Chapter 11: Rapscallion Ravenclaws

Part I: Lisa Turpin and Su Li

The school term at Hogwarts had resumed.

Lisa had succeeded in her primary goal – she had worked for enough money to buy herself the latest Nimbus Broom. The Odin-III would have been considered a World Cup competition broom, merely three years ago. At a top speed of two hundred and sixty mph, it flew like a cat on a scalding hot galvanized roof. Lisa had managed to save enough money from her allowance, and from the odd two weeks of work that she had done, before returning to Hogwarts.

And yet, to say that the Christmas holidays were anything less than interesting, would be to sell everything short.

Su Li had met her fellow Ravenclaw, on a short strip of Hogwarts battlements. She was quite confused about the hushed note that was slipped into her robe, but she went along with the request, in any case. The story that followed, had the Ravenclaw seeker wondering if her friend had gone mad. That was until Lisa started to provide the paltry evidence that she had gathered, and Su Li remembered something - Padma had told her sister something about a girl named 'Mione', and she had been within earshot.

"Well….suddenly a lot of things make sense. So, Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter?" Su Li asked.

"Looks so?" Lisa replied.

"They kind of make sense. Although Daphne is way more muggle than most muggleborns that I know. She just seems to know about pretty much everything muggles know about. I used to hear that her family was dark, but I guess that isn't true?" Su Li replied.

"I heard that they are neutrals, but that was because they had little choice in the matter. Violet had mentioned something about it, one day in the Quidditch changing room. Atticus had explained how his family too, were like that. But I heard what Harry said about the Greengrasses pushing to solidify the neutrals," Lisa replied.

"So, Sirius Black is together with Priya Singh. A Gryffindor with a Hufflepuff partner. That sort of works. Damn, I would have liked to see what Harry Potter looks like. I mean, he is tall, and built. Emerald green eyes and huge biceps. And very dangerous. I like that!" Su Li giggled.

"Yeah, he is very attractive. But when you hear him talk about drowning his enemies in blood, then you realise he is actually dangerous. Not a fairy tale Prince Charming. You can sense that he won't harm you if are evil, but you understand that he can crush you. He is a killer, Su!" Lisa replied.

"I guess that is logical. It can't be too good to be true story, in any case. What about his friend? Tell me more about her?" Su Li asked.

"Remember the joke we made about his muggle friend? We asked if she would have been a Ravenclaw. She isn't a muggle, and she is an eagle like one of us. Her tattoos are pretty neat. She is Daphne's teacher from what I overheard." Lisa replied.

"What do we do Lisa? I mean, he is coming back, isn't he? He-who-must-not-be-named?" Su Li asked.

"I was suggesting you get close to Padma. See if you can work backwards. And tell no one. As I explained, they designed the terminals. The Malfoys had an actual Death Eater meeting recently. Bellatrix Lestrange was supposed to visit." Lisa replied.

"Well, I already visit the obstacle course as a healer. Maybe we could join the squads? We can start early and learn to protect ourselves. If Harry Potter thought Neville Longbottom, that is good enough for me." Su Li suggested.

"Did you see Hagrid's new place? It is really posh!" Lisa replied.

"I know. Why do I get the feeling both of them were involved? The place just looks…well...I don't know how to describe it. I guess it is magical, but not like what we are accustomed to seeing?" Su Li suggested.

"Well….we will see what happens. I have my new broom. Why don't we go to the Quidditch pitch and take a couple of laps on it?" Lisa suggested.

"In a little bit. Should we tell anyone else?" Su Li asked.

"I wondered if we should tell Cho, but she doesn't like you since she got replaced. And Marietta would probably tell her mother everything. She believes that the Ministry is right about everything. Heard her mother is friends with Dolores Umbridge. Hoping quite hard to get aministry job probably." Lisa replied.

"Who is Dolores Umbridge?" Su Li asked.

"She is like the male Argus Filch in her final form. And then she has Ministry bureaucracy as her choice of weapon?" Lisa explained.

"How do you know this much about wizarding politics?" Su Li asked.

"I want to work in the Ministry of Magic, but employment is usually done via favours. There is no work hard and get your just reward. So, I have been figuring out who to network with?" Lisa explained.

"Something on your mind?" Su Li asked.

"I wonder if I should become friends with Luna. Or maybe I can tell Terry what I know. I have worked with him before, and he usually keeps what you tell him in confidence?" Lisa replied.

"You might have to talk to him in any case, if you want to join the Defence Club. And you are going to need a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin to couch for you. I don't know how you want to do it?" Su Li explained.

"Susan from Hufflepuff is nice. Ismelda has been great with Potions assignments. If I get Luna, I could get into their Defence Club."

"Well, I guess we have some new friends to make. I wonder if Padma might like Kimchi? I have eaten a lot of her food sometimes. I could return the favour?" Su Li replied.

"The advantages of being made up of two different types of asian. Ask your mum to send some more, I guess? Ask your dad to send the fried rice that I like." Lisa suggested.

Meanwhile, Harry had assigned a microdrone to track Lisa. He had a small laugh and then ordered Tipsy and Mipsy to go through every piece of clothing that Su Li and Lisa Turpin owned and to charm the buttons with Anti-Legilimency charms.

Part II: Helena and Reinbern

The Ghosts had not forgotten about their little trip last year. They were aware of the plotting that was occurring in Hogwarts. However, Ronald had specifically spoken to the Fat Friar. He had explained to the group of ghosts that 'they' had found the Book of Admittance and the Quill of Acceptance. The Fat Friar thought that the boy was jesting until he specifically led the four ghosts to the legendary room. They too witnessed as Hogwarts declared itself as an active participant in the plots.

As the castle had insisted that evening via the inky handwriting:

"Caelian Artificer Lord Peverell and Vesta Priestess Lady Granger are authorised to make whatever modifications are necessary, to augment the castle's protections. Without exceptions. Their secrets and operatives are to be protected. Hogwarts will never be threatened under any circumstance."

From then on, the ghosts trusted its resident house members implicitly. Hogwarts and her demands were not to be taken lightly. The ghosts became good friends with the all-star student group. Soon enough, Ronald's enchanting voice became a comfort for Helena Ravenclaw, as she had loved ballads in her day. Other days the entire group of ghosts frequented the band practice and listened on. Helena Ravenclaw often asked Daphne many questions about runes, and she shared her knowledge freely.

In this manner, the Far Friar and the rest began to hear the tales of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. They were the teenagers who were fighting for the downtrodden, and the premiere minds of magical England. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin became the guardians of the next generation of the Marauders, and Priya became the Fat Friar's favourite Hufflepuff as she continued to excel. The Bloody Baron laughed and approved of Lorna Findlay's antics, as Neville and the rest described the initial plotting the snake had conceived to keep Harry safe and protected. The Baron had eventually heard of the budding romance between Daphne and Harry. He encouraged the girl to continue to be ambitious about the venture.

And somehow, the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady began to talk.

Perhaps it was against the backdrop of Ronald and Neville's lovely acoustic songs. Other times they looked at Luna as she painted her friends with reckless abandon. One day the Bloody Baron was surprised by the question that Helena Ravenclaw asked him, while Luna painted a portrait. It was of the Thunderbolt-II as it prepared its rail cannon, to fire at the castle in the mountains.

"Do you still love me?" Helena asked, softly. The Bloody Baron was taken aback and was quite surprised.

"Of course, I still do. But I wondered what I could say….and I never could find the words. And I feared your wrath and that is quite a reasonable excuse, I believe," Reinbern admitted.

"I always knew I was the wrong one. I was not myself that evening. I am…sorry," Helena replied.

"I am to blame too. I should not have made demands of you. I should have begged you to come home on the basis that I loved you. You didn't need to become the smartest woman in the world. You were already the most brilliant person, in my life. But I was always too proud. What made you ask this question after almost nine centuries?" Reinbern asked.

"I always loved music and art. But how much of it have we directly experienced since our passing? And please, I can't hear the Hogwarts choir anymore. It's the same thing, every time. Frogs are just overdone now. But when Ronald and Neville sing, I remember the times when we walked these corridors.

Luna paints pictures, many of which highlight Harry and Hermione's power. But the vast majority of them are filled with laughter, hugs, and of learning. Growth. Curiosity. Her art...it…..moves me the way I was moved by many of the portraits in our days. Her art speaks with authority because it carries love and beauty. And I could still appreciate it.

I wondered if…I was still the same. And then I realised mostly yes. But were you the same?"

"I am in some ways Helena, but then I am not. I am well known for terrorising some of the younger Slytherins. I love making all types of comedic entrances at the beginning of the term. But I was lying to myself. I have been sad since we stopped talking. And I filled the void with ridiculous behaviour. I always hated this bloodstain. And I hate these clothes."

"Then do not wear it anymore. How could I ask you to continue your penance when I was the instigator? No, you will remove it." Helena replied.

"Perhaps we should begin to stroll the castle grounds again," Reinbern suggested.

"Are you asking me out for a walk?" the Ravenclaw ghost asked curiously.

"No differently to when we were apprenticed here. But I do think our wardrobes can use an update. Perhaps we can ask Luna to give us some ideas, separately?" Reinbern suggested.

"I always liked that you were ambitious. Two days from now. Our favourite spot, by the lake." Helena replied.

Luna was in the background, and she smiled widely. Both ghosts understood that she would not disappoint them. Luna combed through every piece of work she had ever done for Harry and Hermione. She also used her Terminal, and grabbed ideas from Pinterest, videogames, movies and elsewhere.

Both ghosts had arrived in the 21st century.

Two days later, the ruckus began.

Helena Ravenclaw was now making her way to the Ravenclaw tower, in her new appearance. Some of the other Ravenclaws quickly inferred that Luna had designed her new makeover. Meanwhile, the ghost was having a casual conversation with the girl:

"Thank you Luna, for your insights. I do feel like a new witch after my makeover. My mother would have loved the ideas that mundane speak about in their science fiction books. She often liked to imagine what the world could be like one thousand years in the future," Helena replied.

"Perhaps we can obtain some science fiction novels for the Ravenclaw library. It will give fellow Ravenclaws an appreciation for how far they have come. Especially the people who have only been exposed to magical society," Luna suggested.

"That is an excellent idea. How should I introduce myself?" Helena asked.

"Don't be shy. Let them know you are Rowena's daughter. This tower is your inheritance. It is yours and nobody can deny you that," Luna insisted, as she solved the riddle at the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room. Luna then went off to her preferred area in the common room while the other Ravenclaws began to look on, curiously. After all the ghost had gotten a modern facelift to her appearance. Helena strode to the middle of the room, and she cleared her throat.

Helena Ravenclaw was now 'dressed' in Hermione's most recent Rune-Priestess robes. The robes consisted of several overlapping layers of conjured cloth which were coloured in various shades of translucent blue light. The general cut of the cloth resembled the fantasy depiction of a female mage, but with sensible considerations. The robes were littered with silver imperialistic eagle patterns, and many lines of neon blue trim. This was contrasted against the trapezoidal forerunner design aesthetic. On the conjured 'clothes' were many small runes which constantly shifted and faded in and out of existence. There were also several geometric lines and blue, wispy smoky effects that complimented her arms.

The Hogwarts crest floated on her left shoulder while the right shoulder displayed a proud animated eagle. Her black hair was perfectly straight, and it was interwoven with several blue chains and sapphires. Many places on her body were covered by Harry's style of floating armour. On her back was a copy of Luna's superconducting bow, which was folded down to decrease its size. Finally, was the floating crown and earrings, along with a replica of her mother's diadem. A set of floating panels functioned as her skirt, as they constantly shifted around. The woman or rather ghost, had easily captured everyone's attention.

"Good morning my lovely students. I used to be known as the Grey Lady….."

The Ravenclaw common room became dead silent.

"I no longer go by that name. My name is Helena Ravenclaw, and I am the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw."

Many of the Ravenclaws had dropped their books. Most of the jaws became unhinged.

"I have returned from a nine hundred year hiatus. I have been thinking about many things, recently. House Ravenclaw will remain under the administration of our illustrious Professor Flitwick. However, I will monitor the usage of the Ravenclaw internal library. I will also settle disputes and provide advice when necessary. This entire tower is my inheritance after all," Helena explained.

"You look amazing! You look like Cortana from Halo!" a random boy yelled.

"Thank you. I wanted to change my appearance and I asked Luna to sketch some ideas for me. Something new, and something fresh. Something that represents our current times. Make no mistake my fellow eagle, my mother would have adored mundane science fiction books.

Notice that I have used the word mundane – the word muggle I consider to be a slur, and its usage has been outlawed by my decree. Forthwith. By my decree, in which I carry the authority of my mother!

I have been thinking that perhaps we could start a personal collection of modern literature, art, and music. My mother was known for sampling the finer arts, in my time. After all, music and art develop the mind. So does literature. Perhaps this event can coincide with our tea parties?" Helena suggested before House Ravenclaw was in open cheering. Some of the other Ravenclaws saw when Luna gave the ghost a wink, and she broadly smiled back, at the girl.

"Can you tell us about Rowena Ravenclaw? Tell us about your mother?" Terry Boot asked.

"I can do better. I will tell you what I remember about all the founders, as they all taught me or knew me in one way or the other. And understand this – you will come to realise that many details became distorted with time. But to hear me speak is to hear from the horse's mouth indeed. Tonight, for nine. I will talk about how Hogwarts was built."

"I have an idea. How about we run a podcast? And we broadcast to the entire of magical England? I would love to let people know the real story. Hogwarts is part of our heritage, and everyone ought to know?" Penny suggested.

"We can livestream with the Quibbler. I will get a message out through a news bulletin?" Luna suggested.

"Perhaps Penny, you and the other houses can prepare some questions. I had initially planned to do something, but I would like to believe I can get Reinbern to pitch in. For those who do not know, he is the Bloody Baron. We attended Hogwarts at the same time, and we were very close to each other." Helena Ravenclaw replied.

That was the second bomb that had been dropped on the poor eagles that morning.

By the time lunch had arrived, the castle was in a frenzy.

Even Albus came to see Helena Ravenclaw as the arrangements were made. When Albus enquired what had brought the ghost out of her solitary self-imposed confinement, she simply replied:

"Your favourite group of students. Luna's art touched me. And the rest? They have encouraged me to resume living my life. One day they will stand as titans on the hallowed grounds of this castle. And sacrifices will be made. Terrible sacrifices. But they will succeed. Mark my words Headmaster, Hogwarts knows."

Albus once again felt that he was doing the right thing, as Hogwarts had spoken. Little did he know that the Grey Lady was talking about Harry Potter and Hermione Granger when she had mentioned 'the rest'.

