Chương 17: Chapter 13
When the wedding day arrived, it was with a lot of nerves. With the amount of people who would be attending, with guests even coming from other galaxies, there was a lot of tension in the air, as the wolves who would be overseeing security ran through check-lists, with many hired staff, who all needed to be at their best. The wedding was not the first in Harmony's history, but it was definitely the most anticipated.
Harry was not above the stresses of the day, either, no matter how calm he made himself look. The fact was that he was marrying eight women. Eight. That's not a small number of wives. Harry knew that, with his new abilities, he was more than up to the task, but he was suddenly worried that he was being selfish. All his girls deserved a perfect life, with a man who could give them all of their love and attention.
Sirius and Remus had had to calm him down on more than one occasion, stating that they knew what they were getting into and reminding him that it had been them who had insisted on this lifestyle. Remus had had to leave the room where Harry was stressing out, to go check on things as they progressed.
Daniels had had to inform him of multiple attempts to infiltrate by people who had either Polyjuiced themselves or by using the same trick the previous infiltration team had used. There were multiple redundant security checks for people coming from Earth. Fortunately the wolves had had security staff watch most of the invited guests for the last few days, to ensure that they were safe, especially the people who were known to be Harry's friends. The Prime Minister and the Royal Family, who would be escorted to Harmony under guard and through a portable Transport Tunnel, which would be delivering them to and from the event, were also under constant watch, for a month leading up to the event.
Fortunately, every entrance in Harmony, which led to the ceremony and to the reception area, had been heavily warded and all of it had a connection to a large map, which functioned like the original Marauders Map. If anyone appeared on it with names that didn't suit the faces, or attached to someone who was, they'd know.
Daniels' people had had to intervene in a few attempts to infiltrate, prior to the event, so him and his people were paranoid by this point, having actually made the suggestion that they postpone, for that very reason, but Harry had refused, stating that he would not spoil his girls' plans, nor would he allow these people, who had apparently decided that the release of the movie was in preparation of something larger, to intimidate him. They weren't wrong, but that didn't mean that Harry's plans would be stopped so easily.
When the time came, Harry had squared his shoulders and gone to the venue. It was a concert hall, decorated beautifully, but also elegantly, so as not to detract from the brides. When Harry entered, his eyes had almost popped out of his head. He never realised how many people would be in attendance. There were many mundane people, who were either signed into the secrets or who lived on Harmony, along with representatives from many worlds, including the Tollans, the Asgard, the Spirits (they'd come around and joined the Alliance after spending enough time with the wolves), the Nox and many more.
On the Magical side there were a few goblins, Veela, Centaurs and even a few Vampires, who had recently been allowed trial Visas, to see if they could acclimate to living with so many humans, while their need for human blood was sated by donations, freely given by both magical and mundane donors. The magics of Harmony and the extra distance from the sun had apparently made a difference and they could actually be out in the daylight there. There had not been one incident of slipping control, but the wolves had them under strict supervision, with both tracking charms and invisible monitoring devices, which followed them, but would only activate when built-in intent wards picked up on violent tendencies or impulses, and would then disable them instantly. They weren't interested in a cure, but the scientists of Harmony were still looking into options to better negate the side-effects of their condition.
Harry had gone to the previous Prime Minister and the Royal Family, to greet them. He hadn't really met the new PM, since Remus was their contact with the wolves, but he'd spoken to him a few times. He was a bit less friendly, but had spoken respectfully with Harry on those few occasions. Harry had personally invited John, the previous PM, though. He was a constant visitor to Harmony and currently considering a post as an ambassador, in the newly established British Embassy.
Harry was not surprised to hear respect in the Queen's voice, for what she was seeing in Harmony. She had even greeted him familiarly, and encouraged him to not stand on ceremony. It was his big day and she was a visiting monarch, visiting an ally. She had not said it outright, but Harry had the impression that she considered Harry the leader and/or ruler of Harmony. Harry had met her a time or two, after the knighting, which seemed so long ago now. Usually shortly after his birthday or on a public holiday.
She'd always asked after the state of affairs in Harmony, with a spark of interest at the latest developments, and had supported him along every step of the way in the establishment of their home. Harry found it intriguing, on one of those visits, that one of the Princes had expressed an interest in spending a 'summer abroad', visiting Harmony and seeing the sights. Harry had encouraged it, but it had never actually happened. Probably something to do with needing to explain his whereabouts to the people. While the whole royal family knew, it was still a secret they couldn't share.
The British Royal family weren't the only monarchs in attendance of course, but they were the most familiar to Harry. There were monarchs from at least three of the Allies of Harmony, all from different planets. Harry had to greet them as well, seeing as how they were his guests. He spent a bit of time chatting to people, but thankfully most of his friends waved him along, knowing he had many people to greet. Ron had tried to act a little too friendly with him, but Harry just smiled at him and interrupted him, apologising and saying he needed to continue his rounds. He knew Ron wasn't that person anymore, but Harry wouldn't be going down that road again.
When the time came, Harry was asked to take his spot and he waited there, as was expected. The girls didn't make him wait too long, even though he had been warned that it was customary to make the groom nervous by being a little late.
All Harry's nerves and worry left him the moment the grand doors were opened to reveal his brides. They were so beautiful that they took his breath away. He really was one lucky bugger.
From there, the ceremony was, while not the usual affair, quite straight-forward. The vows were read and repeated, using certain old wizarding phrasing for weddings with multiple brides, and then they were declared wed, rather than saying husband and wives. The wives who had no titles to their names, were all declared Ladies of Noble houses, either maintaining current lines, or having been elevated, as a wedding gift from an unnamed benefactor.
Lady Daphne Greengrass would be continuing her line, with Harry as the head of House Greengrass. Similarly, Lady Pansy Parkinson and Lady Susan Bones would be continuing their lines, with Harry as the head of their Houses.
