C4 Merlin's Message

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Harry watched the sudden shock ripple across the Queen's retinue, but wasn't surprised by the lack of response from the Queen other than a slight twitch in her eyebrows.

"I have been called a druid, magician, mage, seer, sorcerer, legend, fantasy and," Myrrdin smiled, "an old fraud. What I am - or was, from your point of view in 1991 - is a druidic mage and seer.

"Please be aware young Harry can pause, or end, this message at any time. You've only but to ask him.

"By now, young Harry has given you a great deal of information concerning what is happening in the wizarding world in your time. He will have also given you some information on the other heirs. And, by now, you will be wondering just how it is he knows what he does.

"The answer is simple. I told him. And we investigated matters further, together.

"Normally, I do not take an active role in the affairs of man. I remain conscious at all times of the paradoxes involved with... fiddling... with the time streams. However, while messing with the time streams is dangerous, watching what happens across time, is not.

"Many, many years ago - or a few moments ago - it depends on your point of view of time," Myrrdin smiled again, "I became aware that a manipulative old know-it-all wizard who goes by the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, had learned of part of a prophecy and - full of his own pride, arrogance and overweening self importance - decided to use what he learned and shape events to fit what he thought should happen.

"He developed a plan, shaped around what he believes or believed, is 'The Greater Good'. It was designed to make the prophecy come out the way he thought it should. Instead, he set in motion a chain of events that, if I had not stepped in, would have resulted in a world-wide wizard war that would have cost billions of lives, both magical and mundane. Quite possibly, almost probably, it would have driven the world to almost total annihilation.

"If, on the other hand, he had left things alone - or will have left things alone - then an evil man would have been destroyed, and the one who did it - young Harry here - would have gone on to unite the magical world under a... banner... of equal opportunity for all. He would have brought that world's unlawful and unfair laws and behaviour back under control; and the magical world would have been a very happy and safe place for folks to be.

"That was to be young Harry's destiny... until Dumbledore interfered. So, I felt I had to... take steps. However, I could not and cannot take steps directly, due to one of those irritating time paradoxes I mentioned.

"In simple terms, what I did was create what Harry calls a 'pocket reality'. It is a place outside of time and outside of your reality. In that reality I made time run at slightly less than half the rate it does in normal reality.

"I then grabbed from your reality of 1984, a house elf Harry was supposed to rescue from his abusive magical master in late May 1993. I brought him into the pocket reality, showed him the information leading up to and beyond May 1993, freed him of the magical bond that forced him to serve his abusive master, and asked if he would be willing to take Harry's place as a... magically altered doppelganger... and continue life as Harry would have done if I had not removed him.

"If I had not removed him, the Dursleys would have continued to abuse him; lock him for days on end in the cupboard under the stairs; clothed him only in hand-me-downs from his much larger cousin; allowed him to eat little more than table scraps; and forced him to do all the household chores including caring for the gardens, the cooking, the laundry, cleaning the house from top to bottom, and any other chore they could imagine for him.

"During this time he would have been constantly physically abused with beatings by his uncle and his cousin. A cousin who is constantly spoiled by both his parents who has now become nothing more than an overweight brat and bully. His Aunt, once Harry was able to dress and toilet himself, would never touch him again. And would even encourage the beatings he received."

When Myrrdin started describing what Harry's life was going to be like Harry began to, at first, wince, before finally dropping his head into his hands and moaning slightly.

"As it was I rescued Harry on his fourth birthday. At that time he was malnourished - his eyesight was becoming poor as a result, which would have led to him needing spectacles - was undersized, had sore hands from constantly weeding garden beds, was covered in bruises, had a mild concussion from a beating from his uncle the evening before, and was under the impression his name was 'Freak' because that was the only name they called him, and had damage to his magical core that would have weakened his magic. His weakened magical core would have, in part, led to him being unable to fulfill his role in prophecy.

"If I know Harry as well as I believe I do, and I know I do, right now he's currently wishing I would just shut up about it. So, I will, for now. Though I've told him this many times, he has no reason to feel embarrassment about how the Dursleys treated him, and would have treated him."

Harry glanced at the Queen to see how she was handling this. What Harry saw was his Monarch, looking like she was ready to commit murder on the spot. And Her remaining retinue were in a similar state. So were the goblins.

He then wondered if the Prime Minister was going to give his little 'calm yourself', speech to his Queen. Instead, a quick glance across at the Prime Minister, showed the man was also staring bug-eyed at the image of Myrrdin and he was looking quite choleric with rage.

"Now, please don't concern yourself about the little house elf, Dobby, who has taken his place," Myrrdin continued. "A house elf is able to take and handle much more abuse than a small child. He has his own brand of magic which allows him to almost instantly heal his injuries and he's able to make the Dursleys believe through minor illusions that his body is... suitably... battered and ill-treated.