They were after all, registered for 'partial attendance'.

Questions had arrived from all over the school. Many of the Slytherins were curious about their own House Ghost who they had not seen.

Reinbern had taken the route of looking like Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. His outfit was regal, and aristocratic. The head was covered with a whispy silver trimmed green hood, and the rest of his body sported dark green armoured plates. He also sat in a chair, that hovered over everyone. Reinbern was floating silently through the Slytherin dungeons, as he listened to the general comments that were made by the students. Many of them wanted to know what Salazar Slytherin had been like, as a person. The other question that some wanted to ask, was what would be Salazar Slytherin's opinion of the others who were being 'graciously accommodated' at Hogwarts.

The Bloody Baron was on his way to join Helena, as their nightly stroll had been repurposed into a 'podcast'. Truthfully, he was excited as he thought it was time to reveal one of his secrets. Salazar Slytherin had taught him potions, and he had known his wife. She also had lived at the castle.

Sendina.

The Spanish born muggle woman who was Salazar's comfort throughout the years. Sendina was the woman who had kept the original snake company, even when the disagreement had made itself known.

The great disagreement of Salazar Slytherin was a simple one – Salazar wanted Hogwarts to serve as a magical university. It would encapsulate several Guilds, and only the best of the locals and international wizards would gain entry. Otherwise, Salazar considered teenage magical education via apprenticeship and practical self-dictated projects to be the superior option. Salazar wanted Hogwarts to be the epicentre of magical research in the world, and he had funded most of its construction. It was supposed to mirror the upcoming Oxford University, which was under consideration for construction. Salazar had even donated a large sum of money to this venture, as he hoped that education of the non-magical public would curb the fear of magic.

The other three founders had changed their mind – Magical England needed mass education, 'to educate the youths of the times'. Salazar was upset with this – he believed that public magical education would force 'unambitious' people to learn enough magic to get by, and that they would do no more than that. But with his method, the applicants for the Hogwarts Guild would have to be capable to get their foot into the front door.

Meritocracy would attract the best.

A compromise was reached. Salazar would get his own house within the school, and he would be free to stream the most academically gifted students. Blood status did not matter. He wanted you to bring a new piece of magic to his house, and he did not like regurgitation. The initial Slytherins were all prodigies – people who were above the rank and file. Many of the other applicants could not get in. Salazar's students were allowed to take whatever classes suited them and to work towards developing new forms of magic.

For a while, Slytherin continued to produce the best magicals. Ravenclaw produced scribes, artists, and philosophers. Gryffindor continued to produce magical soldiers and militiamen, while Hufflepuffs produced people who were talented with nature, and various eclectic but crucial professions. Even Salazar began to run out of applicants, for his House. Then the Sorting Hat was charmed by him and Godric, and now it would attempt to funnel rank and file younger students, who would be mentored correctly. Now Salazar found himself having to make compromises, as many people just desired to get by with their magic.

The years passed, and Salazar became unhappy. While there were some prestigious Slytherin alumni, he eventually capitulated and taught potions and alchemy dutifully. His wife stood by him and encouraged him not to give up – she believed that eventually when enough people were educated, they would desire more. She encouraged him to be patient and to consider that others after him would have to carry on the legacy. Salazar therefore used extensive networking, business, and negotiations as he tried to employ people who would carry on his vision, within Slytherin House.

And then misfortune struck. Even the other founders were jarred. Someone close to everyone had perished.

Sendina was killed on the Hogwarts grounds.

Salazar fearing that Hogwarts could be once again attacked, built the Chamber of Secrets. He placed the basilisk in the chamber and commanded the beast to attack any hostile entities whether they be mundane or magical. Then, he left and he never returned. Godric had insisted that he accompany him, but Salazar had asked him to stay and protect the castle. Godric militarised the castle as swords, spears and other armaments were mounted conveniently on the walls. Students were trained to use pikes, and use formations that incorporated swords, and wands.

Soon enough the budding political landscape changed. The initial Slytherins had used their magical knowledge to amass economic power. After a few generations, these noblemen began to carve out small keeps and dwellings. Slytherin became their little kingdom. Many centuries later, the Wizengamot solidified many of these institutionalised families, as they eventually became the ruling class. Personal magic was guarded jealously, and the misconception that Salazar Slytherin only liked 'purebloods' became a commonly accepted truth. After all these families wanted to hold on to their power.

Reinbern understood that these admissions would upset the nation, but he didn't care. Daphne and Reinbern often spoke, and the spunky snake reminded her of Salazar very much. Daphne insisted that any attempt to turn people away from pure-blooded doctrine was worth it. The other alternative was that when Harry arrived, he would not stop. When Reinbern had asked what could guarantee such an outcome, he became unnerved as the girl replied:

"We already have designs for a battleship that will be as long as Hogwarts. It will have every type of armament that you can imagine and will fly with state of the art fusion reactors and ion-thrusters."

Daphne then visualised some initial renders of the M.E.F Lilly Potter, as she conjured a weak and translucent illusion. Hermione had been teaching her, and Daphne's first major maturity had not arrived yet. Daphne was now under some strain, as she gasped a little. Reinbern looked at the ship. It was six hundred feet long.

"The M.E.F Lilly Potter will eventually travel the heavens when she is properly done. They better get their business in order, because when that ship arrives, Harry will do what he does best. He will win, everything."

Reinbern had decided from now on that he would actively take part in House Slytherin's affairs, as he would seek to convince the students. However, deep down he wondered how successful he would be – the darker Slytherins would not want to hear anything.

They were comfortable, and they loved their power.

Part III: Dumbledore and Skallagrimson

Some time had passed – it was the beginning of February.

Albus Dumbledore was quite surprised, when the elusive Njǫrd Skallagrimson had written him. He had indicated that he would be willing to meet, to discuss his curiosities. The chisel jawed Viking leader was not surprised when Albus chose Molly's kitchen, for their chit chat. It was a place that made Albus comfortable. Unknown to Albus, Master Skallagrimson and some of his seniors were regulars at the place, anyway. He particularly enjoyed the company of the kitchen staff in any case.

Before arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, the reserve leader had dropped by at Peverell Manor. Týr and Víðarr were happy to see their master, and the dragons gave their greetings. The boys were happy to share their sentiments – they felt that they were growing. Víðarr explained that he flew regularly to remote parts of the world, to learn about world culture. Týr also liked industrial work – he loved power distribution. They also described that the workout program was brutal, but they managed because Ronald kept them company.

"Excellent. I can see some bodily development. I will speak to both of your mothers. They will be proud. Do you have any regrets about leaving?" Njǫrd asked the boys.

"I think I should argue with my old man more often. I miss him though, and I am not ashamed to admit that is the case. Even if we didn't part on the best terms. Sometimes we can only understand the world from what experiences are….familiar to us…." Víðarr replied thoughtfully.

Njǫrd walked off, with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, weapons clanged in the background as Nakula continued to refine the gang at Peverell Manor.

Master Skallagrimson that morning got an acknowledgement from Nakula, as he continued to bruise everyone liberally. Harry had managed to keep him off. Marcella was now adjusting to the hectic schedule, and she found herself out of breadth and looking on at the swordplay and the wandless magic. She had only been on the Peverell compound for one month, and her body was being reforged.

"You alright there?" Daphne asked.

"I….hurt….all…..over…" Marcella replied, in ragged gasps.

"Easy, the strength will come. The control from the spinal interface is improving too…" Daphne replied.

"I can never wrap my head around how he fights. I thought Harry was good?" Marcella replied.

"Nakula has a friend from Japan. Sato. We heard she is better than him. She is busy sorting out some family feuds. But I would pay money to see her fight him over there!" Daphne laughed, as Nakula grinned at Daphne.

"Oh, I will ensure that she gives all of you a workout," Nakula replied, as Padma entered the duelling ring.

Padma had refused to fight Nakula at first. She had insisted that she wanted her mother to prepare her, first. Padma would spend every morning practising her sword strikes. She even refused to fight Harry, Hermione, Neville or anybody else. Today was the agreed day for her to showcase her skill, and everyone waited anxiously.

And then, a wild scream came from Padma's mouth. Even Nakula was surprised. And then everyone realised that the quiet Ravenclaw was a wild thing.

Padma and Nakula were the best entertainment. It was quite obvious that Padma was barely a threat to Nakula, but that did not stop her with her mother's sword. She was quick, calculating and very deceptive. Nakula had a grin on his face, as appreciated that someone was carrying forward the Indian style of sword fighting. Their conversation between the opponents happened in Sanskrit, and only Daphne caught some paltry words here and there. Padma had no problem taunting her enemy, and her tone of voice was absolutely icy. Daphne had to squint her eyes, as even she was surprised.

"You do your ancestors proud."

CLANG! CLANG!

"And you talk too much, Nakula"

CL-CLANG! CL-CLA-CLANG!

"Quite a mouth on you!"

"And you were born knowing everything…."

"I never claimed as such?"

CLANG! CLANG!

"And I am telling you that you…"

CL-CLANG! CL-CLA-CLANG!

"are unnecessarily snobby. Missing social skills, Nakula?"

CLANG!

"Don't need them when I have a blade…."

-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG

"You speak like a coloniser now….eh?"

Padma's quip about 'might makes right' took Nakula off guard. He was clearly offended, and he even seemed a bit vexed.

"You live in the coloniser's backyard." Nakula retorted.

CL-CLA-CLANG!

"Perhaps because warriors like you, only like to live in huts, and not talk to people….."

Padma continued to find all sorts of interesting loopholes, and Nakula wondered if the real beatdown was a verbal one. Perhaps he was far better with the sword, but Padma had no problem razing him. Daphne had to occasionally translate, but everyone could see that Padma was insulting Nakula at every turn. Nobody dared to ask what the pair was doing. For a moment, there seemed to be a lowkey flirt between the pair, and then at other times, they looked like they wanted to kill each other. The quiet bookish Ravenclaw looked slightly crazed. Padma's mother had arrived, and she stood impassively as she smiled. She then began to chat with Parvati, in Marathi.

"Well maa, she does take after you. She gets crazy when she has a sword in her hand."

"Perhaps my dearest. And you are like for father – you were always a romantic person. Your father used to read me Rabindranath Tagore. But you too have Tarabai's blood in you. One day, it will come out. This is Nakula?" Aadarsha Patel asked.

"Yes?" Parvati replied.

"Well, he is fantastic with a sword. Good technique. Very fluid. Daily practice. Let me see what he is made up of…" Aadarsha replied, as she took her sword and stepped into the ring.

Nakula grinned, as he began to fight both mother and daughter at the same time. Meanwhile, Harry and the rest began to yell and shout. Nakula was surprised when Harry and Ronald rooted for him, loudly. Hermione and the rest of the girls rooted for the women, while Neville and the rest stood on and watched. Master Skallagrimson smiled at Hermione, as he committed the memory to a small runestone. He would send this memory to Sage Atri, Siddhi and Pranusha. After a further twenty minutes, Aadarsha signalled for them to stop the duel. Her eyes were alive, and Nakula was anything far from tired. Everyone could immensely see that he enjoyed the scuffle.

Master Skallagrimson was then given a tour of Harry's latest projects, as Daphne opted to explain her optimisations for the runic fabrication systems. There was a small theoretical chit chat, as Hermione also demoed the new grav-harnesses for the dragons. Prototypes were immediately sent to Norway, as the man continued to give Hermione and Daphne some tips to increase their fine application of their knowledge.

The impressionable Viking leader left the Peverell compound. He noted that Víðarr and Týr had put on significant muscle mass for the paltry fourteen weeks they had been away from the reserve. Týr was busy with Remus on the CNC machines, and Víðarr was studying a lot of mathematics. For a while, Víðarr's face even seemed curious as he made the connections. While he never had experienced a non-magical primary education, his mother's curiosity lived on in him.

Skallagrimson entered the leaky cauldron and found Albus waiting for him behind the counter. Tom was busy with the orders in the kitchen, but his assistant had provided Albus with the necessary information. Business was good, and Molly and Tom often shared recipes. Tom's menu continued to stay the same, but he had added extra items which had become popular in their own right. Everyone paid with their hand terminals, and Tom had significantly remodelled the place. The prices remained the same, but the experience was very close to a posh restaurant. Tom's assistant was quite happy to explain that Molly and Arthur had been very supportive in optimising a lot of things. Ved also was quite the accountant, and was held with a lot of respect regardless of not having an inch of magic in him.

"It makes me content, that Tom is doing well. And you young lady, I hope the job has been good to you?" Albus asked, as Njǫrd stood next to him.

"Headmaster, it is challenging on some days. Very busy. But the crowd isn't rude, and I get paid good money. My feet do feel tired though," the girl replied, as Albus smiled at the visitor.

"Take care, Ms. Walters. Ah Njǫrd my friend, most excellent. Good to see you."

"Be happy and healthy Albus. I heard you have a special place in mind?" Njǫrd asked.

"I do. I am carrying you via side-along…" Albus replied, as he tapped Njǫrd's shoulder, and both men were transported to the kitchen.

Albus ushered the man into a private room, upon arriving at the Weasley-Singh premises. Molly popped in and smiled, as Albus introduced his colleague. Molly continued to be amicable as if Njǫrd was a first time visitor. He ordered Molly's Shepherd pie, along with some red wine, and Albus remarked:

"Ah, that indeed is a solid choice. Although the Onion soup is a very strong contender."

"If the conversation keeps me hungry, I might be so inclined. How have you been Albus?"

"Well enough old friend. And yourself?"

"Blessed by the All-Father. And the runes themselves watch on."

"I was caught unaware by the sudden response. I almost believed you forgot about my offer? Although if you have been busy, you cannot be blamed."

"I honestly do admit I forgot, Albus. We are doing some research into the Dragons – I have been asked to consult on certain issues. But I did look at the notebooks in my spare time. I found the girl's discourse to be mentally stimulating…."

"And the young man? What about his material?" Albus asked.

"I had to consult many of the mundane educated magicals in Norway. But we began to see very logical patterns. One thing is for sure – he is the best at Transfiguration, in the entire world. His level of knowledge makes no distinction between the magical and non-magical," Njǫrd replied, as he waited to see Albus' reaction.

The silver bearded man was not pleased. However, as he stroked his beard, he decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

"Well, what about the girl's arguments about the Runes? I found many of the ideas…..fascinating?" Albus replied.

"Her ideas are things that I am very aware of – just as you have your alchemical lore which you guard closely, we too have certain knowledge that was handed down from our Viking ancestors. It is not my place to bequeath that knowledge to you. But I can say that you are lucky Albus….."

