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The Next Lord of Kobol

Chapter 11 - Priorities

 

(Delphi Union High School nine years and forty-one days before the fall of the twelve colonies and six months and four days since the arrival of one Harry Potter on Caprica.)

-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I know this is supposed to be an important day in our lives, but when exactly are the frakking speeches going to end?"  Maggie whispered to Cyrus as another speaker stepped up to the podium.  Graduation ceremonies were a half-day long exercise where each successive speaker made a supreme effort to drive as many audience members as possible into a coma.

"Anxious much, Marge?  You're practically squirming in your chair."

"Just want to get this over with before someone decides that they've made a mistake."

He reached over and squeezed her knee while saying, "Marge, my guess is that they know your grades are good enough, you’re just a discipline problem.  If they failed you, you'd be back next year and already know all the material.  You'd have more idle time on your hands and be even more of a pain in the ass.  For them, letting you out is a sound business move.  Of course they probably don't want to upset a 'Virgon Ambassador of Culture' by forcing her to attend another year of school here on Caprica."

Her monolithic rise off the grid petered out after six days, but she did get to give the top twelve things on Caprica that don't impress her on Backtalk.  Her mother hadn't been impressed that Maggie was rewarded for being in a fight, but didn't turn down the free trip to Caprica City and a chance to see Kelsey and Sue.

"Oh, you're hilarious Cy.  You'll need better material for the girls in Telsa.  They won't be nearly as accommodating as I am."

"If by accommodating you mean easy, then I suppose not."

"If I didn't know that was a lie, I'd say you're being harsh.  By the way, did I mention I won a game of Goldkiller the other night?"

"What!"  Cyrus said, loud enough to draw angry looks from the few people next to them who were still conscious.

"Put five high explosive rounds through Goldies' chest plate.  It was actually kind of a letdown.  Next time you're on the grid, look up my avatar and check out my slick new GK crest."

Maggie knew tweaking Cyrus about beating the game he obsessed over was wrong, but he did just imply she was easy.  That kind of cheap shot couldn't go unpunished.

Also, she'd have been deres'd several times over if it hadn't been for Harry's game play.  For all her skill at the racing games, he was getting really hard to beat and in the shooting games like Goldkiller, he fought like a whirlwind.  If it wasn't her console they'd played through, Maggie would have sworn that he had some kind of hack or cheat.

She knew Harry let her take him out of the game. There was no way his rifle jammed.  She called him a liar, but he said he'd win it next time and do it just with the pistol they give you at the beginning.

If anyone was capable of doing that, it was him.  Now, if they could just figure out how to beat Cylon Strike...

"Did you just freelance or were you part of a pack?"

"I went in with Harry," she said.

"That messed up kid at the group home?  Your mom let you take him on the grid?"

Maggie smiled and replied, "She might not know about that."

"Already breaking in my replacement, Marge?  I feel so used.  You could've at least waited until I left town."

Maggie rolled her eyes at him and said, "It's not like that.  He's definitely not your replacement.  I don't think of him like that.  Harry's just cool to game with.  Besides, he's staying here while I go to stay at my Uncle Donovan's in Cap City." 

"Too bad you're not coming west with me," Cyrus said.

"We've been over this, several times in fact.  You could've gone east with me," she countered.

Her mom couldn't afford tuition plus room and board for all three of her daughters at the same time.  She'd made a deal with Uncle Donovan so they could stay there with him and Aunt Linda.  If Cyrus had come along, they would have been forced to get an apartment and jobs to support their living arrangements.  The planetary capital was significantly more expensive than where Cyrus planned to continue his education.

"Yeah," Cyrus said.  "I suppose I could've, but tell me one thing, Pretty Eyes, why did you just blush when I was asking you about Harry?"

"I did not!"  Now, she drew a few cold looks from those nearby.

"You're right," he said with a lopsided grin.  "It must've been a trick of the light or something.  We've been out in the sun for hours."

"Asshole," she stated.

He scoffed and said, "Really?  That's all?  You must be trying to clean up your act for the new kid."

Crossing her arms and going for a "haughty" look, she replied, "This is a graduation ceremony, Cyrus.  I'm trying to show a bit of decorum."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

As the days passed, Harry grew more concerned.  Winky was overdue and he didn't think that was a good omen.  Thankfully, Dobby had made a full recovery from his ordeal and was keeping a watch on the arch at the museum.  With no guarantee that her arrival would be after closing, Harry wanted her evacuated before any visitors could record her.