Lady Hermione Jean Granger-Potter would be the Lady for House Potter. Padma Patil would be Lady Padma Patil-Slytherin. Her sister, Parvati Patil, would be Lady Parvati Patil-Peverell, as it turned out that that was a hereditary title Harry had.
Fleur Isabelle Delacour would become Lady Fleur Isabelle Delacour, first of her noble House, just like Luna became the first of hers.
This left Harry as Lord Harry Black. Head of houses Bones, Delacour, Greengrass, Lovegood, Parkinson, Peverell, Potter and Slytherin. Just as he'd easily allowed some of his girls to keep their surnames as part of theirs, they'd allow him to remain Harry Black, even though he wasn't the head of House Black, rather than having to introduce himself as Harry James Black-Bones-Delacour-Greengrass-Lovegood-Parkinson-Peverell-Potter-Slytherin. And that was only if he did things alphabetically, to avoid people saying he was showing favouritism.
Harry would continue to use the surname 'Black', even if Sirius ended up having a kid of his own one day. While he wouldn't really mind going back to being a Potter, he preferred to be a Black, but the title could go to the proper line. Sirius had objected, but when Harry had found out about the Peverell line, he'd opted to leave the Black title alone, actually hoping that Sirius would take that as a hint that he should really make a move on Amelia. They'd grown closer and had inevitably started a formal relationship.
After the ceremony, there was a bit of paperwork and then finally they left the hall, only to have to walk through a shower of thrown rose-petals. It was conjured obviously, so that it wouldn't need to be cleaned up. They drove off in a flying and expanded white limousine, made especially for the event, which had a comfortable sitting room, with a few bottles of champagne to have a private toast as they took a moment before the reception.
The guests would take Transport Tunnels to the reception, with a separate one for the foreign dignitaries, under strict guard for protection. The reception itself took place on the outskirts of Longbottom Garden, where a venue had been prepared for the event. They were introduced and then the celebrations were underway.
While the wolves had been on edge through most of it, it seemed that they had stopped all the attempts to crash the party in time and there hadn't been one incident throughout the entire event, except for one final one, where someone who had been Imperiussed, was caught trying to sneak in with a portkey, disguised as a wedding present. They weren't an invited guest either, so had been quickly stopped. When the guests finally went home at the end of the evening and everyone was safely back home, with the wedding gifts having been taken off for magical and mundane checks, the wolves sighed a collective sigh of relief, before they had their own celebration for their success.
The interlopers were all interrogated, of course. They found that most of them seemed to work for people with private motivations, like the ones who suffered due to the success of Marauders Inc. and their contributions to the magical world. Some were memory charmed to forget their employers. The last few all had their memories wiped in the exact same way the moment they were caught, and they suspected it was one of the magical governments who were trying to interfere with Harry's plans for the future.
The Imperiussed person was supposed to deliver her gift to Harry himself, from a fanatic fan, who was trying to save her 'true love' from the clutches of the witches who had obviously ensnared him with magic. It was just another reminder that some 'Harry Potter' fans were still out there.
When Harry and his girls returned home that evening, with the entire place to themselves, since Sirius thought that they would appreciate the privacy, they had a wedding night to remember. There was not a lot of sleeping involved and when Harry had split into many copies of himself again, it had been a reminder that they had much to discuss, when they were on their honeymoon.
OOO
The Honeymoon would be taken in the Sphere. Bill had been telling them of what he and Bella had discovered on their own honeymoon and had suggested a few places they'd seen and a few that they had heard about. Places with tropical beaches and warm oceans with lands untouched by man, where strange but delicious fruit grew on trees, ready for the picking. The only problem on that particular planet had been the native creatures. A kind of aggressive reptilian ape, with a screech that sounded like a cross between a bird of prey and a goat being strangled. A few wards had solved that though. Harry was actually interested in hearing that, but he'd leave that up to the girls to decide. They had a whole list of things they wanted to see, including the Nox's home planet.
The wolves were obviously not happy that they would go unescorted, but they also trusted Harry's girls, now his wives, to keep him from getting into too much trouble. Susan being one of them helped too. Then there was also Dobby, who couldn't spend a whole month away from his bonded master. The wolves knew how loyal and protective that elf was.
When they said their farewells, about to embark, Sirius had handed Harry a package he had packed for them himself. A quick look inside showed Harry that it held only energy and contraceptive potions. Harry had just chuckled and shook his head, but he took it with them anyway. He didn't need either kind of potion to keep his girls happy or to prevent accidents.
They had not discussed when, but they had discussed having children one day. It wasn't an immediate plan, though. Well, Pansy wanted to start popping them out immediately, but also wanted their children growing up together, so she had decided to wait till they were all ready.
As Harry flew them away from Harmony, he asked them if he could make one stop first. When asked, he told them it was a surprise, but he also knew it would come up at some point, probably soon, so he wanted to get it out of the way. He told them that they were going to Kheb.
OOO
Landing the Sphere next to the Monastery, inside the wards he'd made to protect Oma Desala from the other ascended, including the new intent ward, he instantly knew that she was not alone. He detected multiple ascended presences.
"Okay my ladies, before we go in, I have to warn you. A lot of what I'm about to do will probably look strange to you. The reason I waited for us to get married before I did this, was so that I could show you what I've been doing in secret. This is one of those things I couldn't tell you before we got married." Harry explained.
"Kheb is the home of Desiré, Oma Desala." Hermione said. "You told us this before. You told us that you made her a body so that she could interact with our world, without the other ascended realising." She had a questioning look, wondering if Harry had left something out.
"Exactly." Harry said. "But that was only part one. I needed her to give me information about the ascended realm, so that I could create something new, outside the existing ascended realm, but which would function as a place where ascended beings could go, if they wanted to be part of our world again."
