Chapter Six - More Questions than Answers
Seated in the common room of the Golden Torc, the impromptu group was beginning to relax as Irving returned from seeing the two muggles home. Having unpacked her belongings up in her room and sent Harry and Ron quick messages that she was indeed fine and she'd tell them more later, Hermione had joined the others downstairs to await Irving's return.
"Finally got them settled in and safe?" Florimell looked up from the papers she was reading as Irving helped himself to coffee at the bar.
"For the most part. I think Terri remembers that something happened, she's just not certain what." Looking suspiciously at Oscar, he grinned. "It wouldn't be that you're worried about Ms Blackstone forgetting all about you so you didn't fade everything?" Watching him grin, Hermione decided that there must be a bit of history with Oscar and attractive muggle women that she probably didn't need to know about.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Trying to look indignant, it wasn't helped by the indelicate snort that came from somewhere in his sister's vicinity. "I'm just a bit more circumspect in adjusting their memories than you lot." Putting on a pair of sunglasses and holding up his wand he stated seriously. "This is a wand, not a neurolizer." Watching everyone else break out laughing, Hermione wondered what in-joke she was missing.
Seeing the puzzled look on her face, Flori quickly spoke up. "Sorry Hermione, it's from a muggle movie a couple of years ago. The muggle agents had a device that they used to erase the memories of people who had seen things they shouldn't have. It would flash a bright red light and then blank their memories of the past few minutes or hours. Everything in the Bureau thought it was very funny and wondered who on the movie's production team was one of us. I hear one witch from the Las Vegas office of the Nevada Bureau actually modified her Obliviate spell so that it produces a red flash when she casts it." Grinning, she looked at her brother. "And my brother's well known fondness for muggle blonds doesn't help his credibility in the least."
"That's not fair Mel, and you know it." Smiling slyly he looked beseechingly at Hermione. "Can I help it if I'm a helpless captive of female perfection and beauty?" Looking intently at Hermione, Oscar tried to hold his serious pleading look in the face of his sister's red-faced laughter and Hermione's twinkling brown eyes.
"Oh please, I've been chatted up by the best. And while you're kind of sweet, you're a total amateur." Laughing at the stunned look on his face, she glanced over at Irving. "Slider, do you think there's any chance I'm going to fall for this?"
"Not likely. And the name is Irving, thank you very much." Sipping his coffee Irving looked at her with a curious expression before turning his attention back to Oscar. "The witch who is at the heart of the infameous `Golden Trio' isn't likely to be taken in with cheap theatrics, old chap.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione sighed. "I had hoped traveling across the ocean would have allowed me to escape that dreadful name." Seeing the look on Irving's face she shrugged. "What can I say? But you're correct, if I can manage to keep Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in line, not to mention that little dustup with Voldemort…" Letting her voice trail off, she nodded at the look on Oscar's face.
Nodding, she smiled blandly, "At your best, you'd be a challenge for second year witches to handle. Be careful with Terri, I get the feeling that she's more than a match for you, even with your wand." The group erupted into a round of laughter at the indignant look on Oscar's face as he realized Hermione wasn't buying his act.
Shaking her head, Mary chuckled at the look on Oscar's face. "As much fun as this is, we still have the minor matter that guests were attacked on the front steps of my inn and we need to know what is going to happen next." Looking from face to face, Mary sat forward in the chair she was occupying and waited. "Flori, was your office able to give us any insight into what the Taliaferro brothers were doing here just as Ms Granger arrived? Or has ambushing random tourists become part of their modus operandi?"
"MT, we still don't know why they're here or who hired them. Usually they're above small stuff, with the resources of their family behind them, you usually see them as facilitators and power brokers, rather than actually involved in something as hands on as this. If they're doing their own dirty work, then someone very well heeled is pulling their strings."
Taking a sip of her chocolate, she looked over at Oscar before continuing. "Our best guess is that they didn't bank on Hermione being delayed in Detroit. However they homed in on her arrival here, they didn't realize that we'd be here and thought that a quick blitz would overcome the inn's staff and grab her before anyone could react and apparate her out of here. Oscar, show MT what they found out in the yard." Nodding to her brother as he held up what looked like a tarnished silver coin or medallion.
"Quite clever, actually. We got a briefing report from the British Ministry liaison in Erie on these about six months ago, but this is the first we've ever seen one here in North America in the wild, so to speak. Both of the brothers had coins that matched this one, which was lying in the dust next to the front steps. This is the master coin, and it's keyed to the presence of a specific individual. When that individual comes within range of this coin, the other two act as homing beacons and allow the holders of the other coins to apparate within a specific distance of the original without worrying about splinching or knowing the apparition point. Quite ingenious, my hat's off to the boffin that came up with these." Noticing the look on Hermione's face he asked. "I take it this isn't the first time you've seen one of these."
