21 Chapter 20

When the wave was over and Harry no longer felt the magical discharge, he fixed the floor and stood up. "Are you two okay?" he asked his aunts as he helped them up.

"I think I'm okay." McGonagall said. "Maybe a little bruised." she admitted as she looked around the house.

"What was that?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"I have no idea." Harry said. "That didn't happen the last time he died." He walked to the dead man and looked him over. Besides all the broken furniture, upturned tables and bits of debris littering the place, Dumbledore's body looked to still be in-tact and unharmed. "Maybe it has something to do with all the oaths he was under?" Harry asked. "Perhaps some ritual magic that was bound to him, that had no place to return to when it was released?"

"Could it have been powerful enough to reach back to the planet?" McGonagall asked.

"Not a chance." Harry said. "It would need to be powerful enough to break the wards to do that and be specifically designed to move through space, like the garage."

"We'll have to look into it." Madam Pomfrey said. "Let's bring him back, first."

"Right." Harry said. He had to focus his magic into the old man's body again. Doing that the first time had allowed him to feel the build-up, which had given him the time to react. Now everything felt as it should, and Harry sent the tiny pulse of magic, which sparked the heart's rhythm again. This time, however, when the SA Node fired, the heart beat once and stopped. "Shit! First backup." he said quickly.

"What's happening, Harry?" Madam Pomfrey asked, worriedly.

"The first method failed. His heart isn't starting on its own." Harry said, even as he focussed his telekinetic power on expanding the man's lungs to draw in air and manually pumping his heart, to get his blood flowing. He'd practiced this all that time ago, before he helped Bill out and he could basically emulate the way the heart was supposed to function.

Dumbledore's eyes shot open, though. "What? What's happening?" he asked, looking around in confusion.

Harry knocked him out. "Sorry, Albus, but until your heart starts beating on its own, I'm not ready for you to be awake."

"His heart isn't starting?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "How was he awake?"

"I'm manually pumping his heart and breathing for him. His magic probably detected something was wrong and forced him to wake up." Harry said. "I'll keep this up for a couple of minutes and slowly remove my power. Hopefully that will work. Otherwise, there's the muggle way to reset things."

"Reset?" McGonagall asked. Since when could Harry do all this?

"Electric shock, to simulate normal heart rhythm." Harry said.

The last resort wasn't needed though. When Harry focussed his power on the SA Node's impulse that was supposed to run heart, he realised he wasn't pumping in sync with it, and adjusted his tempo, till it took again on its own. "Normal rhythm restored. The heart is beating on its own. I'm withdrawing my power."

They all sighed a sigh of relief as the man breathed on his own and Harry wiped his brow, which had broken out in a sweat from the concentration. It wasn't power-intensive, but it was delicate work.

"How many backup procedures do you have for this situation?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Just the two." Harry said. "I know enough to keep a person's brain from suffering due to loss of oxygen, but if the SA Node stops working, it would mean I'd have to keep the man's heart pumping manually, indefinitely. It is possible that what just happened was a result of whatever magic was obviously at work on him." He'd have to get some adrenalin for an added backup, just in case this ever happened again. Maybe he'd start working on a magical pace-maker as well?

"Can we wake him up now, or do we need to wait a bit?" Madam Pomfrey asked, thinking the man probably needed some rest. While she was the medical professional, Harry was the one who understood curses best.

"Let's give it a bit, while we monitor, before we wake him up." Harry suggested. "I don't want him up and about yet."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and started her own diagnostics, bypassing everything that might affect the heart and the magic Harry had just used. Even now, she didn't know how his spell worked to stimulate normal heart function after the curse stopped it.

Harry stood back for a while, and then he went to go make tea for them. It was as he was pouring the cups that Minerva's hands took his in hers and took over. He hadn't realised that he was shaking. He was still in shock. He'd not had such a close call before. He'd almost killed the old man for real.

"You did well, Harry." McGonagall said. "Why don't you go sit down for a bit? I'll finish up here."

"Okay." Harry said numbly, as he went to go sit down on one of the couches, not even bothering to repair it. It wasn't long before the table in front of him started repairing itself and Harry looked up to see McGonagall with her wand out, the tea service floating behind her.

"That was some quick thinking." McGonagall said with a smile at him as she sat down on one of the other couches, Madam Pomfrey sitting down next to her.

"You likely saved more than one life tonight." Poppy added. "With the damage on the rest of this place, it's likely that we would have been killed, if not knocked out and been left to bleed out from injuries."

"I'm sorry." Harry said.

"You couldn't have known," McGonagall said, "but now you know to take precautions."

"Perhaps a new building?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "Specifically for these situations, with protections from backlash?" Harry nodded dumbly. Then he suddenly felt better. He looked up and saw Poppy smiling at him with her wand out. "Cheering charms can be very useful."

"Not that my subconscious likes my emotions being suppressed." Harry confided as he took his cup of tea and took a sip.

"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. She knew some of the concepts. It was not hard to pick up a thing or two when such things are being discussed between Harry and Poppy on a regular basis.

"I had a Veela induced dream." Harry said. "My girls thought I needed a push, to realise they wanted me to be a bit more intimate, so they asked Fleur to use a skill she has to… make me aware."

"Is that what's been going on?" McGonagall asked. That made sense.

"You aren't -" Poppy started.

"That's private." Harry interrupted. "You should already know better than to ask, as well."

Poppy nodded quickly. "I didn't mean to imply you'd take advantage. I was more worried about them pushing for things to go too far. I remember being ready for things before my boyfriends were. I'm more interested in your well-being at this point than theirs, to be frank."

"Aunty!" Harry objected. "I don't want to know these things!"

"I'm still a woman, Harry." Poppy reminded him. "I'll not be going into details, but you should at least be aware that I had a life before you knew me." she said with a bit of a smirk, when Harry blushed. Good. That seemed to have worked. Severus seems to have been correct when he did that last time.

"With the girls discussing these things between each other, chances are they'll probably be ready for them before you know about it." McGonagall said. "It's not uncommon between close-knit groups, for people to spur each other on, unknowingly."

"That being said," Poppy said, "Magical teens and muggle teens share the same emotional growth-rate. I'd suggest waiting a couple of years before you take things further than-"

"Stop!" Harry exclaimed, blushing even more. "I don't intend to and I don't want to know!"

"I'll talk to the girls." Madam Pomfrey said with a satisfied smirk. Harry seems to be more emotional these days. He must be allowing more of his feelings out, due to the influence of his girlfriends. A small part of her mind was cheering them on, while the larger part hoped that they didn't do anything they regretted, now that Harry was allowing his passions out.

After tea and a bit more familiar teasing at Harry's expense, they woke Dumbledore up.

"Take it easy, Albus." Harry said. "Your heart isn't as strong as we had hoped."

"My heart?" Dumbledore asked.

"Once it stopped, it struggled to start again." Madam Pomfrey confirmed. "I'll be keeping a monitoring charm on you and you'll be spending the night in the infirmary."

"Poppy, I can't-" Dumbledore started.

"I'm the authority in this situation, Albus." Madam Pomfrey said firmly. "We can tell the students that you are away on business and section you off with some privacy spells, if you need to stay longer, but I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know you are well."

Dumbledore finally nodded. He felt fine, though. In fact, he felt better than fine. He looked up at Harry. "It worked then?" he asked hopefully.

"We can't know for sure what it was doing, but you had some powerful magic on you." Harry confirmed.

"How do you know?" Dumbledore asked. Harry pulled out his Comm and played back the magical backlash for him. "That does seem like powerful magic." he admitted. "That hasn't happened before, then?"

"Not once." Harry confirmed. "I don't know what it was, but I suggest keeping an eye out for people who act differently around you, or perhaps some sort of repercussion to the spells being broken. If it was related to ritual magic, there may be a cost drawn from the people who cast it and they may suspect or outright know that whatever it was, has been broken."

Dumbledore nodded, before smiling at Harry, then. "Thank you, my boy. I know you didn't really know if something was going on, but your willingness to try really means the world to me." he said.

"You're welcome, Albus." Harry said. "Let's hope that whatever it is, or was, was causing your recent mistakes."

Dumbledore knew he was being offered a free chance to claim just that, but for him to truly grasp the offer, he'd need to be honest. "I can't know that I'd have done things differently, but I'll try and be honest with you from now on. That being said, I'm going to admit that I am glad you are the Hogwarts Champion." At Harry's raised eyebrow, he continued. "You are the most powerful and knowledgeable student at the school at the moment. The chances of you getting hurt is much smaller than if someone else was chosen. It also gives you more respect and support among the people."

"So you wanted me to do it, to protect the students and for the 'eternal glory'?" Harry asked.

"Not for the prestige, but for the support of your real skills." Dumbledore said. "I know you hate fame, specifically for the things that you don't feel you earned. You have the chance to really earn the respect of people here. To build your own chosen name and image. You'd never have escaped fame, but you have the chance to earn people's respect as well, rather than their wavering enthusiasm."

"And the assaults within the school?" Harry pressed. "Do you still feel that rapists and murderers deserve clear slates?"

Dumbledore thought about that as he sat upright on the table. It was true that he thought people deserved the chance to redeem themselves, but he truly didn't know why he wouldn't want to set examples, so that people didn't attempt to emulate them. "I don't know why I went that far, to be honest. I should have simply let the DMLE handle the cases as they should. My support wouldn't have suffered. Rather, I'd probably be putting people's minds at rest, knowing that these things were being stopped. I can't know that my mind wasn't changed by recent events, though, so I can't tell you that I was being manipulated there." he admitted, with his head hanging in shame.