The greenhouse project was completed.  He had a nice setup in the jungle near a small stream and his elven cohort had located several magical herbs and added them to the collection.  One of them was a strong hallucinogenic locally called Chamala.  The extract was worth a decent sum.  As soon as Harry realized it was illegal in the quantities he was growing, he went ahead and put the greenhouse under the Fidelius charm.  Of course if he paid enough cubits, he could buy a distributor’s license.

In some ways, Caprica was just as corrupt as the Ministry of Magic.  Portions of the Colonies reminded him of all those stories Dudley and his idiot friends told about Amsterdam.  The fat oaf swore he was going there once he finished school.

The greenhouse also gave Harry a safe area to go and continue mastering his ape Animagus form.  Previously, he'd tripped some kind of automated camera system in the park which got some strange rumors about some kind of beast in the jungles.  Fortunately, the photos that showed up were grainy and attributed to a group of pranksters.

No doubt some nonmagical Colonial equivalent of the Lovegoods were out there planning an expedition. 

Evolution was not taught here.  Humanity came from the planet Kobol a few thousand years ago.  Harry's Muggle education begged to differ and he knew that he wouldn't get any kind of answer until he made it to Athena's Tomb.

"Wonder what they would say if I tried to tell them we evolved from primates?  Considering I'm already in the Looney Bin, I'm guessing some form of execution for heresy.  I should brush up on my Flame-Freezing charm in case they do burnings at the stake."

Harry pondered these thoughts while sitting in the visitors' section, with Nancy and her daughter, Sue.  It was the first time he'd met one of Maggie's older sisters.  She was taller, with lighter colored hair and a willowy figure...nothing like either of the Edmondsons he was familiar with.  She was indifferent to Harry and made the trip because she could afford to miss a class today for Maggie's graduation. 

The speeches weren't especially interesting, but he needed all the help he could get with his language skills.

Still after the fifth speaker, Harry’d had enough and started working through his Occlumency exercises.  Though the odds of encountering anyone with any Legilimency skills out here wasn't even worth considering, it did improve his focus.

When it came to his own abilities in Legilimency, he'd been scared to try it on someone.  It had helped him communicate with Joe the Dementor, but the creature knew English.  Harry didn't know what to expect until he could fully understand their language.

He worried about his magic becoming stagnant.  To prevent that from happening, he charmed the garden implements, carved far more runes than necessary, and used a large number of Reparo charms. Cracks in the walls and some ugly foundation damage reversed themselves.

There were a few setbacks.  If he tried to repair anything with electronics in it, the spell didn't work unless Harry understood how the electronics functioned.  He was able to fix a toy with a broken light on it, but another one with a tiny computer screen turned into a minor fire hazard, and he might have cost the facility a few hundred cubits when he fixed something and found out there was a live junction panel on the other side of the wall. 

He made a mental note to take some electronics courses down the line.  It probably wouldn't hurt.

Harry thought about his plan.  It was still taking shape and involved mastering the language, learning how to pilot a ship, getting a ship, and finding Earth or Kobol.  The greenhouse would give him “seed money” to get things started once the first crops could be harvested.  He’d probably have to use a Confundus charm or two along the way.  An Imperio would go further, but he wasn’t willing to go there.

It didn’t take terribly long to transfigure a passable copy of the Unspeakable’s journal and have Dobby switch them out.

Harry's guess that it was a journal had been correct.  The owner was a man named Malcolm Lestrange, which meant that Bellatrix wasn't even the first Lestrange to die on Caprica.  Malcolm appeared to be a fairly vile individual who believed the veil would lead to a land of the dead. 

For Malcolm it did.  The ironic part was his specialty was Necromancy.  His apprentice was a witch named Felicia Bones, who was only two years removed from Hogwarts when she followed this madman to her death in July of 1840.  The diagrams of dead bodies included obviously led to the opinion that this was some form of a death cult.

Harry wasn't certain what he would do with two different Inferius rituals and a third that Malcolm was attempting to design.  It had something to do with imbuing the corpses with flammable curses or filling them with explosive fluids.

Considering the first thing a wizard or witch was taught about fighting them was to use fire, it was pretty insidious stuff and Harry was reasonably certain that the England was a much better place with Lestrange's efforts unfinished.  The other spells included were useful, but many were of the “darker” variety.  Still, Harry began practicing the spells and learning how to wield them effectively.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Nancy asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes.  It's hot out today.  Maggie seems happy."