"How so, Njǫrd?"

"Most of the secrets which we would discover over many centuries, the girl already knew as a child. That type of predisposition isn't unheard of – there are many young men and women who have a mind that is equal to your mystery young lady. However, her use of mundane linguistics is impressive. She has to be an academic powerhouse."

"I suspect both of them are – and this is why I am somewhat concerned. Both of them have disappeared momentarily. But I do know they are building powerful artefacts for war. Magical guns are of a great concern to everyone. And I saw a flying craft recently, and it seems to possess massive destructive power…"

"I don't think the weapons are of a large concern," Njǫrd replied.

"Why not?" Albus asked, rather curiously.

"Well, if they are weapons dealers, and they are selling you could just buy the weapons? I have no idea what they are, but I would gladly buy them for our people? I have heard that the Frech are buying those pistols! And they are the manufacturers." Njǫrd laughed.

"The English are not so open minded," Albus replied.

"Who, the Ministry or the people?

Albus became silent, as the Njǫrd dared to probe deeper.

"That is amusing. The British Empire created the first wave of mundane industrialisation. It was sadly sponsored by the terrible colonisation of Africa and Asia, along with some dotted places all over the world. Then, the British sold the technology to Europe. Having cold hard steel to point at the enemy is how the English prefer to do things?" Njǫrd replied.

"I am only vaguely familiar with this piece of history. My Headboy had explained some of the points in passing. I wasn't aware you knew muggle history?" Albus asked.

"But of course, Albus. I am versed with History from all over. And I continue to read. We will often look to see if there might have been magic that survived the much more unpalatable events. And we try to see what can be recovered, particularly in our area of the world. That is what the survival of the Viking culture demanded. However, we do not point fingers at the descendants of our colonisers. They are not guilty. No more than we are guilty of the wrong of our ancestors. Humans are anything far from noble in their behaviour, at a civilizational perspective…" Njǫrd replied smoothly.

Albus nodded uneasily.

"I have the latest Data Terminal on me. This was made by some other Guild. So far, they have not acted in any manner that would suggest that they have any ulterior interests. Can you give me your opinion on these preliminary findings?" Albus asked, as he handed over the papers. Njǫrd continued to read the papers that Babbling and Vector had authored. As he glanced through the papers Albus waited patiently. Albus then used his infamous light trick, as he displayed the runes and the fabrication of the item. Truthfully, Skallagrimson was happy to see the old futhark runes being used so openly – the more usage runes underwent, the more powerful they became. Now millions of people were using the Futhark runes, without being able to access the secrets of their meaning. Njǫrd considered that Albus had already interfered enough, and he decided to doctor the situation to meet the outcome that was desired between himself and Sage Atri.

"While I am looking through these papers, out of curiosity….have the Storm-Lord and Rune-Priestess killed any innocents?" Skallagrimson asked.

"No they have not….but they are planning to kill many."

"These people who were killed, or who will be killed - have they or do they plan to harm innocents?" Skallagrimson asked.

"It isn't so simple….." Albus replied.

"Oh? In our society, we have no problem killing those who are evil. I have heard whispers about the Death Eater attack, and I know that they have been exterminated. I could argue that our ancient ancestors were not a moral compass to look up to – The Vikings were the anti-heroes of the world. They came to Bretlandseyjar only to conquer, in any case. Of course, we grew out of that nonsense with enough time. But what I do want to know is why such characters as the Death Eaters, run freely in your nation?" Skallagrimson asked.

"These individuals were swayed by a charismatic figure. They were embroiled in what was intellectually fashionable at the time. They could be made to change, with some effort." Albus replied.

"But…did you not become famous for beating Grindelwald in a duel. Could you convince him to change his ways? It is well known to many that he was a close friend of yours? And if you did not convince your friend, what about strangers?" Skallagrimson asked.

Albus was now silent.

"Albus, I have my perspectives which are not necessarily yours. I will always remind you, that the Vikings brought magic to England. And we see the world through a continuous cultural existence. But enough of that. Your professors are somewhat correct. However, what they do not realise is that the 'emitter' that is postulated here, stores energy and makes its own computations. And it does that while executing the magic. So, all three functions at the same time. That is all that I can contribute." Skallagrimson replied.

"How is that possible?" Albus asked.

"The same way that both you and I can do wandless magic. Perhaps he has discovered how the body itself does magic. And then it was replicated," Njǫrd replied.

"Do you truly approve of their actions? The Storm-Lord and the Rune-Priestess?" Albus asked.

"I do not approve or condone. I daresay that they find it necessary. And perhaps if we work backwards the question becomes why they found it necessary to deal with the situation with such a heavy hand. The only answer I can think is that your nation cannot deal with the issue?" Skallagrimson suggested.

"If both of them are to do as they please, Magical England's population will collapse," Albus replied, sternly.

"So, you say. I disagree. People can always have larger families. You do not have the privilege of predicting the future. Magic is a fundamental part of the universe. If there was a world ending apocalypse, Goddess Freyja would find a way to restart the process," Skallagrimson replied.

"Such a thing cannot be left to chance, at all. I don't consider that to be wise?" Albus replied.

"And yet magic probably manifested by chance in humans, in any case. Now that has much irony to it. Albus, magicals are humans at the end of the day. We descend from them. And how do you know that magic itself would not ask its price of the wrongdoers – magic could come forward and decide that it is being threatened. So then it compensates by providing certain individuals with facilities, so that it may flourish widely in all beings. How are you so sure that your mystery individuals were granted the gifts that they needed?" Skallagrimson continued.

"I find that unlikely. That magic itself would intercede?" Albus asked, as he scoffed.

"Once again you are closed minded. You English people have not been here long enough to understand esoteric issues. The universe ebbs on its own time. And when we make a choice it has a cost. What will magic itself ask of you for what you have done?" Njǫrd continued.

Albus reminded himself why he had never chosen to develop any rapport with Njǫrd. He saw the world differently, and he could never care to be swayed by Albus' charisma. The conversation went late into midnight. Skallagrimson made it his business to suggest that as long as they had not killed a single innocent individual, that Albus was overacting. Albus did not hesitate to explain that nobody was above the law and Njǫrd had to laugh.

"Laws can be enforced, only if you have the power to do so. And if these magicals have power to spare, nothing you can say changes that. I am not suggesting that power is the true nature of the universe – only that it is one of several tools that can be used. And yet…you might be forgetting something…." Skallagrimson suggested.

"Which is?" Albus asked, as he drank the onion soup.

"The boy and girl might be fighting for the people that they love. The people who they lost. Perhaps they want to spare others the pain of losing someone. And they decided to act. And if it is love for their families or the people that are around them, that motivates them….They will win every single time. You fight for your duty towards magical England. They fight out of their love for others. And that is why you must reconsider your reasoning. I have not heard a single statement tonight, that mentions that your heart is heavy for those who have already suffered. That they should conveniently be denied justice, so you can what? Reform the others? And yet you bother about the motives of these two individuals?" Skallagrimson asked Albus.

"I can see that you have your ideas, then?" Albus replied.

"I do Albus. Lord Voldemort did not come from my country, and we do not have these types of issues in our nation. I do not have any quarrel with you, Albus. I am asking the tough questions. My culture is different from yours. Death Eaters would have been judged via blood runes, and instantly beheaded where I come from. And Albus about these weapons…..where are the magical researchers on your end, who are trying to build your versions of these items? You have many mundanes and you could ask them for help. Are you telling me that if the weapons are the concern, that nobody can at least try?" Master Skallagrimson asked.

"We do have an attempt that is being made, but I am afraid that we cannot match the rapid pace of improvements. We do not even know what they currently possess?" Albus honestly admitted.

"Well, you will find out soon enough. If these criminal elements are still in your society, they will strike again. I say off with their heads, continued leniency only allows them to fester," Skallagrimson replied.

"I never knew you to be open to conflict?" Albus asked.

"Albus, you do not know me. We happen to be casual academics who had a drink together many decades ago. And we talk. I do believe that many would be intimidated by you, as the supreme mugwump of the I.C.W. That means little to me. And this is good for you. I think being disagreeable with you, will force you to confront certain issues. Issues that you have largely ignored. I suppose I can trust your rather loyal professors to tell you when you have made a mistake?" Njǫrd asked.

"I suppose there is some advantage to that," Albus admitted.

"Powerful people should be grounded around a strong family unit. They should also make it their business to experience the perspectives of many. That way their power doesn't become an isolationist haven for ideas that are not connected to society. This is the danger of expertise. If you were at least married to a good woman would have sorted you out properly, as the English say!" Njǫrd laughed.

"And you are unmarried?" Albus joked.

"Yes, but I have healthy interactions with numerous men and women - from my infants to my seniors. I make it my job to delegate, and I only oversee complex issues. I can trust that Freyja has everything covered back at home. But you Albus? You cannot fool me. You love to micromanage everything. Do you interact with all of your students? I know all of mine. All four hundred and seventy three of them?" Njǫrd replied.

"I am afraid that Hogwarts is much bigger. I would like to get to know all my students, but time doesn't permit that," Albus replied.

"Fair enough. But do you ever hold open sessions where students can voice their opinions on how Hogwarts is run? It could at least be the equivalent of a village council meeting at least?" Njord asked.

"I might consider that. I trust Professor McGonagall to have it handled," Albus replied.

"I will be brave enough to ask that you give the woman a raise – I think she runs the school. I say this because if you are the Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock, that alone has its duties. And those will keep you away from Hogwarts," Njord replied.

"You seem to be well informed?" Albus asked.

"I am. One of my habits is that I do not trust any information I have received, until it has been verified. These are the habits that ensured the survival of our culture. I do not ever trust hearsay.

If Hogwarts is well administered, then we can trust that your international policy will be just as good. And the way you conduct your relationships with your colleagues at Hogwarts, will be represented in how you treat with others at the I.C.W. What I see is a man who uses his past fame and glory as the Defeater of Grindelwald, to get his way. And that same power that made you unquestionable, others court it now. And then you ask me, if I am worried about them?" Njord asked amusedly.

Meanwhile, Try and Víðarr was listening to the conversation and making all sorts of funny faces. Harry was cackling, and Hermione was keeping a tally of her master's 'roasts'. Hermione had assigned Albus to the status of 'grilled' chicken, and Freyja was giggling across the ocean.

"Many others have shared similar comments with me. And I do not deny what you say. However, nobody would accept the responsibility. So, it fell to me. Perhaps you are right about many things, and yet I do not see any changes in the near future. I honestly try my best…" Albus remarked.

"As long as you are transparent with those who are under your care, perhaps it will all work out for the better. The universe is merciful, and Lady Magic provides and nurtures. Anyway….let me give you some guesses as to some of the runic work we have in this Hand terminal as you call it. So here we have…"

As the conversation continued, Albus came to realise that he would get nothing of substance out of the Norwegian man. Albus had learnt some obscure, esoteric magical theory but he could hardly do anything with it. Eventually, Albus left, as Skallagrimson insisted that he would stay behind and thank the cooks.

"How did it go?" Molly asked Njǫrd.

"Albus continues to be an apologist. He believes that people should not fight back. I think Albus has lost his stomach for fighting, perhaps." Njǫrd replied.

"Well, my grandson said the same thing. Even if Albus came into the right knowledge I doubt he could stop Harry. Nothing stops him, if he sets his mind to doing something. And Hermione is his steadfast supporter," Ved replied.

"Harry has taken on much of your daughter's traits too, Ved. My boys, I can see they are growing much. They will find their way. Albus has not changed – his way or the highway. We will do what we must on our end," Njǫrd replied, as he drank some chamomile tea.

Part IV: Merlin

Percy, like Ronald was well travelled. However, this was for entirely different reasons.

Ronald generally travelled to experience the people, food and the language. He often enjoyed the landmarks, too. When Ronald arrived in a new place, he would go wherever his feet took him. And that was surely a contrast to how carefully his daily activities were structured. Percy on the other hand, travelled to places as mandated by his personal research. His initial travelling had attempted to trace the footsteps of Salazar Slytherin. Now, Percy was on the cusp of unlocking another controversial story – he was on the final step to solving the mystery of the elusive Merlin.

Percy's initial detective work had started with his knowledge of the figure, within Magical England. Merlin's story began with a young boy called Myrddin Rhodri Anarawd, who had enrolled into Hogwarts in approximately 1120 A.D. He was taught directly by the founders, after being placed in Salazar Slytherin's house. With the information that the Baron had shared recently, Rhodri's placement made sense - He had brought some piece of new magic into Hogwarts, which was wandless and tied to his community. Myrddin was known for being quick witted, clever and creative. Eventually, he left the venerable castle when his education was finished. Then, he faded from the limelight - he had not been heard from, for many years.

And then the battle of Coleshill, the Siege of Toulouse, and the battle of Alnwick had occurred.

While the records had faded from mundane history, the magical world had preserved the narratives. Leading a small party of 'enchanters' was the very same Myrddin Anarawd. The 'Royal Battlemages' had been responsible for providing magical support, healing, and several other services, during various military campaigns. The group was in the service of King Henry II, and particularly the victory over the French was considered a deed of great valour.

Then, King Henry II provided "The Order of Merlin" with an official charter. They were to operate on behalf of the crown "to quell issues of concern".

During this time, the group was responsible for tracking down rouge magicals, dangerous criminals and rescuing several communities from threats. There was even a record of the group defeating a thunder of dragons, and forcing them to flee. They also toured mundane and magical England with several caravans to perform medical and social work. They healed the sick, aided in construction projects and performed intelligence collection. The group even participated in several foreign battles (via diplomatic request to the English crown), along with many cases of international aid. While many of the modern nations of today did not exist in the Medieval period, everyone in Europe knew – The Order of Merlin had developed a reputation. They were the magical pride and glory of the English crown.

Even 'The Order of Merlin' Award which was initially for British magicals, became the choice of award for the entire I.C.W. Nobody could truly pinpoint why 'The Order' had become defunct over so many centuries. However, even the memory of their achievements was significant enough.

Percy began to wonder if the mundane world had any records of 'Merlin and the Order', and things became quickly controversial. According to mundane records, Merlin was purely a fictitious character. He was probably an amalgamation of several historical figures. However, the Headboy was not satisfied with the prevailing knowledge. He even took the time to view the various movies and entertainment that were common, along with various academic sources. As the time passed, Percy managed to map certain fictitious places in Arthurian legend to physical locations, via a combination of scrap boards, geographical features, and magical enchantments.

