Chapter 27
Through judicious use of notice-me-not charms Harry lead a group of dozens of orphans, a seven-foot Scottish priest, and three very attractive, very dangerous women through the streets and into the buses, which were drive and protected by Hellsing soldiers who had flown in on the private jets. The children had been nervous at first so Harry amused them with small feats of magic that to an outsider could have been confused for street performer 'magic.'
When they arrived at the airport instead of the two private jets Harry had requested, to their astonishment, the Royal Air Force Voyager, the personal transport of the Queen was waiting for them. They were ushered quietly onto the plane directly from the buses, without going through the airport. After a quick safety brief, which was helpfully dramatically re-enacted by Harry, to the delight of the children, they were in the air and en route to Heathrow in the UK.
"The Queen sends her regards. One of the pilots I reached out to was a former RAF pilot. He reached out to one of his contacts who mentioned it to the Queen and she insisted on sending the Voyager. She also requested a meeting when you're available." Integra said into her MCP.
"Thank you, Integra. The idea that Iscariot would harm innocent children just to silence three of their most loyal operatives..." Harry said.
"This Matrograno lunatic, the stories we've uncovered about him are... disturbing." Integra said.
"How so?" Harry asked.
"You mentioned the tattoo on the crusader you questioned? It's a symbol for an organization that Matrograno leads called Nova Inquisitionis, or The New Inquisition. They've been quietly silencing some of the more liberal voices within the Vatican." Integra said.
"Father Anderson, you should hear this. Harry said, walking over to where Anderson was sitting. He caught him up with what Integra had just said.
"I'd heard rumors, but I've heard things like that before that turned out to be unsubstantiated rumors." Anderson said.
"The timing is curious. We just find out Millennium is buying arms from Father Anderson's black market connection, and now this Matrograno guy starts up with this?" Harry asked.
"I've been considering that possibility myself. Unfortunately I don't trust anyone in Iscariot that isn't on this plane." Anderson said. Harry nodded.
"I'm working on a lead. Hey you mind translating to the kids for me? My Italian is shakey." Harry said. Anderson nodded and Harry cleared his throat.
"Pringle!" Harry said. With a pop a house elf appeared standing in front of him, stumbling slightly as he was not anticipating the forward momentum of the plane. Several children gasped in shock when she arrived.
"Children, this is Pringle. She is what we call a house elf. They like helping people, and they really love children. There are a lot of them living at Potter Manor, where we're all headed, You can ask them if you need anything, they can understand any language. I expect you to be polite to them, though. They are not slaves, they are my friends." Harry said. Anderson translated and Pringle beamed at him.
"Pringle can you go around and say hi to the kids? I Want them to be ready for when we arrive. I know the elves can get very enthusiastic." Harry said. Pringle nodded
"Of course Master God Emperor Harry Potter sir!" Pringle said. Harry narrowed his eyes.
"You're doing that on purpose aren't you?" Harry asked. Pringle shook her head.
"Of course not Master God Emperor Hadrian I sir." Pringle said, unable to hide the smirk.
"Did Sirius put you up to this?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Pringle said before walking down the isle and greeting all the children.
"Looks like I'm gonna need to go to the bank when I get home." Harry said.
"Pringle? That's an odd name." Heinkel said. Harry smiled
"I'm told her mother frequently had cravings for pringles while pregnant with her." Harry said. Harry pulled out his MCP and called Zorin.
"Is everything OK? Integra told us you were in Rome fighting Iscariot!" Zorin said.
"We're fine, got the kiddos on a plane heading to England now. I wanted to see if it would be ok to bring them to your place so we can get them to mine." Harry asked.
"Harry we don't have enough room for that many kids." Zorin said. Harry grinned at her.
"So you know that project I was working on in Schrodinger's room?" Harry said.
The plane landed without incident. For almost all of the children, and Harry, it was their first time in a plane so they were nervous but excited. There were buses waiting that brought them to Zorin and Rip's house where the two were waiting to usher them in. Harry lead the adults and a few kids into Schrodinger's room, where they opened the closet, then Harry opened the door on the other side and Zorin looked, shocked at it.
"Ok no human being has been through this before, so let me try it first." Harry said. Seras looked scared but nodded. He stepped through and there were no ill effects so everyone in single file made their way through to Potter Manor. Zorin went last, and looked around smiling at the room he'd provided for Schrodinger. It was enormous, twice the size of his already large room near London, and some of the furniture looked like it cost thousands of pounds.
"Can you translate again, Father Anderson?" Harry asked. Anderson nodded.
"Ok guys, if you'll follow me to the dining room, my friends the Potter Elves have prepared a feast for all of you. I'm sure you're all hungry and tired, so after we eat I'll show you to your rooms." Harry said, with Anderson translating.
"Rip, do you speak Italian?" Harry asked.
"Yes. I speak German, English, Italian, French, Russian and Latin." Rip said.
"Holy sh- crap." Harry said. Rip grinned.
"I want to try an experiment later if you're willing." Harry said. She nodded. They lead the kids to the dining room and were presented by a spectacle even Harry couldn't have predicted. Eleven house elves stood looking proud at the mountain of food they'd prepared. It was reminiscent of the welcoming feast at Hogwarts
"Everything on the table with the red table cloth is for vampires only! We's used Master Emperor God Harry sir's blood for it." one of the elves, a juvenile male, said. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Guys this is amazing! You did a great job!" Harry gushed. Three of the elves started crying while the others were literally jumping for joy.
"Uh, Harry? Are they ok?" Seras asked.