"A new dimension." Daphne agreed. He'd told them that as well.
"A pocket dimension?" Susan asked.
"No." Harry said with a smile. "Similar, but also kind of inverted. It's not so much a pocket, as a layer. A Superspace." Before they could ask more, Harry felt the presences approaching. "Not now, we've got company. Let's go out and meet some more ascended, shall we?"
"I knew it! That's where you and Colonel O'Neill went!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Brigadier General O'Neill." Harry corrected. Jack had gotten the promotion a few months before the wedding. They hadn't been able to tell people how Anubis had been stopped, but with Jack as the team-leader of SG-1 and Teal'c being his subordinate, they had spun a story of SG-1 being involved with the eradication of a fleet of enemy ships. General Hammond had been wanting to retire to spend more time with his family in Harmony anyway, and he'd suggested they went with it. Jack was now in command of the SGC.
Samantha Carter had also received a promotion to Major, shortly before that, but it was in recognition of many of her contributions and her work on a Naquadah reactor, which was the basis for their own space-capable ships, including glider-sized ships and a large battleship which was set for its maiden flight in a couple of months. The original name for it was the USAF Prometheus, as it had been designed in conjunction with people not in the know, but after a suggestion from the SGC, saying that an ally already had that name for their ship, it was renamed to the USAF Pathfinder. Sam's suggestion.
Jack was all for ships that didn't rely on magic, especially after his most recent adventure with Harry. He knew that, realistically, that shouldn't happen again, but he felt better knowing the technology worked on good old science and electricity. Well, that and scavenged drives from alien technology, along with parts donated by the Asgard.
"So, you really did make a whole new dimension?" Pansy asked. She knew her husband was brilliant, but this seemed bigger than anything he'd done before. A whole dimension?
"Kind of, yes." Harry said. He'd walked to the hatch. "Come on. They're waiting." he said, as the hatch opened.
Harry stepped out of the ship and saw Oma Desala and twelve other people. "Only twelve?" he asked as he walked up to Oma, to shake her hand, while his wives followed a bit behind him.
"There was one, who could not enter your intent wards and we fear that he has told the others, who are now blocking the rest, who would have liked to join us." Oma Desala said.
"We have not left the Monastery, in fear that they would block us from coming again. One of us has already left and didn't return." another one of them said. He was a reasonably attractive man with blond hair and a somewhat sad expression, seemingly engraved on his face. "Is it true that you have made a new ascended realm?"
"I have." Harry said.
"How?" another asked. She was a dark-haired woman, with short hair and a regal expression.
"That would be telling." Harry said, with a smirk.
"I really hope you know what you are doing, Harry." Oma Desala said. "If we descend now, even with your protections, we will be vulnerable to them if we leave here in any way that they can trace."
"Then I'll just have to ascend you here." Harry said.
"Harry, what are you talking about?" Daphne asked.
"I'll show you in just a short bit." Harry promised.
"No." Pansy said immediately. "You'll tell us now. You sound like you're planning on ascending with them."
"And, you are?" the man who had spoken before asked.
"They are the wives of Harry Black." Oma said. "It was their wedding I missed." She turned to Harry. "I am sorry I wasn't there. I just didn't want to risk connecting to Desiré while this place is being watched."
"I understand." Harry said. He had wondered, but he just thought she was still busy spreading the word. He knew how difficult it could be to tell someone a secret, when there are others around. Then he turned back to his girls. "I'm sorry to tell you this like this, but you know how I can be in many places at once?" he asked.
"No." Pansy whispered, in dawning realisation. "Don't say it." she begged.
"I kind of ascended accidentally, while I was making the Superspace." Harry confessed, anyway. "But I'm still here!" he added quickly, when Pansy's eyes grew wide and she showed signs of breaking down. "I didn't die. I didn't lose my body or my ability to make babies with you. I'm still me." he promised. Pansy had asked Desiré about children and she'd told her that ascended beings couldn't procreate. They didn't even feel the desire to. They'd need to descend first, and in doing so they'd likely lose all their memories of who they were and never be able to ascend again. It was part of the rules enforced by the others.
"Explain." Hermione said, with steel in her voice, as her one hand went around Pansy in support, with Daphne taking her other side. All his wives, except for Luna, looked like they thought he was holding something big back.
"It has to do with how Superspace works and how it needed to come into existence." Harry said. "It turns out that I was being drawn to it all along. My entire life, in fact. It's likely the reason why I can do things with magic that nobody else can, even before my ascension."
"But then, how did you do that, without the ascended noticing?" The regal looking woman asked, referring to the creation of this 'Superspace'. They'd definitely have noticed something like that coming into existence.
"Time-travel." Harry dropped another bomb. "Also, the Superspace is not the ascended realm I've set up for you. Superspace is a layer that exists alongside the ascended realm you know, but it was made by magic and it has protections that block the ascended from finding it."
"Magic, in this case, is what we had been noting on Earth, when it was younger. We had thought the people were spontaneously starting to ascend, but it turned out to be something much bigger." Oma said. "The Monastery is protected by magic. Something called a ward. It is why the others cannot enter here.
"Magic was always the blind spot of the ascended. The things we noted happening on Earth, but couldn't explain. It is also connected to the manipulation of life energies, which we noted in the Nox and some few other species." Oma finished. She'd asked after it and Harry had not had an issue in telling her about that, as long as it wasn't shared.
"And you intend to give us access to this realm, protected by magic?" the man asked.
"Fuck, no!" Harry exclaimed. "The Superspace is permeated by magic! It's basically a source of infinite power. I'm not handing anyone the keys to that car."
"How has that not changed you then?" Luna asked. Something about the way she asked that question, and her tone, told Harry that she had suspected this since he came back.
