Chapter 16. Altered Situations.
John Burford surveyed the scene of destruction, he was having some difficulty in coming to terms with the extent of it, but association with his wife and her wizarding world did form something of a cushion. The white fire of the night before had burned out a trench which stretched for miles across the open countryside, water had already begun to seep into the bottom of it and when full there would be an impressive lake where farm land had once existed. The public unrest had stopped as quickly as it had begun and the authorities were at a loss to explain it and neither John nor Julie were going to enlighten them, not that they would have been believed.
Julius Magus had suffered a complete mental breakdown, but regardless his company was going to take the blame for all the local damage, of that the senior investigating officer had no doubt. The rioting in the surrounding villages had caused much death and destruction, at least now it was over and peace had returned to the area but it would be many years before the muggles concerned could forgive themselves for what they had done if ever they could.
The only thing to lighten the mood that day happened early in the afternoon, John and Julie were about to leave when a car drew up to the police cordon at the gate of the research station. The very large man who squeezed himself out of its interior stood with open mouthed wonder at the devastation before him. Julie could see that he had initiated a heated argument with the officers on the barrier and walked over to see what was going on.
"I am sorry Sir your name does not appear on my list, so I cannot let you in." said the constable in a firm tone.
"Are you sure I know I am late, four weeks to be precise, I took some holiday… it was owed you know, please check again. Its Dursley… Dudley Dursley."
"It's OK Bob, I'll deal with Mr Dursley." said Julie.
"Anything you say Ma'am." Bob said with relief.
"I was at your mother's house with your cousin a while back Mr. Dursley, and she was very worried about you, have you thought to contact her?"
"Err.. no actually," he admitted, "and I don't have a cousin, my mother is my only relation," Dudley added stiffly.
"Really… I don't know if Harry will be disappointed or glad that you seem to have forgotten him," said Julie hiding a smile.
"Harry?" said Dudley, with a sick look on his face, "Harry Potter?" he looked once more at the destruction and the huge crevasse torn in the ground and his eyes bulged.
"Oh God, is this down to him and his lot?"
Julie Burford regarded Dudley with distaste, "Actually Mr. Dursley it is down to Harry Potter and my lot," she said surreptitiously twiddling her wand in her fingers, "I would suggest you go home to your mother, I doubt there is a job for you here any more, your boss Julius Magus is likely to be in a lot of trouble, if he ever regains his senses, that is."
Dudley backed away with a look of horror on his face, trying to speak but the only word he really managed was "Gibber" only as he forced his bulk into the tiny car did Julie hear anything that made sense.
"Mummy they are at it again!" Dudley cried and he started the engine and the little car lurched off up the road at a speed that would have earned him a ticket if the circumstances had been different.
……………………………….
Harry and Hermione gazed in silent wonder at the transformation of their daughter; there was no doubting the changes that had occurred now. Natalie walked sedately down the stairs, trying very hard to maintain her appearance of a witch in the full possession of all her power, but her mother noticed the way Natalie clung to the banister and that just occasionally her step faltered. Hermione took half a step forward to give her daughter a hand, but James ran passed her to meet his sister as she reached the foot of the stairs.
Natalie took the proffered arm and her brother led her into the lounge. He had a hundred questions for her, but as he looked into the serene beauty of her face they all faded from his mind and he was left with just the one.
"Why?"
Natalie looked at the people surrounding her, her grandparents trying so hard to understand what to them must be doubly difficult to grasp, her mother and father their love for her shining in their eyes, Jenny and James confused but eager to know more, then Natalie stared into the face that she thought she would never see again. Ambrose smiled and gave a small nod of assent, `Tell them they need to know, it is the only way that they will be able to move on to put this all behind them.' She heard the deep rich thought that she knew so well resounding in her mind.
So Natalie sat on the old squashy sofa and she told them everything that had happened, the crystal cave, Merlin, and the time she had spent with Eleanor. How she had hidden the changes in her and the knowledge of who she really was from old Solomon.
……………………..
The others had drifted away, naturally or by some suggestion Natalie wasn't sure, but now there was just the four of them sitting in a tight group being what they were, a family.
