In the highlands of Scotland…
"Truly wonderful tea, Headmaster."
"You're too kind to me, Miss Meinyak," the elderly wizard stated before he sipped his own tea, and then he relaxed at his desk as he gazed on the raven-haired, brown-eyed woman seated across from him. "So the worlds of the Galactic Federation have decided it is time to stop fearing the Iprædies and Seifukusu 'beasts' and head forth to reclaim what they had…on a much more honest foundation of course."
"Fortunately so," Otako Meinyak — she had long dropped the "odai-" prefix to her family name as that was a Niphentaxian naming convention and she no longer physically resembled her late sister, the young governess of Phentax Twelve who had died thanks to the curse put on Redet Lum by the Old Lady of the Oak Forest — stated. "Trade didn't stop totally in the wake of the Liberation of my people from our former 'masters' by our sisters in Noukiios, Headmaster. It did decrease in fear of a potential upswing of border incursions by the regime of Emperor Schwartz out of some possible desire by the Iprædies to expand their influence on their neighbours now that they couldn't depend on the Church of Lum to 'protect' them." Albus Dumbledore was quick to sense the quotes in the Avalonian leader's words when it came to mentioning her race's former masters and what they would have done for their allies in the Federation as long as said allies didn't sniff around TOO much in Niphentaxian internal matters.
"So this 'tag race' soon to be run in Canada against Professor Jones' great-grandson is meant to ensure that the more militaristic and expansionist-minded of Miss Redet's people don't get it into their minds to invade us anyway since our solar system is at a galactic 'choke point' between the territories of the Noukiites, the Iprædies and the Seifukusu," Albus recapped. "What would happen if young Mister Saotome loses?"
"Then we are at war, sir," Otako noted, a terrible chill entering her voice which made Albus' back stiffen. "We have been enslaved once in our existence since the factory was awoken by Elder Ganzo and his friends. We will not be enslaved again."
The headmaster of Hogwarts nodded in understanding. While many elements of British wizarding society wasn't aware of the massive influx of alien bioroid women now living amongst them in the muggle world, he was one of a few who had been privileged — and he did see it as a great privilege — to learn the awful history of the Avalonians and their flight to Earth from their destroyed homeworld a half-decade before. And he had learned that truth at the same time as he had learned the equally awful truth of the most stupid mistake he had made ever since he had brought a young boy from a London orphanage named Thomas Marvolo Riddle into Hogwarts decades beforehand…
Little Whinging, Surrey; five years before…
"Thoughtmaster-prime, please! Don't!"
Albus jolted as a soft hand fell on his wand arm and a powerful surge of peace and calm seemed to flood him, ripping away the tsunami of rage, grief and shame he now felt on learning how much he had failed a little orphan boy who — by means he really still didn't understand — had saved his society from the depravations of Voldemort and the Death Eaters nearly ten years before. As he blinked before nodding thanks to the lovely lady who had stopped him from badly cursing Petunia Dursley, the pained voice of Rubeus Hagrid pleaded, "Ye can save him, can't ye?! Ye're witches, aren't ye?!"
A gentle hand fell on the shoulder of the sobbing half-giant groundskeeper. "Sir, please calm down," another woman, who lived with friends two doors down from the Dursley home, stated as she gave Hagrid a reassuring smile, and then she gazed at the woman now examining the badly bleeding boy on the front lawn of the Dursley home. "How is he, Lucy? Is he stable enough to be transported to Hogwarts?"
Lucy O'Neill, who lived across the street from the Dursleys, shook her head as she swept a tricorder — there was no really better word for it — over Harry Potter's unmoving body. "No. We'll have to do tre'cha now and grow a new body for him from the factory. The long malnutrition and accumulated physical wounds — not to mention that soul fragment inside that scar on his forehead — can't be fully corrected even by the means the Thoughtmaster-prime's healer friend could make use of; the accumulated damage is just too great even if we had access to a standard tank full of regeneration fluid from Sagurei." She looked around. "Where's Shelley?"
"Right here!"
Everyone turned as another woman, who lived on nearby Magnolia Crescent close to where Arabella Figg was located, came up. As Albus, Hagrid and Minerva McGonagall watched, Shelley Carter knelt by Harry's head and reached over to touch the sides of Lucy's face for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, I'll pull Harry's mei'na out of his mind and then beam up to the factory to prepare a new body." She gazed on the other women who had gathered in front of 4 Privet Drive after Harry had been attacked and mauled by Marge Dursley's pet bulldog Ripper. Harry's screams had caused dozens of very pretty women to come running, many of which were armed with futuristic pistols that seemed to come straight out of Star Wars. "Who'll take the soul fragment in the scar?"