"Well, that's good enough for me." Harry said. "Welcome back to the light." he said.

"Just like that?" Dumbledore asked looking up at him.

"If you were your old self, would you have admitted to the possibility that you may have made a mistake yourself, without being manipulated, for the chance to fix your mistakes?" Harry asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Dumbledore suddenly realised it was true. "Very insightful, Harry. You are, of course, right. But I think I'll try not to just accept that so easily. I have much I would like to make up for. Perhaps there is still time for me to redeem myself, as well."

Harry nodded at the man. "And Hagrid?" he asked.

"I'll be taking him to Ollivander's in the next week, after I arranged his paperwork. He deserves justice." Dumbledore said firmly.

"No need." Harry said. "I already made him a wand."

"Since when can you make wands?" McGonagall asked.

Harry smirked at her, deciding to quote her to herself, "Aunty Minerva, a lot goes on that we don't tell you about."

McGonagall knew that she had once described a situation at Hogwarts with a student they had caught in the act, that way. "But you usually tell me these things." she said with a huff.

Harry chuckled and held up his hand and pulled off his ring, which had only become visible at his touch. "Put that on and cast a spell through it." he instructed.

McGonagall took the ring and examined it, curiously. "It's a focus?" she asked. "But it's metal?" Harry just cocked a brow at her and she placed the ring on her finger. Then she pointed the hand at the coffee table. The table abruptly turned into a pig and started sniffing around. "My word! It works better than my own wand!"

"How is this possible?" Dumbledore asked, wanting nothing more than to try the ring himself, but knowing not to ask. It would obviously be a trade secret or even family magic.

"Science, old man." Harry said with a bit of mocking in his voice. "Science has a lot of interesting effects on magic, once you know the right principles. I even made items recently that allows for more easy control over wandless magic, but without a certain amount of knowledge on how the scientific principle works, you couldn't use it, even if you had the item."

"So, muggle knowledge can make magicals stronger?" Dumbledore asked. "What a novel idea. I can't imagine the purebloods ever accepting such things, which probably makes this an advantage they'd never accept, to their own detriment. Is the ring what gives you your wandless magic?" he asked then.

"No." Harry admitted. "And before we discuss anything else, I'm thinking it's time for that Vow, now."

"Harry, are you sure that's still necessary?" McGonagall asked.

"No, he's right." Dumbledore said. "If this situation proves anything, it's that I'm not immune to influence. I think I'm going to have to insist on taking the Vow, if only to protect the world from what I may become due to such influences."

"Very well said." Harry said, as he thought the wording through. In short order, Dumbledore had sworn the only Vow he was now bound by, and happily so, knowing that the young man before him could be at least a failsafe, should he ever be compromised again.

They made their way to the ship after that, but McGonagall got his attention. "Harry, I think we may have a problem." she said pointing to the garage. Its door was split in two and Harry knew instantly that the binding magic would have been broken.

"That is a problem." Harry said as he looked at it. "We can take the ship back the long way. I'll have to fix the magic on this later."

"If I may ask, why not just turn the ship into a portkey?" Dumbledore asked in interest.

Harry was dumbstruck. Why didn't they do that? They already knew Sirius could do that, after all, and if the connection was interrupted for some reason, they could just do it again, to go the rest of the way. "You know what, Albus? I'm thinking I like you better already." he said with a smirk.

Dumbledore smiled at the boy. He was feeling lighter than he could remember ever feeling. The boy's words also touched him deeply. Perhaps he still had a chance to have a relationship with him. "You are more than welcome, my boy." he said fondly.

Dumbledore cast the Portus on the ship himself, so when it reappeared inside the wards of Hogwarts, at the Quiddich pitch, over the hedge maze, which was being grown there, Harry was not really surprised. "That saves us some time." Harry said, as he flew them to the hospital wing. He dropped the people off and then went up to the Gryffindor common room, where Luna was sitting and watching the fire, while talking to nobody again.

At his arrival, Luna looked up and smiled at him. "Welcome back, Harry." she said. "Were you able to get rid of the Wrackspurts?" she asked.

"Some." Harry admitted. "The Headmaster had a large infestation."

"Still does, I'm afraid." Luna said. "Not all Wrackspurts dwell in magic, after all."

"Fair point." Harry said. "But he'll have to work the rest of the infestation off himself."

"Most people do." Luna said with a nod. She looked off to the side and nodded, continuing her conversation in that nonsensical language.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Luna." Harry said after a couple of minutes of watching this.

"Yes?" Luna asked turning back to him after a second.

"May I ask who you are talking to?" he asked.

"That's a secret." Luna said. "I'll tell you when we are married. Family magic, you understand."

"It's not something I have to worry about, though?" Harry asked.

Luna smiled at him. "You can worry about anything you want to Harry, but you don't need to worry about this." she said.

"Okay." Harry said. "Would your friend mind if I kissed you goodnight?" he asked then, with a bit of a smile.

"I'm sure that would be fine." Luna smiled back, but she actually blushed this time, like she was embarrassed to kiss him in front of whoever she was talking to. He quickly got up and gave her a peck on the cheek, not wanting to embarrass her. He didn't know why, but he was starting to suspect there really was someone there that he couldn't see. Luna seemed fine though, so whatever it was, it was likely benign.

"Good night, Luna." Harry said with a bit of a smile, before leaving for bed.

The next day was a Sunday and Harry had a couple of errands to run. After breakfast, however, before he could leave, Harry received a message from Dumbledore.

'Good morning, Harry. Would you mind accompanying me to Hagrid's hut after breakfast, so that I can see this wand you made him?' Dumbledore's message read.

'This wouldn't happen do have anything to do with the other item I gave him, would it?' Harry asked back.

'While I was displeased, at first, to learn of the power of the item, I don't deny that Hagrid would find something like that quite useful in defence of both himself and others. I just worry for accidents.' Dumbledore said.

'I took care of that. And sure, I'll go with. Mind if I invited my friends?' Harry wrote back.

'The more the merrier.' Dumbledore sent back.

'What did Aunty Poppy say about your heart? Are you allowed to leave the castle at this point?' Harry asked.

'Fit as a fiddle, though not as pretty.' Dumbledore joked.

'Hey, do any of you want to join me and Dumbledore for a visit with Hagrid? Apparently Dumbledore's going to give him the good news.' Harry sent on the group. Hermione was sitting next to him, with Parvati on his other side, but the rest of the group was sitting by their house tables.

All of the group responded positively. Then Harry sent a message to Fleur, since she wasn't on the group. 'Good morning Fleur. Is there a chance you'd be able to convince Madam Maxime to join us for a visit at Hagrid's hut this morning after breakfast?'

'What is the occasion?' Fleur's message came back. She didn't have an accent in writing, but Harry still heard it in his head as he read it.

'Hagrid is being allowed to study magic again. We're going to go congratulate him, when Dumbledore gives him the news.' Harry replied. Hagrid tended to skip breakfast in the Great Hall over weekends sometimes. Harry suspected that he liked to have a couple of drinks over weekends and then sleep late.

'We will be there.' Fleur's reply came after a few minutes. Harry looked over and saw all the French girls whispering excitedly.

"I hope Hagrid is ready to receive guests." Harry said with a smirk. "It looks like all of the Beauxbatons girls are going along."

"Does Hagrid ever make extra effort?" Hermione asked.

"He likes to pull a comb through his hair every now and then." Harry said. He was considering how Hagrid would study, considering he didn't know what year the man was expelled. He suspected it was between third and fifth year, though, considering the spells he'd seen him use, the few times he'd used them. One idea led to another, though, and Harry smiled when he realised he'd already put what Hagrid would need in place. He just needed to get the man a TV.

'Hey, Bill.' Harry wrote on the Comm. 'Care to put a TV in the box for me? I want to gift it to Hagrid.'

'What package?' Bills answer came.

'Child friendly, I think, so basic.' Harry sent.

'Done.' Bill wrote. 'It'll be in the box in a couple of minutes.'

'Are you ready to start with sales?' Harry added as a mild curiosity.

'Demand has increased after the second task.' Bill wrote. 'People are wondering if they can get their hands on the display devices. When we started advertising that there will be a recording of all the tasks on sale, demand increased even more. We have over four-hundred pre-orders of the recording and even more for the TV itself.'

'Sounds good.' Harry wrote. 'I'll need to take the time to do a couple of interviews to add to the recording.'

'We've been getting you some recordings after the matches already. Just get interviews with the other champions.' Bill wrote.

'Will do.' was Harry's final reply, before he pocketed the Comm.

"Why do you look like you're planning something?" Neville asked.

"Because I am." Harry said.

"What kind of plan?" Parvati asked.

"Funny, serious or other." Hermione offered.

"Educational." Harry said.

Having finished breakfast, they waited for Dumbledore to finish with his. He was happily chatting with Professor Babbling. Harry wondered if Dumbledore was inviting the woman along, likely to see the laser. When Dumbledore finally finished and stood up, Professor Babbling stayed put. Apparently not.

When Dumbledore looked over, Harry and his friends had gotten up already, followed by the Beauxbatons girls. The girls quickly approached the Head table and Fleur spoke quickly with Madam Maxime. Apparently she'd not arranged anything as much as assumed she'd be happy to join, which, as it turned out, she was.

The group of around 30 people were soon trekking down to the Hut, since Neville and a couple of others from their study group followed. Harry smirked at the group and levitated his group up and ahead of the pack. They arrived a minute before the rest of the group and Harry knocked quickly. "Hey Hagrid, you in there?" Harry called.

