"Enjoy Quidditch camp," Harry told Ginny as he headed towards the Closet, pulling a magical rolling suitcase. "It is a good use for all the bedrooms in the New Burrow and Potter's New Burrow, now that so many of the children are grow and doing their own thing."
"I will be in Switzerland for the opening and closing balls, and am going to try to be over there every weekend," Ginny reminded him. "All the students will be going home for the weekend. I am going to miss you."
"We will talk every night, but it is not the same," Harry admitted.
*
Magi found their way to the most secure meeting place over a couple of hour period, one of the many ways they tried to hide the membership of the group that managed the undercover Aurors hidden. Harry was one of the last to arrive, and he was greeted by the fourteen other people. Harry of course knew Al VanLente and his son Dan. Half of the group, including a couple of very key members, were witches. Witches were not as often suspected of being undercover or running undercover operations, since more wizards were involved in evil than witches.
Harry had a hard time not thinking of James Bond when he attended these meetings. He had seen a few James Bond movies on the telly. There was nothing less like James Bond that these sometimes very boring but often dangerous assignments. He did have to admit that several groups, including Angelina's Angel Armor, the store that supplied Departments of Magical Law Enforcement around the world, reminded him of some of the James Bond gadgets. Ron had even used James Bond theme songs in advertising, although most of the Magi had no idea where the music came from.
After polite greetings, the witch running the undercover operation on the Island of the Pirate Witch Queen asked Harry, "How come your extended family seems to become involved in issues far afield of your little island of Great Britain?"
"It is not become we are trying, that is for sure," Harry replied. "What now?"
"Jezebel is beyond furious that Scorpius seems to be serious about Rose Weasley. Her attempt to have Cleopatra raised in an unhappy and dysfunctional family seems to have failed spectacularly, and now Scorpius is in what seems to be a good relationship. She wanted Cleopatra pregnant with Scorpius's child before Cleo turned fifteen, and Cleo turned fifteen Christmas."
"I did not think that Rose and Scorpius was common knowledge yet." Harry suggested.
"I think there may be a spy in the Malfoy house, or someone who talks to a spy," the witch replied. "Jezebel seems to know everything that goes on in that house."
Harry puzzled, "Do you know why she wants Cleo to become pregnant so early? Why Scorpius?"
"I do not know," the witch admitted. "It may have to do with some prophesies, but Jezebel is not the type of person to share what she knows and why she wants certain things.
"I do know that sex on that island is perverted, because of or at the direction of Jezebel. There is more going on, however."
"Any idea when Teddy might try and escape?" Harry wondered.
"I am reasonably sure within the next year, but leaving that island and escaping is not going to be easy," the witch sighed."
The witch in charge of the undercover operations around the Lord of the Dementors on K-2 added, "The Lord of the Dementors is furious as well, but he just wants everybody dead."
The group spent four hours going over all the issues the Aurors were facing worldwide that had to do with crime and evil. Towards the end Dan added, "So far we have not seen any significant crime associated with the change in the status of Elves and Goblins and all the other beings descendent from the original High Elves, but the tension in the magical community is as high as I have ever felt it."
Everyone agreed, but also agreed that solving that problem was outside the providence of this group.
*
Wednesday morning Harry and the group of Magi who were trading the job of Chief Mugwump met. It was the same group that Harry was included in over twenty-five years before, with the exception of BD Wong, who had taken the place of WW Chang as Chinese Minister of Magic. They met with Galadriel, Thorin, and a group of other descendants of the High Elves.
After introductions and pleasantries, the group turned towards Galadriel, who had called this meeting.
"Most Magi acknowledge that they are part of the community of Magi, but not all," Galadriel started. "I know you have had some problem enforcing The Statute of Secrecy with a few small groups. Others have just stayed hidden."
"We have a reasonably good idea where all the magical people in the world are, and our magic helps us identify people who do not want to acknowledge that they are Magi," Gerhard confirmed.
"We do not have as good an understanding where all the descendants of the original High Elves are," Galadriel admitted.
"For example, in parts of Arica there are Bakhna Rakhna, literally "good people," who seem to have avoided Magi or related to them only occasionally and as equals, and avoided contact with house elves and Goblins. They do have some contact with Dwarves.
"Mogwai are Chinese, and seem to be in league with The Lord of the Dementors. They often interact with No-Maj, and at times try to avoid Magi. We have not been able to establish more than casual contact with them, and at times they make even the worse Goblins seem nice."
Thorin gave a loud and obvious, "Harrumph. You have not had to deal with the worst of the Goblins, Galadriel. The Mogwai are particularly unpleasant, though."
"There seem to be Goblins almost everywhere there are Magi, but there are societies of Magi without house elves," Galadriel continued. "It is important to note that there are some significant areas of the world where there are few or no Magi. Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands have not had many Magi, and yet they have some very nice Elves called Pari-pari. We have been in contact with them. They are not sure why they should join us, though. They seem happy to be hidden in the tropical islands, mostly avoiding humans."
