FicWad

Harry Potter and the Dark Lady
Chapter 10

Mountains North of Chita, Russia
Friday
27 Sept 1996
14:00

The Regiment landed already changed and faded into the brush in the way of wolves, with an assist from the Harryistic invisibility method of almost appearing at your destination. It happened so quickly the Mages of the First Battalion barely saw the giant wolves. The Mages gathered themselves almost as quickly and they faded from view too.

Harry and the staff traveled together from unit to unit among the Veela and the Goblins as the element leaders put the Regiment into concealed positions.

Soon enough Harry and the staff had made their rounds and gone to ground. Harry dropped into the bond and began processing again.

Ike and Tina, Sarah and Beatrice’s owls, were aloft and Harry used them to get eyes on the town.

It was a dreary place, really. The Veela scouts and now the Regimental air troop were scattering runestones everywhere, like they were free. Harry smiled nastily; he enjoyed the fact that they were essentially free. With any luck at all the evil beings would all be scooped up and the operation would devolve to snatching Dark objects and getting out again.

Since the mates were so knowledgeable they would be the ward and curse breakers. A pair of mates would be backed up by a fire team of Mages. Bill and the Goblins’ senior curse breakers had worked with selected mates all summer, and the knowledge transfer in the bond from Grindaknívur took care of the rest.

While Harry had watched the briefing, the element leaders had linked up their troops with the Mages of the First Battalion and the Mages had been wowed.

A thought occurred to Harry. “Janet, the Mages don’t have the personal stones?”

“Errrh, no, Harry, they don’t.”

“Okay, all you mates, let’s make an emergency Portkey, standard protection, and communication stones for our Mages. Staff, take care of your opposite numbers in the Battalion staff.”

“Harry, they won’t be fully charged yet.”

“I’ve got a trick for that, Marietta.”

The mates made the stones and found their opposite numbers. The Mages were told to hang the stones around their necks in contact with their skin and leave them there no matter what happened.

This got some puzzled looks until the stones suddenly warmed and glowed.

Harry had to rest after pouring the magic into the stones.

Nym shook her head. He would never learn to call on them and the Realm. Oh well, they had hours before dark. “Harry, take a nap. I’m going to go to fifty percent, except for the scouts.”

It was a measure of how tired Harry was that he didn’t resist and instead simply lay his head down on his forepaws and closed his eyes

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Somewhere in Russia
Russian Ministry of Defense Command Post
Friday
27 Sept 1996
11:22

“Sir, another flight of bombers has lifted from near Xi’an in central China.”

Marshal Sergei Plotempkin indulged in some inventive cursing. “And the Americans, Colonel, what are they doing?”

“Returning to base, sir. Their divisions are standing down. The American activity appears to have been an EDRE.”

Sergei sighed and motioned with his hand. The harassed Colonel continued. “The British are also standing down and NATO has launched what appears to be a large cordon and search in Gnijlane, Yugoslavia.”

Sergei nodded. The NATO bombing was a prelude to the cordon and search, probably intended as a warning to Milosovich to keep his nose out of it. Fortunately for NATO it appeared to have been spot-on Milosovich’s first echelon. Stupid bastard hadn’t moved them in a month; he deserved to lose them. Too bad for the troops, though.

The British EDRE coinciding with the Americans’ appeared to be coincidence. That made Sergei suspicious immediately.

Unfortunately he had to deal with this Chinese activity now.

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Xi Shi’s Hold
Audience Chamber
Friday
27 Sept 1996
12:38

Xi Shi sat her throne with her thoughts riding with the lead Dragon. She steered him more west. Yes, the mate was in that direction—still far off, but better, closer.

Xi Shi smiled maliciously. He had his toys with him. Let’s see how the sluts dealt with 328 Dragons.

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Somewhere in Russia
Russian Ministry of Defense Command Post
Friday
27 Sept 1996
11:38

Sergei watched as the air defense maps plots extended and then crossed at Chita. What the fuck—Chita? It was a Gulag city. Siberian Military district HQ, sure, but still not worth a war over.

As he watched, the lines crossed Chita and extended to two secret military facilities. Sergei slapped the panic button and launched an all-out defensive effort directed onto the Chinese formations. If they crossed the border by one millimeter or launched missiles, he wanted them shot out of the sky.

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Mountains North of Chita, Russia
Friday
27 Sept 1996
15:04

Harry’s head snapped up at the roar of supersonic aircraft ripping their way free of the ground balanced on twin columns of fire.

Through Jack’s eyes Harry saw the jet coming, and just as he faded all the owls to him, Jack tumbled violently.

Jack landed still and limp in front of Harry as the other owls landed screeching and thrashing. Ginny screamed and Marcia immediately started scanning Jack. She had taken every veterinary and animal healing course she could find related to owls, wolves, and horses.