Penny was already a collaborator in full – the group found several accounts that were written in a mixture of Younger and Elder Futhark, along with Medieval Latin. These had been magically hidden in special chests and other objects. Percy and Penny were using cutting edge bypasses that could crunch hundreds of runic arrays per second, some of the objects had taken hours to open. These wards were one thousand years, and they were far more numerically complex than anything that mainstream magicals had done, recently. It also demonstrated why people looked to the old legends with a certain amount of comfort. The time of the founders was pristine, and none could eclipse them. The era of powerful magic in the tales of the ancients was certainly true – it provided an ideal for many to romanticise.

As the scrolls and the items were collected, the translation of these items had been problematic. Some of the scrolls were written in completely undiscovered dialects of Medieval Latin, Old Brythonic, and Old Irish, in Futhark. This had created another set of problems, until the return of Harry and Hermione from their recent holidays. Now, Hermione could read Futhark fluently. To aid in her referencing, she was able to borrow several linguistic records that had been preserved at the Reserve. Daphne had also offered to build an evolutionary translation algorithm, and that allowed the backlog of translation work to be handled efficiently. Her method was quite simple – it was not that magic could automatically provide all the answers. Rather, language could be modelled via mathematics, and the existence of modern languages provided a certain mathematical endpoint. Therefore, it was a matter of extrapolating backwards. To build the assumptions, the group did have some language snippets from both the magical and mundane world, that could be used to 'train' the model.

Eventually, shocking discoveries slowly arrived.

The translated scrolls pointed to one singular fact:

"Merlin" had never been a single person. Rather it had been a title that had passed from one individual to another. And "Merlin" had not always been the name.

When Wales had been occupied by the Romans, a small sect of magicals had migrated from Rome. The group were Roman Legionaries who had retired from military service, and were looking for a fresh start. The men had arrived with their families and had created a small village. These individuals were followers of Sol Invictus, and were worshippers of the Roman Sun God. With time, these individuals also incorporated both Celtic and Welsh culture into their lifestyles. As a result, the villages had a motley of magical practices that were a fluid mix of Roman fighting methodologies, Celtic agricultural methods, and indigenous Welsh medicine. As was customary, Celtic storytellers or 'Bards' would be responsible for passing on cultural heritage through poetry, prose, and music.

As time passed, the village would often elect their best magical to lead a group on a pilgrimage. Often the group were tasked with obtaining new crops, finding new trading partners or allies. As the centuries passed, the leader of the group merely became known only by the word 'Bard', as the actions of the group were his 'story' to tell. The title of 'Bard' was successively passed on, as young men of each generation were mentored accordingly to carry out the role.

Eventually, whether by linguistic or coincidental oddity, the name "Myrddin" became attached to the position. Every other individual that came after, inherited the singular title. Myrddin described someone who had been born in a hilly area, not too far from the sea. Now the name as a moniker had a purpose. Each Myrddin that came successively, inherited the possessions, contacts, allies, and magical practices of the previous individual. The name was a representation of a cultural legacy, now.

By the time Myrddin Rhodri Anarawd had arrived at Hogwarts, there had been at least six individuals of the same title before him, with an additional seven individuals who had carried the original title of merely "Bard" before the impressionable young man.

Eventually, Rhodri found himself in the Royal court as early as 1128. He had already been responsible for using a mixture of his ancestral druidic magic along with Hogwarts knowledge, to cure many of King Henry's relatives. Shortly after, he had stopped an assassination attempt, via some of the distant warlock magic that was present in his blood. Rhodri fought in a gladiatorial method, which was a direct offshoot of the Roman sword techniques. His reflexes were far faster, and he could add strength to his blows. Rhodri merely as a knight alone, was valuable. King Henry II had no problem accepting what resources had come its way, even with others protesting that "sorcery" was evil. He even considered it advantageous to have something that was feared, within his vicinity to use a tool.

Immediately the young man was allowed to act as a counsellor to the king, and was recognised for this service. Due to the translation work that was being done by Geoffrey of Monmouth at the time, Myrddin simply became a singular title – Merlin.

Unknown to most, the very existence of Hogwarts had eventually caused the Order of Merlin to fade away into history. Wanded magic became the preferred tool of the school, and the wandless magic of the Welsh, Celts and Romans could no longer be transmitted. The innovation of the wand which had arrived with the Peverells, created an entire cadre of magicals who could easily produce many spells. And while wandless magic was far more powerful if cultivated properly, having a higher concentration of wands always won the day. Often minor spells if readily available, were used in a pre-emptive manner to prevent the need for far more powerful wizards to intervene with more severe measures. Magic was supported by the wealthy, and the administrative advantages also fuelled the decision making.

Rhodhri became the last Merlin.

After he had left, it was heartening that the ecosystem that supported him, continued the tradition for some time. The Order of Merlin became a Guild, that continued with its original mission. Eventually, the organisation was absorbed in the Wizengamot and became buried under so much paperwork, that not even English magicals were aware of the finer implications. Percy was surprised when even he found a charter from the crown, that the Ministry of Magic had forgotten about. It would give "The current Merlin and the Order" the ability to operate with impunity, to ensure the safety of the entire of magical England.

Harry when he received a picture of the document had a hearty laugh – he was going to use this to his advantage.

Modern day Aberdaron, had been where the initial Roman settlers had arrived. It was here where Rhodhri was born. Percy had arrived with Grace one dreary afternoon, as they continued to dig for the final clue.

For anyone wishing to become "Merlin", they had to undergo a series of trials. According to what had been translated, Magic itself would provide the final test within the village. Grace checked many of the local magical pathways very carefully, while Percy (with the help of Invictus) scanned for any necessary signatures. At previous locations, Percy had found memories that were encoded in the Yggdrasil. However, the memories were one thousand years old and showed locations which had been modernised. Percy had therefore gotten Neville involved, as he began to use his magic to map the memories to modern locations.

Even more hilarious shenanigans ensued.

The places in which an aspirant could undergo the trials were distributed in the middle of people's houses. Some were in the centre of public highways, and others were in places where cesspits and solid concrete occupied the area. In those areas, the drones burrowed and made places to accommodate visitors. However, the public places remained untouched.

Percy's research continued well into March. Meanwhile, Hogwarts continued to stay quiet because of the absence of the yearly death trap. Eventually, Harry and Hermione shelved the project – they would revisit it if they could figure out some way to move enchantments that had already been cast into the Yggdrasil. Even consultations with Master Skallagrimson and Sage Atri had not yielded any fruit. Both of the men insisted that what they wanted to do was quite possible, but that that knowledge was something that ought to be earned. Otherwise, the implications included combusting all of the magical pathways in the area.

Harry even considered using his financial power to purchase some of the places. There was some limited success with some locations. Otherwise, Harry would have to modify the area so that a magical individual would not be noticed as they underwent the testing. However, Harry did not want to chance getting identified by government surveillance, especially in high traffic areas.

While Harry had enough magical power to spare, there was something else that bothered him. According to the historical accounts, it was the innovations of his lineage that had caused the tradition of "Merlin" to fade away. And as far as he was concerned it, deserved to exist.

"Well grandson, do you think you would embark on the journey?" Invictus asked.

"I will. If even to complete the whole Hermione descends from Morgana thing and Merlin is right next door. After I get access to Potter Manor, we will see. Honestly, some days I am tempted to just break the wards and barge in, but the Griffin is telling me to bide my time. It tells me that I have a rightful inheritance left to me by Charlus." Harry explained.

"Then you trust the magic. Wait otherwise. Besides, I would love for you to be as powerful as possible when you arrive at your ancestral home. While a person can carry multiple lineages of magic, eventually the body will adapt and specialise to a singular system. You might have to be prepared for the Potter magic to be absorbed into the Peverell Magic. And even Merlin's magic might be absorbed into our line, too. I don't know how you feel about that?" Invictus asked.

"Magic is sentient. If you ask kindly for help, you will get it. The most important thing to honour about the Potters, is the memories and the heritage of the house. And those ideas, are close to my heart. As for the Potter magic, I have a controversial idea. I would like for Remus and his descendants to adopt the Magic of the Potters as their own." Harry explained.

"That – could that even be done?" Invictus asked.

"I don't know – but I will ask the Potter magic to look after the uncle, who looked after me. And that all the successive Lupins will remember the Potters, even if the title of the house changes. Magic is malleable and it can be changed, remade, or even cast out if necessary. The Marius line became the Peverells. Dagworth-Granger became Granger. House Lupin will be the House of the Wolves. And I do this, in the name of love – So that Remus and his descendants may have an inheritance, the way I was provided one by our ancestors. I can think of no better gift." Harry explained.

"I guess you are a Peverell, in full now?" Invictus asked.

"A Peverell in the public, a Potter in spirit, and a Singh deep down in my heart," Harry proudly replied.

"I can think of no better thing," Invictus replied.

Part V: Secret Plans & Space Trips

While Harry worked away at improving the Raven-II and other various projects, Hermione also occupied herself. After her extra-solar trip, she and Grace made an agreement – they would regularly take small trips around the cosmic neighbourhood, to familiarise themselves. They were interested in doing some 'scouting' missions, as they believed it prudent to find evidence of the Synchrotron Empire. While Hermione was aware that a direct confrontation was not welcome, perhaps they could find evidence of any other civilisations that had been conquered by the machines.

During the Black Hole fiasco, Grace had done something of great significance. She had accomplished a proven case of Galactic apparition. While the cheeky bird could choose to project only her mind, her rescue of Harry had occurred after she had dematerialised her body. Also, she had not materialised into matter, when she had reached her location – she had stayed a conscious stream of energy. Hermione also considered that humans would also do the same thing with the right experimentation. As far as Hermione was concerned, Harry was busy with wrenching things. She therefore decided to investigate these esoteric issues. After all, Harry had been the first person to modify the apparition process, and had made many magical discoveries. Surely, she could hold the fort while Harry developed the weapons.

Hermione decided to investigate the outlandish questions, first. Could Grace apparate herself into outer space? And if they found alien life, would it be responsible to get in contact with other civilisations? What if there were hostile organics in the cold depths of the void? Hermione considered all of these questions as she and Grace did a small set of experiments without Harry's knowledge. While Harry and Percy were busy with untangling the mystery of Merlin, Hermione had secretly created a small gravity powered drone. It was essentially a well shielded Auramite box, with enough protection and a grav drive. It could be considered a small, couch sized shuttle – it would be guided by Grace's spinal interface. The idea was that if problems occurred, Grace could arrive home via orbital re-entry – she could just drop into the earth's atmosphere like a brick, and trigger the parachute.

But Grace did not disappoint.

Grace soon achieved geosynchronous apparitions, which had occurred under her guidance. As Grace became more confident, she began to apparate larger distances. Her first notable apparition in space, was directly into lunar orbit. Soon enough, the surface of Mars, the rings of Saturn and even the surface of Titan, were common locations. And she did not go to these places, via a shielded drone. Her harness had a quintuple shielding system - her Protego shield bubble was equipped with radiation protection, an oxygen bubble, kinetic debris protection and an infrared heat trap. Grace often brought back small 'space rocks' as paperweights. Hermione was even tempted to take a trip to Saturn in an EVA suit. However, while their devices were bulletproof, it was one of the rare times that she was genuinely terrified. She therefore decided that she would attempt such a thing, only with company and a spaceworthy Raven-II on standby.

Other times, Grace kept her body at home, and she streamed her consciousness. Grace soon developed an appetite for visiting space regularly, and she even managed to stay in direct mental contact with Hermione, as long as she was within a magical pathway or 'branch' of the Yggdrasil. However, that was not surprising – the magical mining drones already operated on some type of magical quantum entanglement, in any case.

As Grace and Hermione travelled space with their minds, their brains began to change. The parts of their brains that performed spatial recognition, direction and image recognition became much denser. Hermione began to magically sense the gravity wells of many planets, along with rotations and orbital trajectories. Grace sprouted an entire black feather undercoat, as her characteristic blue colour began to deepen. Even her energy changed, as her magic began to look like a gleaming beam of white light, mixed with almost violet coloured lightning. Hermione's continuous exposure to space also allowed her unconscious brain to adapt to complex mathematics. Pages and pages of complex mathematical calculations merely became as easy as multiplication tables. Naturally, the shop benefitted as the Runemathimancy subroutines were continuously upgraded by Daphne.

"Hermione, how are you doing these mentally?" Daphne asked.

"Grace and I are travelling space, with astral projection. And the regular exposure to the Yggdrasil is equipping our brains with subconscious processing capability." Hermione explained.

"Oh – could I go with both of you sometime? I could use me some of that?" Daphne asked.

"For now? No. And it isn't because I want to keep you out of the fun. We know something that you will find out soon enough, at the Reserve. There are far worse things than Volde-cunt, in the cold depths of space. Anything more and I will violate my oaths." Hermione explained.

Daphne did a double take, before the full implications hit her.

"Then I will ask no more questions. I trust you. So, what kind of bad are we talking about? Independence Day then?" Daphne suggested, with a grin on her face.

Hermione had a good laugh, as she thought about the cliché movie.

"Way worse. No - Harry cannot know yet. On Master's and Sage Atri's orders." Hermione replied, as Daphne's lips became a thin line. The snake furrowed her eyebrows, as it was unusual for Hermione to address someone as Master. However, things had changed. The Nordic man was also Daphne's teacher, and she understood that she was bound by the same oaths.

"Whatever you need, then. No questions asked. We will have to prepare then. Looks like it is one bogeyman, after the other?" Daphne replied.

"Exactly that. As for preparing love, we always do. We always do." Hermione replied.

While that conversation had occurred some time ago, even Daphne understood the severity of the situation. She too began to work towards the end goal, even without knowing exactly the nature of the threat. She continued to advance her personal project, as she often looked at Invictus' runic dumps. Daphne began to include every single new equation that Hermione had developed. The snake began testing individual modules of a vague idea that she had, and the individual code modules worked just as expected.

Hermione and Grace slowly retraced the pathway they had used to save Harry, and they began to branch off and look for other magical civilisations. To Hermione's surprise, some of the first civilisations they found were not any fantastic or exotic lifeforms. The species looked no different to how she would have imagined elves and dwarves. A lot of the successive lifeforms she encountered were mostly humanoid. Most of the immediate civilisations were still in the medieval phase of development, and Hermione was thankful for that – she was aware that a sufficiently advanced civilisation could probably detect her presence with magic or technology.

Hermione began to plot locations for each of the civilisations that she encountered. She was quite surprised to find many magical species within a two hundred lightyear bubble. She was quite convinced that if they had developed any type of technology, that they would have already picked up on many of the broadcasts that Earth had sent. The little pocket was just a small pinhead in the galaxy at large, and Hermione often felt insignificant as she travelled space. Hermione and Grace became even more adventurous, as they began to travel further distances.