"I've got a part of my mind dedicated to keeping Superspace from influencing me directly." Harry said. "It's also the reason why I'm still here. Superspace wants me to go to it. It wants to hand me the answers to all the questions in the universe."
Hermione sighed out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding in, as it clicked into place for her and a small smile grew on her face. "That makes so much sense!" she said then as she instantly felt better. "You hate being handed the answers!" She turned to Pansy. "This Superspace might want to give him anything he wants and draw him away from us, but that will just make it so that he rejects it!"
Pansy was still in shock, but she also felt better, as did most of the girls. All of them knew Harry's character. The best way to drive him away, was to take the fun of finding something out for himself, away from him. "Thank you." Pansy whispered to Hermione. Then she turned back to Harry. She wanted to reprimand him for keeping this from them, but she also understood why he'd keep it for after they were married. He had access to infinite power. He'd not want that to sway the way they thought of him until they'd made a commitment. As far as family magic went, it was a worthy secret. "Thank you for staying." she said then.
"It was never a choice." Harry said. "Even if I didn't mind the information, I'd have stayed just for you girls." he promised, as he walked up to Pansy and hugged her. Of all his girls, she had been aiming to be his wife the longest. He should have known that she'd react with fear at the possibility that he wouldn't be with them always. That Superspace might take him from them.
"Does this make you a Fae?" Luna asked.
"What?" Harry asked. "Why would you think that?"
"Well, you are connected to the in-between. That's part of it, right? That's where the Fae are." Luna said, matter-of-factly.
"How do you know that?" Susan asked.
"Well, that's kind of my family secret." Luna said. "I'll tell you later."
Harry had no idea how to react to that. Was there already other beings living in the Superspace? A part of himself offered him the answer and he allowed it, since it wouldn't do that if Harry wasn't suddenly very worried about the possibility of something having gotten in there before he had protected it. The answer was no. Not in their galaxy or timeline, at least.
"Later then." Harry allowed, before he turned back to the Ascended around him, feeling relief at the answer he'd gotten back. "As I was saying, I travelled back in time, to before the Alterans came to this galaxy. I found that there was no magic, at that time, so I had to seed it into existence, with magic I had brought with me."
"You created magic?" Fleur asked, interrupting him. She'd allowed the others to ask the questions they all had, but this she had to ask for herself. "You found no magic and then made magic?" she asked incredulously.
"Well… yes, in a manner of speaking." Harry said, with a shrug. The next moment he had a Veela on him and her Allure was completely released as she seemed to try and inhale him through his mouth.
"Fleur?" Susan asked.
She broke contact, just long enough to say, "I've not been so turned on in my life!" before she continued to suck face with Harry. He wasn't just a god of magic, he was the one that created it! She simply couldn't resist him. At that moment, he seemed the most powerful creature in existence to her. And he was hers!
"Um, Fleur, we have people staring." Luna said, gently, knowing that Harry had things to do. To be honest, she was also slightly jealous. She wanted to do that too!
Fleur seemed to shudder, before she collected herself and Harry felt the allure drop away. She'd always been so careful to not influence him. He wondered if this was something she'd been wanting to do, but had to restrict herself. To be honest, he didn't really mind. That kiss had been out of this world.
When she finally collected herself enough, she whispered. "Tonight, my 'usband, I am not 'olding back." she promised him, a fiery look in her eyes that had never been there before, her words, her accent slipping out and her very posture screaming that he would not find rest that night.
"Don't hold back on my account, my lady." Harry said, after collecting himself and ensuring that he wasn't showing his own 'enthusiasm'. "Um, where was I? I swear Fleur, you just snogged my brains out!"
"You were saying that you went back in time to make Superspace and seeded magic." Daphne said dutifully. She was wondering if Fleur still had some things to teach them.
"Isn't time-travel supposed to be dangerous?" Susan asked.
"Well, in this case, I went back to a point and in a place, where I thought that there'd be no chance of me affecting Earth or any planet with any life on it." Harry said. "I did run it by Thor, even if I had to swear him to secrecy."
Hermione, who had also been scared out of her mind by what Harry had seemingly done, relaxed a bit, and her brain caught up with the conversation. "Two-hundred Million years?" she asked.
"Yup." Harry said, smiling at his brilliant wife for putting that together.
"How?" Hermione asked.
"Sorry, I'm never telling anyone that." Harry said. "You do understand, right?"
Hermione nodded and changed the subject back. "So you didn't just make magic and this 'Superspace'. You also made the Temporal Window. Or at least, set it up?" Hermione asked.
"Actually, I turned Alpha Origin into a Time-Turner that can go back to the beginning of Magic." Harry said. "And then I blocked it from ever being used as a time machine, allowing people to only see the past, rather than influence it."
Hermione took a deep breath. "At least you are more responsible than your other actions seem to indicate." she said.
"Well I��m not an idiot, and as I said, I was meant to go back. I was driven to it." Harry said. "I think Magic itself knew that I'd be seeding it into existence and 'It' was the thing that steered me into that action." Honestly, he'd wondered about how the systems on the Sphere had even stayed active long enough for him to realize and charge back up. He never did find an answer, besides that Magic itself had had a hand in it.
Fleur seemed to shudder at hearing that, but kept her thoughts to herself, as Harry turned back to the ascended. "Anyway, so after I came back to the present and realized what I'd done and how big Superspace had grown, I spent some time with Oma here and figured out how to make another space inside Superspace, which will function like the current ascended realm. It was quite simple from there. The only problem you'll have right now, is that you can't all leave the magical Ascended realm at a time. At least one of you will need to stay there, to function as a tether for the others, if you decide to become mortal for a while."
"And you are certain it is capable of everything the current realm is?" the woman asked.
