Hammond decided the team compositions for all teams, except SG-1 and determined the mission parameters. The teams of which there were 9 were each 4 strong. There was a diplomatic team with 2 USAF and 2 Marine. There were 4 Marine teams and 3 USAF teams. SG-1 was unique. His team was the flagship team. The Marines wanted Colonel Makepeace to be 2IC. Jack was sure of it.
SG-1 was also on the mind of Brigadier General George S Hammond. He'd read the reports of their Nox mission. Their military cohesion had been non-existent. Mention of their deaths had been expunged from the reports, before he'd sent them up the chain of command. By rights, he should split them up. A civilian and an alien didn't belong in a standard 4 strong team. The Colonel and the Captain were far too close. They functioned as a close-knit family, not a military unit. He knew, however, that he couldn't break them up. He had kept that knowledge from them. They had also saved Earth, by disobeying a direct order. The President had refused to do anything the military wanted to do to the 4. George had no idea why they were being protected by the President and the information had not been forthcoming. George knew that Jack was friends with Henry Hayes, the Republican Senator from Minnesota, because their grandparents had served together and the two fished together when their schedules allowed. He had fought for Jack and his team.
George had been surprised that Harry had obeyed him and not told Jack anything. If he had, Jack would be going after the NID and nothing would then save him from their retribution. Jack and his team were due in Washington for a medal ceremony. It was being arranged towards the end of September. What could go wrong? With SG-1, almost anything. Then they'd pull everything out of the fire. That thought alone was troubling. Had the general still a head of hair, it would be grey, by now. The experience of the Tok'ra had given George an idea. The healing power of the Gou'ald was prodigious. If Jacob could be read into the program and these Tok'ra proved amenable, Jacob could be their liaison with that organisation. Getting more information on what was out there was an absolute priority. Each of the 9 teams had done 100 missions each. 27 of them included planets like Cimmeria. They were protected by the Asgard. There were four planets that had Earthlings preparing them for major settlement – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. The planet Ernest Littlefield had been stranded on, did still have a gate that worked. Careful simulation of the likely resting places of DHD and gate were modelled. Hammond was under orders to secure the data unit as well. It had been stressed to him that SG-1 had to be away from the Mountain, whilst this mission went down. George hadn't liked it, but orders were orders. So that was what the Marine/Navy Seal team was doing.
Lieutenant Evan Lorne was wondering just what his Navy Marine/Seal Unit had done to be saddled with this duty. His orders were to go through a Stargate to another world. The egress would be under water and at pressure and he and his men would be in a bell/submersible. He was to get the Stargate there into an upright position. He was to recover something called a DHD and connect the two up. He was then to erect an underwater tent, make it rigid and pump the water out. He was then to return home. He and his men would be returning on many trips until a data unit, looking like a rock formation could be retrieved from the sea floor.
Lorne's team practised until they had got the operation going off like clockwork. Then they put it into action. They got their job done. Searching for a rock on the ocean floor was exactly like looking for needle in a haystack. Two weeks in and the search had turned up a lot of rock, but not what they were searching for. George was beginning to worry that they wouldn't be finished before SG-1 returned to active duty.
As Jack approached the recall date to active duty, he wondered how Harry had got on. Harry had not got on. His House was full of Weasleys. Kingsley had talked about honour and noble sacrifice. The Weasleys House, the Burrow, had been burned down the year previously. It had been the charitable thing to do, to let them stay. Truth was nobody wanted them. Ron ate enough for a whole family. Ron who'd told him about the marriage contract he'd made Dumbledore sign almost as soon as his first year at Hogwarts had started. Yes, he'd made Hermione his from the first and there was nothing Harry could do about it. Ron talked a lot, when he was drunk. Harry's confundus' made sure he never remembered what he said.
A rather sullen Hermione was waiting for him at Grimmauld Place. She'd found her parents in Australia, restored their memories and they told her she had a brother and wanted no more to do with her. Harry had offered a shoulder to cry on and protection of his Potter and Black Houses. Hermione accepted. They did the necessary ritual in the attack where Buckbeak had resided. The hippogriff came back from time to time. Harry thought the animal was checking up on him. They always ended up flying.
One advantage of Hermione being a Potter and a Black by protection was the amount she would be charged for the year shrank. Harry got to know her parents' address, thanks to the Protection. He'd be travelling there at Yule, when he'd next have a few days off.