"Yeah, sometimes if you heap too much praise on them they get a little overwhelmed. They'll be fine in a few."
"If you could, again, Father Anderson?" Harry asked, getting a nod.
"We don't stand on ceremony in this house. Say grace if you like, after that go crazy! I want you all going to sleep with full bellies." Harry said with a grin. Father Anderson lead them in saying grace and the kids went to work demolishing dinner, with Harry stopping them briefly to remind them to leave room for dessert. Halfway through dinner a pigeon flew in through a window and Harry relieved it of a note. Harry whispered in the Pigeon's ear and it bobbed its head and flew off to a shelf up by the window where seed and water were waiting for it.
"Is that from Alucard?" Seras asked. Harry grinned and shook his head.
"Nope." Harry said, continuing to read the letter.
"Father Anderson?" Harry asked.
"What is it lad?" Anderson asked.
"The pope is safe." Harry said, handing him the letter with a grin. Father Anderson took the note and read it.
Dear Mr. Potter-Victoria,
I was going about my normal routine this afternoon when the most curious thing occurred. A pigeon somehow made its' way into my chambers and landed on the desk in front of me with a letter. Bishop Maxwell had warned me in the past that Hellsing's vampire was attempting to send me correspondence via carrier pigeon, so I was at first wary but curiosity got the better of me.
I am deeply appreciative of your warning about the Swiss Guard. Sadly, I was aware of the treachery of those particular men, and the rest of the guard has been keeping them on a short leash while they investigated for more than a month now. They have been apprehended and are being questioned.
Please express to Father Anderson my deepest regrets in not responding to his letters, they have not been reaching me, thanks in part due to the efforts of Bishop Matrograno. We have no evidence of misdeeds on his part yet, but will be watching him closely. We will pass along any information about Nova Inquisitionis or Millennium that we come across.
By the time you receive this, it is my hope that you are all safe inside your manor. Father Anderson, Sister Takagi and Heinkel Wulfe are wonderful people, whom I am deeply proud of, and a fine example of the good work I wish more of my flock were doing. If you or they ever need anything that I can provide, please let me know. Perhaps use the traditional postal system next time? The pigeon, while friendly, left a small mess on my desk.
Ego N. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus
John Paul II
Translated by Father Ignacio Correno.
Father Anderson wept as he read. First to find out that the Holy Father was safe, and to hear directly from the man himself that he was proud of his life's work. Harry couldn't have given him a greater gift. He wordlessly handed the letter to Heinkel who held it so both Yumiko and she could read it, and both gasped
"I'm fairly certain His Holiness has never tried to kill me, so don't even start with me Seras." Harry said, grinning.
"Alucard will be jealous.." Seras said with a grin
"Harry... This... I don't know what to say." Anderson said.
"Do you think he'd be averse to a couple of wizards helping out with security? With Millennium and possibly through them Iscariot using wizards a magical defense will be important.
"I'll ask. Christ, Harry do you even know how much you do for everyone around you?" Anderson asked. Harry shrugged.
"I can, so I do. Now please pass the treacle tart. I'm an adult so I can eat dessert with dinner and nobody can stop me!" Harry shouted.
After dinner, Heinkel read a story to the younger children, which Harry insisted on acting out for them. Once they were in bed, the adults were enjoying Heinkel's coffee and chatting.
"So Rip, that experiment I asked you about? I speak German and English already, but the kids all speak Italian and what Latin they've learned in school. I'd love to sit down and learn Italian but between running the magical government and my duties to Hellsing I don't have the time. When Alucard and Helena jumped into my head they were able to learn a lot about me in a short amount of time, I was wondering if the opposite was possible too. Would you be willing to pop into my head at some point and try to give me your language skills?" Harry asked.
"Sure, that would be fine, but remember, like Helena and Alucard I'll probably see unpleasant memories." Rip said. Harry nodded.
"After Helena, I realized that it gets easier to deal with the memories and nightmares when I can talk about it with people who know the details. It is very disturbing though. Alucard was furious when I tried to save my aunt and uncle." Harry said.
"I'll pretend I didn't just hear a wizard to ask a vampire to posses him." Anderson said with a grin, causing them all to laugh.
"So, and I know you haven't had a lot of time to think about it, what do you think you want to do about the orphanage?" Seras asked.
"Well the kids are mostly Italian, but I don't like the idea of returning them to Rome, at least until Iscariot and Matrograno are sorted." Anderson said.
"What about Glasgow?" Harry asked. Anderson stopped to think about it.
"It would be nice to see my old stomping ground again." Anderson said.
"I know of a building that would be perfect. It was a high-end hotel on the outskirts of the city, it closed down in the '80s because the previous owners unfortunately died, and the new owner hasn't had the time to do anything with it." Harry said.
"That sounds great actually. Does it have a dining hall? I like them all to get together for meals." Anderson said. Harry nodded.
"There's a dining hall and two convention rooms, as well as a fully equipped kitchen. It's a bit outdated, but it wouldn't take much to get it habitable." Harry said.
"Can you set up a meeting with the owner? I'd like to take a look first obviously." Anderson said.
"I can't do that, unfortunately, but I have an idea." Harry said. Anderson raised an eyebrow.
"Seras can you do it for me?" Harry asked.
"Sure, I guess." Seras said.
"Awesome. You'll love him, he's really sexy, great with kids, has a lot of amazing friends." Harry said. Seras laughed.
"Harry would you please take Anderson for a tour of your hotel?" Seras asked.
"Of course!" Harry said.