CHAPTER 16 – The muggles and magic, part 2

"HARRY POTTER, COME HERE NOW!" sounded the amplified voice of Madame Bones through the boy's residence. She had just come out of the fireplace and was visibly agitated.

At the edge of the pool, young Harry immediately separated from Susan, raising his hands to his head: "Your aunt has discovered! We're fried!"

"Harry, you're not sure of anything! Calm down, get dressed and go see her. I'll be right behind you. It may be another motive that brought her here," replied the girl, annoyed at the sudden interruption of her moment of pleasure, the boy's unjustified fear, and the subtle way her aunt had announced her arrival.

"Madame Bones! Did something happen? How can I help you?" said Harry as soon as he reached the entry hall.

Amelia was surprised by the arrival of Potter. The boy, always so confident in the presence of adults, was shy and cautious, and had stopped by the door, still at considerable distance, as if ready to escape. That's when her niece came in, still finishing dressing. The two with wet hair, dishevelled and incomplete clothes, looks of apprehension and guilt ... the situation became clear. Keeping her face close, she decided to play with both of them: "You can start by making sure my niece will not get pregnant until she has a ring on her left hand, boy!"

The teenagers' face of astonishment was too much for the witch, who burst into laughter at the inconvenient situation of the two. Susan was immediately red with anger and embarrassment, but Amelia gave no chance for her to explode.

"Come on, sit down both. Dumbledore finally decided to act, and released the prophecy during the Wizengamot meeting. We need to define a plan of action."

Soon other people began to arrive, mostly other teenagers who were also enjoying summer at the Potter mansion. Sirius and Remus were the last, warned by a patronus issued by Amelia.

"Did he have the courage to reveal the whole prophecy?" asked Harry, opening the discussion.

"No. Just the piece he claims Voldemort already knows. And, of course, he immediately used the situation to ask for your guard to 'prepare you for your fate'."

"But there has not been a vote yet, has it?" Susan asked.

"Not yet," Amelia explained. "Luckily Fudge acted to our benefit, wanting to put Potter on guardianship of the Ministry, a 'state security issue', as he put it. With that, we were able to create enough excitement to postpone any decision to a new meeting."

"Have you set the date for this meeting?" Luna asked as she wrote quickly on a notepad.

"Next Monday. We have five days, what are we going to do?" asked Amelia.

"How about letting go of the whole prophecy with Astoria's interpretation? And proving that Voldemort is really dead? This way people will easily believe that Dumbledore is really the Dark Lord of the prophecy! We can even say that we are already arranging to vanquish Dark Lord Dumbledore!" said Sirius, half-serious, half-joking.

"I like the idea!" said Astoria to the astonishment of the adults. And several other young people soon endorsed the idea, including Harry himself.

"You are a bunch of rebels without a cause!" Alastor protested. "You're just trying to create a mess! Don't you see the risk that this thoughtless action can cause?"

"Yes, we see. But we are also seeing what can come of good," Daphne explained. "No one in their right mind is going to vote for Dumbledore being Harry's guardian after we destroy his image so completely. We can prove that Voldemort is definitely dead, and this will put that old gaga against the wall, totally unarmed. And we can also take advantage of Fudge and try to replace him with Amelia, well ahead of our schedule."

"Argh! You're all crazy!" Alastor protested again, before shrugging, "I must be crazy, too, to think this mad plan might work!"

-o0o-

"Luna! Pudding is not a healthy breakfast!" Harry complained as he entered the kitchen and found his friend devouring a large slice of the candy.

"But, Harry, today is different. This pudding is a prize for the completion of two important and difficult articles. After all, fixing up bad things to say about Dumbledore and Fudge is soooooo hard!"

It was impossible not to laugh at the cute and charming way the blonde expressed herself. Luna, in turn, took advantage of the effect caused to the boy to quickly end the pudding and kill the issue before Harry could resume scolding.

Knowing he'd been fooled, but leaving the subject aside, Harry preferred to ask, "Have you got enough on Fudge?"

"Oh yeah. It was enough to follow rule number 1 of the espionage and reportage: follow the money! The wealth of our dear minister is three or four times greater than all the money he has received honestly in his life! That simple fact is enough to suspect passive corruption, administrative impropriety, sale of influence, and a few more things."

"So, do you think we have enough to get him out of there and replace him with Madame Bones?"

"With you on the first page saying you prefer to leave the magical world to submit to the control of these two lunatics we already had enough. The rest are just arguments to justify the decision you had already sealed."

"But, Luna, that does not make sense!"

