Chapter 27: The Royal Ascot
A/N: Oops, poor planning on my part (or is it that I just like having the Queen interacting with the kids so much?). The two-part set piece is now three chapters long, and the battle is yet to come. But since this is the third update in five days I'm not going to feel too guilty. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter…I look forward to your thoughts on this one as well.
Disclaimer: Not my characters, no money being made, etc., etc.
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Tuesday, June 19, 11:45am
Windsor Castle
Harry Potter made the short walk from stable house to Castle flanked by Queen and Consort, while the Prince and Ron lagged behind to allow Luna a few more minutes with the horses.
"We will honor your request not to be addressed as Lord Gryffindor," the Queen said, "unless, of course, it is necessary…we are curious, though, about the reason behind the reticence."
"Well, Your Majesty, I can't pretend that I'm just a normal bloke, as much as I want to be," Harry replied. "Fate marked me different at an early age…and it's not that that I'm not honored by your recognition, because I am. I'll even admit that I've gotten used to having Brian and Wally call me Sir Harry, and it does allow me to address a certain someone as `Dame.'"
Harry earned a poke in the ribs for that comment.
"But I'm no use without my friends, and I'm not going to succeed without them, and it's hard for me to accept a title that makes it sound like I am better than them."
The Queen thought for a moment. "As we have said, we are prepared to confer knightship upon Mr. Weasley…anyone who wears the badge of the Order of Arthur deserves that recognition…and if he had difficulty with the oath of fealty we could make the title ceremonial…would that be of some help?"
"Thank you, your Highness," Harry replied, "We'll ask him, though I have to say that he's accepted our titles with good humor." He then stole a glance at Hermione. "But I guess I was thinking about being addressed as Lord while Hermione is still a Dame."
The Queen smiled. "Well, Sir Harry, I'm afraid that the solution to that problem is out of my hands."
Harry gave the Queen a confused look, while Hermione inspected the cobblestone path with a hint of smile and blush in her cheek.
"Why is that, Your Majesty?"
"Because, Harry," Hermione said softly, "You are the only one that can give me the title of Lady Gryffindor."
"And how would I do that?" he asked.
Hermione's blush grew a bit deeper. "By having another chat with my father."
"Oh," Harry said, without really understanding what she meant.
"Ohhhhhhh" he added (a few moments later), when he finally did.
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When the three reached one of the rear entrances to the Castle grounds they turned back to see that Ron, Luna and the Prince had just starting down the path. Suggesting that they wait for them, the Queen led Hermione and Harry to a bench that provided a stunning view of the immediate Castle grounds, and the Windsor Great Park beyond.
"First visit to Windsor, Sir Harry?" the Queen asked. Harry nodded as he looked around at the wide expanses of green land, dotted with copses of ancient hardwoods and manicured gardens. "I think that it's lovely, Your Majesty."
"We're not surprised," the Queen replied with a smile. "After all, it has changed little over the years, and some of those trees are old enough to have been planted by Godric's gardeners."
Harry chuckled softly, having reached the point where these revelations could be taken in stride. He nodded his head towards the building behind them. "So I imagine that means this was Gryffindor's castle?"
"No, Sir Harry," the Queen replied, "Windsor Castle was built by William the Conqueror…after he seized the land from Godric and knocked down the keep that was already standing there."
"Please excuse me, Your Majesty," Hermione interjected, "but we had been led to believe that Gryffindor's lands were up in the Midlands, where Harry was born."
"They were indeed, Dame Hermione," the Queen replied. "or perhaps more correctly, now that we once again enjoy Lord Gryffindor's presence, they are indeed. These five thousand or so acres of land, however, were presented to Godric when he became King's Wizard…and became part of the seized lands when he subsequently refused to serve the conquering Norman king."
"I'm a bit afraid to ask," Harry said, "but when you said that Gryffindor's lands are located in the Midlands…"
"You do realize, Sir Harry, that Godric's seized properties were only conditionally incorporated into the Royal land holdings?" the Queen asked. "William decreed that should Lord Gryffindor ever return to England and swear fealty to the Crown, that he'd regain his honorific, his lands…even his seat in the House of Lords…and now that Lord Gryffindor is once again the Royal Wizard…"
"House of Lords?" Harry asked weakly.
"Yes, Lord Gryffindor," the Queen replied, "though we regret to inform you that as a result of recent government reforms that your hereditary seat is no longer available."
Harry's face gained back a bit of the color that had been lost at the thought of having to sit as a Member of Parliament. "That's quite all right, Your Majesty," he said.