Harry jumped up and looked skyward. A pulse of something burst from him and the squadron leader’s wingman’s MiG 29 Fulcrum exploded in a supersonic ball of flame. Everything including the stainless steel engines and the few titanium parts were consumed in the roaring inferno.

Marcia faded away with Jack, and Harry changed and took the changed sobbing Ginny in his arm. He gently stroked a distraught Hedwig with the other hand.

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Mountains North of Chita, Russia
3000 meters altitude
Friday
27 Sept 1996
15:05

Colonel Sasha Gregorovic cursed violently over the ground control link after he dodged the fireball that had been the squadron’s junior pilot. “I just lost my wingman. Fucking crap RD 33s exploded. I’m going to kill the maintenance officer when I get back.”

A vast silence reigned as the squadron screamed to altitude and pilots scanned the engine readouts of the same crap RD 33 engines they were currently pushing past 150% of rated power as they flogged their aircraft into intercept positions.

They loved the Fulcrums, but the benighted things had a disconcerting tendency to suddenly explode here in Siberia. The fucking East Germans—well, former East Germans—were always rubbing readiness rates in their faces. Of course those pussies had BMW rebuilt and heavily MWO’d (modification work order applied) RD 33s. Fucking Germans.

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Mountains North of Chita, Russia
Friday
27 Sept 1996
15:06

Marcia, losing her struggle to save Jack, called out, “Harry, I need you!”

Harry heard her in the bond and he took action.

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Potter Castle
Deep Hold
Friday
27 Sept 1996
06:07

Harry, Ginny, and Hedwig reappeared in the deep holds and Harry leapt off the floor and ran to Marcia, who was standing over a table with tears streaming down her face and her smoking staff in her right hand. She had exhausted herself pouring healing magic into Jack who, while still alive, was just barely so.

“Ginny, get Poppy.”

As Ginny ran looking for Poppy on Harry’s terse instruction, Harry put his hands on Jack and called for the Realm.

Harry began feeling of Jack and was stunned. The high-velocity impact had broken almost all of his bones and damaged most of his organs. Jack was a bag of owl jello with a working head on and he was in agony.

Hedwig nudged Harry with her head.

Harry focused and began pouring magic into Jack. He begged the magic to fix his boy and stop his pain and threw everything he had at it, whipping and beating the magic to make it conform to his will.

Harry didn’t know it, but the entire Castle was shaking and creaking. Ominous popping could be heard and a bright golden glow connected Harry’s feet to the bedrock floor of the deep hold.

Poppy arrived and instantly succumbed to the wild, free magic leakage from Harry’s massive, desperate, almost hysterical pulling on the Realm. Elizabeth appeared and laid her hands on Harry’s.

Her calming influence finally allowed the magic to work his will.

Ginny scooped up Marcia and Poppy and fled to another section of the hold. Martha Atherton, a healer from St Mungo’s, rushed over and as Ginny laid Poppy and Marcia on the bed she scanned them.

Ginny returned to the animal section of the hospital in the deep hold.

She collapsed on entering. Jack was standing on the table with Hedwig, both with eyes closed, and Harry and Elizabeth were unconscious. A beautiful, dark-skinned woman hovered over them.

Lilith smiled. “You are all having a rough time, aren’t you? I’ll join you soon.”

She faded away and the Castle glowed briefly.

Martha, having determined that Poppy and Marcia were suffering the opposite of magical exhaustion, something she had not known was possible, headed toward the chamber the redheaded girl had come from and returned to. Inside she found the girl—must be another Duchess—the Queen, two owls, and the Duke.

The Queen, the Duchess, and the owls all read like Poppy and Marcia. The Duke, however, was magically exhausted.

She moved to touch them and found herself suspended in the vise-like grip of a heavily pregnant vampire Duchess and looking at one of the war Mage Duchesses, also heavily pregnant.

Krista looked around the room. “Healer, report!”

Something about her tone made Martha talk. “The Duke is magically exhausted. The Duchess, the Queen, the owls, Duchess Marcia, and Poppy Pomfrey are unconscious, apparently due to absorbing a huge jolt of free magic. Something else has happened to the younger owl also, but I’m not a veterinary Healer, Your Grace.”

Krista stood processing and reporting in the bond and Dinara lowered Martha to the floor and released her.

Martha levitated the Queen and Krista, absently waved, and levitated everyone else. They moved to the human side of the hospital and put their patients in bed. Hedwig was tucked in with Harry and Jack with Ginny.

Clarissa appeared. “Krista, you and Dinara had better get back to the theater. They’re going spare up there. I’ll stay with this lot.”

Krista nodded and she and Dinara faded away.

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Potter Castle
Theater
Friday
27 Sept 1996
06:20

Krista and Dinara faded into a madhouse. The noise and movement ceased on their entrance.

“We all right then, Krista?”