"Probably a lot more." Harry said. "A portion of myself is in contact there. That's the best way I can describe it. It functions like a duplicate of myself, and keeps the Superspace from trying to increase my mental capabilities and from feeding me magic and information. That part of me will be able to modify anything to your needs, but you'll likely not believe me, until one of you sees it for yourself, right?" he asked, looking at Oma.
She sighed, but nodded. "It is my responsibility." she said, volunteering.
"Wait, Harry." Padma said. "Do you have any way of knowing that they will not be able to access Superspace directly? Were you able to confirm it for yourself, with your… other self in the Superspace?"
"Well, no, but-" Harry started.
"I'll check." Parvati jumped in, before her sister could. She knew her twin and didn't want to risk her, just like her sister felt the same way. "Sorry sis."
Padma was about to argue, but Harry interrupted. "None of you are going." he said. "I can't test it, but I can feel the energies that the realm is connected to. There is no magic in the layer and it is both isolated and just as vast as the current ascended realm. If anyone suddenly starts accessing Superspace, the wards would also stop them."
"You placed a ward, which goes through an entire dimension of the universe?" Hermione asked, incredulously.
"Yes." Harry said. "Superspace, like the ascended realm, is both vast and a place without distances. You apply something on part of it, it applies everywhere."
"What you just said makes no sense." Hermione said.
"He's ascended." one of the others said, in realization. Not all of them had believed, until his last statement. "Only an ascended could truly understand the concept." he said, before nodding. His mind had been made up.
"I'd still prefer that we test it." Padma said.
"Dobby will go." Dobby said as he appeared next to Harry. "Dobby is meant to protect his family. Dobby will go." he repeated.
"Is it possible?" Hermione asked, even as the ascended looked at the tiny being in confusion. "Could he go there and stay connected to you, without losing himself to it?"
"Dobby knows about my other self." Harry said, with a sad smile. The connection between Harry and Dobby would be able to test the protections, while he helped him stay himself, if he went there. It was actually perfect. He'd just need to be very careful not to allow it to affect his mind, as was natural in that realm of connected disconnection from the physical. "He could feel me there, from Harmony. Actually, that would be the perfect test. I can help keep him from changing through that connection."
"He cannot be enlightened enough to achieve ascension." one of the others said/asked.
"Dobby is a pure soul, who cares for others before himself." Harry said, sternly. "He knows about self-sacrifice and duty, and most of all, he offered to do this so that I can help you. If he's not enlightened enough for you, then you obviously have the wrong idea of enlightenment."
Oma actually looked smugly at the man. "What did I tell you, Alzar? He is more enlightened than most."
"I see that." the man said, before bowing slightly to Dobby. "You are correct, and I am sorry that I doubted you, little one."
"Dobby doesn't mind." Dobby said. "Dobby knows that Master Harry would not let bad people stay in his other self's spare room." he said with a nod.
Harry let out a laugh at the pretty apt description. "Well said, my friend." he said before kneeling down next to the little elf. "Now, I'll be sending you there for just a short while, while I test this. Try not to think too much, while you are there. All your thoughts will want to grow and become bigger, because your mind won't be limited by a physical body. That will change you and I like you just the way you are." he reiterated.
"Dobby promises. Dobby won't think of anything." Dobby promised.
Harry placed a hand on Dobby's head and a second later, his form started to glow, as his eyes widened, before he disappeared. His clothing, a rather nice, if slightly strangely colored butler's suit, fell to the ground.
Harry then stood up and said. "So, while I'm busy testing that, maybe some introductions are in order?" he asked Oma. Before she could respond however, Harry let out a laugh. "He couldn't keep his mind from a single thought and now he's reveling in how 'great' his 'Master Harry' is."
"You should have expected that." Hermione reprimanded. She really hoped Harry knew what he was doing, because she didn't want to think that Harry would risk Dobby for anything. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked, slight apprehensively.
"Oh, he'll be fine. He's currently thanking my other self for enjoying the food he makes for me." Harry said, shaking his head. "I tried to explain how things worked to him. I'm not actually there. It's all me, but for him it was easier to think of me as two people, so I just told him that 'my other self' ate everything I did when he worried about feeding him."
"So you don't have a copy there?" Hermione asked.
"I'll show you around sometime." Harry said. "Then you'll understand. I'm making something similar to the ascended realm for my friends and family. It's 'smaller' in a sense of the word. Less access, but still enough to expand your mind enough to be there and here, with no side-effects, and with the ability to exit and be completely here again."
"Can't you do that?" Daphne asked. "Come back here completely?"
"I'm not sure it's possible." Harry said. "Superspace, or rather, Magic, needs a connection there, I think. I don't know what would happen to Superspace if I left it completely, and honestly, I don't think I can exit it. When I first connected to it, I thought I could for a while, but since, I've realized that I've been connected to it since I was four. I could force the matter, if you want, but I don't think that's a good idea." The girls all understood what that meant. He'd been connected, since he was sent back the first time.
"You explain the concept well enough." Oma said. "There is a connection that stays there, when we manifest here. It is very risky to manifest and try to remove ourselves from there. Our existence is maintained by our higher processes, which expand while they are in contact with the ascended realm. The only reason we can try to do this safely, is because you made the descension device." It was just a large magical knowledge storing device. Harry would need to help these people regain their knowledge of who they were, once they descended. The others will not allow that knowledge to come with them, but they still had access to it, so they could deposit a copy of it, if his and her plans worked out.
"That's not completely the same as my situation." Harry said. "My mind started to expand, but I blocked it. That's what I have my higher processes doing. I dedicated a small part of my mind to it and it functions like a buffer. Part of the Superspace was created with a piece of magical equipment meant to record data. That added a certain amount of memory to Superspace and it seems to have evolved into a large collection of knowledge. That's what keeps on trying to enter my mind."