"Further, while Dobby is a volunteer, he is also able to leave the Dursleys at any time if he feels unable to continue with the charade. That he hasn't yet is testimony to his bravery and dedication to Harry. Dobby may be... just... a house elf. But he's also one of the bravest people I have ever met.

"Though Harry would rather forget about the Dursleys and just let the matter go I, for one, will not countenance such treatment of a child. I ask that you have them suitably dealt with after, but not until, the 1st of September. We desperately need the charade to continue until then. Your law enforcement investigators will find signs of 'his' abuse in the cupboard under the stairs, from interviews of their neighbours, and from his school at Little Whinging Primary.

"Now for why Dobby had to take his place instead of just taking Harry. Dumbledore has set upon the Dursley residence spells and charms that allow him to monitor Harry and the household. He did this to ensure Harry was right where he wanted him to be so that when he has Harry... rescued... Harry will look upon him as his saviour, making him more malleable to Dumbledore's manipulations.

"That's right, Dumbledore knows full well what the Dursleys are doing to Dobby, who he believes is Harry. While Dumbledore would never directly kill another person, or abuse another person, he is more than happy for another person to commit such acts so long as he could justify it to himself as being for what he calls 'The Greater Good'.

"I now return to Harry himself; the real Harry.

"As I said, I took him from the Dursleys during the early hours of his fourth birthday. After I healed him I began to prepare him. But, while he was still a small child, I also made it fun for him. I made sure his childhood was a very happy one.

"One thing I did to him just after he arrived in the pocket reality and I healed him, was slow his physical growth and development to match the rate at which time was slowed. That way he would not leave the pocket reality looking like a young adult. Instead, he looked - looks - like a normal, healthy, happy and well-rounded eleven year old.

"However, I allowed his intellectual, emotional, spiritual and magical cores to develop normally. That is why he probably looks to you, if you think about it, like a nineteen year old, or someone even older, trapped in an eleven year old's body.

"And now for the full prophecy which, other than about the pocket reality, Harry believes was about the only thing I was going to tell you about."

Suddenly the image of Myrrdin seemed to jump to one side, and another image of lines of text slowly started to scroll up the screen.

Myrrdin, though, began to speak in a deeper voice. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. Before two more hands of full turnings shall pass... The one with the power will come forth from whence he has been lost. He shall be joined by loyalty... He shall be joined by wit... He shall be joined by resolve. The four are rejoined! They shall defeat evil and restore order to magical kind."

The words continued to scroll up the screen before fading out at the 'top'.

Back in his normal voice Myrrdin said, "Now to translate." And the prophecy once more began to scroll up the screen. But this time much more slowly.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... that could be anyone at this point.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... That could have meant Harry or young Neville Longbottom.

"And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal... Now that's definitely Harry. The scar on his forehead was from Riddle trying to kill him in his crib on the night of the 31st of October 1982. The mark left by Riddle of a killing curse that rebounded and... temporarily... killed Riddle.

"But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... According to Dumbledore, that's the power of love. The love of his parents that saved him from the killing curse. And the love he has for others now. Dumbledore is wrong.

"And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. He will either kill Riddle, or Riddle will kill him. So, yes; Harry has to kill Riddle to save the world.

"Before two more hands of full turnings shall pass... A decade in normal space time.

"The one with the power will come forth from whence he has been lost... That's Harry, again, but coming out of hiding.

"He shall be joined by loyalty... That's Hufflepuff.

"He shall be joined by wit... That's Ravenclaw.

"He shall be joined by resolve... That's Gryffindor

"The four are rejoined!... That means Harry is Slytherin. But, to be properly rejoined, they will have to come together where the four founders parted. That's Hogwarts. The first time that can occur will be the evening of the 1st of September 1991 when all four walk in together into the Great Hall at Hogwarts, when all first year students are sorted into their Houses.

"They shall defeat evil and restore order to magical kind... Harry will defeat Riddle and the four of them working together will destroy any other evil, including Dumbledore's brand of it, before they then go on to fix the problems in the magical world bringing true law and order... restore order... back to all the magical races."

The second image then disappeared and Myrrdin's image jumped back to its original spot.

"Pause the message, Lord Potter!" the Queen called out.

Harry jumped up and quickly stepped forward reaching out to tap the top of the message cube.

"Now, as to..." Myrrdin's message continued just as Harry tapped the cube and said, "Pause!"

This left Myrrdin's image paused similar to a DVD player.

"Your Majesty?" asked Harry.

"Lord Potter," She calmly said. "We are not someone to put much faith in prophecies. However, according to what We have just heard, if you do not... kill... this Riddle person..."

"Tom Riddle; yes, Ma'am," said Harry, interrupting.

"Tom Riddle. Then the world, as We know it, will be destroyed," continued the Queen. "We do not like the sound of that."

'That's an understatement,' thought Harry.

"As the one upon whom all this hinges; and the one who, in the other timeline where Dumbledore meddled, would have been killed soon after his... my... seventeenth birthday and failed; neither do I, Ma'am."

