A/N: Hey everyone! It's been slightly longer than anticipated since last chapter. I had a brilliant week long holiday in Marrakech, Morocco, in the middle of September which was amazing and is a place that I would recommend to anyone. I did plan on getting this out a bit sooner but I had my 23rd birthday, as well as that fact I was housesitting for 2 weeks and work got in the way too. But alas! The gang's American visit wraps up here, and they'll now have the rest of their summer before going back to Hogwarts for sixth year. Enjoy!

Faceclaim for Seraphina Graves: Savannah Steyn (Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon, and in particular when she's wearing the gold dress at Rhaenyra's wedding celebrations!)

Dorea smoothed down her dress and looked at herself in the mirror. In about half an hour, there would be a dinner banquet, where Headmaster Fontaine was hosting them as well as a small delegation from MACUSA. She had just slipped into the dress she wanted to wear for the occasion, and she loved it.

It was a dark red maxi dress that covered her well. It was sleeveless, meaning she could adorn some jewellery on her arms. There was a split in the dress down her left leg, which was modest enough it wasn't revealing. She didn't have high heels, as she quite frankly wasn't that comfortable wearing them, but she had flat shoes with her that wouldn't hurt her feet.

She had just finished waving her hair and was getting her gold hoop earrings in when she heard a knock at the door. She suspected it was either her god siblings or her father. "Come in! It's unlocked!"

In the reflection of the mirror, she could see the door open, but weirdly nobody stuck their head in. Dorea almost jumped out of her skin and gasped when she bent down to pick up the back of her earring that had fallen on the plush carpet, as she came face to face with a pukwudgie.

"Y-your clean washing, ma'am." the very small human (Are they human? She thought), said, and almost immediately went to scurry away after he gestured to the neatly-folded pile of clothes that now sat on the chair in the corner.

"Wait!" She exclaimed.

The Pukwudgie were staff at Ilvermorny, technically, - their work was similar to that of the house elves at Hogwarts, - though she wondered if they even got paid for their work. This one was so short in stature that even when she bent down to speak to him, she felt like she was towering over him still - he couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 feet tall.

"What is it like here?" She asked him gently.

The Pukwudgie almost flinched. "I-it's a beautiful place, ma'am, r-really. Scenic v-views-"

"-Pardon me, but I don't mean the location." She cut in, though she still spoke kindly, "I mean, what's it like here for the Pukwudgie?"

"Oh. Er… f-fine, ma'am, we are treated well. N-now, I must get back to the kitchens-"

"-Just a minute!" Dorea interrupted again. The terchy pukwudgie thankfully stopped, though it looked like it was itching to get away. "Do staff and students really treat you well? Do you get paid, and if so, is it a fair wage?"

The thing almost trembled as it spoke. "Y-yes, we get paid, ma'am. We get t-treated as well as any other being. W-we don't really interact with the s-students, as they don't have access to the k-kitchens, and we clean in the night w-when nobody will see us."

She doubted that they actually got paid the same amount as the human teaching staff. Dorea put on a smile and bid the pukwudgie to go, as it clearly wanted to get away and back to whatever it was doing, and if he had places to be, she didn't want to be the reason he got punished for being delayed.

When the door closed behind the Pukwudgie, Dorea resumed getting ready. Pukwudgie treatment is another thing to investigate, I suppose, she thought. Once her earrings were in, she added a splash of perfume that smelled of vanilla, and added a necklace, bracelet and a ring before finally being ready.

About ten minutes later, another knock at the door came, and it was her god siblings this time. They hooted as she opened the door. Harry did a mock wolf-whistle. "You look beautiful," he complimented. Harry was wearing a black suit jacket, red tie, and white dress shirt with suit trousers. It fitted him much better than his Yule Ball outfit from fourth year.

"Drop dead gorgeous," Amelia added. Dorea returned the compliment, for Amelia looked stunning as well - she was wearing a dark green maxi dress - that was similar in style to Dorea's, except it was a v-neck style with sleeves that went to the elbow. Amelia had matched the dress colour with a necklace that had an emerald green crystal, as well as a ring with a green stone. Dorea knew if Theo was here, the boy's jaw would be on the floor and he wouldn't be able to tear his gaze away from Amelia all night. Fred would be doing the same with me, she thought, smiling at the thought of her boyfriend. Someone needs to take pictures of us to show them. Dorea entertained the thought of how Blaise would react to seeing her in this dress, but only for a second.