"Let the soul fragment go."
Eyes locked on Albus. "Why?" Lucy asked.
"If it is what I think it is, the fragment is that of the man who murdered Harry's parents," the headmaster stated. "It…proves a horrid theory of mine concerning that man. He made Harry into a soul-anchor to ensure his own soul would remain in this life. One of several, I believe. If you destroy the fragment…"
"It'll ensure You-Know-Who will never come back," Minerva stated as she stared in mute horror at her old friend. "Merlin! You mean to say…?!"
"I have a meson crystal we can use!"
Eyes locked on another woman, who — along with a half-dozen friends — had been covering the shivering Petunia and Dudley Dursley with pistols after one of them had killed Ripper with a disintegration shot that had nearly given Marge a heart attack (she was now passed out on the lawn nearby) and sent Vernon screaming out about "freaks" before a well-aimed punch shattered his jaw and sent him flying through the living room windows to land in an unconscious heap on the floor inside. She pulled out a crystal shard of what appeared to be a mixture of diamond and glass from her sweater pocket before tossing it over to Shelley. She took it and then gently wedged it into the cross-point of the Z-shaped scar on Harry's right forehead, and then relaxed herself before concentrating, squeezing her eyes shut as she sent a powerful psychic probe into the dying boy's mind, seeking out the unwelcome visitor within.
NO!
Shelley gasped as the crystal suddenly glowed with energy and smoke began to pour out from the wound, it forming the image of a barely-humanoid face. "Voldemort…" Albus breathed out as he drew his wand and moved to set a containment spell around the forming soul fragment now being forced out of Harry's mind.
NO…STOP! I AM VOLDEMORT! STOP…! RELEASE ME…NO…!
The pained voice then faded in a helpless wail as the smoke seemed to vanish and the crystal was drawn out of Harry's scar. Handing said crystal to Lucy, Shelley then placed her fingers on Harry's head as she concentrated. The boy's green eyes then opened as he croaked for a second before the strength finally faded from his body and he went limp. Shelley then pulled away, gasping for breath as two of the onlookers moved to comfort her. "Get a blood sample!" one of them told Lucy. "We'll get her up to the factory and have the new body made as soon as possible!"
"Go!" Lucy barked.
Shelley and the two other women who had come to her aide then disappeared in a shower of energy that looked almost no different than a transporter beam from the original Star Trek series. Once they were gone, Minerva raced over, drawing her wand as she waved it over Harry's body. A second later, she blinked before collapsing on her knees. "He's dead…" she sobbed. "Harry's dead…"
"Only in body."
Eyes locked on Lucy. "What ARE ye…?" Hagrid asked.
"Actually, Mister Hagrid, I can explain that to you."
Everyone turned. "Good morning, Mister Steed," Lucy said as a dapper-dressed man in his early sixties came up to join them. "Sorry to drag you out today."
"Oh, don't apologise, Miss O'Neill. You acted to save a life, after all," John Steed stated before he gazed in amusement at Albus. "Professor Dumbledore, I presume," he said as he held out his hand, which the headmaster was quick to take, quickly sensing this fellow was here to help in this rather bizarre situation. "John Steed. Chief of Special Section 'A' of Her Majesty's Security Service. Pleased to meet you."
Albus blinked, and then he smiled. "Ah, you're from MI5! I forgot they renamed the unit after the war with Grindelwald! Delighted to meet you, Mister Steed! Now, Miss O'Neill here assures me that poor Harry is alive 'in spirit!' Could you please explain to me what that means! And who are these ladies, anyway?! I don't recall their living here ten years ago when we first brought Harry here to be protected…"
The agent from the Security Service chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about that, sir. Young Mister Potter is alive…" He then gazed sadly at the unmoving body on the ground. "Though he — rather she — will be changed by this incident quite profoundly, I fear." He then gazed on Albus. "You, Professor — along with Professor McGonagall and Mister Hagrid here — are the first magical sentients in British history to have what our Americans cousins colloquially call a 'close encounter of the third kind.'"
"What does THAT mean?!" Hagrid asked, clearly confused.
"They're aliens, Hagrid. People NOT from Earth."
Minerva and Hagrid gaped at Albus, and then they turned to gaze on the women surrounding them, their jaws now somewhere around their knees…
"Albus?"
Albus perked. "Yes, Phineas?"
"Young Harriet's at the door wanting to speak to you and Miss Meinyak," the portrait of Phineas Black stated with a proud smile.
"Ah, yes! Harri, come in!" Albus called out.