The Queen nodded, having expected that reply. "There will have to be some accommodation reached regarding your land holdings, though." She then waved her arm towards the Castle. "Over the years, a portion of your real estate portfolio has been developed to the point of making the return of title rather…impractical."
"No need to do that, Your Majesty," Harry quickly replied.
The Queen smiled and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "No, Sir Harry," she said, "we will be quite insistent on this point. Which is why we are pleased that you will be joining us in Balmoral…there is some land near there that you might consider suitable as exchange." The Queen allowed Harry and Hermione to silently ponder that statement as the Prince, Ron and Luna finally joined them.
The small party entered the Castle's State Apartments where members of the Royal staff were waiting to lead them into a large room with luncheon seating for a hundred. Harry quickly scanned the tables and determined that they were the youngest there, by far; even the wait staff looked like they had at least thirty years of experience under their belts. The only people close to their age were Prince Harry and Lady Penelope, who were seated at the end of the head table with her parents. Perhaps realizing their potential discomfort, the young prince excused himself with a few words to his girlfriend and strode over towards them.
"Grandmum, perhaps you'll allow me to make introductions about the room?" he asked. To Harry's great concern the young prince took Hermione's hand and proceeded to introduce the four teens to the other tables of guests.
Hermione had never had the back of her hand kissed so many times. It seemed that every elderly Duke, Lord, and Viscount considered it obligatory to take her hand upon introductions. Some eyebrows were raised as the young prince introduced Harry and Hermione as Sir Harry and Dame Hermione, given that their knighthoods were not only recent but secret, but nothing was said.
When introductions were completed Harry politely but resolutely took Hermione's hand from Prince Harry's and made his way to an empty table, where they were confronted with plates of bright red whole lobster. While Hermione was no stranger to seafood, and Harry had boiled a few lobsters for his Aunt and Uncle over the years, Ron and Luna needed to be told that they hadn't just been presented with play toys.
"Well what are they suppose to do, then?" Ron asked, while putting back onto his plate the lobster that had just finished boxing with Luna's.
Hermione gave a small sigh of exasperation as she picked up a small fork, pulled some flesh out from the split tail of her crustacean, and dipped it into drawn butter. "They're supposed to sit there while we eat them."
1:00pm, Windsor Castle
"That's a lovely motorcar," the Queen said, looking fondly over at Hermione's Bentley. They had finished lunch and gathered at the front entrance of the Castle, where a small fleet of black limousines was waiting to ferry them to Ascot. The Queen, however, was looking past these motorcars to the Little Wiz Bentleys parked on one side. The Queen turned towards Hermione and asked, "It's an S3, isn't it?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Much more dashing than the stuffy motorcars decorum dictates we ride in," the Queen said. "Would you mind terribly if we used it to get down to the course?"
"Certainly not, Your Majesty," Hermione said, with a small amount of fluster.
The Queen directed her staff to have Hermione's vehicle added to the queue of motorcars, and, once Wally had it in place, shooed Harry and Hermione into the back seat with her. Ron gave Harry a questioning look (to which Harry replied with shrugged shoulders), then joined Luna and Steve in a car farther down the queue.
Once the motorcade started along its way, the Queen stated, "Sir Harry, Dame Hermione, we have just a few minutes's drive, far too little time to spend worrying about proper titles and royal `we's.' In present company, a simple ma'am will do, understood?"
"Yes Your…erm, yes ma'am," Harry replied.
"I just wanted to let you know that Wally has provided me a thorough overview of your rat catching efforts over the weekend, and subsequent plans for the day…a most ingenious scheme, by the way…"
"Thank you, ma'am," Hermione replied. "Given the probable risks, though, are you certain that you should be there today?"
"Of course I am," the Queen replied. "I've attended every opening day at Ascot since 1945, and have no intention of stopping now."
"But we're not certain that we'll be able to protect you if they throw everything that they've got at us," Harry worried.
"Comes with the job, my boy…it's expected that I be there, and it's my duty to be there. It won't be the first time that there have been terrorist threats made against us…you are aware of the Troubles we've had over the years, aren't you?"
"Yes ma'am," Harry replied, thinking not only of the recent subway bombings but of attacks by militant separatists.
"We can not let the terrorists change the way we go about our business…can't allow them to keep us from living and loving, or they will have already won."
Harry looked passed the Queen, caught Hermione's eyes and shared with her a small smile, in recognition of the fact that they were living in agreement with the Queen's words.