"'arry?" Hagrid's voice called.

"You're about to receive guests, including Madam Maxime." Harry called. "Get yourself presentable."

There was the sound of a stumble and then a rush as Hagrid started moving around the hut, with Fang barking at the door, asking to be let out. The group giggled as Hagrid swore as he finished getting ready.

A minute later, the rest of the group joined them.

"No chance you could have given us a lift?" Dumbledore asked, with a bit of mock stern in his voice.

"We wanted to give Hagrid the opportunity to get ready, in case he was sleeping in." Harry said easily.

"I wasn' sleepin'." Hagrid's voice said as he opened the door. It seemed he'd had just enough time to pull a comb through his hair, seeing as how a part of the comb seemed to have broken off in his haste. Harry took pity on the man and vanished the piece quickly. "Oh, Professor Dumbledore. Wha' brings you 'ere this mornin'?" Hagrid asked. He didn't expect to see the large group of students either. He did spot Madam Maxime, and sent a friendly smile at her. "Mornin'." he said, then.

"Good Morning Hagrid." Dumbledore said, most of the group following after him. "I've come to bring you some good news." Dumbledore continued. "Considering the new evidence presented by Harry Black, a short while ago, I've taken steps to have your name cleared. As soon as the paperwork is done, I suspect you'll be able to continue your education."

"Really?" Hagrid asked. He'd started to worry, since that news had broken a while back and he had started worrying that Harry was right. "Tha's great news!" Hagrid exclaimed then. He turned to Harry and said, "See, I told ya he'd not forget 'bout me."

"To be fair," Dumbledore interjected, "Harry did have to remind me to get the process started. It was nothing intentional, I assure you, but it seems I am getting a little forgetful in my old age." he apologised.

Hagrid looked between Harry and Dumbledore, but when Harry winked and smiled, Hagrid smiled broadly too, realising things seemed better between the two. "I'll not hold it against you, Professor. You're a busy man, after all."

"Now." Dumbledore said. "I have it under good authority that someone may have supplied you with a new wand already?"

"Tha's right!" Hagrid enthused, as he turned around and vanished into his hut. Harry recognised the sounds of the big man moving his bed to get to the wand, before he returned with his hand behind his back. "'arry told me-" Harry coughed loudly, and shook his head slightly at the big man. "I mean, a friend of mine gave me this. Clever fellow 'e is, can't recall 'is name righ' now for some reason. 'e told me tha' it was a special wand. Called it the Prism Wand. Strongest wand 'e ever made."

Hagrid removed the 21-inch, metallic rainbow coloured wand from behind his back and showed it to the assembled group. "21 inches long, Aluminium, coated in, um…"

"That looks like it might be bismuth?" Hermione asked, interestedly. She'd caught on quickly enough to act surprised.

"Tha's righ'. Tha's what he called it. Aluminium, with Bismuth coating and a special one-of-a-kind core." Hagrid finished with a broad smile. "The man tha' gave it to me said it was special made, jus' fer me. Said it was indestructible too."

"C'est magnifique!" Madam Maxime exclaimed as she rushed forward and held her hands out, longingly, just moving it over the long rod, but never actually touching it. It was considered rude to touch someone's wand without permission, apparently. "A wand zat is made from metal! Eet looks like eet is was made inside a rainbow! I 'ave never seen such a beautiful wand." she finished in a whisper, awe in her voice.

"It was made for you?" Dumbledore asked. "Was it a good match?" he tried. Hagrid was not listening though. The awe and the smile on Madam Maxime's face had completely captivated him, apparently. "Hagrid?" Dumbledore tried again. Hagrid finally looked up. "Is it a good match for you?" he asked again.

Hagrid shrugged and lifted the wand, pointing it at one of the smaller pumpkins that was not being grown for Halloween. "Reducto." he incanted. Harry had the forethought to cast a shielding charm over himself and his friends, as the pumpkin exploded spectacularly. "Seems to work jus' fine, Professor." Hagrid said, even as Madam Maxime blocked the raining debris of exploded pumpkin from landing on either of them. Leave it to a half-giant to make an example of a redactor curse.

"I'd have cast an Avis, myself." Harry said. "A flock of birds is a little less messy and they serve as good target practice."

"You attack conjured birds?" Dumbledore asked.

"I change their colour and try to get every one of them before they fly away. Helps with accuracy and speed." Harry corrected. It was how he practiced those things on the Room of Requirement, but it felt like cheating with his wandless magic, since he could hit an entire flock at once these days.

"Zat was a powerful spell." Madam Maxime smiled at Hagrid. "Or perhaps, a powerful wand?" she asked.

Hagrid shrugged and held the handle out to her. "Want to give it a try?" he asked.

"Are you sure?" Madam Maxime asked, even as her fingers enfolded the metallic handle. "It's so light!" she exclaimed. "'ow ees eet so light?" she asked.

"It's a property of Aluminium." Harry said. "I use it myself, for that property in the things I make." he elaborated. "The person that made the wand, must have recognised that and used it for that reason."

Madam Maxime, however, wasn't listening anymore. She had started conjuring a rain of rose petals. "Ze wand, eet works like eet wants to cast. Eet ees easy, like breathing." she said. "Merveilleux!" she added, still in wonder, before reluctantly returning the wand to Hagrid. "You 'ave a good friend. You should treasure zees wand. Eet ees simply magnifique."

Hagrid smiled as he took the wand, his eyes flashing at Harry in gratitude. Unfortunately Madam Maxime seemed to catch the look, as her head snapped to Harry with incredulity, he shook his head fractionally, hoping she would catch on. She did and turned back to Hagrid. "I am 'appy for you, Monsieur 'agrid. Now you can study your magique again."

Hagrid scratched at the back of his head then. "I don't know tha' I'm smart enough for tha'. It's been many years since I've been allowed a wand."

"But you must!" Madam Maxime insisted, before she took him by the hand and pulled him away from the students, heading for the coach. "Come, I will instruct you. We can see where you left off."

The Beauxbatons girls were all giggling and smiling after the pair as Hagrid was bemusedly led off.

"And you called me manipulative." Dumbledore murmured at Harry.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Harry denied, before he too, turned and led the girls off. "Come on girls. I've got a treat for you." he called over to the Beauxbatons girls. "You too Neville. Bring Hannah. We're visiting my, um, other home."

"You're going now?" Neville asked as he pulled out his Comm to send a message to Hannah.

"Go get her. I'll see you by the Quiddich pitch." Harry called back. Neville took off, running toward the school, like his feet were on fire, a huge smile on his lips, even as he pressed his Comm to his head.

Dumbledore sighed and followed along. If Harry was taking them to the Moon House, it would only be proper to have a chaperone. Having an idea, though, he pulled out his own Comm. "Call Minerva McGonagall." he said as he started walking after the group of students.

"Albus?" McGonagall answered.

"Hello, Minerva." Dumbledore said. "I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"I'm not busy at this moment." McGonagall said.

"I think Harry intends to take his friends and the Beauxbatons girls to the Moon House. I'll be going with them to keep an eye. Can you cover for me, should something come up?" he asked.

"I'll go with them." McGonagall said instantly. "You can stay here. You just had a serious procedure yesterday."

"But I'm already with the students." Dumbledore said. "Please, Minerva. I seldom get such chances."

McGonagall was quiet for a moment, then. It was her duty to cover for him when he left the school grounds. "Fine, but try not to be overbearing. Let Harry enjoy his time and play host. I like the idea that his friendship circles are growing. Don't interfere."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Dumbledore said.

"And try to have them back by lunch." McGonagall requested.

"I'll keep an eye on the time. Goodbye, Minerva, and thank you." Dumbledore said as he ended the call, wondering if the Tempus spell would work on the moon. It was supposed to keep track of the time of day in whatever time-zone you were in.

By the time Neville and Hannah showed up, Harry had taken out the ship already, ignoring the TV, since it seemed setting Hagrid up with copies of lessons from the teachers over the last year, would interrupt his private tutoring session with Madam Maxime. He could still set him up with that later.

Harry opened the hatch, for the fully visible ship, since he didn't keep it stored disillusioned and waved the guests in. "Welcome to The Saucer." Harry said. "I'll arrange seating in a moment."

"I'll sort that out, if you want." Dumbledore offered, as he walked on board as well.

"Thank you Professor." Harry said, not really certain if he wanted the old man along, but giving him the benefit of the doubt. Before Harry could close the hatch, however, he spotted Krum running toward them full tilt, with a string of other Durmstrang students struggling to keep pace. He chuckled, but waited. He was not happy to see Karkaroff following quickly behind his students, but decided he could use the opportunity. So he pulled out his Comm. "Call Severus Snape."

"Mister Black?" Snape answered.

"Would you mind joining us on the Quiddich pitch?" Harry asked. "I'm about to go to the Moon House and I just realised Karkaroff is going to insist on joining his students, who are all currently rushing toward the ship."

"Leave them behind then." Snape scoffed.

"I can't offer one of the schools a ride and not the other." Harry said. "I was also thinking we can use this opportunity, if you know what I mean?"

"You intend to show him?" Snape asked. "Of course you are. You're you. Fine, I'm on my way."

When Krum saw the Beauxbatons girls trooping after Harry and his girls, he watched them. When he saw the ship, he didn't care where they were going. He just knew he wanted to go with. The Durmstrang students had no idea what the silver thing was towards which Krum was running, but knowing him well and seeing the look on his face, before he took off like a bat out of hell, meant it was probably something amazing, or dangerous, or both. Being who they were, they followed. Karkaroff had been completely ignored, as he called after them, and had no choice but to follow.