Hermione answered cautiously while her mind raced considering possibilities. "Those are still in the final testing phase with the Ministry. They've been produced on a limited basis, and distributed to a single auror team for evaluation." Mentally ticking off a list of the people who officially knew about the existence of the coins she shrugged. "I'm not certain how your locals came in contact with them; I trust Team Twelve with my life. There must be a leak in the distribution chain. May I?"
Holding out her hand, Hermione looked at Oscar while she waited for him to toss her the coin. Catching it deftly when he tossed it underhand to her she turned the tarnished silver medallion in her hands as she examined it. "One of the Slytherins, those would be the easiest for someone to come up with," she mused as she stared at the coin.
"I'm not following." Oscar, looking puzzled, looked from one face to the other to see if any of the others were following her.
"Sorry, just lost in thought." Smiling wryly, she leaned back in her chair and held up the medallion. "They developed four different series of these, and named them after the four founders of Hogwarts. Sort of an inside joke from the creator of these, you could say. The Slytherin medallion sets are all one shots; once they're triggered they're no longer useful until they're recharged. If you've still got the two medallions that were linked to this one, they can be reset easily enough. What I'm not fathoming is how and when this set was linked to me." Shaking her head, she gave a low whistle. "Poetic, I suppose."
What are you talking about Hermione? I'm confused. How is it `poetic'?" Flori asked.
"Easy enough to guess." MT answered before Hermione could. "Hermione's the one that created the prototype of these for the British Ministry." Smiling at the startled look on the younger witch's face. "Poetic justice that your own creation could be the instrument of your downfall, correct?"
"Well, yes. But added to all of the other mysteries before us is the one regarding how you knew that."
"I didn't `know' for certain until I saw the look on your face when I said it out loud, but I guessed it easily enough. Francis has been most complimentary regarding you when we talked about your visit. Anyone whom Francis thinks is a match for Great-aunt Minerva is a very good candidate for being the person behind that little gem."
Smiling at the blush that was spreading across her face, she continued. "Francis briefed me in on things. You're where you are because you don't want the limelight, but those that know will recognize your subtle and not so subtle touch with things. The question is whether or not this is just irony that a tool you developed was used to try to trap you. Unfortunately, that's not something we're likely to answer tonight."
"And none of this is getting us any closer to the Fairy Flag and our pair of artifact thieves." Taking charge of the conversation in an effort to get the topic away from herself, Hermione looked at Irving expectantly. "Your folks in Canada were the last to see this pair. What can you tell us Slider?'
Fixing her with a baleful look while the others chuckled, Irving replied "Cranston and Merveaux? Not much. They're a pair of moderately successful artifact smugglers, originally working out of the Swiss cantons. Their specialty, as is shown in this case, is collecting items of actual power that are under the control of muggles and selling them to whomever is willing to pay."
Shaking his head in grudging admiration, he continued. "They also have a related sideline of selling careful fakes and doctored items. If something has a reputation of being an item of power and it isn't when they steal it, they're perfectly capable of casting minor charms and enchantments on the items to make them seem to be actual items of power Or if they can't steal it, or have already stolen it and replaced it with a fake, they have no scruples about selling an item to the buyer that matches the description of the item wanted. This pair has more disgruntled customers chasing after them than they do aurors on occasion. It's actually amazing that they're still in business considering their proclivities for swindling their erstwhile employers."
Giving a very Gallic shrug, he chuckled. "While they're most often contacted through a blind drop in Switzerland, persistent rumors link them to a small town in Britain, Marazion in Cornwall." Finished, he looked around the room for questions.
Nodding thoughtfully, Hermione sighed. "How about any leads on the possible buyers. Where do closet Jacobites hang out around here?"
Snorting quietly, Mary looked at Hermione in disbelief. "Where aren't they? You have to remember that most of the Scots that immigrated to the colonies after the `45 were Jacobites. There are chapters of the Stuart Society and other groups scattered all about. Every Highland Games has at least one brawl between supporters of the various claimants to the throne."
Rolling her eyes, she smiled sadly. "Since they came in from Canada, our friend over there might have a better idea where they'd go to ground, but there are literally dozens of places in the Cleveland area where they'd at least find a sympathetic ear, especially if they were claiming they could prove that there was a legitimate heir to the Stuart throne. The only ones around here who wouldn't give them the time day are the Haudenosaunee." Smiling at Hermione, she gave her a peculiar look. "Speaking of which, there's someone who's asked about you." Looking up the stairs she called "Thunder?"
A soft pop and the house-elf that had assaulted the one wizard in the yard earlier appeared in the common room. "You called MT?" His voice was a mellow baritone, not the raspy bass of Kreacher's nor the tenor of Dobby's. "The kitchen is still open, if that what you're wondering." Looking expectantly at Mary, he was a contrast to the house-elves that Hermione was used to. Instead of being clad in some cast-off household linen, he was dressed in an outfit that was a curious blend of greens and browns.