By the time the end of April had arrived, Hermione and Grace had a collection of adventures that were outlandish. She even wondered if to publish a fictitious book detailing what she had seen.

One evening, Grace and Hermione ran into a party of other magical animals. None of the projected essences spoke the same language and yet the group was happy to follow a 'space spider'. The excitable creature led everyone around to his favourite places. Hermione was the only 'person' in the group, but the other beings were happy for her presence. She even wondered if perhaps the group were a motley set of magical familiars that had decided on a little stroll – the other animals acknowledged that Grace and Hermione were bonded, as friends.

The girl was initially worried about possible hostility, until she felt the energy and realised that the group of creatures were just 'planet-hoppers'. Included in the group was some type of magical giant millipede, a creature that looked like a primate, and another that was quite similar to the Hogwarts 'Veil whale'. There were also some 'Space Snails' and some 'Space Jellyfish', if the creatures could be called such names. Some of the other creatures had no type of body structure that could be classified in Terran terms. She even saw what seemed to be the ghostly imprint of a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a monocle, but she wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her.

The group even left Hermione and Grace with some type of magical address, and Hermione and Grace had no idea how the memory was decoded. They stored their recollections in memory gems when they arrived home, in the hope that they would unravel the mystery, later. This encounter left her and Grace with even more questions.

Another evening, Hermione met another 'being' who was the equivalent of a chatty old woman on the public bus. She did not take long to communicate with Hermione, and the 'woman' explained that she had been looking for Hermione. She was only too happy to tell the girl about some of the more exotic phenomena in the universe. The visit introduced Hermione to the woman's favourite magnetar and neutron star. Then, the woman invited Hermione to visit her planet. She even explained that she was familiar with Earth, and she often watched of all things…..the Olympics.

Hermione had literally made friends with a giant plant looking being, who could be called for the lack of a better term, 'Space granny'.

"Oh child, the Terran Olympics is one of the greatest sporting events in the galaxy. Many trillions look on at the event."

"But why would people from elsewhere want to see humans participate in sporting activities?" Hermione asked.

"Humans are probably the strongest and fastest species in the galaxy. Most species elsewhere are much slower and gentler in their movements. I might look big in terms of my projection, but I am half your current size. And I am very tall in my culture. Terran Olympians are at their physical prime. Even in agility and coordination, I would say humans are also the most fluid."

"But how do you get to see the broadcasts? Quantum Entanglement?" Hermione asked.

"From your current level of understanding? Yes, you can call it that. Our technology can use the cosmic stream or the Yggdrasil as you call it, to instantly capture any type of electromagnetic spectrum as if the source was next door. Would you like to see how such an antenna is built?" the woman asked.

"Oh, HELL YES!" Hermione asked, excitedly.

Hermione eventually arrived at Tarsis VII, and it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. As Hermione received a tour, she was acknowledged by many of the other individuals who were projecting their minds. Many of them watched on, in amazement – Hermione was a human after all, who had managed to project her mind this far out in the cosmos. She had a chance to speak to a magical engineer, as she observed the antenna array. She took notes about how the Raven's radar system could be improved, as she looked on. Then she wondered how the array was powered, and she looked at the energy consumption and scoffed. She and Harry could replicate the antenna structures easily, but she would need a magical fusion reactor the size of Australia to power the affair. Hermione looked at the small kettle sized power sources and considered that magical zero-point modules were the next step in power production. Harry would have lost his mind if he had taken the trip with them.

"Space granny" took the rest of the evening, to explain the cosmic neighbourhood.

Most other cultures in the cosmos were quite peaceful. Suspicion and imminent threat were ridiculous concepts, and it was considered a cosmic courtesy to assist everyone who came their way. Of what point was fighting and distrust if you lived in a post-scarcity society? Of what point was manipulation and threat when everyone had enough energy and material to take care of their physical needs? And when sickness was cured, what else was there to strive towards? Even technological innovation made little difference beyond a certain point.

The mortal existence could not provide any more amusement.

People spent time asking themselves deeper philosophical questions. Hermione became giddy with delight when she observed the great symposiums and the reckless intellectualism of the older races, as she toured several places on the planet. The elder woman felt inspired – there was hope for the humans.

Space granny commented that among the 'young races', only Terrans were violent enough as a species to have had two massive world wars. She also explained that Terrans were the only omnivores within a fifty thousand light year radius. Every other space capable species were herbivores. The idea that a race could consume the flesh of other animals was considered intimidating. Hermione was surprised to find out that baseline mundane humans were the fastest and strongest of all the species she had seen, and perhaps the shortest lived. Space Granny even commented that she ought to check in with Hermione regularly, as by her standards the blue haired girl would not live too long. Even two centuries was the blink of an eye for an older being like her.

"How old are you?" Hermione asked.

"Oh deary, I have thirty millennia of your Terran orbits. And I am impressed with your mental barriers as a child – there are only a handful who could get past your defences. But as I say child, I have been here a long time. Yes, I have seen a great deal of your memories."

"So, did you see…..them? They are the reason why Gracie and I bothered to come way out here?" Hermione asked.

"Better than that. I came to you because a person who you met recently, left what your people would call a homing beacon."

"Say again?" Hermione asked.

"The entity who left the message of the Synchrotron Empire. The day you had to rescue your brother. She left something with you. The beacon isn't obvious. Rather, you would need a certain level of refinement to understand the signal. It also helps that I pass through your sector of space regularly, and you have been running about. I picked up the trace. So that was how I appeared next to you….."

"Isn't that dangerous? That random people could find me?" Hermione asked.

"Not so much, no sweetie. Space is mostly empty unless you already know where to go. The woman left a recollection of her people with you. You are not experienced enough to decode what was left in your brain. However, even carrying that knowledge passively has expanded your mind. She also gave your brain a large enough upgrade to carry her message, so that all of us could have a chance. She even knew you were going to save your brother, so she helped with that too. The pathways around the black hole – she placed those intuitions into your brain. Now you can see the tendrils and you can navigate them, easily."

"That is why I was occasionally bleeding through my nose and even my ears for the past couple of months. Aunty Pri was perplexed. But if it will give all of us a chance, I am glad I could be of service." Hermione replied.

"Oh child, you have given us a great gift. We have been hearing whispers from other places. My people have a sect of far-seers that look beyond the edge of the galaxy. Extra-galactic astral projection and apparition is possible with the cosmic stream, but some refinements are necessary. Even I don't know those. But we have been hearing the whispers. And there has been a great scouring. Something wicked is coming our way, eventually. I am a watcher. I look, I see, and I report to my people anything of interest. My magic detected the beacon. And I honestly had no idea I would meet a Terran child, who was going on some sightseeing. A child who could confirm that hostility will come, eventually."

"I do feel a bit embarrassed that we humans are known for being brutal. Harry always says the human race doesn't impress him, because he could not impress himself with his morals." Hermione quipped.

"He isn't as bad as he thinks. Child, I have seen some things in my lifetime, that are truly dark. I don't think you or your brother are evil - if you did not take the pathway of being a warrior, would you be here next to me? I think not. One day your entire species will travel the way you travel right now. Until then, ships will have to do the job."

"Have you seen the ship that we are building?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, the Raven-II? She is beautiful and better built than most ships I have seen. Of course, the reason why the ship is that much advanced is because you found magical alternatives to many technologies that are commonplace in the Galatic community. And your magic allows you to make things for the cost of peanuts. She with a little modification to the jump drive, could go anywhere within the Yggdrasil, in the galaxy. When your national magical civil war is over, I will fetch you and your friends, and I will help you with the modifications. I am going to let the Terrans visit my house first, and that record will go down into the stars!" the old woman laughed.

"Why help us, if we have so much to learn? If we are brutal and somewhat primitive?" Hermione asked.

"Your species are the only people left who can put up a fight against the machines. Other species took many millennia to develop technology but learnt magic quite quickly. And after the elder races learnt enough magic, there was no need to learn any more. They were quickly content. Most species don't offensively use magic. It is considered a gift to commune with the universe. Terrans are progressing slowly and brutally with magic as a species, but are developing technologically, quite quickly. And I can see that both systems will advance together. That is something I haven't seen before.

Ten millennia from hunter gathers to a moon mission, is the shortest time in the entire galaxy for that kind of development. Most species took at least five times longer but had far more peaceful existences. Many of the elder races study the Terrans, as they are considered very unusual." the woman replied.

"How good are our magical weapons? I ask as they are a fusion of science and magic, working together?" Hermione asked.

"Right now, those Obliterator VI pulse rifles could put huge holes in most of the armour and shielding systems of some of the advanced military vessels in the galaxy. Even Terran non-magical weapons are quite dangerous, especially if targets do not have shielding or hard enough armour."

"How is that possible? That our projectile guns can damage far more advanced technology? We only built them the other day? Arent we primitives?" Hermione asked.

"Once again, brute force methodologies. The bigger projectile guns that humans have, still require a fair amount of strength to manage. They throw very heavy bullets. With enough mass and speed, you can damage anything. Most species have shed the need for physical armour as it is seen as archaic – they prefer energy shielding. So, a couple of Terrans with high magazine assault rifles, could quickly break shields. And I am aware you have HMGs too. What you call 50 Cal would be considered tank rounds for other species. Humans are quite huge."

"But those issues could easily be overcome with powered armour? If...people...or well beings from other species actually, wanted to carry heavier plate armour?" Hermione asked.

"Correct – but at the core of the idea of power armour is that a physically strong and capable warrior will use the suit. Most of the other species in the galaxy cannot tolerate such muscular fatigue for such long periods of time. Most galactic militaries use remote drones as those are cheaper to reproduce. At that point, the warrior's capability is a matter of neural capacity. No physical training time is necessary, and A.I. can augment the operational capability. Battle-casting is a common term for the practice."

"We thought about that, and we have some drones of our own. But we prefer not to have them hijacked by an external party," Hermione explained.

"That is wise, but the drones are a good idea for low risk missions. As for your rifles, plasma weapons attenuate with distance unless you can artificially stabilize the heavier particles. Laser weapons are far more popular. Your pulse cannons and their ability to fire long range plasma bombardment is quite special. Those stabillions are quite an advanced piece of science and magic. We discovered them only five of your centuries ago, and we have been here for a very long time."

"What else is outlandish about we Terrans, in general?" Hermione asked.

"Most species got into lunar orbit with ion-drives. But to do that with chemical rockets? The Apollo mission is considered one of the most notable events in Galactic history. There are decillions of people elsewhere in the cosmos who looked on at the Saturn V rocket. It was a reminder that even with 'primitive' propulsion technology, you can do much. Many Xeno-anthropologists who travel the cosmos to study other cultures consider humans or Terrans to be brilliantly insane." Space granny continued.

"That is very unsettling. Humans have a reputation, and our entire species hasn't beaten gravity properly, yet."

"It isn't all bad. Terra is also well known for producing some of the most beautiful movies, literature, and poetry. The philosophy is well known, too.

The Mona Lisa and many other great Terran paintings are famous across the stars. Terran music is known for being so emotional and haunting at times. Terrans are known for having what other species call 'silky' voices. And this is another thing that perplexes many – how can such violent people produce such abstract beauty? Many have suggested that Terran emotions run very high. As for the appreciation of your culture outside of your solar system by others - just as you have made it your business to tour places in your planet and to inform yourself of the various cultures, we merely do that across many star systems."

"Well, that is good that we are known for something beautiful. We don't like to give up, easily. And we have to move massive amounts of resources or mobilise entire nations to accomplish goals, that is what we will do. Maybe that is one other good thing about us?" Hermione asked.

"Indeed. There is a vitality that your people have, that I think the elder races have long forgotten. I even wonder if the stability of the elder races has bred a type of detachment from physical concerns. I would say that the military technology and combat implants that are being done at your lab are the best I have ever seen. However, your general grasp of everything else whether mundane or magical – much to learn. But the progress will come, and it will come quite quickly. You, your brother, and your friends – you are fighters first." Space granny explained.

Space granny then escorted Grace and Hermione back to earth, and gave the magical equivalent of a friendly hug through her magical signature. When Hermione and Grace opened their eyes at Granger Manor, both of them had to laugh at the great secret.

The pair considered that evening to be one of the most entertaining days of her life.

Hermione eventually met a couple of other "people" from other star systems. Some of the other individuals were people like herself – they were just getting started with astral travel. Some of the older individuals were privy to much more intimate details. Space granny was a 'respected elder' in the galactic community, and she had left a memory imprint on Hermione. Others could "touch" her essence and while they could not obtain her personal secrets, they could receive the encoded memory about the Synchrotron Empire, along with Space granny's personal message. Space granny had vouched for 'Jeanie' and 'Grace' as her apprentices, and her adopted grandchildren. The encoded memory became a passport – both of them became known in certain hotspots of the galaxy.

Lilly and the rest looked on, as Hermione and Grace began to travel into many other sectors of space that were not under their jurisdiction. Hermione even explained the entire situation to Master Skallagrimson and asked for advice.

"This is expected. We could have made contact with any number of individuals from other worlds. But we understand that it is your destiny to do so. We would have only vague intuitions and predictions to share with others. You have an actual undeniable memory of an entire people, even if you cannot access it fully. We will get involved when the time is right." Master Skallagrimson explained.

Many of the elder races began to express concern – they did not doubt the truthfulness of the encoded message as it was plain at day. Many of them were wondering how to confront such a massive enemy. Space Granny met with many others and explained her perspective on the matter.

"The only people who would be capable of fighting the Syncotron Empire, would be the Terrans. They would look at such an impossible enemy and curse them, before deciding that it might be an entertaining challenge. And they would dare to do that while feeling despair and dread. And yet they would soldier on even if they only had sticks and stones in their pockets."

"Perhaps the turn of events is not unexpected. The galaxy has had peace for three hundred thousand standardized cycles. And besides the occasional war, there was no galaxy wide upheaval. And so, we have been challenged with a threat that comes from an extra-galactic source. If the conflict from inside us will not tear us apart, surely it must come from elsewhere," The-Silent-One, commented.

"Indeed. We elders are much too old and have been peaceful for too long, to fight. I would suggest that those who prefer to leave, better begin with evacuating their people. And whatever assistance could be given to the Terrans and other young races, will be appreciated.

I will stay and fight, and I will nurture and guide the Terrans. They will be the tip of the spear. And I can say I know exactly who will build the foundations of this great army that will crusade across the stars. That pair – Harry and Hermione can do the job. And Grace will carry them, where they need to go." Space granny explained to her compatriots.