The door opened, revealing a tomboyish girl of sixteen dressed in the robes of a Hogwarts student, the green-and-gold of Slytherin on her tie, cape, vest sweater and skirt. The only bare resemblance Harri Evans had with Harry Potter were the warm and glittering green eyes she had directly inherited from her late mother, Lily. When her new body had been prepared five years ago — after the Avalonians living in Little Whinging had got a full brief from both Albus and John Steed concerning the wizarding world and what had happened in the first war with Voldemort — had been designed to both honour Harry Potter's parentage and not draw close attention to her because of that. She had dark red hair (darker shades than what Lily had) in a wild halo around her head (of course, this was when her housemates were able to help style it; under normal circumstances, Harri's hair was shaggier than Nymphadora Tonks'). And while Harri was quite beautiful, she wasn't the stunning supermodel Lily had been at that age.
Then again, Avalonians only considered body looks to be just PART of the desired package, especially when they were trolling for bond-mates.
Or forming a coven.
"Sorry to bother you, Professor," Harri said as she walked over to gently kiss Albus on the cheek — which made Fawkes chirp with laughter, the Sorting Hat guffaw in mirth and all the headmaster portraits chuckle and giggle as Albus' cheeks turned a very bright red — before she turned to embrace Otako. "I thought I sensed you here, Auntie! What are you doing here, anyway?! You never come to visit us here at Hogwarts; we always see you down in Diagon Alley whenever you come by to Britain!"
"Unfortunately, this isn't a social call, Harri," Otako stated. "Can you get all your coven-mates gathered together in one place? A private one?"
"Sure. Why?"
"I'll explain when we get there…"
The Room of Requirements, a half-hour later…
"So our sisters in Ontario — those serving as part of the Canadian military there — are asking for help just in case some lunatic shows up to kill Lum, right?"
"That's right, Hermione," Otako said as she faced the female members of the Defence Association in Harri's current year in the Room, which had configured itself into a warm meeting hall similar to the Great Hall. Albus was also there, along with Minerva, Severus Snape, Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout; as covens were not totally uncommon in wizarding society, the headmaster and the four heads of the Hogwarts houses had agreed in second year (right after all the girls in Harri's year — who had ALL been targeted by the possessed Ginny Weasley because of their close friendship with Harri and Ginny's realising that Harri Evans was Harry Potter — had been saved from petrifaction thanks to having Avalonian bodies made for them to get them back on their feet immediately) to help the coven stay together in the wake of the matter with the Dementors in third year, the Tri-Wizard Tournament in fourth year and the Ministry's interference in Hogwarts this year. "Given that this is the first OPEN contact between Earth and another world, the crazies are going to be flocking to Welland. Religious nutcases who'll see her as a living devil, the sci-fi fanatics, those who wouldn't care to learn we aren't alone (for whatever reason), and all the organisations that will want to take advantage of this. Now, the Canadian army in Ontario is dispatching EVERY sniper team from every infantry battalion in the province to cover the downtown section of Welland. But we need people who can go up and silently stun such people if we have to. Thus, we need a team of trained people. And thanks to Harri, you are it."
The twenty-three women seated there all smiled. "Well, we can sure help, but what will happen if Umbridge finds out we've left the school?" Millicent Bulstrode asked. "Even if she's never been able to scar Harri with her blood-quill, she's been doing everything she can to trip Harri up because he's telling the truth about Riddle's comeback."
"Do not concern yourself with that, Millicent," Albus then stated. "I believe it's finally time that Delores understands that she will not get what she wants here. I'm sure the Weasley twins have finished their preparations for their personalised farewell to her before they finish their NEWTs later this spring, so she'll be too distracted recovering from that to worry about students being gone for a maximum of two weeks."
"Can this guy actually tag this girl?" Hannah Abbott asked.
"Quite easily, Hannah," Filius stated. "I've studied all the writings concerning Mister Saotome's martial art form. It is truly an adaptive and quite versatile fighting form. And given the terrain of where this competition will take place, as long as this race is kept downtown, it should be over with quite soon."
"So where will we stay while we're in Canada?" Sǔ Lì wondered.
"We'll contact the Aqueduct Academy; that's the school teaching all the Avalonians resident in Welland at this time," Otako stated. "I'm sure they'll be more than pleased to put you girls up for the next couple of weeks."
"Besides, you can use this chance to do some extra study work for your Muggle Studies class," Minerva added. "Actually interacting with a society of normal people for a considerable length of time, especially now that it will become general public knowledge that we are no longer alone in this universe." The deputy headmistress held up a cautioning finger. "Do please keep the Statute of Secrecy in mind when you're in Canada. The Canadian Ministry of Magical Affairs will be told you'll be there, so they'll be ready to help if required, but please don't forget your obligations."
Everyone nodded as we…
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