"Nat, these past lives, do we all have them?" James asked, quietly. "It's just that …."
"Sometimes you feel that you have been through all this before?" finished Nat for him.
"Yes, something like that."
"Well…." Nat began, but Hermione interrupted her.
"Do you really think we need to…."
Nat gave her mother the tiniest of smiles. "Yes Mum, he needs to understand. I promise it will be OK.
Harry slipped his arm around Hermione. "Trust her Hermione, I think she is right, it will help us all." He looked deeply into a set of emerald green eyes that so closely mirrored his own. "Go on Nat."
So James came to know of Sophie and Austin Henry and the young boy's quest for a mother and father. His old memories didn't emerge but deep down James knew that the tale was true, he understood what he had lost and he understood what his family really meant to him.
"You see James," said Nat, "both our souls ended up with what they wanted. Yours wanted a family and Mum and Dad in particular, mine wanted to be able to be with Solomon, to keep him company for always. Now I have that chance and because Merlin gave me his gift I can do that and more, I can work with him in all that has to be done," She stopped and looked at Solomon, the young man was now standing quietly in the doorway and she smiled at him. "I couldn't bear the thought of him being alone, he has been that way for so long already, it just wasn't fair any more."
James wasn't a selfish boy but he could see his family dissolving before his very eyes, everything was happening so fast. Although he understood the goal his soul had been seeking, Harry and Hermione were only part of it. In a strange reversal where once his sister had thought she was losing him, he now feared he was going to lose her. He couldn't help the rising of his emotions and as James fought the tears he asked the question he had been trying not to ask but couldn't avoid,
"Nat do you still love me?"
"Of course I do."
"Why?"
"Because you are my brother," she said with only the slightest trace of exasperation in her voice.
"Will you always love me?" the question was quietly spoken but for some reason it was very important for James to know the answer.
"Will you always be my brother?" Nat smiled at him.
"Yes."
"Then I will always love you."
James smiled back at her, put his arm around her neck and kissed her on the cheek. "That's good, because I love you too."
As they embraced Nat placed her hand on her brother's head and hid from his mind all the knowledge she had just imparted to him save for the fact that she was still his sister, that his family would always be there, and that she still loved him. However James was left with a feeling of completeness and belonging and slowly the memories of Austin Henry faded becoming like those of a dream, still there but veiled and vague, exactly as they should be.
Hermione gazed over James' shoulder into the emerald green eyes of her daughter, the stare was returned, and as usual with this unusual family, a welter of thoughts, questions and answers passed back and forth in that look. In the evening light in a small house that nestled in a village that the world had forgotten a mother and her daughter reached an understanding that would last them both the rest of their very long lives.
After a quiet evening meal Harry and Solomon found themselves out in the garden walking between the flowers and watching the darkness fall and the early night stars come out. They reached the end of the garden and leaned on the fence that separated it from the meadows beyond.
"Well what do we do now, Solomon?" asked Harry and he glanced towards the young, old man at his side. "Everything has become a little confused, if you don't mind me saying so. What with you getting younger and Natalie getting older, I mean you can't be Headmaster the way you are and she is a bit …well you know, to be in the fourth year." Harry scratched his head in thought. "I suppose we could come
up with some sort of story of a time spell accident, I remember Hermione telling me that terrible things have happened to wizards who have experimented with time. We certainly can't tell anyone the truth, not that they would believe us anyway."
Solomon laughed; to an outsider it would have looked very strange to see the way these two interacted. Solomon, the younger, laid a fatherly arm on the older Harry's shoulder.
"I am sure the great Harry Potter will work it out," said Solomon brightly, grinning at the dirty look Harry cast his way. "Seriously though, a time spell is a good cover for Natalie's changed …err circumstances, but I think we should let Solomon Aegis, at least the one that was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, die. We cannot hide what has occurred, you and the rest of the Tyr will be heroes again, like it or not," he added because Harry had scowled at the thought.
"Umm… but what about Hogwarts, there is still a term and a half to go in this year, OWL's and NEWT's to arrange and no one steering the ship?" complained Harry.