“Yes, sir. Took our first casualty—it was Jack. Got hit by a MiG 29 in afterburner. Massive injuries; Harry healed him. Harry is wiped out but everyone else was apparently caught in his wash and are unconscious from the free magic charge. They should be awake soon. ”

Phillip’s face had run the gamut from joy through shock and pain followed by joy again. As he processed he settled into a look of abject terror for a moment before he schooled his features.

Tony Inge had seen it, though, and the explanation for it occurred to him suddenly. “Saints and Martyrs, she’ll kill us all.”

Krista grinned tightly. “Yes, she might, but until then we have a battle to fight. Naismith, why are these fucking Russian airplanes trying to kill my air troops?”

“SAC is just now reporting several groups of what appear to be Chinese heavy bombers converging on Chita. We woke the Russians up and they’re no longer playing. They’ve launched an all-out defense in depth with both interceptors and surface to air batteries, gun and missile, ma’am.”

Tony Inge grinned at Gerald. Neither of them was about to correct a highly agitated, heavily pregnant Divisional Operations officer who was also a known killer, and an immensely powerful witch, over a little thing like rank at this particular juncture.

Luna commented in the bond, “It’s the Dragons. Xi Shi can feel Harry.”

“But he’s in Scotland now, Luna.”

“She’s not after him, Nym, she’s after us—you and Sarah specifically. She thinks he’s with us—errrh, you —whatever.”

“Hehehe. Silly bitch, come to momma.”

“She’s not with them, Sarah, she’s—directing? Steering?—them here. She’s somewhere else, not close.”

Frieda thought for a moment. “Suggesting, Luna. She has these puny fireballs’ loyalty somehow and she’s suggesting that they’ll find females this way.”

“Yes, they will, Frieda. I’ve been wanting to see if I can make this Hell Dragon vampiric.”

Amelia Fastida’s comment drew laughter and then the bond dissolved into changing plans and Krista and Dinara updating and changing the map.

“Naismith, how long?”

“The ones that survive the Russians should get there in an hour, depending on how the fight with the Russians goes, ma’am.”

“How many?”

“No idea, ma’am. We don’t have data on air to air or ground to air engagements vs. Dragons.”

Krista turned her body to look at him and Gerald swallowed, looking into those burning green eyes.

“SAC is reporting 328 targets resolved, ma’am.”

The burning stare continued.

“I can get the satellite feeds to here, ma’am, if you have some way to display them.”

“Teanni, Manhattan.”

“Yes, Krista.”

The tiny, heavily pregnant Teanni, a fully trained technomancer and the Valkyrie-sized redheaded pregnant Manhattan stood and moved to General Naismith.

In moments the satellite and radar feeds of the US EW Phased Array and KH 12 and 13 satellites were being fed onto the map in visible spectrum, microwave radar, and infrared.

Dinara zoomed out, found the Dragons, and zoomed in. Krista split the screen and maintained the zoomed-out image centered on Chita at just enough resolution to pick up the highlighted divisional troops.

They watched as the Dragons crossed the border and were taken under missile and cannon fire. The nasty little skirmish grew into a full-blown conflagration as the last ready missiles were fired and the guns went into protective fire only mode and the first MiG 29s rolled in trying to close the distance to their optimum killing range of five kilometers.

The ground to air missile batteries acquitted themselves well, taking down at least twenty Dragons before the Dragons learned those flying, flaming things killed if you bit them and flying low was death against the giant beetles that guarded their nest.

Of course, one fireball eventually stooped successfully on a cannon battery and the ZSU 23-4 was not of a heavy enough caliber to accomplish its mission against the heavily armored Dragon. The lance of fire brewed up the ZSU 57-2 and the ZSU 23-4. After that the Dragons stooped on the cannons in packs and the guns were silenced. Normally at the cost of at least one Dragon per gun, but still, they were silenced.

After the guns died the missile batteries were easy meat and the remaining 211 Dragons leapt back into the air just in time for the MiGs to come howling down on them, guns blazing and missiles leaving the rails.

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Mountains North of Chita, Russia
8000 meters altitude
Friday
27 Sept 1996
15:50

Sasha looked in his rearview and tried the radio again. Four planes left out of thirty-one. Fuck, these things were hard to kill. Chinese bombers they weren’t. He had been screaming a running account of the fight into the radio between trying to control the battle and fighting his aircraft.

The squadron had done well at first. They had huge amounts of energy and the first two passes had taken down probably a hundred of these things—not Dragons, things.

He wasn’t some peasant afraid of some Baba Yaga bullshit.

He had described the things exhaustively as he fought his squadron. The things had climbed amazingly fast and were as agile as hummingbirds. As the MiGs bled off energy the things triple- and double-teamed them and fired some kind of flame device on them.

The MiGs were tough, but after two or three hits with the flame weapon heating them red-hot they exploded on the next hit.