"We are beginning to more than suspect you and... Merlin... have a plan to deal with this," She mused.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Harry. "And I'm hoping Myrrdin's message get's on with it and discloses it to you. Because I'd rather you be upset with him about what he's done than with me. I don't think there's much to go now, Ma'am."

"Very well," said the Queen. "Continue."

"Yes, Ma'am," said Harry before reaching out and once more tapping the top of the cube and saying, "Play!" before heading back to his seat.

Myrrdin's message then continued, "... your role in this. Please, do not worry, you're going to like this."

But Harry could see a fair bit of consternation ripple across the Queen's people. No one messes with their Monarchy.

"Back in April of 1910 I organised for an old wizard of that time to cast upon the Crown a spell that is linked directly to the House of Windsor and would imbue the person so crowned certain magics of their own," continued Myrrdin. "You may think of these magics as Royal Magics.

"The magics include subtle charms relating to compulsion, which compels your subjects to obey you when you push with your magic; charisma, which will lead your subjects to really like you, if not love you; and magical compulsion, which means your magical subjects will have to obey your commands when given.

"However, to stop the wizarding world becoming aware of this, I made the radius of the effect of the charms quite short. In you, it should be about 100 yards. And that is way beyond the effective spell range of a wizard.

"Further, the spell is most effective upon magical folk, including wizards. Even wizards highly skilled in Occlumency, the shielding of the mind, will be affected. In effect, no magical being within range of you and under compulsion can do you harm or disobey your lawful commands."

Myrrdin paused to think for a bit and then said, "Perhaps I should also clear something up here. All of the House of Windsor, from George the Fifth on, has these magics inert within them. However, it is only the ceremony in which the rightful heir is crowned, that activates it. It is magic linked by blood.

"I debated whether or not you should be informed you had this power. I was, at first, against it. Knowledge of the power could conceivably corrupt you; and you did not need to know about it for it to be effective. However, Harry insisted and said he would inform you if I did not. He also felt I should be the one to tell you as I was the one who did it to your House.

"As for why I did it, Harry and the other heirs are going to have a hard enough time setting things to rights in the wizarding world as it is. Harry and the other heirs will need the power of your authority over the wizarding world - to drag them kicking and screaming in opposition in some cases - to get things back on track sooner than would have occurred in the original timeline.

"Harry is working on an accelerated timeline here from the original. In the original, before Dumbledore interfered, the four heirs of the founders, the Earldoms, would have taken up their rings on their seventeenth birthdays; when they reach their majorities under wizard law. And they would have spent the next half century at least setting the wizarding world back to rights.

"However, since I had to take a more active role than just monitoring, then we're going to fix things faster. It will save many lives that would have otherwise been lost. Especially, those of children and non-magical folk.

"I'll leave it to Harry to tell you about bringing balance back to the timeline. He'll also be able to answer any questions you may have.

"He is loyal to the Crown, Your Majesty. He will do your bidding without question. But he and I have also spent years planning how to bring balance back to magical Britain and the world. I ask you to heed his counsel."

Myrrdin then bowed, and the image then winked out.

The room was silent for a few moments until the Queen, having gathered her thoughts, spoke, "We are not happy to hear of tampering occurring with the blood of the House of Windsor, My Lord."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Harry said. "But I think I need to clear up a couple of things Myrrdin said and I will then show you at least part of the effect of the Royal Magic."

The Queen just gave Harry a slight nod to continue.

"The magical world think it is blood itself involved; and, as such, they refer to it as blood magic. However, it's actually the DNA contained within the blood to which these forms of magic are linked," explained Harry. "If it was just the blood then it would not be passed on to each successive generation. But, as it's linked to the DNA of the person, it can be passed on.

"That is how the goblin's rite of inheritance is able to determine someone's bloodline. They just further use the plasma in the blood to spread the red blood cells across the page to form the words."

Harry paused to check that the Queen understood before moving on.

"As for a demonstration of your magic in use you will notice Director Ragnock and Grunnark are still here and haven't moved much," said Harry indicating the two goblins.

"I and Sir Kingston are much more affected by your magics that any non-magical human as we are partly magical. The goblins, however, are far more magical so it affects them even more.

"Now, goblins are a proud warrior race, as Sir Kingston said earlier. In goblin culture, in a time of war, Director Ragnock would be a war chief of his clan. And yet he, and Grunnark twice, both did not hesitate before kneeling before you. He would never do this to anyone else, including Prince Charles, Ma'am."

Harry was watching the two goblins to see their reactions on hearing this. Harry thought both had expressions of shock on their faces; but it was hard to tell with goblins.

"Further, the goblins have now channelled their warrior... spirits... into the banking world. They have pretty much dedicated themselves to the... war of the boardroom... and making money.

"Both would, right now, much rather be back at the bank running businesses and making money. And yet, neither has sought to leave. And, finally, the goblins are very avaricious. Yet they have not charged you for the service they have performed today."

The Queen thought about what Harry said for a moment before turning to face the goblins.