Harry was standing in the door and smiled at Krum as he waved the boy on-board. The other students, however, he stopped, with a raised hand. "Okay, guys. If you want to join us, you have to know the rules. On this ship, I'm the Captain. When I tell you to do something, that's what you'll do. I'll not be unreasonable. I just want you to be civil. And you." Harry said pointing at the cocky bloke from earlier in the year. "You will respect my authority and not make any of the girls uncomfortable, or I leave you behind."

"Who are you to make demands?" the boy asked.

"I'm the one that owns this ship. On it, I make the rules. Is that going to be a problem?" Harry asked, seriously.

"Antoni, if you make trouble, I vill throw you off de ship myself." Victor threatened, from where he stood behind Harry.

The boy, having been thoroughly chastised, nodded meekly. "Of course. Sorry." he muttered.

"Wait!" Karkaroff exclaimed as he finally caught up. "Get out of that thing!" he insisted of Victor.

"Harry is friend. I vill go with him. You can stay if you want." Victor scoffed, before he turned and went back into the ship, where Dumbledore had done a marvellous job of making benches for everyone to sit on with soft leather coverings and seatbelts like the ones on the permanent seats.

The Durmstrang students seemed to decide Victor was in charge and ignored Karkaroff as well. This was their final year of studies and he wasn't going to be their headmaster for long, so they trooped on-board, followed by an angry-looking Karkaroff, but Harry stopped him too. "On this ship, I make the rules. Agree to that, or stay behind."

"Out of my way, boy, or I will make you move." Karkaroff threatened.

"I would not threaten Harry Black, if I was you, Igor." Dumbledore said, appearing behind Harry. He seemed calm, but his wand was held casually in his hand. "You could not defeat him, much like you couldn't defeat me. If he allows you on his ship, you will follow his rules."

"Dumbledore." Karkaroff said, with a paling face, but he persisted. "Where are you taking my students?" he insisted.

"I'm just here to chaperone." Dumbledore said. "Mister Black here is offering his friends a ride on his ship. Your students were welcomed under the condition that they follow his rules and they accepted. If you decide to join, you will have to follow his rules, just as I will."

Karkaroff steamed for a bit, before he nodded, and Harry allowed him to pass. Snape didn't take long to show up and Harry allowed him on board without a word. Dumbledore greeted him and showed him to a seat, while Harry closed the door and activated the disillusionment function, before finally looking around at all the gathered students.

He walked to stand in front of them, then. "Okay, so there are quite a few of you here. More than I had planned, in fact, but that's not really a problem. Let me just quickly give you a rundown of what's about to happen and where you are. This is a flying ship. It was made, well, you'll soon see what it was made for, but I'm going to tell you now to please refrain from casting spells, while we're in transit. This is for your own security.

"I've done this many times, so you don't have to worry that I don't know what I'm doing either. What you are about to experience is not a secret, but I would appreciate it if you didn't go telling everyone about it, since I really don't want to take every single student in Hogwarts. Consider yourself fortunate that you can call yourself friends of my friends, at the least. Finally, enjoy the trip. That is all." Harry finished.

He didn't really mind if some of his capabilities came to light. He intended to add the recording that he was making right now to the recording of the Triwizard. Let people find out on his own terms. He also realised that people would not believe them, since most wizarding people didn't even know about space-flight. If Dumbledore's smirk was anything to go by, he'd already realised this.

Harry went to the Captain's seat and lifted them up slowly, giving them a view of the school from above as he slowly circled the castle. He was completely negating the g-forces for now. The students chatted amiably. So far they'd not spotted anything they hadn't seen before. That was about to change though, as Harry turned the ship and slowly accelerated towards the horizon, before turning the ship up, and up, as he allowed the g-forces to finally be felt.

There was silence at first, but before long there was some disquiet as people started showing a bit of fear. Fleur and Krum were diligently telling their friends in their respective languages that they'd done this before.

"Why are you showing so many people the ship, Harry?" Hermione asked from her seat nearby.

"Because I thought it would be a good experience to have." Harry said. "These students are the next generation to leave school. Hogwarts has introduced them to some of the stuff out there, but by the end of this year, these students will go out into the world knowing only what they've been taught thus far. This will be an eye-opener for people who don't yet realise that there's more to the world."

"This is high enough!" Karkaroff exclaimed as the sky darkened.

"Afraid, Igor?" Snape asked. "Afraid of what a fourth-year student can do?"

"This is madness!" Karkaroff continued, still looking at the forward display.

"I've gone vith Harry before. Ve can go much higher." Victor said with a smile. "Vait until you see de view from up dere."

"You endangered my champion?!" Karkaroff demanded.

"Dere is no danger." Victor said. "Harry is master of flyingk. He make de Black Bolt brooms. I trust him."

"You can always get off if you want?" Snape smirked at him. Internally he was also nervous, but he'd seen this before and knew Harry knew his stuff. "Should I open the door for you?"

"Professor Snape." Dumbledore chided mildly. "Let's not cause more worry in the children, right now. We're giving them an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Let's not mar it with petty squabbles."

"Of course." Snape agreed with a nod.

The sky had finally darkened completely, showing thousands of stars. The students were transfixed and Harry continued them away from the planet, accelerating faster and faster until they reached the point he wanted to reach. Then he slowed them down and stopped them.

"Congratulations, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. You are some of the first wizards and witches in space." Harry said, as he slowly turned them. Just before the planet appeared, he turned the ship's hull see-through again and everyone gasped as they looked at the planet, seeing the entirety of it before them.

"See vat I mean?" Victor said proudly. "Good view, yes?"

There were many affirmations around the ship as everyone stared at the planet they all called home.

"How far away are we?" Dumbledore asked interestedly.

"Just over ten thousand kilometres." Harry said.

"How quickly vere ve movingk?" Victor asked, as he heard the distance.

"At maximum acceleration, with the g-force negation and shields this ship is capable of, I've reached Mach 160 in the past." Harry said. "I went a little over half that just now, before starting to decelerate."

"So, around 100 000 kilometres per hour?" Hermione asked.

"Just about, yes." Harry confirmed.

"100 000?!" Victor asked, excitedly. "That's… that's…!"

"Average?" Harry joked.

"What are you talking about?" the cocky boy asked.

"It means, ve vere moving more dan two hundred times faster dan fastest flying broom on planet!" Victor exclaimed.

"What?!" a lot of the people exclaimed. To be fair, there really was no way to know, considering everything Harry had done to negate the effects of acceleration.

"Well, not all of them." Harry reminded the boy.

"Sure, but you are von dat make brooms." Victor scoffed. "Ven I am done vith career in Quiddich, I vill come vork for you and den you vill teach me to fly ship, like dis."

"Sure thing, Victor." Harry said easily. "Okay people, don't be shocked, I'm about to portkey the ship to the next destination."

Before anyone could react, Harry had already cast and activated the portkey to just above the moon house. Everyone noticed the transparency of the ship disappear and looked out the window to see the planet had become even smaller.

"Where did you take us?" Karkaroff asked.

Harry ignored him and felt for the wards to park them in the correct location. When they landed, Dumbledore was the first to unbuckle, as many of the students looked at the barren terrain of the moon. He walked to the front of the ship, getting everyone's attention. "You may now unbuckle your seatbelts and follow Mister Black from the ship." He had said it with a little smirk. When Harry unsealed and opened the hatch, there were only a few people that responded. Not many magical people knew of the dangers of space.

"The property is warded, but don't try to exit the boundaries. They are there to protect you." Harry said. "I cannot stress enough how dangerous it could be to interrupt those wards. Keep spell casting to a minimum, please." he instructed as he got up and walked out the door.

"Also beware of the gravitational difference. You will be much lighter here, so watch your step." Padma spoke up.

"Ladies, keep your dresses in check as well." Parvati remembered to add.

The students slowly started to unbuckle and walked to the door.

"We are on ze moon." Fleur said in wonder as she looked out the hatch. "We really are on ze moon!" she exclaimed then, before she carefully walked down the steps and used the railing to help steady herself.

Harry had already gone into the house. They had a large water-supply, but they hadn't really restocked the Moon House after the last Christmas party, but he had enough to prepare some snacks and put those out on a long transfigured table outside, along with everything they'd need to prepare some coffee and tea. Most of the students were just standing by the railing, looking at the Earth from the moon.

Even Karkaroff had finally exited the ship. His mind seemed to be blown as he looked at the impossibility he was living. "He is no ordinary boy, is he?" he finally asked.

"Harry Black is anything but ordinary." Dumbledore confirmed, as he happily bounced by, toward the table with the snacks and drinks. Seeing him bounce like that, led to some of the male students discovering the joy of near weightlessness and soon they were bouncing around happily, tacking their friends and laughing as they went.

"I should probably mention, the reason why I transfigure and don't conjure, is to not mess with the available air here." Harry informed Dumbledore. "Please ensure that, should people decide to use magic, that they not start conjuring things, since that uses air."

"I understand." Dumbledore said. He was a transfiguration teacher after all. He knew the principles. "Are you going to step away for a bit?" he asked.

"I have to fix the garage." Harry confirmed. "I'd like to be able to use it again."

"I'll keep an eye out." Dumbledore promised.

Harry walked to the garage, and fixed the physical problems. The real problem was, the magic had been completely interrupted on this side. Fortunately, he had a new toy. He smirked as he took off his ring and put a bit of power into a Lumos inside the diamond. When the laser dot appeared, he focussed a tendril of power into the beam and cast a Point Me spell. He thought that really should teach Hermione her own spell at some point, if she hadn't already invented it again. Last time, she'd come up with it, just before the third task and taught it to Harry so that he could use it to navigate the maze.