Sasha led his flight of four higher in the air superiority pilot’s constant quest for energy. He had 1400 kilos of fuel and six hundred cannon shells left

What he wouldn’t give for one of those American sturmoviks right now. The Warthog—crazy fucking Americans name a beautiful airplane after those ugly things. That thirty-millimeter cannon was the ultimate weapon for these fucking things and those Warthogs were agile enough to truly mix it up with these things heavily armored, too. Su 25s might do well too, but they needed more armor.

Where were those weaklings from Irlan Uday and Irkutsk?

Sasha wanted to cry for just a moment. His squadron was dead, and soon he would be. He Russianed up, though, and stoically led his men in on the last combat action of Air Superiority Squadron 3342.

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Somewhere in Russia
Russian Ministry of Defense Command Post
Friday
27 Sept 1996
13:52

Marshal Sergei Plotempkin didn’t know it but he had the same urge to mourn the passing of a magnificent squadron as Sasha had had a few moments ago.

Sergei had watched by satellite as the Third Guards Tank Army’s air defense assets were slaughtered. They had gone down fighting, taking 117 of those—those whatever-they-weres with them. Magnificent men and women all, true heroes.

That magnificent Air Superiority MiG 29 Squadron had been totally outclassed but had given an excellent account of themselves too. A further fifty-four of those…Dragons, goddamnit, Dragons had paid the price.

Now the fucking Kremlin was snapping the leash on him and telling him to defend the military sites but to pull back from Chita Oblast and let the Dragons do whatever they were going to do.

Three hundred fifty thousand people were going to be sacrificed to those things, fucking Dragons then.

Fuck, I quit. After tonight I’m through. Fucking Politicians, drunk fucking faggots, with their big, ugly, red, drunk noses, pot bellies, and their skinny little, narrow-shouldered, rubber-titted, trophy dick wipers, fucking faggots. They could get the government to pay for their fuck holes’ fifty thousand dollar tit jobs in LA. but they couldn’t pay a hero of the Soviet Union a decent pension. Fuck ’em all, Cuba, yes or Angola, someplace warm where the women didn’t have rubber tits, the fat from their asses in their lips, and chemical agents injected into their faces.

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Potter Castle
Theater
Friday
27 Sept 1996
07:10

Krista and the rest of the mates in the operations center watched as the eight owlets circled, gaining altitude. Nym had sent them aloft and had them going as high as they could.

The Disillusioned air troops were also lazily circling, going for altitude. The danger from fast movers in the airspace was gone, at least for now.

The analysis of the Dragons showed they liked to flow over the ground at about two thousand feet. They had come up to challenge the MiGs after the triple A had taught a stern lesson. The remaining 157 had gone back to this lower altitude as soon as they finished off the Russian MiGs. They were currently casting about like a pack of foxhounds off the scent.

Krista was puzzled. “Opinions—why have the Russians not committed more forces? They were having strategic success.”

All heads turned to Sir John Foley. “Ahem. Well, time to earn the big bucks. Unfortunately, Your Grace, you have fallen into the trap everyone does when thinking of the Russians. Size and numbers favor them and they know it. What you have witnessed is, to them, tactical in nature. I suspect you are now seeing the strategic moves. They are aware of your interest in Chita through diplomatic channels. They would also be aware of the Dark Lady. Someone has put the totality of our operations together with the Dragons and decided to let us and the Dark Lady fight it out.”

Krista was stunned. “Sacrificing half a million people in the Chita Oblast?”

Sir John shrugged. “Heroes of the—errrh—Russian Federation all, Your Grace. They will erect very nice memorials for them. That’s less than a percent of their losses in the great patriotic war from which they draw all their assumptions.”

“I knew there was a reason I hated these Russians. Anastasia, we’ll be putting you back on the throne. Harry, I didn’t know you could do that. I didn’t, either—hey, I kinda like this. Ouch, what was that? Your son, Harry. It wasn’t Charles, it was Crissy.” Krista managed to convey with her hands that something was going on. Her changing voice gave clues.

Sir John put it together first. “Errrh, well yes, then. How are you, Your Grace?”

“Sir John means you, Harry. Oh, sorry. Fine. A little tired; I’ll be ready in a few minutes. You’re exhausted, Harry/ You need to rest. I’m sure Krista—ouch, Crissy, stop kicking Mummy, baby, Daddy is talking to Mummy. Anyway, I’m sure I’m going to rest when Nym, Sarah, and the others are about to be attacked by 157 dragons.” Krista again held her hands out and shrugged.

“Harry Gerald Naismith, there is every chance with you gone Xi Shi can’t find them. Why don’t you just rest until we sight a Dragon or have trouble, and then you and Her Grace Ginny and Marcia can be the reserve.”

“I can see you, General. Nym?”

Elizabeth faded into the hall glowing with a faint golden light.

“Okay, Nym, but as soon as something happens I’m coming. Yes, Nym.”

Elizabeth looked at Krista and raised a brow. “Krista, tell Harry to rest.”

“Nym just did, ma’am.”

“What exactly happened just then, Krista?”