"Director Ragnock," she asked. "Do you feel this... compulsion?"

"I had not noticed it until Lord Potter mentioned it, Your Majesty," he replied. "But, yes. I can sense it now it has been brought to my attention. It is very subtle."

The Queen again hesitated for a moment before she said, "Then We apologise to both of you, Director Ragnock. We have unknowingly kept you and Grunnark from your... endeavours. Please inform Us of a suitable fee for your service here this day and you shall be duly awarded."

The old goblin merely bowed before the Queen went on.

"We shall shortly be in need of your services, yet again, when the other heirs are brought before Us. Will you avail of Us your services at that time?"

"I would be honoured, Your Majesty," the old goblin said bowing again.

"We thank you," said the Queen said. "We shall call then."

Both goblins then bowed.

Seeing his opportunity Harry then said, "Director Ragnock."

The old goblin turned to him and waited.

"You have also done a great service for me, today. Please take a suitable fee, plus ten percent as bonus, from my vaults as recompense."

"It shall be done, My Lord," the old goblin said.

"And may I ask, what was the phrase you used to floo into this room?" asked Harry.

"Buckingham Palace, My Lord."

Harry nodded in response, then said, "Then, may gold flow as rivers into your vaults; and what few remain of your enemies tremble at mention of your name."

The old goblin was a little surprised but clearly pleased before formally replying, "And may our business together prove most fruitful for us both and line our pockets with gold."

He then gestured to Grunnark who stepped back up to the box, carefully moved the message cube to one side and took up the box between his hands before heading back to the fireplace. Ragnock hesitated for a moment before he said to Harry, "There is still the matter of the business we would discuss with you. And, now that you are emancipated, there's the matter of the Potter Will."

"The Potter Will?" asked Harry, surprised.

"Yes, My Lord," he replied. "The Will of your parents, James and Lily Potter."

"I was unaware of a Will, Director," said Harry. "Could you bring it with you when Her Majesty next calls upon you?"

"Of course, My Lord," the old goblin replied before bowing once to Harry, then turning to bow once more deeply to the Queen. He then turned on his heels and strode back to the fireplace to join Grunnark, before both then left.

Harry then turned to the Queen who asked, "We would know what that was about gold and enemies, My Lord."

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry. "It is a goblin greeting to mention something about them getting more gold, and harm coming to their enemies. Few folk in the magical world bother to even learn of it. Silly of them, really; as the goblins will respond better to you if you do.

"You would have noticed Director Ragnock did not mention the Potter Will until I gave the goblin the greeting of parting?"

The Queen nodded.

"The goblins are scrupulously honest, but they will not often freely give information unless pressed for it," said Harry.

"We see," replied the Queen.

Hesitating for a moment Harry said, "There is also one other example of your Royal Magic you caused to occur today you should know, Your Majesty".

"Yes?" asked the Queen.

"The goblins were going to give me the heir's ring for the House of Slytherin after the rite of inheritance as, under magical law, I am... or was... not permitted to take up the Head of House ring until I come of age on my seventeenth birthday, or my magical guardian emancipates me," said Harry.

"It is Our purview as to when one of Our peers is recognised, Lord Potter," said the Queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry. "And that's what I'm referring to. When you said, 'by Our command you will take up your Earl of Slytherin and other rings', your magic overrode the magic denying me the Head of House ring. In response the magic that protects the rings, and the magic of the rite of inheritance document, did the only thing they could; they recognised you as my Queen emancipating me and the words on the document of the rite of inheritance changed from Heir of House Slytherin and House Potter, to Head of House Slytherin and House Potter."

The Queen then looked down at the document before Her and mused, "We see."

"As for the state of the three magics Myrrdin mentioned," Harry went on. "The charisma and magical compulsion are always 'on'. The normal compulsion for non-magicals, isn't. Non-magicals can, with enough determination and focus, disobey you. However, enhanced emotional states, such as you getting angry, will make the passive compulsion component active; and make the other two flare up stronger. At that point none of your subjects will be able to disobey you. And that is why Myrrdin was hesitant in telling you."

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely," said the Queen.

"That was Myrrdin's argument; yes, Ma'am," said Harry.

"We understand, Lord Potter," the Queen said. "We thank you for your trust and loyalty to Us in informing Us of this."

"Your... welcome, Your Majesty," Harry hesitantly replied.

"Now, We would know more of this information you were providing Us while We awaited the goblins, My Lord," the Queen said. "We feel We should hear this before We hear of your plan."

"Of course, Your Majesty," replied Harry. "I had reached the point where Dumbledore learned that Voldemort knew of the prophecy, or at least part of it, and he sent both sets of parents into deep hiding. The Longbottoms and the Potters.

"As Lily Potter was mundane born she had been raised for her early years in the non-magical world. She would also, during her time at Hogwarts, go back to visit her parents and other family members. Her parents met my father on a couple of occasions over holiday periods but, sadly, they did not live long enough to see their daughter wed.