"Oh, Harry, your naiveté is so cute! But you need to learn that most people are not very good with logical reasoning. They make decisions based on their emotions, and only then, if they need to, try to find some arguments to justify what they have already chosen."

-o0o-

At last Luna's prediction proved valid, as always. After an extra edition of The Quibbler followed by an exclusive interview with The Daily Prophet with Harry confirming his belief in Astoria's interpretation of Dumbledore as the Dark Lord, and the reinforcement of the criticisms and accusations against Fudge, as well as Amelia and the Unspeakables confirming the final defeat of Voldemort, Albus and Cornelius were in a terrible situation. Reminding everyone how Fudge wanted to force the dementor's kiss on Sirius without allowing him a trial, in addition to having enriched himself beyond the possibilities his position would allow him, Harry's interviews led the situation to a rapid outcome.

On Saturday morning an owl delivered a letter of resignation from Minister Fudge, who had apparently left the country, since no one could find him or his closest relatives for comment. As for Dumbledore, despite his protestations to the contrary, the general opinion was confused as to what to think except on one point: he was old and should retire. For a moment Umbridge was happy, thinking she would take control of Hogwarts without having to engage in a quarrel with the old wizard. To her utter displeasure, she discovered that the new administration had no place for her, neither at Hogwarts nor at the Ministry.

-o0o-

"Good morning, Colonel Sharp. I hope your smile is a harbinger of good news."

"Good morning, General. Yes, I have excellent news."

"Sit down then and let me know. Tea?"

"No, thanks General. Following your guidance, I selected Richard Boise, who is working on counterintelligence for Scotland Yard, as our contact with Mrs Bones. The results were immediate. Not only she did help us to disrupt the two cases of wizards passing as messiahs, but also a third of whom we were not yet aware, and we captured another robber wizard in the Glasgow region."

"Great! So we've opened a channel for direct communication and cooperation with their police department; is that it?"

"Even better, General. In an unpredictable move, Minister Fudge, who we knew to be extremely corrupt and isolationist, was forced to resign and Mrs Bones is now the new Minister for Magic, and as part of her job she is to contact the Prime Minister in the near future. The prospects for broad and on-going cooperation are excellent if we can minimize some of their fears."

"What fears would these be, Colonel? Nothing serious, I hope."

"Well, they're aware that various wizards and witches have left the wizarding world and now they work for us. There is some fear about how much we know about them and their powers and whether we have hostile intentions ..."

"Understandable, but out of the question. The first nation to rid itself of its magical elements would be exposed to the action of foreign wizards and witches, with little chance of neutralizing them. If they are willing to cooperate with us in maintaining order and law, and accept the leadership of the British crown and her Majesty the Queen, I see no reason to worry."

"Yes, indeed, Agent Boise was able to calm them down in that regard. But they are also concerned with the discovery of their magical world by the general population. It seems that because of a lack of resources and adequate training of the magical personnel in charge to keep their world secret, and a better knowledge of our recent technological advances, several groups of civilians have acquired knowledge of the existence of Magic, and they fear the rapid expansion of this knowledge, especially with recent advances in the internet and camera monitoring technology."

"Are they determined to keep the secret at any cost, Colonel?"

"No, General. They are confused and insecure. There seems to be a debate on certain parts of the magical world about the convenience, and even the possibility, of keeping them hidden longer. And that creates insecurity about the possibility of a new witch hunt aided by a technology they do not know and fear."

"This is a subject to be discussed calmly and thoughtfully. The final decision will have to be theirs, but we can cooperate with them, monitoring the action of these civil groups, clarifying them about available technology, and even, perhaps, providing some support if they want to reveal themselves to the rest of the people."

"Do you really think it's possible they can integrate into our society peacefully, General? The population tends to fear the unknown and the different."

"I think so, Colonel. It will all depend on how they are presented to the general public. What is important is that we now have a channel of regular communication with a magical government that seems favourable to us, or at least willing to try cooperation. If our government implies that it has always known the existence of this magical world and has always been in control, I see no major problems ahead."

"An important fact that Agent Boise raised is that it seems we are at the forefront of this movement, General. Except for some small remote communities where magical and normal have always coexisted openly, nowhere is there now the degree of cooperation we have here between the two worlds."

"So it is our duty to do all we can to preserve this advantage, but not to risk errors of precipitation. Colonel, I'm going to talk to the Prime Minister today, he'll have to find a way to accommodate me on his agenda. I hope to meet this lady Bones personally by the end of this week and articulate with her the next steps of our incipient collaboration. In the meantime, prepare a way for us to gather all the information we are learning about the magical world and the performance of its members in our world. We must be ready to do our part in this exchange of information, and seek a growing collaboration between these two worlds. But your agent should not reveal much of it spontaneously. We are on a trading scheme at the moment, if they want something from us, we should get something from them in compensation. Do you understand, Colonel?"