“Harry figured out how to use my body like Rowena and Roxanne do with Hermione and Susan, ma’am.”

“Possession?”

“No, he has joint control, ma’am.”

Emma Granger suddenly blushed furiously. Krista gave her a smirk and mouthed “later” at her.

Dan had been watching the maps. “Krista, how does Nym feel about stepping up the time table?”

Krista looked far away for a moment. “Fine, Dan, why? Oh, opportunity knocks. The Russians won’t help the Dark wizards and the Dragons are lost while Xi Shi is locked on Harry here.”

Dan nodded.

The blue dots on the maps were suddenly moving under the ward grids that snapped into place. The scouts’ dots continued to circle.

On the one over the world map the red dots of the Dragons went to the north and east of Chita and then turned west.

The black dots suddenly grew blue dots near them and then disappeared.

The prisoner tally started rising. And the Hamlish brothers and their crews suddenly had Dark objects to inspect, catalog, and then send to the secure storage facility.

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Xi Shi’s Hold
Audience Chamber
Friday
27 Sept 1996
16:00

Xi Shi sat her throne and screamed in impotent rage. The Alpha male fireball had gone off hunting after the encounter with the Russian military.

Amazingly that had not made him mad. The idiot thing was babbling about glorious fights with worthy opponents before it decided it was hungry and headed off in the direction of a bunch of cattle.

She should have sent the Alpha female. Males were useless. Now she would have to wait until the pea-brained thing satisfied its hunger before she could guide it again.

No matter, though, the Duke had moved west and that’s the way the Dragon was leading what remained of his murder.

What an odd phrase, but so appropriate. Not as appropriate for the crows the Mundane applied it to; why pick crows, anyway?

Hmmm, where had it run off to? Oh, there it was. Xi Shi summoned her body servant.

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Chita, Russia
Friday
27 Sept 1996
17:12

The sweep was going well. The Dragons were still drawing off to the northwest. They were encountering resistance now that tactical surprise had been lost, but it was almost funny watching some Russian infantryman empty a thirty-round magazine into the shield the stones created while dodging ricochets, and then wind up stunned with a stupidly surprised look on his face. The armor never got tested, since the stones stopped everything.

Just a few more minutes and they would be complete.

Nym’s thoughts were interrupted by an explosion and a wash of pain in the bond. Daphne was down, hurt badly, gone...no, wait—she was in bed with Harry and she was all over blood. There we go; good job, Harry.

Nym asked, “Daphne, what happened?”

“Mines, Nym. They activated a minefield around their headquarters. My whole squad is down and back here in the hospital. Tell everyone to steer clear of this building.”

Daphne sent a picture and the mates steered their units away if they were close.

“Harry is out again, Nym. He healed me and used up his magic again. Pamela is okay, just knocked out, and the Mages are all lightly wounded.”

“Okay, Daphne. Rest, baby, and try to keep Harry under control, will you? We’re bound to take more casualties and he’s going to kill himself draining his magic all the time.”

Nym went back to scanning the bond and Ginny appeared beside her with Jack.

“Hey, you two.”

Ginny hugged Nym. “Hey, Nym. Sorry about earlier.”

“Ginny, if ever there was a time to cry it was then. Jack, you okay, baby?”

“Okay, Nym mother. Go fly now.”

“Jack—too late.”

Ginny shook her head. “Well, we know whose son that is.”

Nym looked at Ginny and chuckled. “How is Harry, Ginny?”

Ginny shrugged. “Exhausted, Nym. Everyone needs to be really careful. If another mate shows up like Daphne he’ll do it again, and I don’t know where he’s getting the magic now. She was mincemeat; it was nasty. Now she’s fine, maybe even better than she was. Harry does this weird draw on the Realm thing and it knocks out everyone in the room except Elizabeth; when he did whatever that is to Jack it knocked her out, too. She’s back up now; she helped with Daphne. I think we should be careful until we figure this out. When Poppy woke up and lit into Harry like the Wrath of Merlin, I left. Oh, by the way, the armor helped but an anti-tank mine can overcome the shields if you step on it.”

Sarah nodded. “Ginny is right, Nym. We need to figure this out. Everyone needs to be very careful.”

Nym was not happy; the more careful they were, the slower they were, and they needed to be out of here. “Okay, everyone, slow down and be careful. Grindaknívur, you’ll need to get word to us if you’re engaged. Cho, you and Mary too. If we’re heavily engaged I’ll activate the emergency recall. The stones will have to do the rest.”

The Division paused and then went about its mission slowly and deliberately.

Hestia watched in satisfaction as the divisional units in contact moved to fix and then stun the small units of Russians still resisting.

Over the course of the next hour the Division settled into a rhythm, and while they still took the occasional casualty, none was bad enough that Harry needed to help them—and Daphne successfully distracted him. Poppy put screens and a silencing charm up around the bed which the now walking wounded canceled every time she left the room, until finally she sent them to a different ward. They all thought it was life-affirming to listen to Daphne’s efforts, or maybe it was Daphne’s feedback on Harry’s efforts. Hedwig perched on top of the screen looking smug, when her head was facing forward that is.