"So you have all the knowledge of the universe in your Superspace?" The man who had spoken last, Alzar, asked.
"I don't know." Harry said with a smile. "Likely."
"Aren't you curious?" he asked, scandalized.
"You don't know Harry very well." Daphne said, smugly.
The man grumbled. He wasn't deaf. He'd heard them talking. He just couldn't imagine not wanting to know. "Will we have access to that knowledge?" he asked.
"Maybe one day." Harry said, dubiously, just as he felt something. "Okay, Dobby is ready to come back. There were no leaks, but there was a section which was thinner, if you knew how to look for it. It's been resolved." he said, as he conjured a small curtained off area, for the elf, who appeared there. "How are you feeling, Dobby?" Harry asked, as he levitated Dobby's clothes in.
The clothes disappeared with the sound of snapping fingers and Dobby ran out between the curtains. "Master Harry was right!" Dobby enthused. "The spare room works just like it should! The magic was close, but Dobby helped fix it!"
"I know. I was there, remember?" Harry said.
"Oh, right. Master Harry tried to explain to Dobby while he was there, and it made sense there, but now Dobby isn't sure he understands." Dobby said.
"That's to be expected." Harry said. He was glad. It seemed Dobby had remained himself.
"Are we ready to proceed?" Oma asked, a bit of excitement he'd last seen in Desiré, showing on her face. She'd felt the elf reappear. In that moment, she'd glimpsed where he'd come from. She couldn't help her excitement. The new realm held more possibilities, more capabilities, due to its connection with Harry.
"No more questions?" Harry asked.
"I don't need to ask any more." Oma said. She looked to the side and the Monk walked to them, with what looked like a large crystal ball on a pedestal, with a handle on one side. "I'll be the first, so that the rest can observe the function." she said.
"Okay, then. Let's get this party started." Harry said, rubbing his hands together.
The process wasn't too complicated. Oma placed her hands on the handle and it glowed for a minute, as her higher functions fed her information and put it directly into the crystal. Then there was a flash, and her naked body was lying on the floor, as she forcefully broke her connection to the Ascended realm, where the others tried to keep her, by holding her higher state and all its knowledge hostage. They still couldn't know magic, so they had no idea of knowing how, or even what, they were doing. They couldn't read her mind, after all. All they could do was watch, as her connection snapped, leaving what had made her who she was, to dissipate into nothingness, seemingly lost for all time, her protected location meaning that they couldn't even force her to return to them.
Harry's girls were quick to cover the woman. When she came to, Harry explained her situation and after some coaxing, she placed her hands back on the handle. It was slower to go back. Much slower, but Oma had been smart about it. The first thing she learned was what they were doing and who she was, without all the vast amounts of knowledge. When she knew enough, Harry helped her enter his 'Spare Room', as Dobby had so eloquently put it.
After that, it was simple for her to find her way back to them and to take the rest of the knowledge back. From there, she helped the others descend. Harry and Oma helped them ascend, and they recovered their memories.
Half an hour later, Oma Desala, in her entirely, clothes and all, had descended again in a real human mortal form of her own creation, while the others explored their new space and kept a door open for her.
"You were not wrong." Oma said, in the younger body of Desiré, which she had grown to like. "The space is quite empty, but it is exactly as we need. There is one difference, which I didn't expect, though."
"Noticed the amenities, did you?" Harry asked, with a smirk.
"Indeed." Oma said, with a smile. "It is fortunate that we cannot get fat, because I see myself spending a lot of time at the ice-cream shop."
"Ice-cream shop?" Hermione asked, confused.
"The ascended realm is not a physical place." Harry said. "Mine, however, has a little nook for manifestation of such things, and I added a couple of features for them." he explained. He turned to Oma, then. "It does require that you limit your existence, to experience things as a human, but you can modify it as you see fit from outside."
"I imagine it will be nice to be able to have sex again." Oma said, with a bit of a smirk. "Two of the others are already at it." she said, with a shake of her head and a tolerant smile. "So much for enlightenment."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said. "You wanted back in the universe. Obviously you missed a memo, or something. Life is all about experiencing things. Why do you think I hate-"
"Being given the answers." Harry's girls all chorused.
"Well, it's true." Harry said, in a huff.
"Thank you, Harry." Oma said then. "You have done us a great service and it will be a pleasure to continue working with you."
"Did you figure out how to pull someone in, yet?" Harry asked.
"It is not dissimilar to what I used to do." Oma nodded. "Once I am ready to go back, I'll ask the others to pull me back. I'll be ascending the monk today, since now we can descend as needed without interference from the others."
"Just remember, you are protected from 'their' view by the protections of the 'Spare Room', but newcomers are not. Not until you ascend them." Harry warned. He liked the term. It was better than saying 'the magical version of the ascended realm' all the time. "So have them come here first, to see if they can pass the wards, then you may follow your own rules to bring new people in."
"We will be discussing the new rules over some ice-cream, I suspect." Oma said, in agreement. She could live with their new home being called that. At least, by this man.
"I might join." Harry said. "If I'm welcome."
"You will always be welcome." Oma said.
"Then my 'other me' will likely come hear what you have decided on, so that I can discuss it with my wives." Harry said. "I don't intend on doing something like this again, without them, but I suspect you'll see them again, soon."
"Oh?" Oma asked.
"Like I said, I'm making a space for my friends and family as well." Harry said.
"Wouldn't want to leave them mortal, after all." Oma agreed.
"What does she mean, Harry?" Pansy asked sweetly.
"You just had to go and say that, didn't you?" Harry asked Oma, with narrowed eyes.
"You are a husband now." Oma said. "Take your lumps like a man." she grinned then, before turning and walking off, with a certain spring in her step. It had been a while since she felt quite so free. For a spirit that could travel at the speed of thought, that was saying something.