Lady Magic looked on, with approval. Everything was occurring just as planned, and the great enemy had not noticed anything. Strictly, magical communication had gone unnoticed.

Hermione began to look almost unearthly as her regular cosmic trips changed her facial expressions. Hermione's visage began to radiate a type of arcane understanding that that hard to describe – while Hermione was warm and friendly, something about her seemed almost aloof. Her gaze seemed to penetrate reality, and you could feel as if Hermione Granger was looking into your soul. Harry guessed that some big secret had been discovered, but he chose to say nothing for now. Harry did not mind – he trusted Hermione and Grace, even as he felt their secrets behind iron walls in his mind links. One evening when Hermione felt nervous, Harry merely looked at her and said:

"I trust you. Keep me in the loop. When it is relevant, tell me." Harry stated.

"Thank you. I know something absolutely horrendous. Worse than volde-cunt. And that is our true enemy. And yet, you cannot know. Orders of the big two." Hermione explained.

"Ah. Say no more. And do not burden yourself. The local moron first, and outer space issues later…" Harry explained.

"How do you..." Hermione replied, before the oath stopped her dead.

"Easy. When I was floating around big chungus I saw some debris from various ships. So we aren't alone. And there was some weapons fire and scorching present on the ship panels. So, we need Harry the spaceman. Also, I found a marmite bottle but that is another story?" Harry laughed.

Hermione hugged Harry, and Grace nuzzled both of them from Harry's shoulders. He already knew that something was out there.

During April, Harry added additional features to the Raven-II. The Auramite shell and the internal bracing were completed. Also, the shields and the propulsion systems were adapted for underwater apparition and movement. Now the aircraft airlock could function as a diving hatch. While the exhaustive testing of the Raven's gravity drives and the inertial dampeners took much time, Harry continued to monitor Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore would often walk around his office, and contemplate Neville's future role in the upcoming war. The headmaster often mused about Lord Voldemort – he guessed that 'he' was gathering his strength and was planning his return. Albus even wondered if the return of the Dark Lord during the Tri-Wizard tournament was fraught with risk. Through Emmeline Vance and several other Order of the Phoenix members, the bearded man ascertained that there would be heavy security during all of the future events, that were being hosted in magical England.

He wondered if confrontation would be beneficial – could he possibly meet the Storm-Lord if an altercation occurred. Could Death Eaters be inflamed into making an appearance at the World Cup? Harry laughed, as he realised that Albus was willing to put innocents in harm's way to accomplish his plans. Albus reasoned that the risk was acceptable – The Storm Lord would not allow anybody to be harmed, and that would allow him to quantify whatever had dethroned the Elder Wand.

"The Death Eaters are not of any challenge to them. But how do I reason with those who can surpass me?" Albus asked himself, one rainy evening.

At Hogwarts, the relationship between Minerva and Albus had changed. Minerva was often willing to challenge Albus. She had openly addressed the upper years – she had explained that sexual assault would not be tolerated against any student, male or female. Some of the purebloods had no idea what the term meant, until Minerva had clarified herself. When some of the pureblood seventh years laughed, Minerva immediately transfigured the group of students into cockroaches, and placed them in a jar on her desks. When the students were reverted to their human forms, they threatened the woman with legal action.

"Perhaps there is too much room in the jar. And perhaps the Ministry officials and your parents might like to accompany you? You seem to forget that I am the authority in this field?" the bespectacled woman asked earnestly, as she severely dipped her glasses.

That had put the fear of God into the students.

Even though the rumours spread quickly, nobody dared to take action. Harry and Hermione had laughed their heads off at the altercation as they began to call Minerva, 'Pro-fessor Gangsta-gona-gall'. Meanwhile, Lorna and Andromeda began to draft extensive legislation to pass laws to protect both genders from sexual assault, and any other similar crimes. They also considered magical loopholes, and considered how the mind arts could be used to assist with producing solid evidence. Soon enough Sirius was pushing the laws through the Wizengamot. Albus began to throw selective shade at the darker houses occasionally. The rage in the Wizengamot could be seen in the darker houses, and Augusta, Cyrus and Sirius continued with the tomfoolery. Albus was already setting the stage to pressure the purebloods into a public reaction. Meanwhile, Sirius was getting what he wanted.

"He really wants to meet us so badly, that he would put innocents in danger? And to think he would discuss that with himself so openly?" Harry asked.

"Are you really so surprised? He would sacrifice Neville easily after he planned to sacrifice you. What are a few other souls in collateral damage?" Hermione quipped.

"True. But some of the things we do are ethically dubious too. We aren't paragons of morality, either. One devil against another?" Harry countered.

"Voluntary Co-conspirators. Repeat after me Harry. Voluntary Co-conspirators are people who participate of their own free will, despite knowing the dangers. Repeat after me, Harry?" Ronald questioned, with some humour in his voice.

"Always got Ms. Granger covered now, Mr. Weasley?" Harry teased.

"Well, I am competing with Greengrass for friendship awards. Not sure how to top the delivery of an actual personal jet?" Ronald asked, as Týr and Víðarr roared in laughter.

"Point taken. She is ambitious, like that. You have your work cut out for you." Harry replied.

Part VI: Mundane May

Helena and 'Bernie' soon became a source of inspiration for 'Nicky' and 'Fabbie'.

Both the Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff ghost soon redid their visage with modern looking alternatives. These massive changes in their appearance were certainly accompanied by changes in mindset – something which would have been unheard of, for ghosts. Perhaps it wasn't farfetched, if you considered an obvious fact.

Ghosts were capable of cognition, and they could change their behaviour if they wished to do so.

Nearly Headless Nick had stopped with his usual antics of disconnecting his head. Rather he became almost stoic, as he began to share a particular hobby with Percy – he began to consume Hogwarts lore, along with any of the discoveries that the redhead had uncovered. This included several personal memoirs from Godric Gryffindor, which had been locked behind untranslatable Futhark runes, and unknown Latin sub-dialects. Many of the founder's accounts were within the restricted part of the Hogwarts library, and these became accessible as Daphne's translation algorithm evolved.

Her algorithm seemed to be somewhat sentient – it wanted to speak, and to express ideas but had no consciousness. This discovery made several other complicated questions contentious. Was intelligence a byproduct of random signals through a complex enough structure, or was there something more?

As Nick listened to the narrated stories via a microdrone, his perspective changed immensely.

Suddenly, Salazar Slytherin was anything far from a monster. Rather, Slytherins and Gryffindors were ideally supposed to share the relationship that their forebears had. The Gryffindors would supply the force, and the Slytherins would supply the tactics and treachery. Nick also listened to some of Godric's many concerns at the castle – he often wondered if his students were safe, and if they would be attacked. He even wondered if magical beasts might come by and wreck the castle. Godric the immutable hero became a man with concerns and worries. He even had doubts about himself, sometimes.

The Gryffindor Ghost became inspired. He decided that he would look after the younglings in his house, no differently from Godric himself.

Simultaneously, the Fat Friar or 'Fabby' often delighted himself in listening to the tales of Helga Hufflepuff. She was a powerful witch, and yet she was gentle. She was the person who looked after the other three others when all the planning, plotting and battles had occurred. She was already married and with children, at the time when the founders had offered their services to the crown. She continued to repel Vikings with her brutal war mace, while she made time to be a family woman.

When Godric's bravery had deserted him, when Salazar could plot no more, and when Rowena could not think anymore, it was Helga's sense of undying loyalty that carried them through. Helga also had a great predisposition to healing– she was the one who tended to the injuries of the founders.

Eventually, Rowena and Godric had married magicals, like themselves. Salazar had met Sendina on a trip to Spain, not too long after. Soon enough, babies were on the way and the founders now possessed families of their own. Hogwarts became not just a castle but a home. When Godric, Rowena, and Salazar were busy travelling or conducting business, Helga was only too happy to look after the babies.

And yet, Helga never faltered between keeping her home in order, and looking after the needs of the students at the castle. While some would mistake her domestic skills as an indication of subservience, only those who were parents appreciated how exhausting things could become. Helga was the glue that kept everyone together, and she always managed great trials and tribulations – while the word loyalty was associated with her, a better word would have been 'unconquerable'. This was how she modelled the ethos of her house – nobody had to have a predisposition towards anything. Rather, excellence could manifest in anyone as long as they embraced their challenges and focused on continuous improvement.

The Hufflepuff ghost began to wonder what he could do, to 'improve' conditions for the students, at the castle. Soon enough his mind was set.

'Fabby' had openly used his magic to cure afflictions, during his time as a clergyman. On the basis of this practice, he was eventually found and executed for witchcraft. The ghost when he was mortal had asked a question – if he had been gifted with magic, what was the purpose of it? Not to heal the sick? Not to help people? As he read about Helga's different acts of service at the castle, he decided to do something startling.

He would openly embrace his faith, and he would once again continue his religious duties. And he would counsel the broken, regardless of their house membership.

Both of the ghosts had 'upgraded' their appearances. 'Nick' had openly adopted a look that was a combination of Mass Effect styled Armor, mixed with Warhammer 40K pauldrons and accessories. His look became openly militaristic, and he took the role of the drill sergeant during the informal morning runs. He also assisted Neville and Ronald with any of the obstacle course challenges. While he could not touch anything, he could certainly provide instructions and commands. He also learnt much about fitness and health from Ronald, and he even collaborated with Madam Hooch when necessary.

The Far Friar did not opt for any armour. Rather, he had assumed the form of a priest. He proudly wore his conjured Cassock, and he did not bother to float. Rather he chose to walk slowly with purpose. Sometimes, if the situation dictated, he would merely glide closely to the ground. He often preached Helga's life story to the Hufflepuffs and the others who stood by to listen.

Suddenly the ghosts became icons as they relayed the personal autobiographies of their founders. Some of the relationships with the other ghosts became strained – no longer were the House ghosts content to waste time and participate in all sorts of odd and useless displays of magic.

The Fat Friar sat down with Harry one evening on the Hogwarts battlements. They discussed the implications of fighting and killing, supposedly in the name of righteousness. The Fat Friar had been taught directly by Helga Hufflepuff, and he had explained that no matter how gentle and kind she was, would not have tolerated any threat to the castle.

"Well, I am not worried about Hufflepuff. Cedric merely needs to be trained. Tonks is already there. As for Ronald, well if you are brave enough to mess with that redhead…..well…."

Fabian laughed.

"I always tell him, Helga would have adored him. He represents everything that Helga held dear. And your mother too? To take a child in and give him a home? Helga adopted many orphans in her time. She was gentle but unstoppable. And she loved healing the most, of all the professions. It is not surprising that most of the healers are Hufflepuffs."

"This chat has been wonderful, Fabian. As I say, my mother is my moral compass. When I am not sure, she will show me the way. Hermione will have my back. And the rest of my loyal family will be at my side. We fight for the faith too, I suppose." Harry mused.

"We will wear our faith and our devotion, like it is our armour. And our families will steel our hearts from the wicked," the Hufflepuff ghost replied.

"Indeed." Harry replied.

The second Quidditch match had occurred at the end of April, and Gryffindor had won.

Of course, the match had been nail biting. Slytherin had been in the lead for most of the match. Atticus had managed some creative plays, which had caused Wood to miss several times. And his methods were so cunning, that even the onlooker had been confused by what was going on for quite a while.

Atticus had decided to use magic during the match. And by magic, what the Slytherin captain had improvised was essentially 'muggle magic'.

The Slytherin Quidditch team had somehow managed to incorporate 'sleight of hand' tricks, and it was very difficult to follow the quaffle. Often many chasers made attempts at scoring goals, only for the crowd to realise that the approaching player did not have anything in their hand. Other times the quaffle came from unexpecting chasers, who had been floating nearby with the item tucked away under their legs and other unusual places.

Atticus had managed an easy eighty points, before Ginny and Tracey began an intense battle for the snitch. While either of them would have managed easily by themselves, the other party made it their business to upset the situation.

As the camera drones zoomed in on the players, many grins passed between Ginny and Tracey. Everyone looked on, as Tracey tried to grab at the spots that were out of the reach of the petite redhead. Ginny had no problem weaving in and out of the empty gaps, like an agile boxer. Eventually, the redhead got frustrated at the climbing score – Slytherin was now at one hundred and forty points and time was running out.

Ginny positioned her broom, accelerated and jumped off the broom in mid-air. On her way down there was an unceremonious scream of "Someone caaaaatch me, Heeeeeeecateeeee Daaaaammit!"

Katie Bell swopped in at the last moment and caught the girl a mere twenty feet from the ground. The recklessness had been so surprising that long after Ginny held the snitch in her hand, the entire crowd was silent. Slowly, Gryffindor created a giant bout of noise, and Atticus and the Slytherin team were saddened.

"Ron? You saw that?" Cedric asked.

"I did. My heart jumped out of my chest. That is my mother's chaotic energy there, not exactly something you want to mess with?" Ronald replied.

"You Weasleys are all stark raving mad. Looks like the smallest and youngest Weasley outperformed all of the brothers?" Perkins teased.

"She did. Professor McGonagall is going to be over the moon, about this." Ronald replied.

Tracey was still shaking her head at the incredulous daring of Ginny – the snake was aware that Ginny's kinetic barriers would prevent any lethal damage. But even the idea that she would jump off the broom made the redhead a nutcase. Worse, Ginny had no problem slowing her travel with the positioning of her limbs – she had used her jetpack practice to utilize air resistance.

After the match was done, Gryffindor as customary bought food for the Slytherins. Wood and Atticus shared a brotherly hug of congratulations. However, many of the Slytherins were not upset. The game had been clean, and it had been competitive. Atticus developed an entirely new method of playing Quidditch – it was a method that relied on deception.

"Mr. Mallory, I am aware you had hoped to win the Quidditch cup for your house. And I am sorry that did not happen. But understand this – the game that the Slytherins played against my lions was one of the best I have ever seen. And I would like to thank you for this. Never have I seen such deception in a Quidditch match. And I am aware that no magic from a wand was conjured at all." Professor McGonagall explained.

"Thank you, professor. I have been trying my best for our Quidditch team to represent talent and handwork, instead of blatant favours. And I wanted to do something crafty. Perhaps Ginny deserves that snitch. None of us are not that brave!" Atticus laughed, as the Slytherins smiled.