Now, however, Harry let the laser point directly toward the linked garage, which was his target. Or, he wanted it to, but the ring continued pointing down. Harry pondered that for a moment, before shrugging and pointing the laser towards the planet, as close as he could to where he knew the house was. Then he cast the Point Me again. Instantly, the ring changed direction and stayed in that orientation.

"Perfect." Harry said with a smile. That would be useful. Maybe he should modify the ring to allow the laser free movement, like an eye. He'd try that later, he decided. The laser light wasn't visible at the low output he had it at, but that hardly mattered. He just wanted it to stay on target. Focussing his magic through the light, he quickly felt the connected garage on the other side and focussed its magic, to connect to the garage, which he touched with his free hand. It took a couple of minutes, but soon the garage was linked again as it had been.

"This is so bloody cool!" Harry said to himself. Instant spell casting. Long distance spell casting. Magical manipulation of distant objects. Hell, with the portkeys, chances were, he could have a house on Mars before the next school year! To celebrate his success he went back to the house and the guests. He walked up to the closest of his ladies, which just happened to be Padma.

He hugged and kissed her, before lifting her up and twirling her around. She laughed at his antics, but asked anyway, ��What was that for?"

"Oh, I'll need to tell you girls about my latest success soon." Harry said. "Let's just say, my magical long range sensor is already paying off."

"I'm glad you found something that makes you so happy, Harry." Padma said honestly, as she hugged him again. She loved that he'd become so demonstrative with his affections.

"What did I miss?" Parvati asked as she walked up to join them. The other girls were walking around and explaining everything to the guests and Hermione was currently inside showing one of the Beauxbatons girls to the facilities.

"Harry is happy, because he figured something really big out." Padma said, even as Harry picked Parvati up and gave her much the same treatment.

"Knowing you, that means quite a bit." Dumbledore said, having approached. He didn't mean to interrupt the moment, but he was curious.

"You have no idea." Harry said as he beckoned him closer. "I just cast a spell from the Moon to the Earth and re-established the garage's connection without needing to detach it and take it back to the other one to do so." Harry whispered in his ear.

"Just now?" Dumbledore whispered back incredulously. "How is that…? Let me guess. Trade Secret?"

"Yup." Harry said with a smug smile.

"But you'll tell your girlfriends, right?" Padma asked, with a pout.

"You guys get an all access pass." Harry smiled happily at her. "I did tell you I'd tell you after all."

"Your business is protected by my vow?" Dumbledore tried, hoping for more.

"But I didn't promise to tell you everything." Harry disagreed. "Also, this secret could have consequences that would change the world for better or worse. I don't want that kind of information out there. It's just too dangerous."

"I'll not push, but I'll have to get used to being in this position, it seems." Dumbledore grumbled good-naturedly. "I used to be the one with the important, life or death secrets." He thought about that for a while. "You know what? Keep the secret. I suddenly find that I don't need it. I've carried enough of them in my life."

"Good on you, Albus." Harry said, winking at the man. The old man was finally experiencing the freedom that came with ignorance. Especially when it came to such important information. "Okay. I need to go make one more stop to set something up."

"You're going to him?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm going to set things up so that Igor can see what happened to his old master. Maybe have a word or two." Harry said.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Dumbledore asked.

"Karkaroff has truly reformed." Harry said. "I know." The way he said it, had Dumbledore nod in acceptance. It was obviously future knowledge. What Harry didn't say, was that the man would have to be an idiot to turn on the person that basically guaranteed him his freedom, even if he was still marked.

"I'll keep an eye here." Dumbledore said again.

Harry didn't take long to make a portkey to the other Fidelius protected location.

"You have come to visit?" Tom asked as he became visible.

"I've got one of your old followers at the other location." Harry said as he transfigured a stand behind the projection of the movies that were still playing, to attach a camera disc. He'd be disconnecting that at the Moon House, so that he could see and be seen by Tom. He'd not be bringing Karkaroff here, after all. "Do you want a throne to sit on or something?" Harry asked as he transfigured a chair in front of the projection.

"Are you trying to impress the man?" Tom asked. He'd given up on ever being rescued. Now his only connection to the planet was the movies Harry put on for him. The only people he saw were in those movies. If he wanted new material, he needed to play nice. That was the deal.

"I'm trying to give you a simple comfort." Harry said. "If you want to impress the man, now would be the time to speak up."

"A throne would impress him." Tom finally agreed. "I could sit here in my misery and tell him not to… what's the vernacular? Fuck with you?"

Harry nodded and expanded the chair into something more impressive, covered in skulls and with deep red velvet cushions. "How's that?" Harry asked.

"The skulls are a bit much." Tom said as he looked critically at the throne. Harry removed the skulls and changed the material of the throne to be pitch black and shiny. "That's better." Tom nodded.

"Do you need anything?" Harry asked, then.

"Besides new entertainment?" Tom asked. "I wouldn't mind walls and a roof." he admitted. "Not completely closed, but enough to block the sun. The feed becomes a little difficult to see at times."

"Fair enough." Harry said as he concentrated and four walls with windows grew up out of the surface of the moon. Harry had long since buried the items that Tom's essence was trapped in, just in case something could actually affect them on the surface. It wasn't deep, but it was encased in solid stone and warded against tampering. "Does the sun come from back there?" Harry asked pointing behind the throne.

"No, it goes across from there to there." Tom said, pointing out the path of the sun, from left to right.

"Okay, that's enough for now." Harry said. "I'll be working on a bit of transmission magic. If you're good, I might one day set you up with a way to watch live television, so that you can see new things as they come out."

"That would be nice." Tom agreed. "Better than watching the same things over and over again."

Before Harry left, he layered a ward on the chair, to follow its form. It should allow Tom to actually emulate sitting on the chair. "Try the seat." Harry said.

Tom floated to it and sat down. Surprise actually showed on his face, when he seemed to make contact. "Oh, that feels good. I've not been able to touch anything since you put me here. It's the little things you miss."

"Model prisoners get perks." Harry said. "I'm leaving now. I'll set up a new reel for you before I leave."

"It's been months." Tom said with a sigh of relief. "That Groundhog Day movie was starting to get on my nerves. If I had to relive my day over and over, I'd learn everyone's secrets and then bend them to do my will with the knowledge."

"That's nice." Harry said sarcastically. Tom always tried to get him to engage in conversation. He hated the fact that he actually gave him a bit of time to talk, out of pity. "I actually liked the moral of the story. You can't do everything right, but you can always improve and become better."

"But why does every movie end with the protagonist finding love and overcoming every trial?" Tom asked. "That's not realistic. People suffer and die. Orphans struggle through life. Widows die penniless and alone."

"Because that's what most people want, Tom." Harry said. "People strive for happiness. They want to find love. They want to see the disenfranchised overcoming their trials and coming out on top. It's called empathy. You can see yourself in someone else's shoes and find happiness in their successes." He stopped there, when he saw the confused look from Tom. He really was a sociopath. He really couldn't understand. "Well, at least that's what normal people want to see. I don't know that I could explain it to you. You're broken. If I gave you your freedom today, you'd do exactly the same things you did before, wouldn't you?"

Tom considered this. He knew he wasn't being made an offer. He didn't think for a moment Harry, the only real person he'd likely see and interact with for the rest of his existence, would give him second chances, like that fool Dumbledore. "I would change what I did." Tom denied. "I'd not get caught or stopped this time. I'd plan better and get better servants."

"Exactly." Harry said with a sigh. "Goodbye, Tom. I'll have you talk to Igor in a bit. Dumbledore will likely insist on seeing you as well."

"Goodbye, Mister Black." Tom nodded. "You should stop taking these people to your most secure locations. You'll one day need to have them, just to escape the rabid sycophants." he advised before Harry could leave, even as he sat back and got comfortable in his only possession in existence. A chair.

Harry arrived back at the Moon House. Something about seeing Tom always left him feeling sad. He knew the man was a deranged monster. He'd still prefer his current existence over death, even if there was no entertainment. He just couldn't bring himself to leave him so desolate. His own empathy was the problem he realised. He had sympathy for even the Devil, it seemed.

Pansy was the first to spot him and frowned. She'd seen that look before. She walked up to him. "You saw him again, didn't you?" she asked.

"Needed to set things up so that Karkaroff can see what became of his old master." Harry confirmed.

"You are too caring." Pansy said as she enfolded him in a tight hug. "For someone that keeps his emotions in check, you decide to feel at the worst of times."

"Can't help it." Harry said. "He and I have some things in common. If I didn't have the people I cared for, I could have easily become like him."

Pansy broke the hug and stepped back, before slapping him through the face. "Don't you dare say that about yourself!" she exclaimed. "You're nothing like that man!"

"Pansy?" Hermione said as she rushed to them. "What's going on here?"

"Harry just said that he and Voldemort were alike." Daphne said. She was within earshot and had heard the exchange. She looked at Harry, who was still too stunned to say or do much of anything. "You really shouldn't compare the two of you." she said, then. "You're not alike in the slightest."

"Come Pansy." Hermione said leading her off. The girl was both angry that anyone, even Harry himself, could say such a thing, and ashamed of what she had done.

"She cares a great deal for you." Dumbledore said as he approached. "And she's right. Don't let the similarities of your past make you think you share anything of substance. You have enough character to both attack and defend people, when you think there's a sliver of hope for them. As the most recent recipient of your compassion, let me vouch for the fundamental difference between you."