"Yes sir. You can count on me, General."

-o0o-

Harry was admiring Gabrielle Delacour's handiwork comfortably seated in a reclining chair in the mansion of his French little friend's family, sipping on currant juice and delighted at how charming the girl could be without even trying, with that face of concentration and tip of the tongue appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm finished, Harry!" she said happily, and took out her wand to activate the runes she had so carefully engraved on the leather bracelet of the boy's wristwatch. Soon the light brown leather of the bracelet acquired a brilliant golden hue, like the body of the watch, looking like pure gold.

"Awesome, Gabi!" commented Harry, really impressed by his little friend's work. "You certainly are already at least on par with the fourth year students at Runes! Awesome how fast you learn!"

Happy with the compliment, the girl came with the clock at where Harry was and gently placed it on his friend's wrist, receiving a hug and a kiss on the cheek as a reward for his efforts. For her, no reward was worth as much as that: the satisfaction of her idol with her efforts.

"Really fantastic, my little one!" commented Jean-Pierre, also impressed by his daughter's progress, entering the room to sit opposite Harry.

Seeing her father and mother walk in and hearing her sister coming downstairs with the rest of the guests (Luna and the Greengrass sisters), little Gabrielle sat on Harry's lap before the adults asked her to leave, as they always did when they wanted to discuss something serious. Didn't they realize that she was no longer so little and that she liked to take part in serious matters as much as they did? Apparently not, by the frequency with which she had to be absent from these meetings. But now she was with Harry, and she hoped her hero would fight for her right to participate.

Apolline saw the expression and actions of his daughter and understood what she planned much better than her husband, who was already preparing to ask his daughter to withdraw. Placing a hand over his and giving him a negative nod when she received his attention, she prevented the father from losing a few more points with his daughter. Jean-Pierre was a great father and husband, but sometimes he was a bit too protective. Apolline knew what would be discussed and saw no problems in her daughter participating in the conversation.

"Madame Bones told you about questioning some people from other countries about the degree of knowledge of the normals about the magical world. Karel and I also did our research," Jean-Pierre began to report. "We have a very confused situation. We have found, for example, that some small countries have never really adhered to the Statute of Secrecy. Not only do the people of these countries know about our existence but they have also benefited from our powers to solve many of their problems. In return, the wizards and witches of these countries rely on a different treatment as a type of nobility, and even in several of them are in control of the government, which is unique to magicals and normals.

"At the opposite extreme we have countries where the separation was total, and the magical personnel vehemently refuse any attempt at a meeting. This is the case in China, where the magical population completely isolated itself in the cities of Shangri-La, Xuanpu, Penglai and Yaochi; in addition to several other countries, including Russia, Belarus, Albania, Macedonia, Greece and Switzerland, here in Europe.

"With the magical nations spread more or less equally between these two extremes, any attempt to unite everyone in a joint position, whatever it be, will be facing centuries of negotiations before a consensus is reached."

"But we do not have centuries to look for this diplomatic solution," commented Daphne. "I think we do not even have a decade."

"The problem is that any magical government that takes the initiative to try to reveal the existence of magic unilaterally will suffer strong reprisals, and not only economic and political reprisals, from the International Confederation of Wizards, but also the risk of military intervention by the Front for the Preservation of the Statute of Secrecy."

"Front for the Preservation of the Statute of Secrecy? This is new, isn't it?" asked Luna, curious about this new organization.

"Yes, and partly our fault," Jean-Pierre explained. "It seems that our inquiries, and also our greater cooperation with the normal government, have led some countries in favour of total isolationism to devise a quick response. The movement began in the Arabian Peninsula, with Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and Kuwait, but spread rapidly, and now has Russia and China as main participants. They are striving to overturn the law that Dumbledore created about the need to inform normal governments of magical activities that may influence the non-magical world. I do not think they can bring it down, but they already have enough strength to prevent punishment for countries that do not comply, as they recently did with the case of Sierra Leone and a nundu who escaped from a reserve."

The group took a little break to think for a while about the news. It was Harry who broke the silence by thinking of a loophole for action: "If the cost is too high for a government, then the initiative must come from an individual."

"Harry, the cost will be even greater for a single individual," Jean-Pierre said sharply worried. "You will make thousands of enemies, and they will put a prize for your head."