"I know of several good candidates for the job," said Solomon, giving Harry a sly look. "Would you like me to write you a reference; I think my handwriting is still the same?"
Whatever retort Harry was about to make was cut short by the appearance out of the gloom of two young women, arm in arm, as mother and daughter came looking for husband and …whatever.
In the quiet of the night a spell was cast on the people sleeping in The Refuge that removed from those who didn't need to know the truth about the origins of Ambrose Semper. To all intents and purposes on that clear and starry night Solomon Aegis died.
……………………………….
The following morning they all returned to Hogwarts, where they found the school was in a state of high excitement. The Daily Prophet had carried a story, gained from a reliable ministry source, which claimed to tell of the occurrences of two nights ago. No names were mentioned, no reasons given, and no hard facts were provided, but that had never stopped the Prophet before and it didn't now. It boiled its story down to the appearance of a ten mile long, half a mile wide, nine hundred feet deep hole in the ground, which had suddenly appeared in the east of the country. Magic had been used and many had seen it, but as all the muggles in the area were busy causing mayhem on each other and anything they could get their hands on, no one was concerned that the wizarding world would be exposed. In fact the muggle police had put the blame on a muggle who had carried out some very dubious experiments in a laboratory in the vicinity. The paper was concerned that the Ministry of Magic official sources were keeping very quiet about the whole affair, "what were they concealing?" asked the Prophet.
The Ministry were concealing the fact that until Arthur Weasley had a chance to speak to Harry, Hermione and the others, they knew very little about what had gone on that night, and for the moment that chance had not yet come.
Harry was in deep conversation with the board of Governors, he had sent them a message the day before telling them of Solomon's death, and as a result of their unusually rapid response to that bit of news, Harry was fighting against the inevitable and losing.
"It is the only sensible course of action Harry," said Lawrence Stogumber, the head of the board of Governors, "Flitwick has declined the position; for the sake of the smooth running of the school you must take charge." He considered the defiant look on Harry's face. "I know it will be difficult, Solomon was a remarkable man and we all appreciate how close he was to you and Hermione, but all the advances the school has made in the time he was head could be lost if someone less err……."
"Able to scare the robes off the Ministry and anyone else who decided to poke their nose into the schools business?" suggested Harry.
"Err… quite," said Stogumber reddening a little. "So you see Harry…" His plea was cut off before he could finish.
"OK," said Harry throwing his arms up in defeat, "I think you are all barmy, and I don't feel I have enough experience for the job, but if that is what you want then… I'll do it."
"Thank-you Harry and don't worry, you probably know this school better than anyone, and I am sure that Hermione will lend you her copy of `Hogwarts, a History' if you get stuck." said Stogumber with a laugh, standing and holding out his hand. Harry responded and they shook on it. The relieved Governors congratulated Harry, shaking his hand and slapping him on the back, and then one after another they left the room leaving him on his own, the new Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Well done love," said Hermione flinging her arms around his neck, the moment he emerged from the Board Room. "They are right you know; only you could follow Solomon."
"Its not just Solomon but its Dumbledore as well," he gave Hermione an entreating look, "You will be there with me?" he asked.
"Of course, silly," she said kissing him soundly, "Forever together, remember?"
"Yes" Harry replied, "I remember." He shrugged his shoulders, "Well lets get started then, we ought to go and see the others."
They were all waiting for them at the foot of the stairs that led to the Headmaster's
office. The rest of the Tyr and Ambrose and Natalie all stood in a long line like some welcoming committee, or troops lined up for inspection. It only took one look then Ron could hold his merriment back no longer and he burst out laughing, what had started as a serious attempt to welcome the new Headmaster turned into a group hug, which was probably just as well.