"What about Yaksha?" Fanishwar Chatterjee, the Indian Minister of Magic, wondered. "I always associated them with Elves, in some way. Some are rather inoffensive, but others seem as bad as Goblins." Fanishwar looked at Thorin and the Goblins with him. "I didn't mean all Goblins."
"I know what you mean," Thorin admitted. "We, emissaries of Galadriel and me, have had some contact with the Yaksha. We even obtained some DNA. They are Elves, but they are a divided group as well. Some seem carefree, avoiding most people and other beings, playing simpletons or nature spirits. Others seem to be evil or at least difficult. I think some are allied with the Mogwai."
"There were a few Magi and Elves in North America before the Europeans came," Galadriel added. "Different tribes and cultures called them different things, and as native cultures and languages have been lost the record of them has also been lost. The Iroquois called them Jogah, but I do not have many of the other names other tribes called them. They are rather fully assimilated with Elves at this point, although we have just enough DNA from them and others to see that there was a unique subset of American Elves.
"The Jogah were not slaves, and there seem to have been free Elves in the Americas for as long as we can tell."
"Most of the controversy over the descendants of the High Elves seems to be over house elves and Goblins," Gerhard suggested. "In Switzerland we have negotiated so many Elves are paid and somewhat free, tied to a family if they want to be, but allowed to leave if the family refuses to pay them or abuses them. It has not been an easy transition, but many of the Elves have insisted. A few owners of house elves found themselves without their elves after refusing to go along with the new rules.
"Of course, we have some house elves who want nothing to do with being given freedom and receiving pay, but that's more the older Elves."
"Goblin has been thought of as a male word, and the Goblin wives have begun to call themselves Elves," Thorin explained. "The problem is that some of the Goblin females have become prominent in the ruling of the Goblins, both in the family and in the banking. Especially in the bank, the head of a division or one who works directly with customers is a Goblin, and for the first time some of them are females. It sounds easy in English, but in Gobbledygook and Elfish it is not easy at all. That is a problem that the Goblins and Elves have to solve, though.
"More important is insisting that all house elves move to being paid and free instead of owned slaves."
"Goblins and Dwarves own their own homes and businesses," Harry noted. "Do any Elves?"
"Yes, in some parts of the world," Galadriel informed the group. "There are Elves in Switzerland who live on their own and work for pay. Not many, and it is reasonably new, but there are some. They are always in groups. For all of the descendants of the Elves, the idea of being a sole being and not tied to family and others is terrifying. There is a No-Maj song, "My Way." I do not know of any Elf of any type who would want to be like that.
"We need to find some of the oldest documents that are still hidden, Harry. We have some indication that the castle of the rulers was originally owned or inhabited by co-equal queens and kings, Magi and High Elf."
"It is perfectly acceptable with me if you repossess your half of the castle," Harry laughed.
"Practically we have," Galadriel admitted. "Albus and Cleopatra assume that if they end up living at the castle it will be shared. Cleo and Rose are careful as they make their marvelous changes to the castle to do it in Magi areas, and in common areas we have provided a couple of Elf helpers to make sure the decorations are acceptable to both Magi and Elf. That just started two years ago, before the Covid year, the year the Magi lost."
"In some ways most of twenty-twenty and the start of twenty-twenty-one have been a lost year," Cindy Edington noted, shaking her head. "Most of the world is a long way from being vaccinated. We are lucky that most Magi are."
"We do not think Elves can infect other people," Galadriel informed the group. "We are still trying to figure out if it is possible. We do not get sick with any Corona Virus, but we can still be infected and have some of the virus in our breath. Not much, which is why we do not think we can spread it.
"Meanwhile, we have had two years to work on changing the status of all the beings that are descended from the High Elves, mostly the house elves. Every country or region is different, and we expect the changing status of house elves to be a major topic at this year's International Conference of Witches and Wizards."
The group at the table spent the rest of the day talking about the problems the Magi and the descendants of the High Elves were having. Although there were unique problems in each area, in the end all the problems and issues were connected.
*
Albus and Cleo arrived, along with their Elf guards, Thursday. Rose and Scorpius went with them, to see if they could find some help in translating the scroll Rose's mother had found.
Galadriel and Thorin met Albus and Cleopatra, and led them to one of the caves, one that had some significant areas that Albus had been able to map, but that no one had been able to get to. They arrived at a closed door, and read the inspiration. It was in an old Elfish, and seemed to say something about governing couples, four, but it was not clear if it was four people, two couples, or four couples. It was apparent that the inscription was talking about Magi and Elf in equal number, rulers and... That was the problem. What was the "and?"
After an hour of trying and puzzling it was guessed that the inscription referred to four ruling or governing couples, beings who were or would be or could be the rulers of the High Elves and Magi.
"I will call my sister and Gimli," Galadriel told Thorin. "If anything happens to us she will wield my wand and Gimli will wield your wand and sword."