“Nym, I’m good now.”

“You’re always good, lover, now go be good to Daphne again. We’ll call you if we need you.”

“See, Harry? Now the other one mmmmmhhhhmmmm.”

Nym shook her head ruefully and put her shield back up after catching the brief taste of Daphne’s left nipple, strawberry today.

Sarah looked at her and laughed. “How does Daphne get them to taste like that?”

“Don’t know, but we’ll ask later.”

“Flavored lip gloss! Morgana—two bright sparks you are.”

“EUGENIE! Pay attention to what you’re doing, young lady.”

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Potter Castle
Theater
Friday
27 Sept 1996
09:30

Elizabeth watched as the blue dots indicating a Divisional squad closed on the last black dot. Nym was running a race with the Dragons who had suddenly turned and headed to Chita from about 250 miles away.

The Dragons had bounced off another ADA belt on the other side of Lake Baikal and were headed back at speed. The bitch must have control of them again.

“Liz.”

“Fuck her—almost got my Jack killed, and Daphne too. If it hadn’t been for Harry.... Plus we have thirty-eight wounded in hospital, Phillip, Pamela and Sharon amongst them.”

Phillip blinked. Fuck her? That may have been the first time Liz had ever said that word. She was in a snit.

Analysis had indicated that the Dragons were feeding on cattle in the area and the assumption was they were hungry after their first fight. Now it looked as if they were refueled, as it were, and were responding to orders.

Phillip shuddered; this did not bode well. If Elizabeth was this mad and pumping that rage into the Realm, Harry would go off like a bomb momentarily, the ever-so-sexy Daphne and her “distractions” or no.

Phillip looked at Dan, who seemed to be having the same type of conversation in his bond with Emma. Dan looked up, met his eyes, and shrugged. What were you going to do? If the mates couldn’t control Harry, all that could be done was stand back and pick up the pieces afterward.

Phillip was watching the screen just as the lead Dragon overflew the Goblin perimeter. Suddenly all the blue dots vanished from the map and Krista and the Operations mates sagged in relief. The maps continued to run and provide a view of the Dragons destroying the military base they encountered.

In the deep hold converted to a hospital Harry smiled as the mates and the rest of the Division landed on the pitch, and he turned his full attention on Daphne. He slid firmly home and ground his pubic bone against her sensitive, engorged lips and clitoris and bit firmly on her right nipple. When Daphne blacked out for a moment as a massive orgasm took her, Harry faded away.

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Xi Shi’s Hold
Audience Chamber
Friday
27 Sept 1996
18:40

Xi Shi was ecstatic. The Alpha male Dragon had responded to her guidance and as he closed on Chita, she could smell the bitches through him.

My my, not so light after all. They had destroyed a significant percentage of this town. There—go there, stupid beast, can’t you see the Warg?

No, no, don’t worry about those. Kill them later.

Xi Shi screamed in frustration as the Dragon stopped following her orders and turned on the little Mundane armored vehicle that shot at him.

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Chita, Russia
Friday
27 Sept 1996
19:53

The enormous Hell Dragon appeared at 33,000 feet and looked around. Harry, using those excellent eyes, identified the Alpha Dragon and folded his wings and shut off his flight magic.

About twelve seconds later after steering his way onto the Alpha with head and wings and applying his flight magic as hard as he could, Harry’s Dragon’s instincts extended their talons to full reach and at about 2750 feet per second Harry hit the Alpha fireball dead center.

His magically enhanced Dragon leg muscles compressed, absorbing the shock, as he tore the fireball in half.

Harry hit the ground with four sets of claws full of huge hunks of fireball and whipped his gaping, blue-green-flame spewing, roaring mouth and head first left and then right, incinerating the larger pieces of fireball, several armored vehicles, and the Siberian military district HQ building’s aboveground structure.

The 156 remaining fireballs never stood a chance as the enraged out of control Hell Dragon snatched them up one by one and ripped them to pieces, completely demolishing the Third Guards Tank Army’s primary maintenance and logistics center along with all its aboveground structures.

Those in Chita who had not already sought cover underground fled to the shelters at the huge explosion that went on forever followed by the ground shaking.

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Potter Castle
Theater
Friday
27 Sept 1996
10:53

Nym, just come from counting all nine owlets, appeared in the theater in a frothing rage and spewing a stream of almost incomprehensible vitriol just as the shockwave of Harry’s impact on the Alpha male puffed out in a circle on the satellite view. She had felt Harry fade and then his glee at spying the Alpha male fireball.

Krista zoomed in and the observers, liaisons, Royals, and the growing crowd of mates watched in frozen awe as Harry went on a rampage completely out of control, biting, clawing, and flaming anything that moved. The exploding fuel farm and ammo dump provided a horrifically beautiful backdrop to Harry’s depradation.