Ginny and Tracey shared a sisterly hug that afternoon in the Quidditch locker area, as Daphne, Neville and the rest came by to congratulate the girl. Meanwhile, Ginny's hand terminal was flooded with messages, as video snippets of Ginny's daring jump circulated endlessly. Molly and Arthur who were aware of Harry's shielding devices, still had a panic attack as they reviewed the video clip. Ginny certainly did win the Quidditch Match for Gryffindor, and she also won two weeks of dishes every night at the kitchen for 'recklessness outside of the obstacle course'. However the redhead girl did not mind – Astoria usually accompanied for during her punishments, while Amba and Ved spoiled the pair of girls with whatever they wanted in the kitchen.

For Marcella, it had been a mere four months of training. Yet she had grown leaps and bounds.

While she did not have the raw strength and magical power of the others, she was still far ahead of her classmates. Harry and Hermione personally pushed her to 'cast until failure', a she quickly built familiarity with essential spells. She was also encouraged to practice wandless magic and had limited success. She had already grown accustomed to a wand, and she would have to recondition her nervous system over a much longer period. As a person who was about to write her NEWTS soon, she was grateful for the assistance. However, she did not show off her newfound capability at Hogwarts. Rather, she only attended the morning exercise program. Then, she only participated with Atticus and the rest in the Defence Club classes, while keeping a low profile.

One evening, Stebbins had observed that Daphne and Tracey were not around. He had decided to try his luck again, and Marcella was only too happy to send off a stun that left a smoking crater in the boy's uniform. It also helped that Marcella had been using a wand that Harry had recently created, and it was quite efficient. The darker houses understood that Marcella was not to be bullied, even if she was leaving soon. Pansy and Draco and even Jugson junior, looked on in disgust, as they understood that the girl would be a formidable enemy in the future.

Now the ragtag group of students had been forged into a facsimile of a somewhat effective fighting force. And yet, none of the possible detractors or curious eyes had been able to pin the location of the sessions. Dumbledore and all of the other staff continued to see everything with no problems, while Draco and many of the darker students only saw people in 'filthy muggle clothes' and asked no additional questions.

After all, they considered the knowledge of the event to be beneath them. Hubris was indeed a great weakness.

Saul Croaker and Alex Thompson began their own weapon design program, as they attempted to enhance several standard guns.

Alex was warmly welcomed by his aunts and uncles, as he and Saul set up shop in Texas. Alex's father was surprised when he heard the entire story. Alex had to describe his pensive memories – some person had created plasma rifles, and he was busy reigning hellfire on magical criminals. Mr. Thompson who had been a town sheriff before retirement, approved. He loved the idea that certain magicals were willing to use guns, and honestly wondered why anybody had not developed a magical gun that could shoot spells. Alex explained the commonly held suspicions about the pair:

"We would like to believe that they are privately educated and have special forces training. They also might be descended from royalty, and possess personal family magic."

"He sounds like he's a three-jump cowboy? And the girl got no slack in her rope?"

"Yes daddy. Which is why we have been wondering if we could modify...Big Bertha. The recoil, maybe make her fully-auto with cooling charms on the barrel, extendible pocket for the magazine….That would…."

"…..be an unholy terror. Could shoot craps with the devil himself?" the man asked - he was familiar with some of his son's spells.

"Yes? That would be very appropriate for Death Eaters." Alex answered.

"Lead, is lead, son. I remember what she said about them," the man remarked, as he remembered his late wife.

Big Bertha was a four gauge shotgun that had been made of custom machined parts. It was a creation between Alex's father and his uncle, who was a veteran machinist with many years of oilfield service. Everything from the ammunition to the replacement parts were made 'in-house', or in the workshop of Jack Thompson. Upon the arrival of the custom gun, Saul asked for a demonstration. As Tony Thompson shouldered the massive gun, Saul observed as the recoil almost dislocated the man's massively muscled shoulder.

"Well Croaker, what do you think?" Tony asked the head unspeakable.

"I understand exactly why this is superior. Say, let me add a cushioning charm to the wooden bit here, and then I can manually animate the changing of the bullets with a custom charm and….."

Late into the night, Tony and Saul had laughed the entire night away. Saul had enchanted the bullets to automatically reload, and the rifle barely kicked. Alex asked the obvious question.

"So why hasn't nobody made modifications like these? There would be commonplace in the criminal underworld?"

"That is logical - unless there is some kind of malfunction that we haven't addressed?" Saul wondered, aloud.

The men set the gun into a stationary position and used a string to continuously pull the trigger. After continuous usage for about thirty minutes, the barrel tore itself to pieces. The men had been at least forty yards away, and they had not suffered any problems.

"What do you think happened?" Saul asked Alex.

"Maybe magic doesn't play too nice when objects are under mechanical strain? Extended friction and heat could have reacted badly with the magic?"

"The forces involved – that makes sense. However, I am looking at the burnt out runes. Somehow the several enchantments are affecting each other, also. That is a pretty common problem." Saul reasoned.

"My uncle has spares at his shop. Maybe we can replace what was damaged, and test a single enchantment at a time?" Alex wondered.

Alex and Croaker began to slowly unmask several of the basic discoveries that Harry had already discovered many years ago. During the daytime, Saul who had not travelled much, got familiar with diners, smash burgers, and everything that 'muggle' Texas had to offer. Saul soon became 'the English professor' who was visiting Texas, and he embedded himself in the culture. He attended cookouts, visited the Johnson Space Center Museum, relaxed at bars and listened to country music. He even obtained a cowboy hat, and became friendly with the locals. Of course, his travel schedule was sponsored by the Ministry of Magic and the head English unspeakable applied to MACUSA for Alex's house to be a 'classified MOM-UK safe house' and an apparition point of interest.

"Alex, do you think we could purchase a monster truck?" Saul asked, as he sat in the stadium, and observed the Monster Jam finals.

"We could. You can buy anything in this country. Is the Ministry Research budget that big?" Alex asked.

"No, but I do have a personal inheritance. I made good money with private jobs too. I was thinking that we could drive over the Death Eaters with one of those. And we can probably mount heavy machine guns all over the thing? I would not mind if we added some extra protection to the front," Saul asked wistfully, before he tore into the corndog.

"You are stars and stripes now, even if you don't sound like it." Alex laughed.

"This state, Texas - the motto is friendship, innit?" Saul asked.

Saul smiled – he was an Englishman who certainly had a thing for a pretty southern belle who worked at his favourite diner. And she loved her guns, even when her wand sometimes stuck out of her pocket. She was an open carry type of girl, especially when she was leaving her workplace. Maybe he could ask her to a shooting range for some fun.

While everyone was busy with studying, training, or plotting, another person at the castle underwent massive changes. Hagrid the gamekeeper, was on his way to becoming a completely different person. The first thing that Harry and Hermione had done, was to personally pick out a much more flattering wardrobe. They had commissioned Madam Malkin to create only the best, and the Basilisk hide clothing was augmented by shields, and all the other Peverell and Granger innovations.

Hagrid had lost a great deal of weight, quickly. He almost seemed genetically predisposed towards gaining muscle mass, quickly. That combined with the meal planning did wonders for him. Hagrid soon discovered that he was a natural at cooking. So, the issue was not that he was a buffoon. Rather he had been denied the many different activities that would help him to understand where he was naturally predisposed. Hagrid became deft with a knife, as he soaked up French technique quite easily.

And then came the weights.

Hagrid's house included a gym. Ronald along with the Viking boys preferred to exercise at his house. On some days Neville and Luna walked Hagrid through some of the much more advanced magical cantrips. Other times, Hermione and Priya often took extended scans, as they examined his partial 'giant' genetics to see if they could obtain any insights about his massive strength. It seemed that the muscle fibres in Hagrid's body shared many similarities with dragon muscles. That also suggested from an evolutionary perspective that Dragons and Giants possibly had a common ancestor. Luna was particularly interested in this discovery – a possible evolutionary tree for the creatures of the magical world was indeed a necessary project. Meanwhile, Hermione was able to improve the strength argument greatly, at the cost of much higher energy expenditure.

Hagrid also regularly visited the obstacle course, where Tracey taught him the 'Demolition' role. The affable man was soon introduced to the muscle weave, along with the prototype 'colossus' armour. He began to use the HUD, and learned how to mentally ping squadmates. Hagrid's mental mindscape was anything far from primitive – it was warm, encompassing and protective. As they conducted training drills in the Finnish forests, Hagrid's mind felt almost like glue. His knowledge of plants, animals and terrain made the group aware of how the soil felt, and what places with good vantage points.

"Gosh Hagrid, I wish we had this kind of knowledge when we were in South America. It was a bit difficult, we just slashed everything into oblivion," Harry explained.

"I dunno 'bout fighting yet. Er, maybe i can watch on from afar, if yeh need summat?" Hagrid suggested.

"That will work. We want you to be able to protect Hogwarts primarily. Fighting often gets bloody. I don't want you to kill anybody, it damages you." Harry replied.

That afternoon, Hagrid gave a solemn nod.

Soon enough, Hagrid was using pulse rifles and shotguns as he pulverised Rock golems. Hagrid often worked with Marcella, in combination with Parvati and Padma who were still adjusting their combat style. Hagrid eventually settled on pulse shotguns as his favourite weapon, and Harry made a giant sized super heavy weapon that had a hefty amount of recoil. The gun was nicknamed 'Goliath' and it was essentially a heavy aircraft grade pulse cannon, in a man-portable package. It was the bigger brother of Tracey's favourite tool of destruction.

Hagrid began to forge a close relationship with Harry. The half-giant and Harry had shared many experiences which were somewhat similar in origin. Self-doubt and feeling like less were common pains that both of them had buried inside of them. Hermione and Ronald were often around, as Ronald had taken the informal role of Hagrid's apprentice. Hermione continued to take the role of Hagrid's educator, as she often took Hagrid on tours of the mundane world. Hagrid became intimately familiar with restaurants, groceries, pubs and other happy spots. He also loved pet shops and he bought luxuries for Fang, his dog. Harry took great pleasure in teaching Hagrid via practical methods. Hagrid was a very kinaesthetic learner, and merely required the right kind of instruction. The green eyed boy enjoyed the half-giant's kindness, and Hagrid enjoyed Harry's mentoring personality. Hagrid soon enough provided Harry with every memory he could muster of his father and his mother.

Charlie had been accepted by the elder dragons, to look after their only daughter. Hagrid by extension learnt selective pieces of dragon lore, as he helped to look after Hilmir, Fafnir and Daffodil. With the spinal interface, Hagrid was also able to have regular conversations with the dragons, and Daffodil would often fly with Hagrid on the weekend. Other times the Viking boys took him to international places, as they tested the grav harnesses. Hagrid began to build an international network of people who worked with creatures via his Terminal. Soon enough all of them were sharing information or transporting items to each other.

Hagrid from barely getting by, was living a fulfilled life where he took joy in being competent.

He had changed his outward appearance - he was rocking a Viking braid with shaved sides, and a plaited goatee. He even made small pieces of tasteful jewellery with many of the magical horns and scales that he had found. And while the same jolly voice was there, now Hagrid spoke slowly – he did not feel like he needed to rush his speech to be noticed or regarded in conversations. Hagrid became confident, as he proudly wore his cowboy hat and rode his favourite Hippogriff, Buckbeak. Soon enough Buckbeak was given a set of riding gear with an inbuilt phoenix transporter, and Hagrid conducted his own business as he pleased.

On the weekends, Hagrid often rode his motorcycle with Ronald, Týr and Víðarr. The pack of custom supercharged Triumph Rocket IIIs tore through lonely roads, in the British countryside.

Hagrid understood his assignment. The giant had listened to the conversations of Albus, and was greatly angered when he muttered about sacrificing Harry. And the idea that he would continue onwards with Neville as the convenient replacement – that left the groundskeeper shocked. Hagrid therefore decided to play Albus' hibris against him. One evening Hagrid spoke to the headmaster, and explained his concerns about the Storm-Lord.

"Headmaster, well i have bin doin' well. An' i have bin thinking, as i got free time. Anytime yeh wan' ter examine me place, if it would help...I wan' everything ter stay the same. I like where i am righ' now," Hagrid explained.

"I am happy for your progress. And understand that you want to see and experience things. I certainly did not mean to barge in on your privacy. I merely have many responsibilities." Albus explained.

As Albus accessed the house regularly, he only continued to be perplexed. As the bearded man examined the building, he could tell that the walls somehow had better magical conductivity than his death stick. That terrified Albus – the entire house was a wand, and there were no special artefacts or items that acted as weapons.

The house was the weapon.

Albus used his wand to break a small chunk of the wall material, as he carried the item to his office to examine it. In reality, Invictus had deactivated the internal shielding and allowed Albus to take a piece of material, just to see what would happen. Saul was invited to the Headmaster's office, and both of them were utterly clueless. Albus noticed Saul's cowboy hat and wondered if there was some new fashion trend. The headmaster had no idea that Saul had a hidden M1911, that had been charmed with an extendible magazine.

Eventually, Saul managed to use the chunk of material like a magical battery. He was surprised when the scavenged Fiendfyre cannon began to spit heavy plasma bolts that liquified the bricks in Albus' office. Now there were clean exit holes that passed through the rustic looking bricks. Albus attempted to repair the bricks but the Fiendfyre had singed the material into oblivion.

"Well Albus, I have to admit this is pretty nasty. Packs an absolute punch!" Saul explained.

Albus was surprised by the language, but assumed that the academic was excited.

"This is a cause for concern. I don't think there is any type of magical defence that can block this spell?" Albus asked.

"Perhaps. But this is brand new magic that has been created as a result of intellectualism. He deserves the spoils of his work. Magic has always been like that, and that is why the Founders built this castle – because nobody else could. And look, still here after one thousand years." Saul explained.

"Ah, I had never thought of that. But it is true. Have you had any success with modifying the guns?" Albus asked.

"Somewhat – the weapons work at first, before they explode from the physical forces that are present. So physical forces and heat, can affect spells. We will see if we can make the weapons reliable. But another question…..who would be willing to use the weapons we are developing?" Saul asked, as he thought about his hidden holstered pistol.

Albus did not have an answer. He was hoping that Saul's discoveries would help him to understand what had possibly surpassed the Death Stick. The idea of The Order of the Phoenix using such ghastly implements was almost heretical. Once again, Albus could only understand the world through the idea of a wand, and he was hoping that somehow, he would regain his footing.

"I don't think such weapons should become commonplace. Imagine if the Death Eaters began to use even unmodified muggle weapons, because their wands do not possess the necessary range. We could have a bloodbath. While their rhetoric is usually against such things, they could be forced to improvise." Albus explained.

"Or maybe somebody would develop the necessary body armour. I have had success with strengthening standard ceramic body armour. Alex has been quite beneficial for many of us in the department. We have opened a new Non-magical Investigation Unit, and we are getting caught up on what we missed. I hope I may have some additional answers for you soon," Saul explained.