"Based on her knowledge of the non-magical world, Lily took her husband and the Longbottoms into the mundane world to hide. To hide even further, they set aside their wands and did their best to live as non-magicals would. That is, just like any other normal British subject.

"Though they were in fear of their lives they had fun. Electric lights, telephones and the television, for example, amazed the Longbottoms, while James tried to made it seem like it was all 'old hat' to him - based on the times he had holidayed with the Evans's.

"When both women went into labour at almost the same time. It was Lily who managed to get them all to a local mundane hospital through mundane means in time for the babies to be born. This is why the birth records of Neville and I show us as being born at the same hospital.

"The Potters and Longbottoms remained with their babies in the mundane world for about another fourteen months. By then they felt they should be safe enough to return to the magical world. They still took protections, however.

"The Potters then went into hiding within the magical world. They moved into a small cottage in Godric's Hollow and asked Dumbledore to place the cottage under a spell called a Fidelius Charm. It made the cottage invisible to all eyes, including magical. However, the spell requires someone to be what is called a 'Secret Keeper', that is someone who knew the location and was the only one who could speak of it.

"The Potter's asked my Godfather, Sirius Black, to be their 'Secret Keeper' but he refused. He argued that he was their closest friend and, as such, would be the obvious person to be the 'Secret Keeper'. At the last minute he convinced them to name another member of the Order, Peter Pettigrew, to take his place. Reluctantly, they agreed. It was their greatest mistake."

As Harry was talking there was a knock on the door. One of the retinue reluctantly hurried over to it and looked outside. They were handed what looked like another document folio and returned to the Queen's desk offering it to her.

Harry paused while the Queen looked inside of it for a moment, flicking through a few pages, before closing it again and motioning for Harry to continue.

"Pettigrew was Riddle's spy in the Order. Less than a week later, late in the evening of the 31st of October 1981, Pettigrew led Riddle and a small group of his Death Eaters straight to the Potter cottage. After quietly laying a network of spells preventing the people inside from leaving, they attacked. James was downstairs and was the first to be killed, trying to defend his family. Lily was upstairs in the... my... nursery. Hearing the fighting downstairs she quickly placed me in my crib, which was heavily warded with ancient magics, of which she had an affinity.

"Moments later, with my father already dead, Riddle and a couple of his followers burst into the room. They quickly killed my mother. Riddle, remembering what he knew of the prophecy, ordered the others to hold their fire against me.

"Standing right in front of the crib he launched his favourite killing curse straight at my head."

Harry heard a couple of gasps from the retinue, who were still standing after all this time.

"However, this is when the magics my mother, Lily, had cast upon me and my crib activated.

"For the first time that anyone knew the curse was blocked, and it bounced. In so doing, it left this scar above my eye," Harry said pointing up to the scar on his forehead.

"The curse bounced right back at Riddle... and killed him.

"However, Riddle's spirit did not leave this plane of existence. Instead, it rendered him down to spectral form - a wraith - similar to a ghost. Which then fled.

"The Order learned of the attack on the Potter cottage only moments before it was due to occur. My godfather, Sirius, was the first on the scene. He arrived only moments after Riddle was killed and too late to save his best friends.

"Enraged and on his own he went after the Death Eaters. But, as their leader had just been killed, they jumped out of the cottage and apparated away. A difficult spell that allows a person to disappear from one spot and reappear in another place even up to miles away. It requires significant focus to pull it off without being injured or even killed.

"Pettigrew, however, was in a state of near panic. Sirius knew he was the 'Secret Keeper' and, therefore, was the only person who could have led Riddle to the Potter cottage. It also identified him as the spy within the ranks of the Order.

"Due to his panic Pettigrew couldn't apparate. So, he fled on foot, instead. Sirius, still enraged, gave chase. The only thing on his mind was vengeance.

"The chase lasted quite some time. Pettigrew did everything he could to escape Sirius. He was looking for a chance to stop, relax, focus and apparate away. But, Sirius was relentless.

"What Sirius didn't know was, just as he ran off in pursuit of Pettigrew, a few members of the Order had also arrived. They saw Pettigrew running away with Sirius in hot pursuit. They then gave chase of Sirius as they thought he was the Secret Keeper.

"This particular evening was, of course, also the night of Halloween. And there were a fair number of non-magicals about in the streets trick-or-treating, or visiting each other.

"When Pettigrew couldn't shake Sirius he ran out into the middle of the street amongst the non-magicals and cast a spell called a Blasting Hex to open up the sewers below him. The size of the blast he cast killed thirteen non-magicals who were going about their normal social lives. As wizarding folk are built of sterner stuff, both he and Sirius where only knocked off their feet. Sirius was knocked semi-conscious. Pettigrew lost the little finger off his left hand from a piece of flying debris.

"Pettigrew then used the opportunity to change into his animagus form, a rat, and disappeared down the sewers."