His verbal skills were on par with a six or seven year old.  Complex sentences were just around the corner!  Then again, he might also be dumbing himself down when speaking with Nancy and the therapists.  There were less awkward questions that way.

"You're making good progress, Harry," Nancy said.  Harry caught Sue arching a questioning eyebrow.

"Thank you.  I'm trying hard."

"Yes, you are."  The way she said it made him feel like a pet that had learned a new trick.  It irked Harry and he worried that he might eventually have problems getting out from under Nancy's overly kind thumb.

On the other hand, he needed to get an identity established and to do that, he needed her.

He felt something grab the back of his leg.  Since it was under his chair, there was only one person it could be.

Harry bent over looked under the chair.  The elf's eyes looked even larger.  Instinctively, he held a finger to his lips.  He couldn't use his wand and do a privacy charm or just Apparate out of there.  There were limits to illusions and notice-me-not charms.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Sometimes the simplest answer was the best one. 

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Right now?"  Nancy asked.

"Yes.  It hurts.  I think I might be sick."

"Sue, take him."

"Me?" her older daughter questioned.

"Yes, you know where the nearest bathroom is."

Sue muttered, "For the love of the Gods!  C'mon."

Harry maintained his act as she dragged him across the row and toward the stairs, causing more of a commotion than he'd hoped for.

Stumbling down the stairs, Sue looked around quickly and led him to a portable.

"Get in," she commanded.

He did and latched the door.  Inside, he drew his wand and cast a silent locking charm on the composite plastic door and an auditory illusion of him retching.  Harry layered a silencing charm inside of that and summoned Dobby.  The pop was instantaneous.

"What is it?" he asked, probably a bit more harshly than he should have.

"Winky is here!  But she is badly hurt, Master Harry."

His annoyance vanished in a split second.  "Where is she?"

"I brought her to your room."

"Take me...," Harry stopped and considered his situation.  He flicked his wand and conjured a small cot and stuck it to the wall.

"Bring her here and get my potion kit."

Dobby disappeared and Harry took a deep breath, trying to ignore the smell inside the portable loo.  His mind flashed back to his earliest outings with the Order.  He hadn’t been allowed to do much more than assist Hestia Jones as she did her best to save the poor Muggles the Death Eaters used to practice their spells on.  He’d picked up a decent amount of knowledge from her…enough that she’d turned him loose on his own three times.  Two of his patients lived.  The third didn’t.  Harry hadn’t known any of those Muggles.  He knew Winky and worried his meager exposure to the art of healing wouldn’t be enough.

Seconds later, Dobby reappeared with his fourth patient.  Winky looked like a tiny mummy, from his other elf's handiwork.

"Master Harry," Winky whispered.

"I'm here and so is Dobby.  What happened?"

"I was with Dumbledore," she said.

"That's not important right now.  How did you get hurt?"

"The bad wizards hit me with a spell."

"Dobby, show me where.  Winky, did you see what color the curse was?"

"Yellow," she said as Dobby removed the layers of bandages.  There was a black scorch mark the size of Harry's balled fist in the center of her back.  It oozed reddish puss and the smell almost made Harry throw up.  The moment the wound was exposed to air, it began to bubble and the poor she-elf howled in agony.

He didn't have time to appreciate the irony of almost becoming sick.  Using his wand, he slit open the wound and had Dobby give her a blood replenisher.  His repertoire of counter curses was limited, but he decided to make up for it with power.  In an ideal situation, Harry would be doing this in a protective circle with a second wizard or witch assisting.  Immobilizing Winky stopped her thrashing.

"Yellow curse that infects the blood.  Doesn't kill instantly, but cause intense pain.  Sounds like either Mulciber or Rookwood.  It's gotta be a blood boiler."

None of the counter curses Harry knew could reverse it.  The best his spells could do is slow it down.  He'd have to do something more radical.

"Dobby," he said.  "I need to cut the infected area off and graft some skin in its place.  I need a pig or some kind of animal."

"Take skin from Dobby, Harry Potter will."

"No," Harry said, but knew Dobby's offer made the most sense.  Two elves and a human in a portable didn't leave much room for a pig...even a stunned one.  Winky's own flesh might be tainted by the curse.

"Please Master.  Winky is dying."

To emphasize his point, Dobby pointed at Winky’s eyes.  They were rapidly changing color and becoming unfocused.  Harry didn’t know what that meant, but it couldn’t be good.