Finally the Queen said, “I believe it would be best to let the Duke work off a little of his anger.”

A sea of nodding heads greeted this wisdom.

“Yes, as far from here as possible.”

“Phillip!”

Nym shook her head ruefully. “Krista, get closing reports, please, and keep me apprised of Godzilla Junior’s status. I will be visiting in hospital.”

Krista and the other Mundane world mates chuckled as the magical world mates fished in their heads for what a “Godzilla” was. Soon they were all laughing.

Tony Inge was not; neither was Gerald Naismith. Harry was burning the concrete pads of that maintenance facility down to a glowing green glass. Could his fire really be radioactive? And that roaring was oddly reminiscent of those old Japanese “z” horror flicks. This, however, was not a Godzilla you could love. This “Godzilla” was vicious, a confirmed killer with a purpose, infinite power, and the will to use it not just to protect his home but to lash out at those who offended him or injured his or showed the potential to. This was very troubling.

Elizabeth turned from the screen. “I’ll go with you, Nym.”

“Ma’am.”

“Me too, Nym.”

“Well, come on then, Sarah.”

After Nym faded away the crowd thinned as the mates departed to check on “their” Mages, Goblins, and Veela.

After an hour they faded back to find Harry still rampaging around the glowing, melted wasteland that was Chita.

“Frieda, will he run down soon?”

“I have no idea, Nym, but I will—errrh—see you later.”

Nym, seeing in Frieda’s mind how much Harry’s rampage had excited her, sighed and waved her hand as Frieda faded away; a pixillated circle appeared over Harry on the map.

At the new roar from the screen—or was it in their heads?—Sarah blushed and waved and the sound shut off.

Sirius burst into the theater. “Shut it off, shut it off! The Weasley twins are relaying that screen to the whole school and have locked the teachers in their classrooms.”

Nym blinked.

“Merlin, Nym, shut it off. The kids are running wild.”

Nym, Chu, and Minerva suddenly faded away.

They were back moments later. They had released the teachers and canceled classes. No one had budged from their rapt attention to the screens, which were all repeating the Division Ops screen. Running wild was an overstatement, to say the least.

Chu and Minerva brought a stunned Weasley twin apiece back with them.

“Running wild, Sirius? More like hypnotized lumps.”

Ginny Ennervated her wayward brothers.

“I escaped my classroom, Nym, and heard roaring and cheering. I came here.”

“That was when—”

“—Harry showed up—”

“—and killed all those—”

“—Dragons. Nym, that—”

“—was brilliant. We—”

“—tried to shut—”

“—it off when Frieda showed—”

“—up, but it was—”

“—jammed or something. Something—”

“—wrong with the—”

“—whole thing really, it was—”

“—only supposed to repeat on—”

“—this small screen we conjured in—”

“—the Gryffindor common—”

“—room and, well, the Warg—”

“—girls threatened—”

“—us so we conjured—”

“—them one too.”

The whole theater sat in stunned silence. Ginny groaned. “Morgana! We can only hope all twins don’t do that.”

“Ho—‘”

“—ot!”

A pop-eyed Ginny turned to Jack and Jill and burst into tears and laughter. Finally the laughter won and took the crowd with it.

Fred and George, seeing an opportunity, attempted to edge toward the doors only to find themselves facing Bellatrix and Amelia Fastida. They didn’t appear to be amused.

Teanni looked thoughtful. “That’s why that kludge was so wonky. How’d they get sound, though? Those satellites aren’t equipped for that.”

Manhattan nodded. “And even if they managed it, wave propagation wouldn’t work—extra atmosphere. Plus those things are miles up; the time delay would make it useless.”

Fred and George blushed.

“What did you two do?”

“Why, Gin—”

“Gin, would we—”

“—ever hurt—”

“—you or Harry?”

“Stop that and tell me now or you’re going to get the first Vampire Bat Bogey in the history of man.”

Ginny snapped her wrist and her staff appeared in her hand.

“Now Ginny, truthfully, we wouldn’t hurt any of you. We slipped some of our new remote Extendable Ears onto the Veela, Goblin, and Mage uniforms this morning with temporary Sticking Charms and tied the Monitor Charm to them; we couldn’t believe they worked that far away either. They fell off in the town when the Sticking Charms faded.”

George was nodding desperately as Fred explained.

General Naismith, who was amazed at the whole thing, cleared his throat. “Your Grace, before you kill these two off....”

Tony Inge blanched. Goddamn Americans, always exploiting British technology. First steam catapults, then jet engines, now this. “DIBS! WE CALL DIBS!”

“I say, old man, good show! Up the British, what?”

“Phillip!”

The room dissolved into laughter again at the Queen’s exasperated exclamation.