Harry led them all up the spiral stairs to the headmaster's office, facing the large oak door he reached out to grasp the latch but in response to his actions the door swung open on its own and revealed a room totally different to the one Harry was expecting. All of Solomon's crystals and mysterious devices were gone, just as it had when Dumbledore had died, the office had prepared itself for the next incumbent of the position of Headmaster. The desk with its high backed chair was still there that had never changed, but by its side in a reflection of Dumbledore's time was a perch and sitting on it was Harry's venerable owl Hedwig. She looked as beautiful to Harry on this day as she had on the day Hagrid had given her to him some twenty five years ago. Her snowy white feathers were just as smooth and soft and she clicked her beak to Harry welcoming him home as she always did. Harry gently scratched her head and sighed.
"Hello girl, did you know all about this before I did?" he asked, not expecting an answer. The owl regarded him with her large yellow eyes and softly nipped his finger, Harry smiled. "Of course you did."
Harry gazed about the room, the portraits of the old headmasters looked down on him they nodded and smiled but for the moment none spoke, save one. The voice that always brought a lump to Harry's throat when he heard it floated down from the portrait on the wall by the window.
"Well done Harry." And Harry glanced up at the painting of Albus Dumbledore who appeared as happy as Harry had ever seen him. Harry gazed intently into the bright blue eyes of the old man who smiled and very deliberately winked at him. Dragging his sight back to the study he noticed that all his books from is old office were now ensconced in the shelves that lined the walls and that in the centre of the room were several large squashy sofas, Harry's favourite piece of furniture. He also noticed that crowded in the doorway were all his friends, they had let him enter the office on his own and were standing there with expressions ranging from tearful joy to outright amusement at Harry's reaction to the state of his study.
"Come in," Harry said, waving them in over the threshold, "make yourselves comfortable, we ought to have a drink to celebrate."
They all piled in and sat down. Then as if by magic, and it probably was, a tray with glasses and several bottles appeared on the small table amidst the sofas.
"Clever Harry." said Ron, as he helped himself to a glass of Ogden's.
"Manners Ron," scolded Luna, "and it's far too early to be drinking that." she said removing the glass from Ron's hand and placing it back on the tray.
"Sorry all," said Harry a bemused expression on his face, "I didn't really mean to do that, though that was what I was thinking."
`Unfocused thoughts Harry,' Solomon whispered at him thoughtfully, `wandless magic is not as easy as it looks. It takes a bit of time to learn to control which thoughts you wish to use magically and which you don't. It can be a little bit embarrassing at first, try again.'
Harry looked at the tray of drinks and they vanished to be replaced with a teapot, a pile of cups and saucers and a plate of biscuits.
"Oh wonderful Harry," said Ron unenthusiastically, "Shall I be mother?"
As Ron began to distribute cups of tea there was a rap on the door, Harry rose to open it, revealing a rather agitated Arthur Weasley.
"What on earth happened there Harry, I have only just been able to visit the site. There were far too many muggle police milling around, I had to wait until Julie and her husband could smuggle me in. The Prophet is having a field day, I need to talk to Solomon and get this all sorted out." Arthur said the strain of his office showing through.
"Cup of tea Dad?" said Ron helpfully.
"Cup of tea!" exclaimed Arthur, "I need more than a cup of tea, and I expected more information from you my boy." He looked around at the assembled faces. "And where is Solomon."
"Sit down Arthur." said Harry, "you don't know then, I thought Tonks was going to see you yesterday?"
"I've been flitting back and forth, here and there for the last 24 hours, and I keep missing her. I don't know anything!" said Arthur in exasperation, "I have only seen the Aurors that Tonks had with her and Julie Burford, and they knew nothing of what happened inside the research station, only what occurred outside, and that was bad enough."
So patiently, and as completely as possible, Harry told the Minister for Magic the events of two nights ago. He glossed over his daughters part in the proceedings, though he did explain away her change appearance as a side effect of the powerful magic used. By the time Harry finished Arthur looked stunned, and he gazed from face to face, not really able to believe all he had been told.
"So he is really gone, no chance that he may pop up somewhere?" Arthur asked hopefully.
"No I am afraid not," said Harry sadly.
"Then why is it we are in here?" said Arthur indicating the Study, "I thought the room would only open for the true Headmaster, I remember that Umbridge woman was very upset about over that."