"Alright, I'll take a finger and engorge it.  Just the little finger.  There should be enough skin to cover her wound."

The male elf, showing tremendous courage, stuck his hand out and didn't so much as wince when Harry removed the finger with a quick cutter.  His next spell caused the severed digit to swell and expand until it was large enough.  Harry flayed skin and flesh from the bone, while struggling with the contents of his stomach as he floated the bloody mass in the air and turned his attention to Winky's wound.

Praying to guidance from Poppy Pomfrey and Hestia Jones, Harry cut away just beyond the edges of the cursed area and then lifted the cursed infection away.  He poured two vials of wound sealant, a teaspoon of essence of dittany, and blood replenisher directly into the area, along with the most powerful healing draught at his disposal, before dropping the gory poultice of Dobby's donation directly onto the area.  Two more vials of wound sealant went on top as he used Episkey spells to bind the flesh together.  The wound sealants and healing draughts had phoenix tears in them.  He’d had to take some of the muscle under the skin, but he hoped the magical elixirs would fix his piss poor solution.

Only when he stopped did he become aware of the vibrations from the rhythmic pounding on the outside of the portable loo.

Harry's illusion had been getting sick for five minutes.  Sue out there was probably getting an earful.  As tempting as it was to cast an air freshening charm, the nasty smell really sold the lie.  Winky's breathing was shallow but steady.  The diagnostic charm didn't show any signs of the curse.  He'd done all he could other than bandaging Dobby's hand, which Harry took care of in a second.

"Take her back to my room and keep her hidden.  Find me if she gets any worse."

Dobby nodded vigorously and popped away.  Harry levitated the infected mass into the hole and reversed the cot transfiguration.

As he removed the silencing charm and the audible illusion, he heard Sue's voice demanding that he open the door.

Sighing, he removed the locking charm and hid his wand.  It was time to go back to being simple sentence Harry.

Grabbing some toilet paper, he held it next to his mouth and opened the door. Sue Edmondson stood there with an angry scowl on her face until the smell hit her. The young woman bent over and proceeded to vomit all over his trousers.

For his own part, Harry hadn't thought the smell had been that bad, but years of potions classes, and all the unsavory ingredients he had handled, might have conditioned his senses to the point where the stench from Winky's wound didn't really overwhelm him.  Sue wasn’t so fortunate.

Knowing that he couldn't use magic to fix the problem, Harry grabbed another handful of tissue and offered it to the even more incensed woman.

“Want some?” He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

“Where’d Mom go?” Maggie asked while she scanned the crowd.  She didn't see Harry either and found that odd.

Her older sister, who was looking quite pale, said, “There was a bit of an issue with Harry and she took him back to the facility.”

“Is he all right?”

“I don’t know,” Sue said.  “He got really sick.  I’ve been at the aftermath of entire dorm parties and haven't heard as much puking.  Still he looked fine when he opened the door…at least until I caught a whiff and lost it.”

Maggie gave a sympathetic look and said, “Well, I guess he's okay then. Otherwise, Mom would be taking him to an emergency room. So are you and Kelsey ready to put up with me again?”

“It won't be that bad,” Sue said.  “You know how big Uncle D's place is.  With all the events, activities, and everything else, there's hardly a time when all of us are there together anyway.  So aerospace engineering huh?  I always thought you put a little too much time into those paper airplane contests we used to have.  Of course you know most of the spacer jobs are filled with ex-military. Does that mean I'll be getting a picture of you at enlistment ceremony sometime soon?”

The freshly graduated student rolled her eyes and replied, “I don't think I'm what the military is looking for right now.  They’d just crimp my style. I'd rather get paid to build the bus than drive it.  Besides defense contracting is where the real cubits are these days.”

“Well, I'm glad you got it all figured out, Sis.  Now, can we find where the best graduation party is and go celebrate?  I know this isn't Cap City, but I'll try my best to have a good time.”

Maggie ignored her sister’s sarcasm.  “There are four to choose from.  One, I am definitely not welcome at. There's another where we should go first, before everyone gets drunk and says what they really think about me.  Or we can go to either the other two, but I’ve learned that the best tasting alcohol belongs to the people who like you least, but have to give it to you anyway.”

“From the sound of things Margaret, you aren't going to have any problems with philosophy electives.”