"Thanks for holding the kitchen for this lot, but I asked you down to meet someone." Nodding towards Hermione, she included her in the conversation. "Cooks with Thunder, this is Miss Hermione Granger from England. Hermione, this is Cooks with Thunder. I won't attempt to pronounce his Haudenosaunee name for you, but he's been the chief cook and bottle washer here at the Torc since before I can remember.
Turning towards Hermione, Cooks with Thunder took two steps forward and bowed towards her, holding the bow for several seconds. "Miss Granger needs no introduction. Her name and face are known to the elves of the Six Nations as they are to the rest of the People of this land. Welcome to the Western Reserve Miss Granger."
Standing Hermione nodded to the house elf and returned the bow for two seconds before seating herself again. "I'm pleased to meet you Cooks with Thunder, but I'm certain I've never met any house-elves from America. How is it that the elves here know me?"
"We have been watching your efforts to impact, for the better, how the tribes and clans in Britain are seen by the wizarding world there. We watch to see if you will be successful, but we honor the attempt."
"It's funny that you notice here, I get the feeling that I'm ignored when I'm not being ridiculed at home."
"What you do is noticed, both here and there, especially there. It will take longer for you to be noticed by the house-elves themselves, but the wizards and witches have noticed you. It will take time before the elves will realize that they need a change, but that day will come."
"I thank you for your kindness and I offer the service of myself and my house to you and yours."
"And the service of mine to you and yours. You honor the old forms. Fitting and proper, but unusual for one as young as yourself. Yet it fits what has been said of you and your house."
Clearing her throat, Flori looked around. "Is it just me, or are these two reading from a different set of pages than the rest of us?"
Turning his attention to Flori, Cooks with Thunder answered. "Miss Granger observes the old forms, the traditions of the People here in this land, the forms the People observed in the Old World before the Sundering. But she has come to the attention to the elves here in the Americas regarding her efforts to reform the shameful way house-elves are treated in the Old World. The Council of the Six Nations has declared her to be Of The People."
The puzzled look on Hermione's face was counterbalanced by the collective intake of breath from the others in the room. Mary was almost out of her seat looking as if she had suddenly lost the ability to breath. Irving was looking at the coffee cup in his hand as if he had never noticed it before. Oscar's jaw had dropped to the ground and was threatening to become lost while his sister was attempting to say something, but she would swallow, shake her head and then try again. Only Cooks with Thunder was calm, looking expectantly at Hermione.
Rising once again from her seat, Hermione bowed to the house-elf and held it for a prescribed five seconds. "My house is honored by the trust of the Council and the People. Though I am singularly unworthy of such an honor, I will uphold the honor of the Council and the Six Nations as I uphold my own." Rising back up, she looked worried. "But honestly, I can't begin to understand why you and your clan would think to honor me in such a manner."
"The Council honors whom it will, without regard for the opinions of those outside the Nations or the People. And this request came from those who hold the seat for the Hidden Clans, although the rest of the People found it to be proper and deserved once it had been brought before the Council."
"The Hidden Clans?" Hermione sank slowly back into her seat as she frantically searched her memory for all of the scraps of information she had been able to find regarding house-elf culture. "They are the same as the `clans beneath the hills' that are talked about in England?"
Cooks with Thunder shrugged with a curious gesture. "The elder elves, the hidden Sidhe, the Shining Folk, the Mikumwess, whatever the name you give to them, but the Old Ones are the same here as they are in your England. The great houses of the People retreated from the world with the rise of mankind and only the least of the tribes remained, those of us you call house-elves and the fey. But, the Old Ones watch the happenings of this world from theirs. Their words are still regarded by those of us who remain as the words of the kings and queens who once were. And their influence and contact with the houses of men is still felt. The banner you seek is a token of one such pledge between a house of Sidhe and a house of men. It still holds a promise that can be redeemed by the MacLeod or his heir or his designated champion."
Looking directly at Hermione, his voice took on a distinctly sad tone. "You must exercise care, Silver Otter who Dances with Joy, for the power of the Old Ones is both a blessing and a curse here in the sunlit world. The attention of the dwellers beneath the hills has been on you and your house for years, that much I may say. And more recently, that of the dwellers in the dark and their cat's-paws among the houses of man." Shaking his head sadly, he finished. "Surely you realize that this entire affair is an attempt to end your place in the world of men?"
A/N - The Haudenosaunee are the Iroquois Federation, the modern inheritors (in this world) of the Five Nations (later Six after 1720) that held sway from the Connecticut to the Cuyahoga rivers at one time. The Native American Nations, in this storyline, have maintained a much different relationship with the elves than the Europeans, and this attitude influenced the wizarding colonies, house-elves have a much different status in the New World than they do in the Old.
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