They walked to Sirius's room, and knocked. When he opened the door, he looked proud as punch upon seeing the three of them. "Dorea, my darling, you are absolutely stunning. Just like your mother.." he was saying as he hugged her. Her father was wearing a very similar suit to Harry, except his tie was dark blue.

They walked to the room where they had their lunches, and the room had been completely transformed, and, she suspected, enlarged.

There was only low lit ambient lighting, but there were tables that each had candles lit placed all around the room, so it was still easy to navigate. The delegates from MACUSA were all standing near Professor Fontaine, who was looking smart.

"Lord Black, you and your charges are looking splendid this evening," Professor Adams said, walking up to them when she noticed they walked in. "Please, help yourselves to the different canapes laid out on the tables. Drinks will be ordered shortly, and then our meals, and after that there will be dancing."

They thanked Adams and complemented her as well. Dorea went to the first table on her left and noticed there were sweet treats on that one. She helped herself to some ginger biscuits, before picking up a paper plate and moving on to the next table.

Harry and Amelia were near her. "I think the delegates are going to come to us." Amelia said, looking over her shoulder.

And she was right. However, they seemed to hone in on Harry. "We have heard so much about you!" one of them gushed.

For the next few minutes, the delegates paid attention to Harry - which was understandable, he was The Boy Who Lived after all. Then they finally took notice of Amelia and Dorea. That was a further five minutes of smiling (in some cases forcing themselves to) and talking. It turned out that they were talking to some pretty high-up people at MACUSA: Johnny Velasquez was the Head of the Department of Security, and a black lady called Naomi Graves was Head of the Major Investigation Department. Naomi had brought along her seventeen year old daughter, Seraphina, who was breathtakingly beautiful. The girl had dimensional and voluminous curly silver hair which seemed to be its natural colour. Her gold coloured dress was off-shoulder, but still had a modest neckline.

They got talking to Seraphina, as it happened, as she was one of the few attending this dinner banquet that was close to them in age. "Do you attend Ilvermorny?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, after the holidays, my final year at the school will commence." Seraphina answered, smiling.

"Your mothers job sounds really interesting. Does she do similar work to an Auror?" Dorea asked.

"They do go out and do Auror-related things, but mostly my mom and her colleagues work with other investigators as a task force, so that's a lot of office work. They report directly to the President of MACUSA." Seraphina replied, glancing at her mother with admiration. "I would love to go to Hogwarts one day. I've visited Whitestar in Canada and the schools in Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, but I've never really gone to Europe."

"You would like Hogwarts. It feels similar to Ilvermorny but more… homely? It certainly has a cosy vibe." Amelia said. "What were those schools like?"

They kept talking with Seraphina for another half an hour, and there never was a period of awkward silence, as they kept finding things to talk about. When a long table appeared in the centre of the room to signify that dinner was about to start, they sat next to her and talked more as there were no seating arrangements this time.

After three delicious courses, the dinner was done. Harry hoped that he hadn't eaten too much, as there was dancing to come. There was a short interim period as the table and chairs got cleared away so that the whole middle of the room was open again, and Harry sighted Professor Fontaine.

The man looked quite happy tonight. That was a good thing - he still had to ask him to meet and listen to the Natives. Harry took a deep breath and walked over to him, as he was alone at this time. Fontaine was in the middle of deciding what sweet treat to have from the table when Harry sidled up next to him and grabbed a paper plate. Truth be told, Harry didn't really have much room for any more food, but he wanted to look nonchalant. He decided to start the conversation. "Those profiteroles look delicious, don't they, sir?"

Fontaine grinned from next to him. "They do indeed, Mr Potter. I urge you to try one!"

Harry took one, and bit into it. He made noises of delight when he tasted it. "These are to die for, sir."

"I'll take one too, just to see… - hmmm, yes, I agree with you!" the Headmaster replied.

After Harry had a second profiterole (and decided it would be his last, as he really felt full now), he got on to the topic. "Do you have free time tomorrow, sir?"

The man eyed him. "Only an hour or so, my boy. It's the last full day of negotiations, so it'll be spent mostly wrapping everything up. Why?"

Harry spoke confidently. "Me and my sisters have been having meetings of our own - with the local Native's that attend Ilvermorny. Together, we have heard of issues they have, and we have helped them to come up with a presentation for you and the Ilvermorny Board of Governors to hear out. It's not a long presentation - it won't even take twenty minutes, but we promise it will not waste your time."