1:25pm, Ascot Racecourse, Windsor Great Park
The Royal motorcade pulled up just outside of the Ascot grounds, where five horse-drawn open carriages were waiting to transfer the Queen and Royal Family to the Royal Box. The motorcars of those not fortunate to enter Ascot in such style went on to the grandstand, leaving the four teens, the Queen, and fifteen members of the Royal Family behind.
"Hermione, are you certain that this kind of entrance is necessary?" Harry asked, with no small amount of resignation.
"Harry, we've been through this before," she replied. "It's essential that everyone in the stands and in front of their tellies gets a good look at the Royal Wizard before anything else happens, and now that you are the Royal Wizard you need to be close enough to protect her." She then followed the Queen and gave her hand to a groomsman who helped her step up into the first landau. The Prince of Wales smiled as he held an arm out for Harry to follow behind.
"I've learned over the years that on occasions such as these the correct response is, `Yes, dear,'" he said.
Harry muttered something to himself and took a seat next to Hermione on the rear-facing bench, as the Prince took his place next to the Queen. From his vantage point he could see Ron and Luna as they joined Prince Harry and his great-grandmother, the Queen Mum, in the next carriage. When all of the carriages were full, members of the Queen's guard galloped up the line wearing smart red dress uniforms and holding drawn sabers. Harry was wondering just how useful these swords would be in a fight until he caught a glimpse of automatic weaponry partially hidden within the tacking.
The carriages began their short trip at a saunter. "If it weren't for the fact that everyone expects me to face forward I'd have offered you my spot," the Queen said to Harry. "Better view of potential threats."
"No worries, Your Majesty," Harry responded. "If our intelligence information is correct, Hermione and I will feel the danger before anyone else sees it."
The carriages traveled a fairly short distance between two stables before reaching their entry point out onto the grass-covered track. Upon sight of the lead carriage thousands of spectators crowded into both the Royal Enclosure and the less fashionable seating stood and cheered. Harry spotted many hats within the crowd that were just as elaborate as Hermione's.
The Queen smiled and waved to the crowd as their entrance (and the occupants of each successive carriage) was announced on the racecourse's public address system. Harry winced as he was presented to the crowd as "The Queen's Wizard, Gryffindor - Lord of the Illusion!" The crowd took pause as well, having never heard his name and title before, but acting on the assumption that anyone important enough to bump young Prince Harry and the Queen Mum down the line and into the second carriage had to rank favor, gave him polite applause.
Harry was grateful to see the attention of the crowd and the cameras quickly shift from him to Luna, who was laughing and waving wildly to the crowd from the next carriage. The roar of the crowd was matched by the roar of her lion hat, which had suddenly decided to spring to life.
"Batteries," Luna explained brightly after every roar of her hat and every flash of a camera.
The single lap around the course gave Harry the opportunity to examine the infield and note that the props that they had designed for this event were all in place. Five large wooden boxes, each six feet square, were spaced evenly in a single line that bisected the oval infield. Each was propped up on a set of legs, some twenty-feet high, which made peering into each box next to impossible, even from the highest part of the stands. Banners were draped down the sides of each box, with decorative designs that matched similar banners placed elsewhere within the park.
Harry checked that a small earpiece was firmly in place and reached into a coat pocket, pushing the button on a small transceiver which activated his wireless communications device. He had meant to do a radio check, only to discover that it would have interrupted a rather colorful running commentary being transmitted over the airwaves.
"Merlin's Beard, the boy fancies himself Lord of the Illusion?…all dressed up, he must think that these muggle electronics interfere with my eye enough that I can't see through these wooden walls…Just wait until I get down out of this box and I'll show him a magic trick or two…"
"Pipe down, Mad-Eye," said another, in a matronly Scottish brogue, "I didn't hear you come up with any better ideas at the meeting."
"Hear me?….Hear me?" Mad-eye retorted, "Surprised we can hear anything with these muggle contraptions stuck up into our ears…."
An over the shoulder smirk from Ron and a chuckle coming from Hermione led Harry to believe that they had their communicators working as well.
"Hey Mad-Eye, when this is all over I'll be happy to replace that earpiece with a wet sloppy kiss," Harry said quietly into his hidden microphone.
"Oh, nice that you could join us, Lord of the Illusion," Mad-eye responded. "Save your kisses for the lovely lass next to you."
Ron cut into the conversation, "Excuse me, but can we do the radio check? Just like we practiced last night, okay Professors?"
"Box 1, Moody, check."
"Box 2, McGonagall, check."
"Box 3, Vector, check."
"Box 4, Flitwick, check."
"Box 5, Sprout, check."
"Lupin, check."
"Tonks, check."
"Why aren't you two holed up in boxes?" asked Mad-Eye.