The Queen interrupted, asking, "An... animagus, Lord Potter?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry. "An animagus is a wizard who can change into an animal of some kind. The wizarding world think it is a rare gift. Anyone who can do it is required, under wizard law, to have their form registered with them.

"What the wizarding world do not understand is that any wizard or witch can do it. All it requires is much study and meditation to, first, learn of what form your animagus takes - it's different for each - and, second, to develop the skill to actually change to that form. While in that form the wizard or witch retains their human mind but for all other purposes is the animal.

"Once they change to that form and back again it becomes successively easier each time they do it, until it reaches the point where all you need to do is think to change and you will.

"Pettigrew, my father and Sirius were all friends in the same year at Hogwarts and studied hard and meditated long to learn their forms and be able to do it. My father and Sirius accomplished it in their fifth year; Pettigrew accomplished it in their sixth year.

"Pettigrew, of course, took the form of a brown rat. My father took the form of a stag. And Sirius took the form of a big, shaggy wolfhound. The animagus form will always be a creature that most closely represents the character of person who seeks it.

"None of them registered their animagus forms with the Ministry. As war had already broken out they kept their animagus forms secret, so as to be a useful skill in spying for the Order. The other members of the Order knew but also kept it quiet. As Pettigrew's form was a rat, I'm still surprised no one in the Order suspected he was the spy."

"Have you learned this skill, Lord Potter?" asked the Queen, again interrupting.

Harry was not surprised she asked. He was actually expecting it.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he quietly replied.

"May We see it?" she asked.

He sighed a little but answered, "Of course, Your Majesty."

He then stood up and moved a little away from the Prime Minister and gave himself a little more distance from the Queen.

While moving away he said, "I ask that everyone in the room please understand that I retain my human mind and that I will cause no harm to anyone. Please don't... shoot me."

"Fear not, My Lord," said the Queen.

Harry then crouched down on the floor a little, before he then suddenly leapt straight up. When his feet reached a couple of feet off the floor he changed. With a flash, where once was a boy of almost eleven years of age, now hovered on beating wings what appeared to be a horned owl with a body of rich earth browns, a black head and wingtips. No one had ever seen it's like.

Harry then dropped one wing, executed a tight about turn, and flew back down the length of the chamber before banking around and flying back to where he first changed. Hovering again on beating wings.

After a pause he flashed again and Harry, in his human form, dropped the couple of feet absorbing the impact on the balls of his feet.

Then he calmly walked back to his seat.

Everyone else in the room were, to put it bluntly, gobsmacked. Even the Queen sat there with somewhat raised eyebrows.

Harry waited for everyone to collect themselves again. Not surprisingly the Queen was the first to do so.

"A bird, My Lord?" she asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry. And, anticipating Her next question, quietly and calmly said, "A bird thought mythical; but just not seen for many thousands of years. My animagus form is that of an earth phoenix."

And, with that, Sir Kingston made a slight "Eep!" sound and collapsed to the floor where he was trying to be inconspicuous against the wall.

All eyes turned on hearing the noise of the poor old wizard's collapse. One of the retinue on the end of the line closest to him hurried over and checked his pulse.

Turning to look at his Queen he said, "He's alive, Ma'am. He seems to have only fainted."

The Queen frowned and said, "Go and get two medical personnel and have him carried off to the hospital ward. His presence here is not required for now."

The first retinue member laid the old wizard out and gently put him in the coma position while another member ducked out the door, obviously heading off to collect such medical personnel.

Turning back to Harry the Queen said, "Thank you for that... very visual display... of your skill, My Lord Potter.

"If there is anyone here who had doubted magic was real and existed," she continued, "We believe you have put those doubts to rest."

"You are most welcome, Your Majesty," replied Harry with a small bow.

"Now that We have reached a break in your tale, My Lord," said the Queen. "We believe you should hear about what MI5 have given Us on your other... heirs; on Our, if your information is confirmed, missing peers."

The Queen looked back down to her notes and said, "We have the addresses and all the details of your young Miss Granger and her family. What you did not inform Us was that Dr Emma Granger, while studying for her undergraduate degree in dentistry, worked part time in the maternity ward at the hospital where you and young Mister Longbottom were born.

"Then Nurse Granger would take her infant daughter with her to work and she would be left in the nursery while her mother worked. We would not be surprised if you and young Mister Longbottom have not already met her; though you all would have been much too young to know."

Harry was completely shocked, "I... did not know that, Your Majesty"

"Then it appears your information is not as complete as We assumed," said the Queen with a smile.

'Hey, I'm only human!' thought Harry.

She then reached out, picked up another slip of paper, wrote a few lines upon it, and handed it off to another in Her retinue. That person then hurried from the room.

"We have sent a car to collect the Grangers and bring them to Our presence," said the Queen looking back at Harry. "We suspect they will be here within the hour."

Harry winced internally hearing that. He had planned to have been the one to collect the Grangers, after first collecting the Longbottoms and Boneses.