Albus spent the entire of April, as he attempted to unravel the emitter matrix. Eventually, after he could make no headway, he packed the material into a small cloth pouch. Then he headed to see his Transfiguration guild. Asbjorn Svensøn was consulted, and he was flabbergasted.

"The weaving of this material is exquisite. It is beyond me but what I can tell you is that we might be approaching this the wrong way. This isn't Transfiguration. This is an entirely new discipline. He did not start with some other object and create it to make this material?" Asbjorn explained.

"I suspected so. Do you know what he did?" Albus asked.

"He is using plastic. I can tell that most of this material used to be plastic garbage. There is a high amount of carbon in the material also."

"Carbon?" Albus asked.

"You can think of it as the pure elemental of coal. The structure is also not solid, it is porous like a honeycomb – so it is very light. The surface area helps with magical power storage. And there are traces of diamonds in here. I can tell that the diamond was artificially created too. Looks like it is industrial grade, perhaps."

"I am surprised that you know much about the non-magical materials?" Albus asked.

"Have your Ministry ever had issues where household items are magically animated into harming non-magicals?" Asbjorn asked.

"Yes. Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. However, the department has been vacant for some time now?" Albus commented, as he thought about Arthur Weasley.

"Well, the reason why the uncharming of such objects takes quite some talent. The appliances often explode when you use standard methodologies. Many non-magical appliances are easy to enchant. However, enchantments permanently destroy the electronics. So we often had to replace tampered appliances, and the cost was too high. So we were asked to find a solution and we have been investigating modern materials, to see if we can get the electronics to survive. As for this Albus? This is beyond us. I can see that many of our theoretical projects will be possible from the study of this material." Asnjorn explained.

Invictus smiled as he tagged the location of the Transfiguration guild. He had already sent a fleet of drones and he would scan everything and establish their level of competence.

Wealth began to flow in the neutral houses.

The portfolios were already lucrative, and they needed just to continue to manage the logistics. Arthur, Reginald and Cyrus remained on hand, as the office space expanded. Also, many of the Neural Lords often accompanied Cyrus into the mundane world, and they all got accustomed to cars, traffic, credit cards and other ubiquitous things. First-hand experiences were important – the group began to understand that they were misinformed. Shipping containers, customs and non-magical bureaucracy became commonplace, as the group began to possess ID cards, Driver's licences and other common things. Many of them opted for the Goblins to have their families inserted into British Government systems, as being unaccounted for was more likely to cause mundanes to find the magical community. Many of the neutrals decided that their children would be vaccinated against most of the common diseases. Mundane entertainment was combed for ideas, and the group were soon informed of pop culture. The predominant clothing for the group slowly became business casual. Many of the parents were also exposed to modern music, and Cyrus and Reginald often took the group to international locations. Other people were often designated to visit places in South America, Africa, and Europe. The group of neutral planets began to see magic in a more international scope, as they realised that it was tied to cultural practices.

The Patel broom manufacturing plant became a regular stop. Also, the group eventually met Priya and Remus. For Cillian and the rest, the height of the man was a dead giveaway. If anything he was even bigger, and his passive magic was protective and dangerous.

Cillian and the rest privately held their own counsel regularly, as they tried to work backwards. They did not invite Cyrus and Reginald, as they were aware that they had promised oaths. The Azkaban breakout was analyzed for many evenings, as they too started a scrapboard of Harry's armour. Eventually, the group had a breakthrough.

Somehow, some memories from the men who were in high-security lockups were leaked. The group of neutrals had an opportunity to see snippets of Harry and Hermione in action, on their last deployment. The Thunderbolt-II was in full view, and the men observed the latest armour with the floating components, and the guns which were self-assembling. Of course, Harry's spying and a phone call to Luis had plugged the security hole. However, Harry and Hermione allowed the neutrals to keep the memories, as he often enjoyed Lord Larch and Lord Cygnet's contributions. It became a dedicated time for everyone at Peverell Manor to relax, and eat buttered popcorn, and place bets.

Then, Cillian and the rest began to purchase firearms, after being squeamish about the issue.

A combination of American and British Firearms soon arrived in the hands of Neutrals. Harry and King Ragnok laughed as they deliberately organised a 'protection package', which would suspiciously provide the neutrals with everything they needed. The groups would take portkeys to international locations, as they fired blanks. While they did not undergo tactical training, at least they could stand far outside of the range of wands, and shoot possible enemies from the window of their houses. That for now, would be enough. Many of the parents began to discreetly carry pistols, as the goblins sold Harry's gear to the Neutrals. With the concealment illusions, nobody was any the wiser.

The neutral children who were not within Atticus' groups began to build relationships with Daphne and Tracey. Meanwhile, Atticus and the rest merely continued to enjoy good relationships with Neville and the rest. Antoc one evening asked Daphne if she knew 'Hadrian, green eyed bloke' and the momentary blush had told him everything he needed. Cedric began to undertake some of Harry's speciality exercises, under Ronald's guidance. The redhead was not shy about intimately describing Charlie's regimen. Cedric considered that Charlie probably had learnt the original exercises from the Storm-Lord, and now the information had reached them.

"Do you think I could make the World Cup team?" Cedric asked.

"You will. Charlie will not be playing for the next World Cup. He will be embarking on a mastery course for magical creatures. Also, heard he might want to study geography – he loves the outdoors?" Ronald remarked.

"Ah – I know about university now. I spoke to Justin, after he explained how Eton works. So Bachelors?" Cedric asked.

"Yes. So you will have to carry on, instead of him," Ronald replied, as he looked at his Hand Terminal and laughed. Cedric smiled too – not everybody was lucky enough to get messages from the Rune-Priestess herself. The redhead was very attached to his hand terminal.

Cedric who was already known to be quite good looking began to put on muscle mass, as he trained diligently. And while most thought it was for athletic purposes, Cedric understood what was coming.

Su Li slowly became good friends with Padma, as she began to share her family's knowledge about Korean healing. Soon enough Padma was eating Su Li's Kimchi and fried rice, and they were trading ancestral knowledge. Su Li laughed as she caught on to the fact that Padma's most prized possession was her lunch kit. The food and the snacks never seemed to run out, and the girl reasoned that Harry had modified the item.

"Paddy, I can tell that is your mother's food you are eating. From one asian to another…..I know the look. Could you get one of those for me? Pretty please?" Su Li asked.

"If I get one for you, promise you will ask no questions? I got this item from a questionable place?" Padma explained.

"Promise on my pinky finger. By the way, who is the guy? Is he handsome? The one who teaches you to say all those prayers? Although they sound like things you would shout at the enemy, in battle?" Su Li asked.

Padma became a tomato that evening. But she had been discovered - someone was teaching her ancient Sanskritic battle hymns, that were used to assist warriors.

Su Li soon explained that her great-great grandmother had been a healing legend in South Korea, before their family migrated. She too wished to re-adopt ancestral magical practices. Su Li wrote to home, as her family manuals and other items made their way into the Hogwarts healing wing. Hermione loved where this was going, and had additional translation resources sent to assist Su Li. The raven's eyes perked up, and she wondered what could be beneficial.

Priya got involved, as she and Su Li traded herbs and artefacts. As Priya had the Hanyak manuals translated, she even experimented with the acupuncture needles that Su Li's distant ancestor had left as an inheritance. While the mundane application of alternative medical practices where questionable, the magical implementation was much different. With the right artefacts, the magical 'threads' that lay along a person's nervous system could be altered. Priya soon consulted Takeshi and Obi, and they started a project to track down ancestral healing practices and codify them into a magical encyclopedia of magical healing. Percy assisted as he made a list of every magical culture he could find, and he dispatched either Charlie or Bill to find the necessary information or to build relationships with the necessary people.

Lisa Turpin took a different approach. She merely asked Luna if she could sit by and watch her paint. Luna was glad for the company, as usually she chatted only with Helena. The Ravenclaw ghost was aware that several 'intelligence' operations were being carried out by the students, and was in on the joke. Nonetheless, Helena often spoke about her mother and found the discussions to be therapeutic.

May was almost over, and there was one week before June arrived with its OWL and NEWT exams.

Lisa and Su Li were finally invited to the final band practice for the term. Both of them laughed and cheered as the musical talent of the group was put on proud display. In reality, Padma was slowly letting Su Li into her inner circle, and Luna wanted to show Lisa her skills as a keyboard player. After the band practice was finished, Antoc directed Clara to a far part of the castle, via a handwritten note with the usual precautions.

After wondering about what he should do, Antoc finally revealed his suspicions to Clara, that evening. He explained the secret Christmas meeting, the Greemgrss dinner, and all the gradual intelligence they had collected so far. Daphne had placed a microdrone to follow Antoc, and she listened to the conversation. The snake was suspicious about the recent interaction involving Harry. Clara asked many questions, as she quickly put things together.

The feisty Hufflepuff took her songbook, and began to mercilessly beat the older Slytherin.

"You! Five Months! And you -SMASH -SMASH -SMASH -said NOTHING!" Clara complained.

"What was I supposed to say? That Harry Potter is in hiding and trolling everyone? And that he probably built your violin pickup? And my bass amp?" Antoc complained.

"I heard the name Harry, out of Daphne's mouth. I would have believed you!

I saw Daphne earlier one evening at Tracey's house. Her cat Crookshanks stole a hair bobble. She told me that the cat liked to run into the floo, and she skipped across to see if he was there. I didn't think much of it?" Clara explained.

"Daphne has a cat?" Antoc suggested.

"Hey I got to pet him. He is one of the few moggy-keazle hybrids that actually has a brain. Here is what happened. A random moggy just appears. He stood silent, listened to my violin warmup and purred loudly while bopping his head. He was my greatest fan for ten minutes! Then, he suddenly ran off. So I sat down and goofed around on my data slate for about maybe half an hour. Then, I went to get a snack from Aunty Amy and…."

"Do Hufflepuffs do anything else but snack?" Antoc asked as he collected another book on his arm.

SMASH!

After the spirited but playful assault, the girl continued with her tale:

"And then on the way to the kitchen, I heard a little snippet of the conversation. Daphne had dropped by to leave the violin pickup for me – Harry was just finished with it. I ran into the kitchen, gave her the biggest hug ever, and told her to tell her friend, Harry, thank you!" Clara joked.

"Well, what do we do?" Antoc asked.

"You can sneak around, as a snake. I am going to walk right up to them and talk to them. And I am going to make friends with them. The Hufflepuff way is to kill them with kindness?" Clara explained.

Three hundred miles away, a cantankerous teenager giggled.

"I had no idea that Crookshanks was half keazle. Hey Daff, I think I am attending the next band practice for the holidays. Maybe I should make her a spy. And clean this conversation out of the logs, I don't want Hermione getting access to knowledge about the band. Crookshanks almost blew their cover!" Harry explained, with a voice of relief.

"That was close. Wait, so you didn't know about Crookshanks?" Daphne asked.

"About him being half and half? No?" Harry explained.

"Why don't we tell Hermione that her cat is half keazle? I mean, I thought she knew?" Daphne asked.

"Brand new news for me too. I wonder if that was why he swatted the prototype grav drive? He sensed the magic? Or he just was having a standard cat moment?" Harry wondered.

"It could be…both?" Daphne remarked.

That was the evening Hermione investigated her cat. She soon initiated a small mental link via a custom spinal interface, and managed to look at some of his memories.

Crookshanks had escaped from Diagon Alley, and had hiked rides on public transportation as a kitten. One evening he detected a faint magical signature, and followed it for a couple of miles. Eventually, he found Hermione in her crib after accessing an open window. That was the evening that Crookshanks decided he liked Hermione's energy and he curled up in the crib, only to be discovered by Jean late into the night. He could tell that she was magical, and he felt safe with her.

Hermione gave her cat a warm hug, as he purred the night away. Clara had accidentally given Hermione a great gift. While Crookshanks could not speak, he was able to transmit feelings easily.

The cat was quite pleased with the sequence of events, and had a distinct understanding of every action that he ever did. Hermione now understood that Crookshanks was often a menace because he thought it was funny. He was quite aware he could drag Marcella into Peverell manor, and he had undertaken the act because he was curious to see what would happen. He also boldly demanded a slice of Hermione's pizza, and he managed the cat equivalent of 'delicious' when he was done. With the spinal interface, the cheeky feline was able to better communicate with Dafodill and Grace.

"Why didn't you say something?" Hermione asked the fluffy creature, as she rubbed his head. The feline with with the spinal interface, conveyed a somewhat thoughtful expression. The intuitions from Crookshanks amounted to the fact that he could not use language. Grace therefore could not translate his non-linguistic message. Also, both of them (Grace and Daffodil) were not keazles, in any case. They could understand pictures between each other, but that was it.

Percy exploded with academic excitement – maybe many magical creatures had methods of very complex communicating that did not rely on language. And if spoken words could assist in forming thoughts, could magic act as some kind of carrier for intelligence? After all such academic arguments had great implications for understanding the core of Invictus' advanced cognition. He, before his restoration was not a common portrait. Daphne seemed quite interested in these arguments as she continuously examined the runic dumps from the sabotaged memory crystal.

The entire group at Peverell Manor continued with the collective training of Hermione's father. Even the dragons were not spared, as they were given a brand new set of exercises that forced them to fly under artificial strain. Their muscle weave was used to apply the necessary resistance. The dragons also were able to practice manoeuvers that were not normally possible – most dragoons would not be able to experience the strain of changing their wing positions while flying at supersonic speed. Also, the Grav harnesses allowed the creatures to tilt and orient themselves purely with gravity. The dragons watched many of the Babylon 5 and the Battlestar Galactica episodes, and figured out how to emulate the acrobatics. Flying became a mixture of traditional unassisted methods, with help from the gravity thrusters. William and the rest had the dragons emulate insertion methods that were similar to helicopters and aircraft. Their riders also spent much time learning to get to the ground safely even with parachutes, along with jetpacks.

Then Hagrid one evening confided his family history with Harry. He was given the best gear as he embarked on a mission to bring his giant brother home. Marcella had a family emergency, and she was pulled out of Hogwarts, to visit an aunt who would pass away soon. Harry and Hermione remembered Cassie, and they told Marcella to 'holler if she needed anything.'

Everything was quiet, but Harry still felt on edge. Then, Peverell Manor was given their answer.

Hermione secretly called Daphne and explained that the new antenna design was necessary, and it had come from 'out there'. The parameters were secretly cued into the manufacturing drones, and the Raven-II was now being equipped for her maiden mission.

The trouble was not in Hogwarts. It was elsewhere, and time was of the essence.