Harry's thinking before was that if he asked Fontaine, the man would be more likely to say yes to meeting, as Harry was a guest in his school and he liked him. But he was wondering if that was going to be the case, as Fontaine's thinking face had a slight look of scorn. It had almost been a minute without him saying anything before he spoke again. "Okay. I agree with this meeting. I'll send word to my colleagues on the Board. What sort of time were you thinking?"

"Anywhere between eleven a.m and three p.m." Harry stated.

"Let's say two o'clock, at my office."

"That would be suitable. I will tell the Native's when I see them tomorrow. Thank you, sir." Harry concluded cordially, almost breathing a sigh of relief that that part was done.

Professor Fontaine smiled and nodded acknowledgement, and then some of the Canadians came over to speak to him.

Harry took that as an initiative to leave. He wandered back over to his sisters, who were speaking with Seraphina, as well as Hunter Martinez. "Fontaine agreed to meet tomorrow, at two." he said to his sisters quietly. They nodded acknowledgement and also looked relieved at Fontaine saying yes.

After another five minutes, Professor Fontaine made his way to the middle of the room, with Professor Adams. The Headmaster tapped a spoon against an empty glass to get everyone's attention. Harry noticed that in the corner, there were musicians setting up, as well as what looked to be two performers. When there was silence, Fontaine spoke. "Tonight signifies a co-operative between our three great nations. The past few days have been serious with business, but tonight it is wonderful to see that we can let loose and speak as friends. That, to me, is a sign of great unity, and long may it continue. Now, in just a few moments we will have a performance of a few North American dances - the Charleston and the Canadian Barn Dance. Then, after that, we all dance the night away! But first, a toast!"

There was a moment's pause as everyone got a glass with some sort of drink in it. Then, the Headmaster continued. "To our alliance!"

Everyone repeated those words, before clinking glasses and drinking.

A few minutes after that, the light seemed to be enchanted so that it only focused on the middle of the room, where two dancers now stood. Then, the musicians started playing a tune, and the dancers started performing the Charleston. Harry was mesmerised at how in sync both of them were. Some of the steps looked easy, whilst others difficult.

The Canadian Barn Dance looked just as upbeat and fluent. When he had spoken to Cho Chang on Valentine's Day, she had mentioned how this dance was popular at weddings and ceilidh dances in Scotland, and he could see why - even he wanted to dance it. When he glanced around, everyone looked entranced.

Once the performance was done, the room erupted in applause. It was shortly after that the dancing began. The first dance was a medium paced waltz, and Harry was surprised when Seraphina asked him to partner her. He gladly took her arm and they made their way to the dance floor. When he glanced around, Amelia was partnering Hunter, and Dorea had partnered with her dad.

Seraphina was a graceful dancer, and confident too. During a part where the male had to twirl their partner under their raised arm, he noticed Sirius giving him a wry grin. Harry just rolled his eyes playfully; Seraphina was beautiful, but there was nothing romantic here, and they met barely an hour and a half ago. Besides, Harry had his eye on a certain ginger haired girl back home…

"I have heard that tomorrow is your last day here," Seraphina said when they were waltzing again, "I hope this place has been to your liking."

He smiled. "Unforgettable. I hope one day I'll be back."

The waltz was drawing to a close. "Your work with the Native's has spread word."

He was surprised at that. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Seraphina said assuredly, "and I really hope you guys manage to persuade those old farts on the Board. Many minorities in the school have been fighting for change for years. I wish you had time to meet with us all, but alas."

So there are others we could have also helped. Harry then had a thought. "Because people know your mum works at MACUSA, does it mean you get treated better or worse"?

Seraphina answered. "She only got her promotion two years ago, and in some parts the bad treatment has…simmered. But you always know it's underlying. People have grumbled in secret before how my mom only got the job because she's black and MACUSA only hired her for that reason."

"That's terrible, I'm sorry you've had to hear that."

"Thank you. The only reason they don't say it to my face is because they're scared of me." Seraphina said, and a hint of a smirk appeared on her face at the end.

Harry grinned knowingly. "Good on you for standing up for yourself."