"Harry?" Pansy asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So, guess what?" Harry asked.
"You can't die, because you are here and there." Luna stated. It wasn't a question.
"Yes." Harry said, looking slightly guilty, but also with a bit of a playful smile on his face. "Good news though, you can't kill me for not telling you that."
"Only because, apparently, it's impossible." Daphne added. She didn't really mind the idea of an immortal Harry, as long as they could join him. Also, while she wasn't as eager to perform her duties and produce an heir, like Pansy was, she would very much not want to risk her ability to make babies.
"Once again, it wasn't my choice." Harry said seriously. "Is this going to be a problem?" he asked then.
"This isn't something small, Harry." Hermione said. "You are immortal. That's huge!"
Harry looked crestfallen, then. "Is this a deal-breaker?"
"What do you-" Hermione started.
"No!" Fleur interrupted. "We're not leaving you! We just never 'ad to consider an immortal life before."
"Did you really think that's what I meant?" Hermione asked, worry in her eyes. She'd always though the other girls were prettier than her, and because of that small insecurity, she'd always held the fear of losing Harry. It wasn't rational, but it was also very human.
Harry didn't know how to respond to that, so he led the girls back onto the Sphere, as he decided on honesty. "I've been worried about this since I made the stupid Superspace. There's a part of me that's not human anymore. I didn't want to influence you, by telling you this, since I'm still me, but I was also conflicted. Should I have told you beforehand? Would that have been better?"
"I understand your reasoning." Pansy spoke up. "If it were my family secret, I'd have had a duty to keep it to myself, maybe even after marriage. At least, until my husband became the head of the House." With her father still in prison and her mother being a woman, Harry was already the head of the House, but he'd decided to have the ladies Bones, Parkinson and Greengrass, his mothers-in-law, be his Proxy, for the decisions of their Houses. It basically meant that they kept on acting as the Head, until he changed his mind, or they remarried or couldn't anymore.
"Pureblood customs." Hermione groused.
"You should learn to follow the customs." Daphne said. "You are now a Lady of a Noble House, yourself."
"I know, but it all just seems so archaic." Hermione said.
"It's the Pureblood customs that allowed us all to marry Harry." Susan pointed out. While she wasn't a strict follower of the customs, there were certain advantages to following them, when they suited.
"It also protects us from people who would otherwise demand our family secrets." Luna said, smiling at Hermione.
Hermione, for her part, decided to just accept it. Maybe they could just start a new magical custom on Harmony, while getting rid of some of the more outdated things that didn't suit them. "Fine." she allowed.
"Speaking of family secrets." Harry said, leadingly, as he looked at Luna.
"Oh, right." Luna said, sounding a little embarrassed more than anything. "My family, on my mother's side, are descended from the Fae." she said then, with a shrug.
"That's how you know about Superspace!" Harry exclaimed. She had never shown shock or worry. Harry had known that she knew something, but couldn't imagine how. "Where are these Fae?" he asked, then. "I've checked, and there are no Fae in this galaxy, or timeline."
"Oh, they went to go join one of their counterparts in another reality." Luna said easily.
"Timeline?" Hermione asked.
"I said what I meant." Luna said back. She looked back at Harry. "The in-between spans many realms, dimensions and even a few realities. It's something of a mystery how that happened, since it wasn't always that way, but I always suspected it had something to do with the different magics in the different universes. Now I think your Superspace helped."
Harry seemed to be bubbling with excitement, now. "Superspace has transcended realities?!" he'd not even thought to look. Part of himself wanted to offer him an answer, but he refused it, thinking he'd rather discover this for himself. "Oh, I know where I want to go during our honeymoon!" he said excitedly.
"Visiting the Fae?" Luna asked hopefully. She'd never been able to meet them, but she felt a kind of connection, which sent her strange visions at times. More often than not, from counterparts of herself.
"Does this have something to do with what happens when you sleepwalk?" Harry asked, the memory having come back to him, of her walking the halls of Hogwarts, speaking in what sounded like a gibberish language to someone that he had begun to suspect was there, even if they were visually and magically undetectable. On one occasion the whole thing had scared the hell out of him, when she had seemingly woken up, had a conversation with him that led to the creation of the first Index, and then continued sleepwalking and chatting to whoever she had, before.
"Something like that." Luna said. When Harry looked at her, like he was waiting for more, she said, "You can't expect me to give you all the answers. I have to keep a bit of my mystery."
"Hah!" Susan exclaimed. Luna would never give them all her secrets. They preferred her that way, anyway. Luna was meant to be a little strange and mysterious.
"Before zat, zough." Fleur said, as she stalked closer to Harry, the hungry glimmer back in her eyes. "I weel be needing some time wees our 'usband."
That was the end of all conversation, as the girls seemed to agree and Harry quickly transported them into orbit, at the same time as he made a few copies, all of whom were led to separate bedrooms, so that the girls could have their own fun, while another instance piloted them to their first honeymoon destination, while contemplating how he'd go about navigating Superspace to another universe.
OOO
It was two days before anyone saw Fleur again. Harry's capabilities allowing him to please her in ways no man could ever please a Veela before, especially with her allure completely released. In that time, many conversations happened, as the girls asked all their questions of Harry. For the first three weeks, that was how things went. They travelled to many locations, seeing much of the galaxy that Bill and Bella had been to, and a few other locations Harry had wanted to see for himself.
All the while, the ascended in the 'Spare Room' were deliberating and discussing their needs and desires. In general, it seemed they wanted to make a difference again. To help people evolve into their better selves. Unfortunately they couldn't simply manifest physical items or machines into being, so they settled on subtle influence, while they helped people avoid the mistakes that they had seen so many times. Sometimes they would use dreams, to deliver messages, with visions of things that might happen, if a person went down a certain path, to give warnings that might have them change a course of action. If that failed, the ascended would turn to Harry, to see if he could send his own people, or if that was not an option, they'd directly intervene, since they now could.