Bill and Fleur had their own place. Charlie was off in Romania. George was living with Angelina. Percy had shacked up with a woman named Audrey. Molly was as much a shrew as Harry remembered. Ginny would be spending ten months at Hogwarts. That left Harry with the task of finding somewhere else for Arthur, Molly and Ron. Arthur would do whatever Molly wanted. Harry had to hope Molly bullied Ron enough for Ron to want to move in with George. Harry doubted the surviving twin would ever smile or laugh again. Scratch Molly Weasley and a stuck up Pureblood Prewett came to the surface. Molly disapproved of Fleur because she was a veela. She disapproved of Angelina for her colour. She'd disapprove of whomever Charlie was with because she was foreign. Molly and Percy weren't speaking. Percy had tried to keep his twin brothers out of the fight. Molly approved of their fighting, they were adults not children. Percy and Arthur worked at the Ministry, but did not interact. Harry snorted. It was all because of Molly. There was that other Fred Weasley, the squib accountant. The one every other Weasley pretended did not exist. They were hypocrites.
Harry had tried to get of the arranged marriage with Ginny. He was told in no uncertain terms, by Lady Magic herself that he had to marry Ginny. He could fix her so that she could only bear him children and no-one else. That Blacks had been fixing their women for centuries. That was the nub. Harry would have to do the best he could in a situation he had no choice but to accept. Just like always.
Fred the ghost had been laughing at Harry. He and his brother knew who Pettigrew was and where he was, but hadn't told him on Dumbledore's orders. The ghost had thought the only pain he could suffer now was from the Resurrection Stone. He found out he was wrong as crucio after crucio hit him from Harry's second wand. Lav Lav told him they all knew that Hermione fancied him. They thought he knew and that she wasn't good enough for him. Lav Lav was however Harry's greatest asset. The ghost had a talent for gossip and what it all meant. She got to train Harry.
The following morning, Harry was sitting in Kingsley's office. Harry couldn't understand what Kingsley was doing. Kingsley had kept the laws requiring department heads to be Purebloods, except for Dick Cresswell who was back to maintaining the farce. Kingsley had cut the Wizengamot to pieces. In order to get magical Britain unified, Kingsley had conceded 10 Wizengamot seats each to Irish and Scots Purebloods and one to the Welsh. Magical Britain had also left the ICW. Renouncing the Statute of Secrecy had been the price the Scots had exacted.
The Malfoy money had gone. The rent money from the ICW was also gone. There was now a taxation system, copied from the Muggles, in place. Harry was expected to support all Kingsley's changes at the Wizengamot that afternoon. If he didn't, magical Britain was finished. On the other hand, Harry knew he could get Ministry approval on the Sacred 28 seats he wanted to add to his and his allied Houses. Harry would control the Potter, Black, Gaunt, Crouch, Lestrange, Rowle, Avery, Carrow, Yaxley and Burke seats directly. The Longbottoms had the Longbottom and Rosier seats. The seats of Abbott and Greengrass were allies with female heirs. The Prewett Regent voted with Harry and the Weasleys were effectively his vassals. Harry had lost the vote that had come from his Order of Merlin, First Class. He could no longer reach the 30 votes he needed to control magical Britain. Harry couldn't do that even if he had all of Sacred 28 and the vote of the Hogwarts representative.
Andi was looking after Teddy, so Harry had to attend. Andi, it seemed, was determined to have Harry take up his lordly duties. Andi said she was tired of hearing Harry say 'I donna want it'. He said that about every position of power that he had or was offered. Harry's enforced holiday had made him see that he had to embrace who he was. Harry remembered hearing or reading something Winston Churchill had said about 'Keep buggering on'. Harry could agree with the sentiment, though he'd leave any actual participation to Draco Malfoy.
The Chief Warlock, Regent Dowager Augusta Longbottom opened the most important Wizengamot meeting, in recent memory, on the dot at 2PM. Kingsley spoke. He was looking for valediction. After Kingsley stopped speaking, it was Harry's turn.
"Lord Shacklebolt," Harry began. "That was a most interesting statement you have given the Wizengamot today. We've just ended a war with the followers of a dead man, who tried to claim Pureblood for himself, without success. Yet to many of us, it feels with your statement that they won. Senior positions in the Ministry will still be cut off from the Muggleborn.
And yet …
And yet …
And yet … (Say it three times for effect; Harry could almost hear Lav Lav's instructions)
Magical Britain is united. It's a day, I think I can safely say, none of us here today thought would happen, at least in our lifetimes. I for one am delighted to see the back of a Statute that was becoming increasingly time consuming and tying down an ever increasing number of wizards and witches to enforce. We're not going to be rushing in to spread knowledge of our existence, for muggles wouldn't understand it and would fear us. People in fear could turn on us, but now we don't have to hide from them. Muggles who marry wizards and witches will be able to receive help and support from others who have been in their position, without having to have the Ministry decide, if they could.
As a rather rich man with money coming in from many sources, I find the idea of paying taxes unpleasant. We cannot rely on the continuing generosity of House Malfoy or funding from other sources that some might regard as a bribe. Taxation is the price we all pay and must pay for our future. I'll be voting my seats in favour of the Acting Minister's motions."