"You always say that the difference between us is love." Harry said, with his hand on his cheek. "I have it. He lacks it. Psychologically I can understand that. I even pointed it out to him, before I left. Empathy is something he completely lacks. He couldn't understand it, even if he had eternity to try to." He sighed, then. "I should go apologise." he said.

"She was just shocked that you think so little of yourself." Dumbledore said. "I daresay, she'll likely feel that she owes you an apology. I suggest you give her a moment, but don't ever speak of yourself like that again. She's starting to build one of the foundations of her life on who you are. You offended her sense of self, by saying what you did."

Harry looked at the wizened old man, then. "You know, you're wiser than you've been acting of late."

"I'm realising that." Dumbledore agreed.

"Let's get this unpleasantness over with." Harry said as he headed into the house, ignoring the many staring faces. The slap and the exclamation had drawn all their attention.

Harry walked into the house and to the most recently added room. The basement. In it was the movie that was currently being shown to Tom. Harry didn't take long to set things up so that they could see Tom and visa-versa. When he was done, he walked back out and waved Dumbledore in, seeing as how he knew the old man wanted to talk to him.

Then he went back upstairs. He saw Snape and Karkaroff talking off to the side, while they looked at the Earth, and he walked up to them. "Sorry to interrupt, Professor Snape." Harry said.

"You're not interrupting anything of real import." Snape said, with a smirk, as he, himself, interrupted Karkaroff.

"I promised you the ability to see what became of that man." Harry said. "If you go past the kitchen and into the basement, you'll be able to see for yourself. Take him with you." he said nodding at Karkaroff.

"With pleasure." Snape said, as he grinned an unholy grin. "Come Karkaroff. You'll like this." He promised as he walked off. Karkaroff delayed, but only for a moment, before he followed.

Harry saw Hermione exit the house, so he walked up to her. "Did I offend her terribly?" he asked.

"I think she's more upset with her reaction to your words." Hermione confessed. "I think you should go speak to her. You do know what you said was wrong, right?" she asked.

"I'm realising that." Harry said. "To be fair, I don't like the comparison I was drawing either."

"Good." Hermione said. "She's in the first upstairs bedroom." she said then, before walking off to go inform Susan, who was standing with Luna. Luna seemed unaffected, but Susan had a look of worry on her face. The girls really were each other's best friends.

Harry made his way upstairs and found Daphne softly talking to a sniffing Pansy. Harry made sure they heard him approach, though, and the talking stopped. Daphne got up and walked to him, before inclining her head to the bedroom and leaving.

Harry entered the bedroom and closed the door. Pansy wasn't looking up, though. "Thank you, Pansy." Harry said.

That got her attention. She looked up quickly. "You're thanking me?" she asked incredulously. She was worried she'd done something unforgivable. As his future wife, she could not excuse anyone that assaulted her husband. Not even herself.

"Yes." Harry said as he walked to her and sat next to her on the bed. "Somehow you knew I needed to be broken from the train of thought I was going down. I can't see any of the others caring enough to do something like that."

"Caring?" she asked.

"As long as it comes from a place of love, you can't hurt me, as much as I think I hurt you, by saying what I did." Harry said. "I'm sorry for that weakness. I know I should show less sympathy for the monster, but even after everything he did, I can't help but pity him. I see the darkest possible path that could have happened to myself if I didn't make friends, if I didn't find love. Can you imagine an existence without love?"

Pansy shook her head. "I really can't." she said.

"I can." Harry admitted. "My earliest memories are of being told I'd never be loved and that I was a worthless freak. That boy, the one that I was, on some level believed them. I'll always have a bit of that boy in me. As a result, I can't help but feel sorry for Tom and sympathise with him. He was also an orphan, picked on and forced to live with people that hated him, hurt him. He became what he did out of a necessity to survive."

"But you aren't like that." Pansy said. "That little boy didn't reject friendship and ask for brainless followers. You worked hard to improve your situation, until you became more than he could ever be. I couldn't stand hearing you say that you were like him, Harry. You're the one person I can't think of like that. I know you, Harry.

"You're not like the members of my family that look for gain and power, so that they can be better than others. Instead your goal has always been, since I met you, to help others improve their own situation." Pansy said. "Before I met you, my life's only ambition was to find a husband and produce an heir, while trying not to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"With you, I can just be me. I don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing, because I just have to say how I feel and it's always the right thing, because you want me to be me. With you, there is no wrong thing. You support me with everything. If I told you today, that I want to become a healer, you'd probably get me all the books I'd need and then develop one spell that can fix and cure everything, just to help me achieve my goal."

"Well, I doubt it would be that simple." Harry scoffed. "I'd likely rather hire a host of doctors and then have them teach you how the body works according to medical knowledge. By the time you've learned everything there is to know, you'll be able to fix everything with a bit of will and wandless magic, since it can basically do anything, as long as you understand what-"

That's when he couldn't speak anymore, because Pansy was firmly attached to his mouth. She couldn't believe how quickly he was willing to just start planning to accommodate her. He'd technically even just informed her that he already had taught her the magic she'd need to achieve her every goal.

It was another twenty minutes before the ruffled pair walked out of the house. "Feeling better?" Daphne asked with a knowing smile.

"I think we understand each other a little better." Harry said, in answer.

"Good." Daphne said, as she walked up to and hugged her friend.

Harry noted that he was receiving a couple of looks from Snape and Karkaroff. Snape looked smug, while Karkaroff looked bleak. He walked over to them. "Is there a problem, Igor?" he asked, using the man's given name on purpose.

"How did you do that?" Karkaroff asked. "He's the most powerful dark lord of all time?! And you trapped him in an eternal wasteland, never to be able to even see the planet that spawned him, again."

Harry shrugged. "A little magic and a little science goes a long way." he said.

"He said you were greater, even than himself!" Karkaroff said. "Why would he say that? Why would he admit it? Did you torture him? Did you promise him an end to his suffering?"

"I suspect it is to show respect." Snape said. ���The man still thinks himself the strongest. For someone to defeat him, he'd have to be stronger. In this case, he may be correct, though. That being said, Harry Black is not the smartest by his own admission, but he's resourceful. He also understands the value of allies, rather than the usefulness of servants, which likely makes him at least slightly smarter than Tom Riddle."

"I do tend to make friends rather easily." Harry shrugged. "Friendship is easier to manage and to establish. True friendships also have an element of trust. While I wouldn't say Severus and I are friends, we've got a modicum of trust between us. I suspect that he'd be less likely to betray me than he would Dumbledore, simply because I don't require it of him."

"There's also the life debt and all the favours I owe you." Snape drawled.

"That's not my problem." Harry said with a smirk. "You were the one stupid enough to follow the idiot fleabag, who calls himself my godfather, to where a werewolf slept. I didn't make you do that."

"I shall bear the shame for all time." Snape said in disgust at himself, but the glimmer of humour in his eyes told Harry he took the statement correctly.

"It is marvellous to see you getting along so well with the son of-" Dumbledore started.

"Lily Evans." Harry and Snape said together. Harry did roll his eyes as he said it, though. "Indeed." Snape added.

"Don't waste your breath, Albus." Harry said. "If he saw my father in me, he'd still be trying to punish me for simply existing."

"You could still do with a bit of humbling." Snape said.

Harry shrugged again. "You know how these things work. I need to be confident and friendly, so that people want to emulate the better parts of my persona, rather than the underhanded parts, like the one which helped create Marauders Inc."

"You?" Karkaroff asked.

"Indeed." Harry said, his face turning into Snape's for a moment, as he sneered the word out in Snape's own voice.

"That's just not right." Neville said, as he and Hannah approached, hand-in-hand.

"Hey, Nev." Harry said. "Are you thinking it's about time to leave?" He was looking between the two of them. It seemed like something may have changed for Neville.

"Well, we have been enjoying the view." Neville started. "But my lovely new girlfriend here has been threatening to drag me into one of the upstairs bedrooms, so I'm thinking it would likely be a good idea to get back to a place where there is an abundance of adult supervision."

"Really?!" Harry exclaimed happily as he dropped all joking to embrace the two of them. "Congratulations you two!" he said lifting them both up. He concentrated for a moment and a display of illusionary fireworks shot up and spelled out the words 'Congratulations Neville and Hannah!', in sparking lettering and with large booms.

Neville laughed along until Harry placed them down and then smiled up at the display, holding his girl. He knew telling Harry first would be a good idea. He somehow felt Harry deserved to know, too. Hannah had simply blushed at Neville's joke, but smiled happily for Harry's exuberance at Neville's good news. They were seldom seen apart and everyone knew they were the best of friends.

The display drew all of Harry's girls to them as well, to be congratulated, followed shortly by a bit of awkward cheering from the people who didn't know either of the two. Harry's girlfriends, who had been helping by answering questions and seeing to the needs of the guests were happily asking how Neville had asked. It turns out Neville had a certain sense of romance and had seen the opportunity of her first ever visit to the Moon as a perfect chance to ask her. Taking out his 'wand', Neville had levitated them both onto the roof, for some privacy and asked her to be his girl.

The Beauxbatons girls had all squealed at the romantic gesture and they all congratulated Neville on his very 'romantique' idea.

It wasn't long before everyone was getting back onto the ship. They'd still be taking a portkey home, but Harry tested the garage, which worked perfectly and shocked the guests, since they had not felt the movement. Before turning the ship into a portkey, though, Harry ensured everyone was buckled up and sped along the ground, disillusioned, and gave them a bit of a thrill. This time around there were no fearful mutters, as everyone enjoyed the g-forces Harry allowed to affect them as they bobbed and swerved at high speeds.