-x-x-x-x-x

The on call physician was a female intern in her late twenties named Dr. Lindsay.  Harry always got the feeling that she didn't completely believe his story.  Her bedside manner was somewhat lacking and she was very quick to throw bottle after bottle of medication at a problem. 

“Honestly, Director,” the woman said addressing Nancy.  “I think your daughter was exaggerating. Harry doesn't show any signs of severe dehydration.  He's not running a fever.  I could run a blood test but look at him.  He doesn't seem to be in distress at all.  In fact, when I examined his throat I didn't see any sign of irritation.  Vomiting more than a few times would definitely leave some telltale signs.”

Harry kept his expression blank while internally scolding himself at unsuccessfully pulling off his ruse.  Somewhere in the great beyond, both his Godfather and his father were deducting points from his performance.

“What do you recommend?” Nancy asked.

“Why don't we give him some anti-nausea medication and keep him inside for the rest of the day.  If he doesn't experience any further symptoms by dinnertime, he should be out of the woods.”

The director nodded but Harry saw a smidge of resentment in Nancy's face. The doctor had implied that either he or her daughter was lying and it was clear that Mrs. Edmondson didn't care for her subordinate’s attitude. This left Harry with a twinge of guilt but when weighed against Winky's life, didn't even rate as an annoyance.

Either way, he just wanted to get out of here and check on both of his elves.

Nancy gave him a set of coveralls to change into and had him put his pants into a plastic bag until they could be laundered.  Unfortunately, Harry caught Nancy giving him an appraising look and knew she wasn’t completely in his corner.

“Hope Maggie is having fun,” Harry said.  “Wish I could have gone.”

Nancy Edmondson smiled and said, “I’m sure she is.  Probably more now that her mother isn’t slowing her down.  Sue messaged me and said they were going to see some friends.  Now, let’s take you back to your room.”

Harry walked down the hallway with her, somewhat sorry that Nancy didn’t get to stay for her daughter’s graduation and that the dinner plans had been scuttled.

“I’ll be fine from here,” Harry said just before they reached the edge of where his repelling ward would take hold.  He’d noticed that suggestions helped the effectiveness of his wards.  Mainly, he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t hear or see anything in the room.

The director frowned, but let him go on with instructions to stay inside, get rest, ring the on call nurse if he needs anything, and be sure to come to dinner.

Opening the door, Harry immediately slipped inside and shut it behind him.  After a quick silencing charm he asked, “How’s she doing?”

Dobby had been hovering over the female’s face.  It was somewhat comforting to know that he didn’t just do that to Harry.

“Winky is still breathing,” Dobby answered wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.  “She has a fever.”

The fact that Dobby sounded completely lucid drove home the seriousness.  Sadly, Harry didn’t know that much about House Elf physiology.  In truth, he barely knew anything about humans.  “Alright, let me in there so I can cast a diagnostic charm.  I need to cast one on you as well, so I have a baseline.”

"Dobby would gladly change places with her.  He wishes now that Dumbledore had sent Winky first."

Harry nodded, knowing that his friend felt miserable, while wondering what his life would have been like with the more restrained of the duo here.  Both were as damaged as any of the humans in this building.  Dobby's physical torture at the hands of the Malfoys was obvious, but Winky's treatment by Crouchs Senior and Junior amounted to psychological abuse as each played her against the other.

He promised to be both a good master and friend to the pair.  Truthfully the bar wasn't set very high, but he would try just the same.  It wasn't like he had many friends either.

Thinking about the number of potions he'd already given the female elf, he decided to wait at least another three hours before administering anything else.  One of the first things Hestia Jones tried to drill into his head was to be patient and not try to overmedicate.

“Potions need time to work, Harry,” she said.

“Isn’t it supposed to be magic?” Harry countered, remembering the tears of a phoenix closing his wounds.

“Yes,” the witch answered glancing over at the Muggles they were treating.  “But it’s not miracles.  You also have to be mindful of the amount of magic in the patient you’re treating.  A fully trained witch or wizard will react more quickly to a potion than a squib or a Muggle.”

They didn’t cover treating House Elves.  On one hand, their magic wasn’t terribly potent, but on the other, they are extremely magical.

Harry reached out and took Winky’s left hand in two fingers and used his thumb to massage the back of her hand.

Her eyes fluttered open and she said, “Master Harry.”

“Hello Winky.  Are you feeling any better?”

“It hurts, but not as before.”