Nym finally settled. “Gentlemen, as this was developed at the Royal Academy I believe His Grace has—errrh—dibs. That is, if he doesn’t eat these two when he gets over his mad.”

“Oh, I think he’s over it, Nym. Frieda is mmph mhvn rnm nmw.”

“Princess Eugenie, really!”

Sarah made the mistake of removing her hand from Eugenie’s mouth.

“Really, Gram, three tmmns!”

“Phillip, this is all your fault.”

“What? Me? Why me?”

Luna grinned. “Channeling Harry there, Da?”

Phillip’s alternating color display only lasted a moment.

Elizabeth actually threw up her hands at this point. “You all need sleep—you’re punch drunk. Where are Frieda and Harry?”

Sarah hit Eugenie with a Silencio and got a furious glare in return. She smirked at her daughter.

Sir John Foley, who had been watching the screen, which was somehow tied to Harry now, replied for the still laughing Krista. “Apparently Their Graces are having a nice firelit romantic supper in the elite Dacha district to the north and west of Moscow. So far about half the government members’ Dachas are in flames—make that—oh, very nice strafing run that, good show, Harry. I would say that’s the last of them. I wonder how he makes the flame stutter like that?”

Nym rolled her eyes. “Boys! Harry, stop playing and come home. We want—”

Harry faded in, carrying Frieda. “Honey, I’m home!”

“—to eat and go to bed.”

Harry put a dazed human Frieda down and Nym leapt into his arms.

“I’ll give you honey I’m home. What did you burn up all those nice houses for?”

Harry blushed. “I flamed the door of the shelter Yeltsin was in and it melted. It burned me when I tried to pull it off, so I burned his house down instead of eating him.”

Harry held out a hand with a tiny little burn.

Nym goggled.

“It’s much bigger when I’m a Dragon, Nym.”

Amanda rolled her eyes as the government members present shuddered. “Thank Morgana for small favors. Harry, you can’t fly around eating heads of state who irritate you.”

“Who’s gonna stop me?”

Amanda actually stamped her foot. “Harry!”

“GRRRRR. Okay, but the ones who almost get my mates or kids killed are mine; and after dinner I’m going to roast that drunk piece of shite slowly and then eat him and his whole government.”

“Eeewww! Harry, no, just kill them. I don’t want you having alcoholic breath.”

Beatrice might be credited for saving the Mundane Russian government at that point as her sally brought enough humor and bought enough time for Harry to cool down just enough to let Amanda continue to work on him.

Dragon flights over Russia became quite common, though, and in their wake wide swaths of territory were seeded with wardstones. The Russian military never rose to challenge those overflights. Russians who later disappeared sometimes came back, but when they did they confined their depredations to the Russian Mob and government.

Elizabeth just shook her head. “No eating nasty Russians, Harry. You’ll put me off my lunch. Speaking of which, you may serve now, Your Grace.”

Harry, having worked out his rage, smiled and offered his free arm to Elizabeth. He, Nym, and Elizabeth led the procession to the seventh form Common. On the way Harry questioned Nym closely about the wounded.

They arrived in the foyer of the Royal Academy, which immediately began filling with students and thunderous cheering. By the time they reached the common Geoffrey had already magically expanded it and the ones above and below it to the maximum of their abilities. The mates were forever grateful, as were all the females, for that charm which occluded the view up their skirts as they looked down into a sea of adoring faces.

Harry had cast the charm on the entire building, because he liked the crystal floors but Nym had pointed out that boys will be boys. It was unbreakable because Harry willed it into place, so it could not be arithmantically deconstructed; and Roxanne enforced it, so unless you had a will harder than a diamond and more power than her, the bonded, the Realm, and Harry, you could not force your way past it.

Not that every male above second form didn’t at least try once, even if it was pro forma. Roxanne regulated the headaches they received in return proportionately to their level of effort. One Ravenclaw had had to visit the Infirmary to stop the nosebleed. Jennifer had been amazed, as the student was a female.

The heavily blushing Harry finally managed to seat Nym and Sarah on his right and left as Phillip had seated Elizabeth, and then they had to rise to bow and curtsy three times as the roaring applause went on and on.

The applause finally died enough for him to be heard and his simple, heartfelt, “Thank you!” set them off again.

Harry looked at Nym with brimming eyes and smiled that broken smile and shrugged. Imelda popped up from nowhere and took her picture for the week before three Warg witches stunned, bound, and disarmed (discamera’ed?) her.

Harry laughed and waved; a feast appeared as the students cheered the blushing Warg witches.

Immediately after lunch Ulen touched Harry and they faded away. The bonded soon felt her and Harry complete giving thanks for success in the Goblin way. It was delightful.

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Xi Shi’s Hold
Audience Chamber
Friday
27 Sept 1996
20:03

The still naked Ming Na Wen approached the Mistress and gently rolled her over. Na Wen gasped—the Mistress was bleeding. She leapt to her feet and ran for a Healer.