The waltz ended. Next up was, surprisingly, the Canadian Barn Dance. Harry partnered Amelia, whilst Seraphina took Hunter for a partner and Dorea once again partnered Sirius. This was by far Harry's favourite - it was fast but didn't tire you out. After that dance, they took a break and sat out the next three dances, before the final dance of the night; the Virginia Reel. Harry vaguely remembered doing this in primary school, and it was also a fun one. He partnered Dorea, whilst Amelia partnered Sirius and Seraphina partnered Hunter.

He was quite glad when the night was over, as he was sluggish going back up to his room and to his bed. He knew he'd sleep a bit longer than usual, which was perfect, as he needed to be better rested for tomorrow.

The next morning, there were a few dishevelled looks at breakfast - particularly among the adults that had had a little bit to drink. After scoffing down a sesame bagel with cream cheese, Amelia followed her twin and Dorea as they walked towards the front door.

Since it was their last full day here, as early tomorrow they were Porkeying back to the UK, they decided to make the most of it. They walked in the surrounding woodland, as parts of it weren't dedicated to being a creature reserve. As they walked, they eventually found a path that took them all around the perimeter of Mount Greylock. They found a place that gave them a fantastic view out in front of them as well as down below.

"Seraphina said that the wizarding school in Peru is like this," Dorea commented, gesturing to the wide expanse of space in front of them, "that one is a bit more mountainous than this, though."

"So many schools…" Amelia said, "I wonder what they all look like, how they all differ."

They stayed there another hour, just relaxing and enjoying the serenity, before heading back, as it was getting close to midday and the adults in their final meeting would be bound to adjourn for lunch.

When they walked into the dining hall, the adults were just sitting down. Gosh, if we stayed five minutes longer we would have been late, Amelia thought. They sat near Sirius, who asked them about their day, and they told him about their walk.

After finishing their butternut squash soup and sandwich, lunch was over. Harry said that they could go over to Aquinnah's house whenever, as she and her friends had been there since the morning. They decided to walk over an hour before, to iron out any last creases in the presentation.

They did one last practice of the speech, and barring Faith getting a little bit nervous and briefly struggling to read something on the paper in front of her, all went well. Once that was done, something came to Amelia's mind. "Are us three going to be in the office with you when you present?"

Most of the Native's said they could if they wanted to, for encouragement. "I think it'll at least ease me if we have familiar faces in there." Kara voiced.

When there was only twenty-five minutes to go until two o'clock, they all got up and started heading towards the school. After Aquinnah made 100% sure that everyone had their bits of paper and hadn't left anything, they started their walk.

"Where is Fontaine's office? That's where we're meeting him." Dorea asked once they were inside.

"Fourth floor," Mitena said, and seemed to stride towards the front of the pack with Denali and started leading them.

When they got there, Fontaine had left a note on the door - "The Board and myself will be here at 1:55 pm onwards. Head inside if you want to sit down and get comfortable. Password is 'Freedom'."

"That password is really funny considering we have to do this to get the barest of recognition and freedom to exist as we want." Asuna remarked as they stepped inside. The office was really spacious - it seemed the walls matched the large oval mahogany table in colour, which gave the room a dark aesthetic.

Not long after, the Headmaster, along with Professor Adams and the Board, arrived. Amelia felt nervous butterflies in her tummy - even though she wasn't speaking, she felt nervous for the Native's.

After brief introductions, they got on to business. Professor Adams briefly asked Harry directly what was going to be discussed today, and he answered truthfully. Amelia eyed the members of the Board; all of them looked over the age of fifty, and some of them were already looking bored. Gosh, she thought, what if they're simply not interested in anything we have to say?

Denali was speaking first - he was introducing them all and briefly introducing what all was going to be said. Once he was done that, it was Wapeka's turn to speak, where she spoke eloquently of things particularly pertaining to Ilvermorny that appropriated Native cultures - such as the names of the Houses. After her, Chenoa spoke about the treatment of the Pukwudgie.

Amelia listened intently whilst each of them took turns making their points. Every once in a while, her eyes glanced over to the Board - most of them actually looked rather engaged with the presentation. Hopefully we've put enough persuasive language in there.

After Willow spoke about how the Native's were disadvantaged in the world of work, Faith concluded the presentation after almost fifteen minutes. Once it was done, Amelia let out a sigh of relief, and was pleased when applause started.

She glanced at Dorea and her twin, and both of them looked very hopeful. The Native's all looked relieved that the hard part was done.