“That sounds promising, but I do not want you overdoing things.  Dobby will do all the work around here.  You focus on healing.  I can’t say for certain how long it will take you to recover."

Privately, he worried whether she'd be able to walk correctly after his drastic actions.

"I will get better, Master," she said.  "Dobby, have you given Master Harry the package?"

Her mate looked suddenly distraught.  "Dobby is forgetting Winky's package!  No!  No!  No!"

He practically vaulted over Winky to get into the hidden area Harry had created in the back of the closet which Harry had laughingly named, "Dobby's Swinging Bachelor Pad."  The space was a roughly six foot by six foot square...not much bigger than Harry's cupboard under the stairs at Number Four and represented his first real achievement in size expansion magic.

Dobby's "Pad" was normally dominated by an engorged toy doll bed Harry had found in the Lost and Found bin located in the front office.  Dobby had moved that into the closet proper and placed Winky on it.

Harry looked at the box Dobby returned with.  It wasn't terribly big.  Opening it, he saw the familiar folds of his invisibility cloak.  With great care, he ran his fingers across the smooth fabric.  The second object didn't warm his heart so much as pique his curiosity.  It was roughly a foot long and rumored to have been crafted from dark wood floating in the River Styx.  Harry wondered if even old Ollivander would know what material was in the core.

It hummed with power when Harry brushed his finger against it.  He was its master.  His headmaster had said that the Elder Wand made powerful spells unstoppable, temporary transfigurations last longer, and even allowed for larger, more complex permanent conjurations.

A tiny part of him couldn't wait to slip out tonight and try it out.

He sifted through a couple of books looking for the third Deathly Hallow, but there was no sign of the resurrection stone.  There was only a half written note dated from what Harry guessed would've been three weeks ago.

"Winky?  Are you well enough to tell me what happened?"

The elf nodded and composed her thoughts.  "After Dobby left, Mr. Dumbledore told Winky that Harry and Dobby hadn't returned.  Winky was very sad.  We moved every few days.  Nasty men caught up with us in France and fought a big battle.  Many people hurt, wizards and Muggles.  Dumbledore tells Winky to grab this and take it to Harry."

Harry thought that fighting in France was a sign that Malfoy didn't mind international incidents.  "Do you know if there was supposed to be a stone inside his package?"

"Sorry Master, but Winky doesn't know."

"Who was there from the Order?"

She listed off names, few he recognized.  Bill Weasley and Fleur were the only two he had close personal knowledge of.  Scanning the letter, Harry saw mostly the apologetic tone of a man who was out of ideas, but no clue as to the whereabouts of the stone.  Perhaps he never intended to give Harry the third Deathly Hallow or had loaned it out.

The books both concerned magical Greece.  One was a compendium of Greek runes and spells.  The other looked to be a tome concerning magical creatures of that region.  Dumbledore hoped Harry would find them useful. 

Quizzing Winky about who visited Dumbledore only added a few other possibilities.  About the time he had started the letter to Harry, he'd been visited by Snape and a few days after that by Remus Lupin.  Given his choice, Harry hoped his werewolf friend had the last Hallow.  The things Severus Snape might want to learn from the specters of the departed made Harry shudder.

"How many bad men were attacking Dumbledore when you left?"

"Not sure, Master.  At least seven maybe more."

"Was his phoenix with him?"

"I didn't see it Master Harry, but Winky was not looking."

"Do you know if he told anyone other than you and Dobby that I was still alive?"

Winky shrugged helplessly, starting to get upset that she didn't know many of the answers to his questions.  He stopped and told her it was alright. 

"Maybe I can use Legilimency on her when she's recovered," he thought.  “Being able to see parts of the battle might give me a better feel about whether or not Albus survived.”

"Dobby," Harry said, coming to a decision.  "I want you to go back to the museum after they close and make sure the little alarm I set up is still fully charged after Winky set it off.  We need to know if anyone else comes through."

Even though Harry gained a new ally, along with some powerful items, the moment still felt bittersweet.  He was no closer to going back to Earth than he'd been this morning. 

Turning to the pair of elves he said, "The three of us are family.  We're all we have left.  Each of us watches out for the other two.  It's us against the...well I guess it's us against the Galaxy."

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• Shall We Depart? Paying Delores a Visit Even Legends Must Die Athena's Warning Silver Hands and Silver Tongues Veiled Intentions The Dog Runs Fast Offerings and Revelations An Unexpected Reunion Culture Shock Priorities The Caprica Cowhenge
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