Harry sat down. The motions all passed. No-one voted against. Kingsley Shacklebolt's revolution had begun. In return, Harry was confirmed as possessing 10 seats and all the worldly possessions of said Houses. Longbottom got their control over Rosier confirmed.
Harry still could not access the Potter estates. He did now have access to the Fleamont account and the Fleamont Manor. Harry was fast catching Hogwarts up as the largest employer of House-Elves. Kreacher and Winky were producing little House-Elves like nobody's business. They were up to 5 little House-Elflings.
Harry wanted to merge all his Vaults into one. The goblins' price to move each account started at 30%. The Potters might once have been friends of the goblin nation – that would have been Linfred who had helped the goblins take Gringotts off the Dwarves – but Harry was more like the number one villain. Not even giving the goblins first fruits rights to the basilisk carcass improved their opinion of him nor his of them. The goblins still wanted their pound of flesh out of him, Hermione and Ron. Harry was having to learn the goblin language, both the common and high forms.
Harry was not surprised that Hermione was Head Girl. She deserved it. He was gobsmacked however when her letter told him that Draco Malfoy was Head Boy. What was McGonagall thinking? He was somewhat saddened to learn that Hagrid had left Hogwarts. He'd also left behind his half-brother and full giant Grawp. Hermione would have fun teaching him English.
Slugthorn continued to help Harry with his potions. The reality was Harry James Potter or Henry James Black as he really was needed a Potions Mastery. All the Potters from Linfred to Fleamont had been Potions Masters. That Harry would have to get his Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) Mastery surprised nobody. That was another little gift from Shacklebolt. Harry had a great deal more help in his Potions than people knew about. Snape had left him the contents in his house; well, the House he had rented from Harry. Harry had cleaned the place out. Snape had left him a letter, too, in which the man had tried to explain his actions. He had, it seemed, despite all evidence to the contrary, developed a conscience. Harry still didn't like the man one little bit. Sirius was dead because of him. His parents were dead because of him. Good riddance, Harry thought.
Harry bought another snowy white post owl. This one was male and Harry named him Eldrich. This one didn't like bacon, but would allow Harry to stroke his head and wings. Eldrich had a better temperament than Hedwig and Harry knew that a snowy white owl was kind of his signature.
Harry made sure the American authorities had proof of his father's marriage to Lily Evans, with Lily's OWLs and NEWTs included with his submission. Potter Inc. was returned to Harry. Harry had solved a problem that his Great Uncle had not in nearly 50 years.
Harry had a ward. Officially, he was Edward Remus Lupin. Andromeda didn't like Remus. She hadn't liked the werewolf. She was convinced Nymphadora only married him to spite her. She tried to change the surname to Tonks, but couldn't. She settled for a name change to Theodore Edward Lupin. She called him Teddy. Harry couldn't help but think of Lav Lav for Lavender Brown from Ron's brief liaison with her. Yes, he could see the boy being called Ted Ted. Harry's first purchase for the boy was his grandfather's farm that had been taken from Remus, because he was a werewolf. It was Theodore's. Andromeda liked the gesture. Family mattered. She missed her Ted, her daughter and would bring this one up properly as befitted a noble wizard. She knew that Harry would provide the necessary funds.
Harry, unaware that he was seen as a blank cheque writer, had sent the notebook to the Carter kids and spent some time writing and reading responses. He wondered how long it would be before his cousins got wind of the notebook and demanded one from him. He liked the Carters. Their kids needed help and Harry knew he could provide it.
Harry had a very full workload and that included his 'playload'. It got even heavier, when Gavin Robards dropped the news that Harry would be de facto Head Auror, because Thicknesse, Imperiused to be Tom's Minister, had been made head of the DMLE and Gavin Robards had to do that job. Thicknesse's mind had gone.
Harry did visit Croaker as soon as he could and read the Wall of Life, which showed Greyback and Rookwood were still alive, before speaking with Croaker. Harry provided Croaker with the code phrase. Croaker told Harry that the Potters made all the Ministry time-turners and had leased them to the Ministry. That explained, to Harry, why the Ministry hadn't charged him the cost of all those they'd destroyed in fighting the Death Eaters in the Ministry. They had all been Harry's property. Significantly, the Ministry time-turners were all set for a maximum trip back of 5 hours. The one, Harry had eventually recovered after Dumbledore died and the one Hermione and he had used in third year could go back at least 12 hours, proving that it was not supplied by the Ministry.
Croaker tried making Harry work for the Department in return for the other information. Harry was having none of that. Charlus would be getting a 'call'. Croaker had gone down several steps in Harry's estimation.