Too soon, it seemed, Harry allowed the Headmaster to Portkey them directly into the wards of Hogwarts. When he landed, Harry heard Snape tell Karkaroff to make his students promise to keep the secret of where they had been, only allowing them to say they were on a special outing with Harry. Karkaroff seemed more than willing to agree to it and Harry was shocked when the man sent a grateful smile at him. No doubt he'd been living in fear since he defected from the Dark Lord's ranks.

The Beauxbatons girls didn't need such promises, since they knew Harry didn't want all of his secrets told to the world and they intended to keep their chevaliers' secrets already. Harry even dropped the visiting school's students off at their respective temporary abodes. Harry was amused to note that Madam Maxime hadn't even noticed their arrival, as she was giving Hagrid instruction on specific wand movements to cast a spell.

When the last of them disembarked, Harry shrunk and put away the ship and then decided to give the Beauxbatons girls something to do, to give the Headmistress and Hagrid a bit more privacy. He and his girls were seen inside the coach at his request, while Dumbledore went to go see what progress the half-giants were making with his old friend and Harry quickly had the TV set up.

"So, you adjust the volume by pointing your wand at the display and turning your wand in a circle, and you change channels by pointing your wand and making a flicking motion right or left." Harry instructed, as he emulated the movement.

"Why do you give us zees?" Fleur asked.

"Well, he couldn't consider himself a good friend if he didn't help Hagrid get some alone time with his new teacher could he?" Neville asked. He had realised what Harry was doing the moment he did it.

"There is also the fact that this will likely help with your English." Hermione stated. "More exposure and all."

"Though, I suggest you check the music channels as well." Harry said. "I really enjoy those for when I work and they are less distracting. Then there are also the movie channels. They are all child friendly, but the televisions we sell also come with packages that are more intended for adults, or those people who enjoy muggle sports."

"You just know Seamus is going to worship you, when he realises he could watch the football world cup in a few years." Hermione said.

"We'll have to discuss televisions in the common rooms with the Professors. They'd likely only allow a small amount of time for such activities, if at all." Harry said. "This is a school after all."

"Are there any educational channels?" Hermione countered.

Harry thought about that. "Now that you mention it…" he said as he quickly cycled the channels before he stopped on some channel about nature. It seemed like they were in Australia, and the current image showed a koala bear. The girls in the room all went quiet as they watched the adorable little creature in its natural habitat.

Suddenly the volume increased and Harry saw Fleur with her wand out and pointed at the display, as the girls all seemed mesmerised and made themselves comfortable. "Well, that seems to have worked-"

Harry was shushed from all around the room and chuckled, before beckoning Neville to quickly come with him. When they were outside, he said, "I have to go take care of my weekend responsibilities back home and have a few chores finish. Can you tell the girls I said goodbye?"

"Sure thing Harry." Neville said with a smile. Harry could tell the boy also wanted to watch the show they were all watching, so Harry waved him back towards the door and went to go greet the three adults, who were discussing magic while explaining some concept to Hagrid. Before long he had left to go take care of his private business.

"Zat boy ees going to change ze world, one day." Madam Maxime said.

"He already has." Dumbledore nodded. "I, for one, couldn't be happier."

"'e's a good boy." Hagrid agreed. He'd already confided in Madam Maxime that Harry had made the wand for him, but she had already known, so Harry wouldn't mind when he found out. "'e even fixed my laser, so tha' I couln' accidentally hurt no-one."

"'e did?" Madam Maxime asked. "'ow?" she asked.

Hagrid smirked at that, as he concentrated and conjured a target for himself a bit away from them. It was a simple construct, but he was proud of himself for emulating Harry's usual target reasonably well. "Le' me show you." he said, before he pulled out the impressive weapon, after switching it to the laser setting and pointed it at the target, charging it up, even as he drew it, and fired at the target, almost hitting dead centre in the space of two seconds, from the moment he had created the target, which was now burning merrily, hiding the small spot of illusionary darkness inside the flames.

"'e made eet cast a spell to 'ide ze light?" Madam Maxime asked.

"'e did more than tha'." Hagrid said, as he used his off hand to switch the setting. Then he pointed the weapon again and a huge gout of flame engulfed the target. Then he switched it to the last setting and, using a little less power than last time, even though this setting could still flatten normal humans, he doused the flames and sent the target rolling along in the torrent of water.

Madam Maxime was speechless, but Dumbledore smiled proudly. Harry had certainly fixed the problems the weapon had. It was now not just a deadly weapon, but also a deterrent and a useful tool. "How marvellous!" he exclaimed. "He's made it into a defensive tool, as well, instead of just a deadly weapon."

"The water's salt-water, though." Hagrid said. "But it's not meant for drinkin', anyway. I keep it on tha' setting most o' the time. I've been practicing to control the fire and laser better, though."

"Zees ees a weapon of great power!" Madam Maxime exclaimed, her fingers itching to try the weapon, herself.

"I dunno tha' I'd say tha'." Hagrid said with a frown. "'arry was real worried tha' I would hurt someone, on accident, so he fixed it so it's not just a weapon."

"Does it have a name?" Dumbledore asked interestedly.

"'arry calls it my laser, but…" Hagrid started.

"It's not just a laser anymore." Dumbledore nodded along.

"'ow about… le solutionneur de problèmes?" Madam Maxime asked.

"The Problem Solver?" Dumbledore asked with a bit of a smirk.

"I think I like tha'." Hagrid said with a nod, as he looked at the weapon. "It starts fires, but then also puts 'em out. The Problem Solver." he said, trying the words out and nodding along with himself, with a bit of a nod.

"Better than Dragon Breath." Dumbledore said. That's what he'd been thinking, after hearing the sound it made, but Madam Maxime was right. That would have sounded like an offensive weapon only.

"I dunno. I could still call tha setting that." Hagrid said. "I like the sound it makes."

"It did sound impressionnant." Madam Maxime agreed.

"I wonder how it works, though." Dumbledore said. He'd already sent a scan into the weapon, but every part if it was heavily charmed to protect its secrets.

"Now don' go gettin' ideas." Hagrid said, quickly stashing the weapon in its holster. "'arry trusts me ta keep it safe."

"I wasn't going to ask you for it, Hagrid." Dumbledore assured him. "I'm merely expressing interest. Harry makes all these impressive implements and I can't help but wonder. He's told me how he comes up with the ideas, but I suspect that I'm supposed to keep that to myself."

Hagrid nodded in understanding. "Tha's good. 'arry wouldn' want his secrets getting out. 'e warned me tha' this weapon, with enough power, could burn hotter than the sun. Said I had to take good care of it, because something like tha' could have catast… bad results. Summin' about setting the atmosphere on fire and the end of all life as we know it."

"What?!" Dumbledore exclaimed. How could the boy be so careless! That's when Dumbledore saw the smile on Hagrid's face. "You tricked me?" he asked hopefully.

"'arry said to say tha' if you ever start pokin' around." Hagrid admitted. "Said tha' before he fixed it, it was possible, but unlikely that I could give it enough power to do tha'."

Dumbledore sighed in relief. "So that couldn't happen now?" he asked.

"No. Though I suspect if 'arry ever turned dark, we'll be in serious trouble." Hagrid said seriously.

"I wouldn't worry about zat." Madam Maxime said, re-joining the conversation. "'arry is in no danger of ever turning dark, as long as 'e 'as 'is family and girlfriends. If zey are ever taken, zough, I would not want to be near ze man stupid enough to do zat."

"That person better 'ope 'e's not near me when 'e tries, either." Hagrid said darkly. The girls often accompanied Harry when he visited. They all treated him with respect, but also a bit of friendly comradery. He considered them all his friends and would protect them if there was ever a need.

Dumbledore smiled at Hagrid's stance. "You and me both, Hagrid. That boy doesn't need to go through any more trauma. I'm hoping he has the opportunity to just be a boy for a while yet. Maybe experience some of the normal troubles of a teenage boy." Dumbledore's wish for Harry would be granted, but only for a while.

BTB-BTB

In the meanwhile, Harry had met up with the astronauts. They finally signed the contracts and Harry decided to let them have access to the Hogwarts library. Not the restricted section of course, but still. He confirmed that they could all use the devices and ensured all of them had Comms too. That would help them when he explained some of his plans for attacking the carbon dioxide problem.

"Transfiguration?" Doctor Hawk asked. "But isn't that temporary?"

"Normally, yes." Harry allowed. "Let me make an example for you. I'll be right back." Harry quickly apparated home and went to retrieve some of his stock of coal. When he returned he placed the large, sturdy paper bag down and opened it, levitating out a couple of pounds of the stuff.

"There are a couple of principles of Transfiguration you need to keep in mind. First off, it can change one thing into another." Harry explained, turning the coal into a large cube of steel. "This is temporary. The cube of steel produced requires magic to sustain its shape."

After turning it back, Harry turned it into a block of solid carbon. "Secondly, there is the permanent manipulation of shape. It basically means it stays the same substance, but takes a different form, with the same mass. There are principles involved with how to ensure the form is kept. That is more like an art you learn as you practice the skill. If your construct is too big, the extra matter is temporary and the whole thing reverts when it changes back, or it becomes hollow, to substitute mass."

Next, he focussed his power on the block and it started to crumble as the carbon broke apart into what looked like dust, which started coalescing into a thin sheet of carbon, with four bonded atoms. "Then there is my most recent discovery to the field. Knowing the atomic structure seems to impart the ability to manipulate said atomic structure. The Carbon is currently being changed to four bonded pairings."