"Now, the Longbottoms," said the Queen. "We, of course, have confirmed young Mister Longbottom's birth. We have found no record he has attended one of Our schools, though he is most certainly of age to do so. There are no other records of the Longbottom family even existing.

"We also have city records of the construction of a Longbottom Manor and where it was built," she continued. "However, two of Our constabulary have visited the location where it is supposed to be located and only found a property with... 'a vacant ramshackle house upon it surrounded by a chain link fence'." And looked up at Harry.

"An illusion, Your Majesty," said Harry, understanding the question in the statement. "That's one of the ways wizards hide their presence from the mundane."

The Queen simply nodded once and looked back down at Her notes.

"As you informed Us there are no records of anyone named Bones in the High Stakesby area. However, local records do show information concerning a Bones Manor. Two officers of Our constabulary were sent to investigate this manor, as well, but were unable to carry out their investigation," the Queen read out. "They attended the address given by local records and yet, on attending, found street numbers one, three, five, nine, eleven and thirteen for that side of the street. Number seven, where the Bones Manor is supposed to have been constructed, does not seem to exist.

"When Our constabulary enquired of local residents as to the location of Number seven," the Queen went on, "Most older residents remember there was once a Number seven but no one remembers how it happened to disappear. When pushed for information, the local residents seemed to... 'get confused and wonder what the officers were talking about'."

As the Queen looked back up Harry replied, "An even stronger form of illusion, Your Majesty. In this case they've not only hidden the manor from mundane eyes, they've also hidden the space in which it resides.

"Both manors and the lands on which they sit," continued Harry in explanation, "will also be warded to make non-magical folk want to not pay any attention to it. Which is why, in the case of the Bones Manor, your officers were met by confused local residents; and, in the case of the Longbottom Manor, your officers I suspect did not even attempt to enter the property."

"And how are Our people meant to collect these two families if they are unable to even see the doors on which they would have to knock?" asked the Queen.

"I or Sir Kingston will have to go, Your Majesty, to show what has been hidden," replied Harry.

"We take it you can see through these illusions, Lord Potter?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," replied Harry before continuing, "The illusions are meant for mundane eyes only. Myrrdin and I had anticipated this eventuality and we have an answer to it."

"Enlighten Us," said the Queen.

"Though I cannot apparate directly onto the grounds of the manors, as I do not yet know the nature of the wards that protect them, I can apparate to just outside of each property and, as I can see through the illusions, walk up to the door and knock," Harry explained. "However, though I suspect they will recognise that I am Harry Potter, I do not know if they will come with me back here.

"Further, I suspect that either or both Madam Bones or Madam Longbottom will contact Dumbledore, as he claims to be my magical guardian, to let him know where I am," said Harry. "And, as I've mentioned before, I cannot have Dumbledore know where I am or what I'm doing just yet.

"What I now ask of you, Your Majesty, is to have one of your people, who looks suitably officious, accompany me," Harry explained, "And for that person to bring with them two Royal Writs that would require their presence before you, that they accompany us immediately, and that they contact no one to tell them what's going on."

As Harry explained, the Queen was nodding Her head slightly seeming to agree.

"And how long would this take, Lord Potter?" she asked.

"With the Writs I anticipate I should return with both heirs and their guardians within the half hour, Your Majesty," replied Harry.

"The Queen thought for moment, nodded Her head once, and said, "Get Us the papers for the Writs."

One of the retinue near the Queen leaned over slightly towards Her and said, "In your top left drawer, Ma'am."

The Queen removed a couple of sheets of parchment from the drawer, placed them on Her desk and once more took up Her pen.

Before She began to write She looked back at Harry with an expression of slight amusement and asked, "Did this plan of yours include any of Our people, specifically, to accompany you Lord Potter?"

Harry hesitated for a moment before he replied, "I would recommend it be someone with a stout constitution and a most important title, Your Majesty, in order to impress. A stout constitution will be needed as apparating, or other forms of magical travel, can make folks not used to it feel a little... queasy. If there is someone you feel could... deal... with that, but does not hold an official title with a grand enough name, might I suggest... 'The Royal Summoner'?"

Clearly quite amused, The Queen looked back at Harry for a few moments. Then She looked back down at the parchments before Her and began to write.

After a few minutes the Queen reached back into Her drawer and withdrew a wax sheet with what appeared to be red wax decals with two short pieces of wide ribbon hanging from each. She affixed one each to the bottom of each piece of parchment.

Again reaching into Her drawer the Queen put the wax sheet back and draw forth two short red ribbons. She then lightly rolled each sheet of parchment and tied a ribbon around each with a nice little bow.

Once She'd done that and had both rolled up and tied sheets sitting on the desk before Her, She quietly called, "Colonel Benton!"

One of the male middle-aged members of Her retinue suddenly blanched. But, after hesitating just a moment, stepped forward, turned slightly towards the Queen, and asked, "Yes, Ma'am?"

"How is your... constitution, Colonel?" She asked.

Again hesitating just a moment the colonel replied, "I am in fine health, Ma'am."