"Should we call Rose and Scorpius?" Albus wondered.
"Would they live in the palace and be your heirs if something happened to you?" Galadriel wondered.
"I do not know?" Albus responded. He looked at Cleopatra.
Cleopatra thought, and then shook her head and admitted, "I really do not know. I do not think Rose loves the castle like I do. She has told me that she likes redecorating the castle, but could never imagine living here. Scorpius loves England. I actually think he likes Malfoy Manor, just not the drama with the people now living there."
"Who does love the castle, Cleo?" Albus wondered. "Are there a couple of Elf Friends, MELL students, that would like to live here and help us govern?"
"Jesus Rios and Ginny Wang," Cleo suggested. "They are both interested in governing, in how the world of the Magi is governed and how it has to change. They also seem to like the castle. I've talked to Ginny about living here, and she says she would not mind. She says it would be no worse than, and maybe better than living in one of the big flats in the big buildings in China.
"They are also well on their way to being a committed couple. I know they are young, a year younger than we are, but when I examine them they are a couple!"
"I think we need to get them here, then," Galadriel agreed.
"Do not suggest to anyone that we need them over here as a couple," Albus insisted. "I know that Ginny's parents are not happy with the idea that she may marry someone not Han Chinese."
"It is frustrating enough to deal with prejudice among all the various descendants of the High Elves," Galadriel complained. "I hate that we have to deal with it among the Magi as well."
*
Albus talked to his father, and Harry did get both of the young Magi over to Switzerland the next day, by telling the parents that Albus and Galadriel needed their help with a problem, and that their child was one of the ones that Albus thought would be most helpful.
Once both were in Switzerland Albus explained about the area they were trying to get access to, and about it requiring four couples. Then he asked them, "Could you see living here and helping us to govern the Magi?"
Jesus and Ginny went for each other's hands, and looked at each other hard, first with a questioning look on their faces, and then both of them with a smirk.
"You mean both of us?" Jesus asked.
"Together?" Ginny giggled. She looked hard at Cleo, who nodded, grinning.
Ginny and Jesus looked at each other, gave each other a little kiss, sighed big sighs, their faces lighting up with happy smiles.
"When are you planning on being the next rulers?" Jesus wondered.
"I hope not too soon," Albus grumbled. "My father says that the prophesies are hinting that things are moving faster than he would like. I am worried that we are going to be called to help lead the magical world way before we are old enough. You two are even younger than Cleo and me, and I am worried that we are going to be forced to take on the roles of leaders when we are too young."
"Is there a difference between being willing and feeling you are ready?" Jesus wondered. "Your father, Albus, was fighting Tom Riddle when he was your age. You and your friends have already fought battles. Alexander the Great was leading armies and conquering the world when he was a teen-ager. If our choice is doing what we are prophesied to do, what we need to do, and trying to escape and run away, I would rather try and do what I am supposed to do."
"I do not think that living in a fairy tale castle is exactly a problem," Ginny added. "Especially one with running water and electricity."
Jesus kidded, "It would be rather hard to give up indoor plumbing.
"From an ultra-modern home in California to an ultra-modern Medieval castle in Switzerland. Not quite the one story ranch style house my family lives in. If Ginny and I can help you get into the hidden areas of the caves, does that mean we are destined to marry?"
Albus proposed, "Sometimes prophecy, or other magical things like helping open the door as one of the four couples, is not telling the future or forcing the future to be a certain way, but just a reflection of what is or will be."
"You are my DESTINY," Jesus proclaimed, arms flailing, as stood up and pulled Ginny into a hug.
Ginny laughed. "You are very silly, but I will keep you."
The two couples found Galadriel, and a short time later all four couples were at the door they had been trying to open.
The door was actually a big double door. There appeared to be a place for two couples on each door, and they tried to open the door, Elves on one door, Magi on the other. That did not work. Galadriel and Cleo both seemed to be able to tell which arrangement of beings was better, and as they tried different arrangements they discussed what was working and what was not. Finally, they realized that Galadriel needed to be next to the middle on one side, Cleo on the other. Thorin was next to Galadriel, with Ginny next and Jesus on the outside. On the other door Albus was next to Cleo, then Luthien and last the Goblin Beren. It was important that the females were closest to where the door opened, and that there were High Elves and Magi on each door.
Each of the four couples had to grab one handle on the pair of doors, and when they did stars descended on each couple, similar to the stars that fell on couples in a magical marriage ceremony.
Ginny giggled, and Jesus looked at the stars and smiled.
The four couples pulled on the handles, and the doors slowly opened.
Cleo and Galadriel peered in, lighting the darkness with their wands. All eight beings peered inside. Any desire to go into the chamber vanished, as they backed away from the entrance.
The eight beings looked at each other, and slowly shut the doors, grateful that they were on the outside.
Galadriel swore in Gobbledygook.
Albus swore, "Bloody hell."
*
2021