"I must say," Professor Fontaine said, "that no matter the decision, you all are a credit to your communities. Well done to you all."

Professor Adams, who was Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors as well as being Deputy Headmistress (and was the only woman on the Board, it seemed), spoke too. "I concur with my colleague. A great display of working together with people who were previously strangers, and putting something together with not much time."

They thanked the two of them for their words. Their thanks are worth all but nothing if they turn around and say that no action will be taken, Amelia thought.

She wasn't really expecting what happened next - the adults told them to leave the room, as the Board had to discuss what all was said. She supposed they had things to make decisions on, but she assumed they would be staying in the room at least, in case anyone needed to ask questions or get clarification. But the Native's had communicated everything brilliantly, so perhaps they didn't need to ask any questions.

Once outside the office, big sighs of relief were let out. Amelia joined in when her twin and godsister went around praising everyone, for they had all been faultless. Amelia didn't believe in god, but she found herself doing a silent prayer that the Board agreed with changes.

After dinner that evening, they still hadn't heard of any update from the meeting. That was until Harry came to Dorea's door, with a hastily written note in hand. "This came from Aquinnah," he said, and handed it to her.

It read:

"Come along to my house when you are free - BIG news from Fontaine and co!

Aquinnah."

Dorea shared a giddy look with Harry. The handwriting looked like it had been rushed - which was a positive sign it was at least good news. She shoved her trainers on and they went along to Amelia's room to grab her.

Amelia had thrown on a jacket and trainers in almost record time, and they were quickly skipping down the stairs of Ilvermorny and out the front door. They actually found themselves running, and got to Aquinnah and Tokala's house much quicker.

As they got closer, they could hear talking inside, including some cheers. That was a great sign. Harry twisted the doorknob and entered.

Their Native friends were either in the living room or the kitchen. The overall vibe was really good. When they had barely all gotten inside, Aquinnah was making her way to them.

"You got my note-"

"-Tell us the news!" Dorea all but demanded. Aquinnah smiled knowingly.

"We convinced them!" A handful of people said at once.

Dorea grinned.

They had done it.

Change, at last.

Asuna now stood beside Aquinnah and went into further detail. The Board had agreed to change the names of the Ilvermorny houses, and their subsequent emblems - instead, Horned Serpent would be Fairweather, Wampus would be Rainier, Pukwudgie would be Sanford and Thunderbird would be Blackburn. Instead of appropriated names of creatures, the Board had instead proposed to change their names to mountains in the USA instead.

Then came the issue of the Pukwudgie that served at the school. One of the issues talked about during the British, Canadian and American magical governments was the roll out of the universal use of house elves. Supposedly the Americans had agreed to phase out the uses of Pukwudgie and instead house elves would take over their roles. One species goes free, Dorea thought, but another takes its place in servitude. Hermione will be fuming.

As well as that, supposedly there would be some mentorship programmes and other groups pertaining to gaining employment that catered to Indigenous Americans and getting them into better paid jobs set up. All in all, Dorea was delighted, yet still amazed that the Board agreed to all these changes. The rest of that afternoon was spent with their Native friends, celebrating the momentous occasion.

At five a.m the next morning, Harry woke up a bit solemn. Although they were getting the Portkey back to Britain, it meant they were leaving Ilvermorny, and likely they wouldn't be back for years. Bittersweet.

At breakfast, he sat with Sirius, and felt like he had neglected his godfather slightly since coming here. Sirius didn't mind at all, and was really happy they would be leaving here with friendships made.

Sirius also explained the protocol for travelling back. In half an hour, they would Portkey to the Ministry - as they obviously had to debrief Minister Bones on their work and everything agreed with their two new major allies. After that, they would use the fireplaces in the Ministry and Floo back to Black Manor. The reason why they were up so early was so they would get home before midday - it was five in the morning in the USA, but back home it was already ten. Harry already had a plan in his head to have a nap when he got home and unpacked.

After breakfast, they all went back to their rooms to do a final packing check. Harry had done most of his last night, but to ease his paranoia that he had forgotten something he double and triple checked. Once that was done, he levitated his trunk down to the Entrance Hall with Amelia and Dorea.

The goodbyes took a while, considering how many delegations there were, but once it was done, Harry tried to treasure his last few moments of this USA visit. One day, I will come back here, he thought as the Portkey activated and they all transported back to England.

In truth, he couldn't wait to see his fellow housemates again.