"We do not have much time. As the normals are progressing in computing, imaging technology, satellites and telecommunications, soon some group of them will be revealing our existence and this will be much worse than if we take the initiative," said Astoria, reviewing the conclusions that the group had arrived in the last weeks. "If we take the initiative, we will naturally tone the case, reinforcing that the normal government knew about us, that we were collaborating with them and now we will expand this collaboration to all. If we let one of these groups take the initiative, we do not know or have control over how we will be presented. It may be the beginning of a new witch-hunt, with nowadays much more numerous, organized and technologically advanced hunters. We have to avoid the chances of a carnage."

"Harry, you'll have to stay a long time, years or even decades, hidden if you take that plan forward," Apolline reasoned.

"I have the resources," Harry confirmed. "Let's do it, before it's too late. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of problems, both from the normal people as from the magicals opposing the opening."

-o0o-

"We have six more countries in, General. We now have a total of one hundred and fifty-two confirmed for simultaneous broadcasting."

"This will undoubtedly be an unprecedented event, Colonel. Only if we can get a live interview with an E.T. or the Creator himself will we be able to supplant this one!"

-o0o-

At 10 o'clock in the morning, Greenwich Mean Time, Sunday, September 3, 1995, the most anticipated broadcast of the century began. For two weeks TV networks around the world announced a special schedule for that day. Four hundred and forty-six broadcasters and transmitters from one hundred and seventy-seven countries were participating in the largest simultaneous broadcast of all time. The expected audience was in the four billion people figure.

The broadcast began exhibiting a beautiful grass field in the hinterland of England. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the figure of a dark-haired boy with green eyes appears, saying, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter, and I'm a wizard."

As the young man appeared, the camera recoils a little so that the audience can see a little of the sky above the boy, from where a witch on a broom descends in an elegant spiral until she lands next to Harry and also presents herself: "Hello, I'm Astoria Greengrass, and I'm a witch."

-o0o-

For two hours the program continued, passing a complete view of the magical world, divided into four segments of half an hour each. The first segment addressed the most common magic skills; the second showed a little of the history of the magical world, with emphasis on the separation of the two populations since the late sixteenth century when religious persecution began. The third part spoke about other magical creatures, and the reality behind many traditional myths and legends. Finally, the last part addressed the fact that magical people were constantly born of non-magical parents, and taught people how to verify the presence of magic in children and what to do if a child was positively magical, in addition to including reports of government leaders confirming the knowledge about the magical world and how it was hoped for a greater collaboration between the two worlds from then on.

In general, the reception of the novelty was positive, despite some isolated, and quickly controlled, cases of attempts of revolt or even lynching against possible members of this so secretive magical society. There was a severe disappointment when it became clear that magic also had its limitations, and that cancer and various genetic defects were part of those limitations, at least for now.

The isolationist magical governments were caught totally by surprise by the sudden revelation at world-wide level, due mainly to the very fact of them isolating so much of the events of the normal world. Harry's head, as well as that of Astoria and several other wizards and witches who appeared on the show, were really put on prize, but except for a few mercenaries who were arrested and extradited while attempting to illegally enter the UK, they could live normal lives, although always a little apprehensive and more careful. Between Potter's mansion and Island and the homes of several friends and co-workers, there was enough room for everyone to live safely, avoiding public places.

Mixed commissions of magicals and normals were created to study forms of cooperation between the two worlds, especially in those areas where the situation was most critical: pollution, health, energy, transport, natural resources, food and preservation of the planet. Some results were immediate. In health, with a little training any student formed by one of the leading magical schools could quickly solve simple cases of fractures, injuries, poisonings, burns and the like, freeing normal doctors for the most serious cases. In transportation, airplanes and ships were now turned into portkeys, propelled by magic instead of oil. Herbologists and potion masters were enriching as they helped the world produce bigger and better food crops.

But it was in the big projects that most of the group that had gathered around Harry Potter devoted their best efforts. From the total elimination of garbage and pollution, through the complete recycling of all waste, to the substitution of all oil-burning by clean alternatives, to the construction of a spacecraft capable of reaching other stars, everything was valid and pursued. And what pleased most the group was to see that people were happier. Not that the problems had ended, far from it, but that inner fire that gives each of us the strength to move on and overcome the obstacles, so depleted that it was in the face of so many problems that seemed insoluble, had once again shone and pushed everybody forward, for a better future. The world was full again of Hope, and that was the big difference that really mattered.

THE END

A / N: I hope you enjoyed it. I ask for a great favour that will only take a minute: leave your opinion, even if negative, so that I can know better how to write new stories that are of interest to you.