"That's right Dad, only for the true Headmaster," said Ron grinning at his father and discreetly nodding in Harry's direction. "Fancy that cup of tea now?" he said with undisguised glee at Arthur's expression.
"No, the Governors wouldn't do that to me, would they?" Arthur looked imploringly at Hermione.
She slipped a comforting arm around the Minister and patted him gently on the shoulder.
"Never mind Arthur, you know Harry, he's always had a bit of a soft spot for you and Molly, I am sure he will be nice," Hermione said sweetly.
"Oh dear," he said resigning himself to the trials ahead, "I think I will have that cup of tea now Ron, …please."
As they talked Arthur could not but help keep glancing at Nat and the young man sitting quietly with her. Neither of them had taken part in all the explaining that had been going on that morning, but Arthur had a feeling that more had occurred than he was being told and he suspected that Nat, at least, had played some part in the story that was being kept from him. When they broke for lunch Arthur caught Harry and Hermione alone and he was able to ask the questions he had not wanted to broach in public.
"Have you made any decisions about Natalie yet?" he asked the pair.
"What do you mean, Arthur, made any decisions?" Hermione replied, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Well… err umm, I mean ah, that however she, ah, seems on the …err outside, she is after all still fourteen years old, and should by rights err…umm, be in lessons with her class mates. Oh dear!" he flustered. "And who is that boy, he looks so familiar, I just can't put a finger on it?"
"Ah, well…" said Harry, He's… err."
Now Arthur was the one with the suspicious look, but the couple on the sofa who must have been listening to the exchange, rose together, walked up to the conversation and very neatly spiked Arthur's guns.
"Sorry Mr Weasley," said Natalie, in a most disarming way, "You haven't been introduced to my friend, this is Ambrose."
"How do you do Sir," Solomon said holding out his hand. "Very pleased to meet you," he said vigorously shaking hands with the Minister for Magic, "We don't get much of a chance to meet outsiders, where I come from."
"And where do you come from …err Ambrose?" asked Arthur, massaging the feeling back into his hand.
"Oh Avalon, Sir." replied Solomon. "That is where I first met Natalie; I came here with her because I am her friend." He looked nervously at Arthur. "We didn't think anyone would mind."
"Err… No, no of course not," said Arthur momentarily distracted, "Are you sure I haven't met this young man before, Harry?" he asked Hogwarts newest Headmaster.
"You do look very familiar, you know." He directed at the young man himself.
"That would be my Uncle," Solomon replied.
"Uncle?" asked Arthur warily.
"Yes Sir, Solomon Aegis." said Solomon.
"Solomon was your Uncle? I didn't know he had a sister." said Arthur.
"He didn't Sir," said Solomon.
"Oh sorry, your father must have been his brother then?" Arthur smiled convinced he was now in command of all the facts.
"No Sir, Solomon Aegis didn't have a brother either, the relationship is a little more complex, I call him my Uncle for convenience." said Solomon smiling at the now totally confused Minister. "And so that you know, Sir, to save any problems from arising Lady Niniane has agreed, that with her parent's consent, to complete Natalie's education in Avalon."
"What err… well I suppose that is alright, is it Harry?" Arthur looked to him for confirmation and Harry nodded, "OK then, but surely your Uncle is the brother of your mother or father, isn't that right Hermione?" he almost pleaded.
"Yes Arthur of course you are right," she said, slipping a comforting arm around his shoulders, and gently leading him out of the room to go down to the Great Hall. "Just accept it all at face value, it is much easier if you do that."
"If you say so Hermione, I have great faith in your judgement."
"That's very kind of you, Arthur" Hermione's voice floated back as they descended the stairs.
Harry laughed, then looked to the couple standing next to him, his emotions were mixed. Solomon or Ambrose was a very old friend, very old, and now Harry knew he would have to stop thinking of him as such. He looked into the calm beautiful face of his daughter, into those emerald green eyes that so closely matched his own, and knew that he couldn't refuse anything she asked of him.
"Will you be going now?" Harry asked the pair.
"Soon Harry," said Solomon, "there is one more thing that needs to happen and then we will go."