"So, you can permanently create synthetic diamond?" Doctor Hawk asked.

"I needed to do it for my recording media and it takes a lot of power." Harry nodded. "At first I used it to record sound, but later I found that it's also a good way to store recoded light, for later playback."

"So, video and audio?" Doctor Pike asked.

"Exactly." Harry said. "I needed to come up with a way to store multiple different things, though, and copied from the principles of mundane data storage, to create an allocation table with timestamps and dates as the common reference to the location of the sequentially written data. It's not recorded randomly, as I understand mundane data storage works. I think that would probably slow things down with magic actually."

"Considering the storage medium and the fact that there are no mechanical parts, that statement makes sense." Doctor Pike nodded along.

"The difference between magical and non-magical video and audio, would likely be best described as the difference between analogue and digital. There is no frame rate with magic, so there is the possibility of perfect recall, versus what I understand as the frames per second from mundane recordings." Harry said. "This is a valuable asset with the magical kind and will likely be a couple of steps above mundane capabilities for quite a while."

"I'll say." Doctor Pike said. "There is no way to even emulate that effect, if what you say is true. We're limited by the technology of the time, though I'd like to see that some time." she said.

"Later." Harry allowed. "Let's finish the demonstration first."

He levitated the thin plate of diamond in front of them and vanished it. "What I just did was vanish it. When you vanish something, it doesn't just stop existing. It's turned into air temporarily. After a couple of hours, the base molecules re-assert themselves as the magic fails, but by that time they have been dispersed by the movement of air, making the chances of any two molecules still being together very small.

"Technically, I just contributed to the carbon dioxide problem, because when the carbon re-appears, it can bond freely with oxygen and likely will. Now, here's the important bit.��� Harry continued, looking up at them. "If I can bond carbon atoms with magic permanently and disperse them-"

"You can do the same with carbon dioxide and free up the oxygen molecules." Doctor Hawk said. "Have you tested the theory?" she asked.

"Why do you think this is the first thing we're discussing?" Harry asked. "I need you to set up an environment where we can test the results of experiments, so we can work out the best way to achieve this. Magic causes problems around delicate equipment, so you can either find a way to block interference, or setup a different method of testing the results."

"So, some form of chemical test, with solutions that react to higher concentrations of oxygen or a way to have computers and other testing equipment around a high concentration of magic?" Lieutenant Thomson asked. Harry smiled at him and nodded. "You didn't think I was here only because I'm a marine did you?" Thomson asked with a smirk. "That being said, I'll be asking you for one of those lightsabers and likely ask that you make a laser weapon for me at some point."

"I already made one, but it requires innate magic to function at this point. Maybe you or the doctors can come up with a way of storing magical energy long enough to make that a viable option, though?" Harry asked looking at the Doctors. "My current method works with a buffered power-rune set and that is only good enough for short periods. The buffer I use for the Comms works on a different principle to store the information on the Comms and different platforms."

"Not until we understand a lot more about magic." Doctor Hawk said. It would be good to equip the man to protect them better. Until they could convince Harry and the PM to increase their staff, he was their only line of defence and they were still working out of the hangar they had originally met at. Fortunately he had normal weaponry, but she had to concede that it would be better to have a magical means of defence as well.

"So that's the first mission then?" Doctor Pike asked. "To test results when you do things manually and see where to go from there?"

"Not exactly." Harry countered. "I need to create a device that does this without me around. For that we'll need storage for the separated carbon, locations for storage and probably a mechanical function to separate built up diatomic carbon particles. I'll need you on design, for a device that has both a lot of surface area and that can perform this function. I'll help you build it. All you need is to get me a list of the base materials you'll need."

"You'll produce it? All I have to do is help with design?" Doctor Pike asked. Something in her manner screamed at him that he had just become her personal hero.

"That's the idea." Harry said. "I'll transfigure what you need, since I can bypass potential months of construction by simply making the magic do the work. This is the whole reason we needed people in the know about magic on the team."

"This has just become my favourite job." Doctor Pike said. "When I found out about magic, I was disappointed that I wasn't allowed access to it. This will make development of new techniques and production so much simpler."

"The only problem being that everything you come up with, you need to share with someone else, who has both the right knowledge and the ability to use your designs from then on." Harry said with a bit of a smirk.

"I don't care. It's not like I'm designing atomic bombs or fission reactors." Doctor Pike scoffed. "Knowing what you know, there's a higher likelihood of your experiments causing problems than my designs."

"Well, I don't intend to cause mass destruction." Harry allowed.

"Last time you were telling us that you had a design on a long-range sensor." Doctor Hawk interjected. "Can you tell us about that now?" she asked.

"What do you know about blue diamonds and EMF?" Harry asked.

Doctor Hawk looked at him for a moment as she thought about what he was saying. After a minute of contemplation, she admitted, "I know a few things, but I don't see them intersecting. I'm assuming it has something to do with magic?"

Harry smirked. "I recently found out that increasing my personal EMF increases my magical influence in my immediate area, making a good argument for the idea that magic functions in the EM spectrum somewhere. That also explains the difficulties with magic in space and why my personal wandless magic struggles, but can permeate the void.

"Now, what do you think I was working on lasers for, and why would I need a blue diamond?" Harry asked.

Doctor Hawk thought again, but Doctor Pike answered. "You replaced the ruby with the diamond, probably because the ruby didn't function for something you were trying. I'm assuming you were trying to channel magic through the light?" Harry nodded.

"You are using some sort of detection magic for the sensor and needed the magic to permeate the vacuum and it needed to be able to range out ahead of you faster than your EMF could travel ahead at high speed to give you time to respond, or correct your course?" Doctor Hawk theorised.

"Got it in one." Harry said in satisfaction. "You guys are going to work out fantastically. Did you know not one magical besides me knows all this? Seriously, thousands of years spent studying magic and I just apply the slightest of scientific theories and come up with the principles I'd need to assist in interstellar flight."

"Idiots." Doctor Hawk said. "Science is the foundation of understanding everything. Why would they think magic is exempt?"

"Normal magicals think that science is the mundane way of trying to overcome not having magic." Harry said. "They don't even try to understand it, because they already have magic."

"Arrogant." Doctor Hawk scoffed.

"You really can't blame a society that still thinks they are advanced, while they function under a law that was created in the 1600's." Harry defended the magical world. "That being said, we have whole fields of knowledge to expand on and I for one am excited to take advantage of the opportunity."

"Did you achieve success?" Doctor Pike asked. "With the diamond, I mean?"

Harry smirked, made a fist, pointing the still invisible ring off to the side and making a blue dot appear, before a plume of fire shot up from the light, even as he moved the laser dot around. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Was that laser induced plasma, or did you cast a spell from the point of contact?" Doctor Hawk asked. If it was the prior, they should all be blind.

"Spell." Harry said. He turned to Thomson. "Blue diamond is the only diamond on the planet that can conduct a current. My theory was that, since a normal ruby laser couldn't conduct magic, as I had hoped, I needed something that could."

"That's what the Boron was for." Doctor Hawk said. She had seen the package Harry had received from the PM. "You needed it for the diamond."

"But the amount you'd need is very little. You've still got a lot of that to work with, don't you?" Doctor Pike asked. Harry just smiled. "Maybe you can bring us a sample of one of those diamonds to set up some experiments with?" she asked.

"Sure." Harry allowed. "But only a small one. I don't want to waste any of the rare element. I found out that it also functions as a universal channelling medium for magic. People would kill for that kind of knowledge."

"I like the fact that it was science that allowed for the creation of something magicals would kill to know about." Doctor Hawk said with a vindictive smile.

"What do you have against magicals?" Harry asked. He'd seen her reluctance to work with him in the beginning and the glee she was experiencing at calling them idiots and acting like they were all ignorant buffoons.

"That's private." Doctor Hawk said. "That being said, I don't have a problem with you, anymore. You don't seem like you're part of the problem."

"Is this about your daughter?" Harry persisted. Doctor Hawk's eyes flashed angrily, but she controlled herself and beckoned him to follow her.

When they were alone, she said, "This stays between us." It was not a request, and Harry nodded. She nodded back and started, "My mother is sick. The magical world has a cure, a potion, but it's against the statute to help her. My daughter tried, but there is no exemption in the law. If I got sick, they couldn't help me either. I've not seen my girl since. She feels like she failed the family and now she's off in Africa, to try and avoid us."

"Tell me what you need and I'll get it for you." Harry said instantly.

"What?" Doctor Hawk asked.

"Tell me what's wrong with her and I may accidentally leave whatever potion you need for her on a bench the next time I'm in the area. Who knows what would happen to such a potion?" Harry asked with a look.

"You'd do that?" Doctor Hawk asked. "Wouldn't you get in trouble?"

"Who would know?" Harry asked. "After all, miraculous recoveries happen all the time. You'd have to act surprised, but that would be the extent of my involvement. I also have a staff of healers on call and a potions master who owes me a couple of favours."

Doctor Sidney Hawk, Astrophysicist, looked at the seeming fourteen-year old boy. He was acting like there were no rules for him. Like he could make and break them as he saw fit. She liked it. She smiled then. The first true smile he'd seen from her. "Thank you, Mister Black."

"Don't thank me yet, Doctor Hawk." Harry denied. "Let's sort your mum out first, yeah?"

"Of course." Doctor Hawk replied. "After all, you're not doing anything, right?"

"Exactly." Harry nodded. "Now, let's go back to the others and discuss the mission to Mars I'm planning for the school holiday. We need the prototypes for the air scrubbing units ready and working so that we can start terraforming Mars."