"Helping the kids guard the point of attack, remember?"
"Well if anyone cared a lick about me they'd have remembered that I'd spent enough time being boxed up at Hogwarts…"
The four teens, Wally and Steve ignored Mad-Eye's complaints as they added their radio checks and Ron, who was taking his role as Clan Champion quite seriously, proceeded to remind everyone that their muggle transmitters would die the first time they used magic, and that nobody should do any magic until Harry did. The four teens were pleasantly surprised by how well these directions were taken; it was truly an upside down world in which Ron was doling out commands to his Hogwarts professors.
Once the carriages reached the Royal box the Queen's guard escorted all of the ladies to their seats, with the men following close behind. Harry gave a slight nod to Tonks and Lupin, who were positioned a few rows back within the crowd.
The first race was announced after a rousing chorus of "God Save Our Queen," and Harry was finally starting to believe things had settled down a bit when the Prince turned and announced that the Prime Minister would soon join them. Not a minute later the head of the muggle British government entered the box, accompanied by a rather large and rather cross-looking appointments secretary.
The Prince introduced the four to the P.M, taking care to identify Harry as "the Queen's Wizard, Gryffindor." The Prime Minister in turn introduced them to Kinglsey Shacklebolt.
"It's a very unexpected pleasure to see you again," Kingsley said to Harry and Hermione.
"Oh, you know each other then?" the P.M. asked.
"Our paths have crossed now and then," Hermione said, "though Mr. Shacklebolt has never been so handsomely dressed on those occasions."
"Nor has your attire come so close to matching your beauty, Dame Hermione," the Auror replied. He turned towards Harry. "Staying out of trouble this summer, Gryffindor?"
Harry laughed. "Oh, you know me Kingsley, trouble has a way of finding me even when I'm not looking."
The Auror nodded, then took a step back as the others in the box took note of their conversation. "I do hope you have a pleasant afternoon," he said, with a look on his face that suggested he was expecting otherwise, "and I can't wait to see what sort of show you are planning, Gryffindor."
"And I'm looking forward to your support, during the show, Mr. Kingsley," Harry replied.
"I will try, though we all do have our priorities, don't we?" Kingsley asked. He nodded towards the Prime Minister, who'd just completed a perfunctory conversation with the queen. The P.M. once again said how glad he was to have met Harry and left the box.
After the excitement of the royal procession and meeting with the P.M. the races themselves seemed rather anticlimactic. When the third of seven races was complete a late luncheon break was announced, to Ron's great pleasure. Wally led them out of the Royal box and into the sod-covered area where umbrella-wielding spectators from the Royal Enclosure were queuing before tables piled high with smoked salmon and strawberries in cream. They had just managed to fill their plates with food and grab flutes of champagne when a chill filled the air, and the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood straight out.
The four teens quietly put their plates down on a table, then quickly made their way towards the front of the stands, as murmurs of ill-ease and discomfort spread amongst the muggle crowd.
"Feels like company has arrived," Harry said over the transmitter.
"You think so?" Mad-Eye replied sarcastically, as his magical eye whirled around in its socket. "They're gathering out above those woods to the North.
The four teens, whose wands had been out and down at their sides from the first indication, looked out at the swirling cloud of evil that was coming their way.
"Looks like Wormtail got this part right, at least," Harry said. He nodded to Hermione, who discretely placed her wand tip to a newly minted medallion and sent out the alarm. At the same time Ron activated his badge and sent word to Sir Evan and Little Wizarding.
"Okay, Wally, everyone…looks like it's showtime."
Ron and Luna nodded to Harry and Hermione as they left to take their positions with Wally up in the grandstand's control center. Harry walked Hermione back to the Royal Box, where Tonks and Lupin had their wands drawn out and eyes drawn to the gathering storm.
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand. "You take care of yourself first, promise?"
"We should be fine Harry…it's Shacklebolt that they're expecting a response from, remember?"
"Yeah, well, best laid plans of mice and men…" Harry replied nervously, as he glanced over towards the Auror, who nodded in acknowledgement.
Hermione turned to face Harry, and to his chagrin used her cleavage to hold her wand while her hands straightened out his tie.
"Wish I was that wand right now."
"Hush, Harry," Hermione sweetly admonished, "and take care to remember you still have a live microphone."
"Give her a kiss and get on with it," they heard Moody growl into his microphone.
"Yes, dear," Harry replied cheekily, as he gave Hermione a quick kiss.
"Knock `em dead, Harry," Hermione said.
"I certainly intend to try," he replied, as he ducked under the track railing and strode toward his place on the infield's center stage.
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