As if in answer to a cue, a large black shiny nose poked round the edge of the door to the inner room of the headmaster's quarters, and with a scrabbling of claws Solomon's old black Labrador Compass waddled across to where Natalie and Solomon sat.
Harry had no idea how old the dog was, he had been full grown when they had first met twenty one years before. Harry remembered it so clearly seeing Solomon and Compass walking out of the mist on the lawns outside the school, and thinking, no wishing, that the black dog was Sirius.
The dog sat and moved his large brown eyes from witch to wizard as if he was sizing them up. It looked as if he was smiling, his mouth open and his large tongue flapping about as he panted, he was certainly happy for his tail never stopped wagging. Compass lifted a paw and placed it on Solomon's knee and the young-old wizard reached out to pat him on the head. The dog gave a joyous bark and then very slowly he began to fade away. Solomon watched him with tears in his eyes as Compass became more and more transparent the last bit of him to disappear was his tail and it was still wagging furiously.
"Four hundred years, you know," said Solomon, when he had regained some of his composure, "four hundred years, he's been with me. He appeared out of nowhere when I needed a friend and now he has gone back."
Solomon looked at Natalie. "Do you know the first thought he ever sent me?" Natalie shook her head not daring to speak. "He said `I will stay with you until you find what you are searching for', I didn't understand then but just now when he looked at you he said `Here she is,' and it all made sense. Oh dear," sniffed Solomon, drying his eyes, "I think I am going to miss him."
………………………………..
The news that Solomon Aegis had joined the ranks of past Headmasters shot through the school like a rocket, but only a few knew that Harry had been chosen to follow in his footsteps and they hadn't told anyone. Most of the pupils assumed that Professor Flitwick would take command but some of the staff knew him better than that, and their suspicion was rewarded when Harry was introduced to them all in the staff room early the following morning before breakfast. Hagrid could hardly contain himself as he congratulated Harry, though in truth it was the staff room that could hardly contain Hagrid as he jumped for joy and nearly went straight through the floor.
The school remained in the Great Hall after breakfast that morning, the events of three nights ago were the only topic of conversation, and the discussions were loud and animated. James and Jennifer were trying very hard to maintain a low profile at their respective tables, but the questioning was relentless. At the Gryffindor table the absence of Nat Potter was causing a great deal of interest and Jennifer was hard pressed to provide reasons. She was immensely grateful when the volume of noise abated as the professors filed into the hall and took their places at the head table. In the room behind the professors table a conversation was still taking place.
"I still think it is a silly idea, Hermione," said Harry, his exasperation showing in his tone. "Why can't I just walk through the door like any normal person?"
"Can normal people walk through doors? Well that might be an alternative I suppose." She said, not taking her husband seriously at all.
"You know what I mean." said Harry darkly.
"You are no longer `normal', if you ever were. You are the Headmaster of Hogwarts now and you will make an entrance that fits your station." Hermione said, giving Harry a look that he couldn't argue with.
"OK, if that is what you want," he replied now resigned to the performance. "How about some flames and smoke as well?"
"Just do it Harry, peragate into the seat like we said, it will be quite enough." And Hermione slipped through the door into the now silent hall.
The vacant place where the headmaster sat was the centre of everyone's attention, and every eye but two were fixed on it. James however was desperately scanning the row of professors, he had seen his mother, but had yet to find his father, and the longer he failed to find him, the premonition that he was not going to enjoy the next few minutes grew to almost unbearable proportions.
With a pop an enormous jug appeared and floated in the air above the headmaster's seat. Agonisingly slowly the jug began to tip until its contents poured over its rim to splash into the vacant chair. The liquid didn't run away, it sloshed backwards and forwards and appeared to be trying to take on a shape of its own. Before the astonished school Harry Potter was literally poured out of the jug and into the position taken by the Headmaster.
When completely poured he turned to Hermione and winked, she rolled her eyes conveying as much in that action as she always did. Harry turned to face the school and a split second before the students erupted in welcoming the new headmaster Harry clearly heard the single, very recognisable voice of his son cry out.
"Oh no!"
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