Harry's resources included Godric's Hollow Cottage. He'd had that repaired. He'd also made it Unplottable and Untraceable. He used the version that included House-Elves, post owls and Phoenixes. That was a Black family spell. He had to have his solicitors sue Marge and Vernon Dursley for back rent and evict them. The evictions were taking time and had yet to be completed. His solicitors were Potter squibs, the barrister was a Longbottom squib. He'd sold the house that Snape had rented. Harry planned to use the Cottage for his dirty get away weekends with Hermione. Harry also planned to encourage wizards and witches settle in Godric's Hollow and make it a wholly wizarding town.
Harry was the last wizard standing who knew where Nurmengard was. That was a massive resource for Harry and one he would definitely use, once he'd qualified as an Auror. He would make some time available for general research.
Dumbledore had left him Dumbledore Castle in Godric's Hollow. It needed 20 million galleons spent on it to restore it to its full glory. Dumbledore had expected Harry to get an instant charge of that to his accounts. Harry had more than enough to pay for it himself. He wanted the Castle to be a community resource. He got the local history society to research its history. The local archaeology society conducted regular summer digs there and catalogued the finds. Finally, Harry opened it up for visits from tourists. Harry employed architects who worked with English Heritage to plan the phases of the restoration work. Harry wanted to bring the Castle gardens back into operation first. He could use the sale of plants and bulbs to pay for the gardeners he could employ. The original Castle had taken 20 years to build and Harry planned on the restoration taking that long, too.
Harry discovered he owned half of Borgin and Burke's and half of Knockturn Alley. The House Black owned the other half. Walburga's portrait had been the source for that. Harry's dinner at the Fawleys had turned into an unmitigated disaster. He had to spend so much time in other meetings that his Wizarding etiquette had been the thing to suffer. His portraits had been helpful. He had discovered six in Fleamont Manor – Charlus, Fleamont, James, Lily, Euphemia and Dorea. Walburga had been an unexpected source of help with the estates of the Dark wizards. She knew or could estimate almost to the knut what they each had.
Kreacher looked like he had taken a de-aging potion regime. He'd been rejuvenated since marriage, fatherhood and the expansion of Harry's power base. Kreacher was the head House-elf and displayed his power from his style of dress through his posture. Kreacher had surprised Harry by apologising for his part in Sirius' death.
Harry brought up the story Kreacher had told him with the Malfoys, when he dined with them. He got his etiquette correct that evening. Lord Lucius Malfoy found himself with loads of galleons that he couldn't spend on bribes. Lord Malfoy believed that the recent Pureblood Revolution was just what magical Britain needed. Harry expressed the opinion that he'd like the 'revolution' a lot less after he received his first tax bill. It had been the price necessary to unite the Isles into one government, a longstanding dream of magical Britain's leaders.
Harry knew the Veil of Death was something other than death, because he had heard voices on the other side. He knew Luna had, too. Her normal dreamy expression had transformed into something else that night. Harry was really glad he'd had Umbridge kissed by a dementor. It was rather fitting, considering that was what she had tried to have happen to him.
About the time Jack was due to return to work, Harry dined with the Fawleys again. This dinner went a lot better than the first one had. Harry had practised by dining with the other members of his alliance, several times. Harry had to look after his alliance.
One question had been bugging Harry. Why hadn't he told Jack about his memory blackouts and what lay behind them. He'd had them during his childhood and they'd all been performed by some Roswell Grey by the name Loki. The memory changes whilst he'd been in the hands of the NID had been performed by a wizard named Howard N Bumfree who'd had a partner, who had not been identified. Bumfree had cast the Imperius on Charlie to cause him to blow his brains out. Harry knew that the NID Operations leader had been a Gerald D Maguire, a Captain who'd had a personal beef with O'Neill. There had been 9 members of the NID team, with two outside in the van and three wizards. Out of the twelve people present, Harry could only identify two. Obviously Jack and Charlie had been there as victims, but Harry did not know from what he'd seen whether Jack's wife Sara had been present. Her memory had been modified, but she'd clearly had an imperative to leave Jack. It was as though the NID had wanted Jack to be suicidal and alone for that mission he'd done with a nuclear warhead. That meant they already knew things about the 'Gate'; information that had not been shared with those unlocking its secrets before the mission.
Harry couldn't just rush in. It went against all his instincts. Wizards and muggles working together had to be approved, which meant there was someone or ones in MACUSA who also knew about this 'Gate'. They wouldn't think twice about using the squib grandson of Tyrus Charles O'Neill. One less squib to wonder about. Harry was sure that his family would not have looked down on squibs the way other families did. He knew the Weasleys did regarding Fred Weasley, the accountant. Harry had hired him, when it turned out he had as little regard for his family as they had for him and his.
Harry knew that he would have to take Kingsley Shacklebolt into his confidence. Harry didn't know what he had stumbled into, but it would certainly be big, he was sure of it.