The Queen, looking back at Harry with a small smile, asked him, "Does he appear officious enough to you?"

Harry looked back across at the colonel for a moment, noticing he was dressed in an expensive black business suit with white shirt and a... army regimental tie, before looking back at the Queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry with a smile of his own. "But, if I may make a small change?"

She replied, "You may."

Harry then turned back to look at the colonel. Frowning and thinking for a few long moments. Then he then cast a small transfiguration charm at the colonel.

Suddenly the colonel was wearing a purple silk ribbon about four inches wide as a sash from his right shoulder to where it crossed and was pinned together at his left hip.

Thinking a bit more Harry then placed embroidery of the Royal Crest on the ribbon where it crossed over the colonel's right breast, but angled to be level. Then he added gold embroidered trim a half inch wide on each side of the ribbon. And then a nice clasp where they were pinned together.

The Queen and everyone else in the room watched Harry perform the little pieces of wandless magic and the effect it was having on the colonel. The colonel, after first noticing the ribbon appear, then seemed to close his eyes with a slight look of 'why-me' on his face.

Thinking he'd done enough Harry then turned to the Queen and, indicating how the colonel was now attired, said, "Does this meet with your approval, Your Majesty?"

The Queen thought for a moment before saying, "Our colour is red, My Lord."

"Certainly, Your Majesty," Harry immediately responded.

Another quick flick of wandless magic and the sash was now red.

"Is that all, Lord Potter?" asked the Queen.

"I think that will impress them quite nicely, Your Majesty," said Harry with a grin.

"Then, in that case, you'd best come around before Us, Colonel."

The colonel physically braced himself up and walked... no, marched, Harry thought... to step before his Queen. But not quite as to block Harry's view.

Harry could tell the colonel thought he looked like an idiot. It amused him.

"What is your full name, again, Colonel?" asked the Queen.

"Alexander Edward Benton the Second, Ma'am," replied the colonel.

"Alexander Edward Benton the Second," intoned the Queen. "We hereby temporarily elevate you to the title of... The Royal Summoner.

"Your task is to take these Royal Writs..." the Queen handed the two parchments over to the colonel who took them with his left hand, "... and present them to the children's guardians of Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones. You will accompany them and the children and return here at Our convenience.

"You will hold the title of Royal Summoner until you return here with your charges."

Hesitating a moment the Queen then said, "If you carry out your task with the aplomb and dignity We deem the office requires as Representative of the Crown, We may consider making the position permanent."

"Yes, Your Majesty; thank you, Your Majesty," the colonel formally responded before stepping back and away a bit.

Looking back at Harry the Queen said, "We've never had a Royal Summoner before. We usually just ask for someone to make a telephone call."

Harry smiled, "I'm sorry, Your Majexty, but magicals do not own them."

"Is there anything else you may need before you... depart?" she asked.

Standing Harry said, "No, Your Majesty. However, I should warn you that when we return with the Longbottoms and Boneses they will probably be dressed quite... oddly. And with a manner to match."

"Oh?" asked the Queen.

"As an example, Your Majesty," explained Harry. "The last time I saw an image of Madam Longbottom she was wearing upon her head a stuffed vulture. She thought it was the height of fashion in the mundane world."

"Why ever would she think such a thing?" asked the Queen quizzically.

"I believe she may have seen a non-magical lady wearing a fascinator that had a small bird affixed to it, and she made assumptions from there.

"Further, folk who live more or less constantly in the magical world still believe we live in somewhere around the eighteenth century; but, that we're very clever and have invented clever toys. They will act accordingly."

"We see," replied the Queen. "Then We shall be prepared. Is that all?"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"Then you may depart," she said. "We shall have tea on your return."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," replied Harry formally bowing. "Please ensure Sir Kingston leaves the wards down so we may return through the fireplace."

"It will be done," She said.

Then looking at the colonel, The Royal Summoner, Harry said, "If you would come over here, colonel? I'll give a short explanation of what is about to happen and then we'll be away."

Harry walked over to where he'd changed into his animagus form and the colonel walked over to join him.

"Now, Sir," he began, "I want you to stand on my left and put your right hand on my shoulder. You should take a firm grip while I'm going to put my arm around your waist and take a firm grip of you."

The colonel did so.

Everyone else in the room watched with fascination as Harry prepared his 'passenger'.

"Now, what we're about to do is vanish from here and almost instantly appear outside Longbottom Manor in the village of Staining up on the east coast," Harry went on. "In doing that it's going to feel as if someone grabbed you and yanked you through the eye of a needle without harming you in any way. It's going to feel... oogy. But, you will come to no harm."

Harry could feel the colonel flinch as he heard that.

"When we arrive, you're probably going to stagger forward a bit, so be prepared for it. Plus, due to differences in air pressure between here and there, your ears may pop just as they do when you fly," Harry finished. "Got all that?"

"Yes, My Lord," said the colonel.

"Okay, then," said Harry. "Here we..."

*POP!*