Some were discussing methods for extracting their detained friends. The others would never hold a person against their will, except if it was for 'their own good'. Not knowing what Oma Desala was really up to, and not knowing what to think about the report they had received about magic, the others had simply decided to try and 'help' those few who had wanted to go with her.
There was no rush, though, since they would be released in time, and they could then be offered a place again. The descendance device was still at the Monastery, and would be safe from any who wished to do harm, or who tried to use deception to attain ascendance, due to the wards.
These ascended also decided to join the Alliance, for the sake of the good they could do by aiding them. Also, as a bonus, Harry had allowed them to see what was going on in parts of Harmony and the Magical world, so they had promised to keep an eye out for any who might decide to attack Harry or his people in the future. Introductions to Harmony would come later, so that Harry could take them on a tour himself. Fortunately, as ascended beings they didn't have any desire to pry into personal relations or relationships. That simply didn't appeal to them. They were more focused on the bigger picture.
It turned out that the 'Nook' Harry had set up for them, to experience a more human existence even while in their new home, had been an eye-opener, revealing long-lost experiences that being ascended did not afford them. The simple things in life were often the things that they connected with first. Eating and experiencing new tastes and even things as simple as touch and listening to music, was a completely different thing, when done as a human, or at least, as what they had been before ascending.
By the time Harry and his wives came home, they'd have a whole list of things that the new residents wanted to experience anew.
OOO
By the time the last week of the Honeymoon had come, they had decided to go somewhere 'new' for their last bit of the holiday, considering they'd likely not be given the freedom to go where they pleased quite as easily, now that they were considered the bloody royal family of Harmony. Harry understood how that had happened, with how he regularly entertained foreign dignitaries and were treated by them like an equal or superior.
That didn't mean it didn't bother him, when the wolves inevitably decided his wives needed their own bodyguards, something Harry only knew about because the ascended's new freedom meant that that they had overheard a discussion and had asked him about it. Sure, he understood that the multiple attempts to infiltrate their wedding, which was quite the event in Harmony, meant that the Ladies of Harmony would now be considered viable targets to get to Harry.
The fact was that Macusa had been successful in infiltrating Harmony on at least one occasion and had gotten information back out. They didn't know how or when, but it wasn't inconceivable that new magical methods had been researched and employed to gain entry and to facilitate evacuation, so security was currently a big concern. Macusa didn't like muggles knowing about magic and considering a large portion of muggles in Harmony were from America, and from their military no less, didn't help calm them down at all.
Harry already had a plan to eliminate that sort of thing from happening, since the only way to get information out of Harmony was by using their connected Comm system. It would mean registering the Comms so that they had access to the network going back to Earth and likely some sort of intent protection to stop people from using other people's Comms for that purpose. That wouldn't stop extraction though, which Harry suspected was somehow connected to his system, using the same connectivity.
He was still pondering solutions to that, but perhaps it was simply time to take Pike's suggestion of encrypting communications to heart. That should stop things like that. That, and setting it up that any form of unauthorized portkeys that somehow used the EPN, would go directly into a detention facility. He was privately of the opinion that that was how they had gained entry and facilitated going back.
Those plans being something Harry would have to handle in the future, Daphne put it on his list for things to handle when they went home and Harry asked the ascended if they could keep an eye out and let him know if they detected any outsiders having somehow breached security, which they didn't mind. Unfortunately the Ascended still couldn't see all magical places, especially places protected by wards to protect from intent, or which were strong enough to keep them out. Harry and his people weren't the only ones that could use those, after all.
"So, do we have an idea of how to find these Fae?" Susan asked, while they were still discussing the trip. Having a bunch of smart wives, meant that a lot of planning was necessary and almost all of them had a list of things to take into consideration.
"We will need to enter the in-between and then I should be able to navigate us there." Luna said easily.
"But, Superspace isn't open to just anyone, just yet." Harry said. He'd wondered about that as well. The Superspace showed no signs of trespass by otherworldly beings, like the Fae were supposed to be.
"The in-between isn't just your Superspace, Harry." Luna said. "Magic has a will of its own, and sometimes it allows people access through its realm, or to stay in places it makes for them. You knew that Superspace is Magic's home, right?"
"Maybe a little." Harry confessed. He just didn't want to think of it in those terms.
"We used to just call it the Realm of Magic. Or the Source." Luna shrugged. "Magic doesn't normally allow anyone to visit it directly. You're the only one I've heard of that could, in fact. I like Superspace though. It's nice and descriptive."
"So, how are we supposed to get to the Fae?" Harry asked again.
"We won't be stopping in it. We need to find our destination first and then we make sure Magic knows we only intend to go there and it will help us get there." Luna said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"And, how do we do that?" Hermione asked.
Luna shrugged. "I've never done it." she said. "A part of me once did, but I can't remember it."
"What do you mean?" Pansy asked.
"As I understand it, when I sent myself back in time, to save mummy, it was at the cost of how it was done. Harry remembers coming back, though. It was part of the deal, and took many lifetimes worth of power, which another me helped provide." Luna said. "She never told me how she arranged that."
"What?" Hermione asked intelligently.
"Luna was the one that somehow sent me back in time." Harry said. "Her mother knows more, but, like Luna, I don't understand half of how that works. She said something about me remembering because I had a space for myself. I think I was a soul anchor for Voldemort and my own soul, or memories and power, kicked him out. That's what that Dumbledore thought anyway, the soul anchor part."
That led to a whole other conversation, since none of the other girls had known about that. They'd simply accepted Harry's story about coming back and had known so long that none of them had thought to question it.
When that conversation, at least the part that Harry and Luna thought they understood, was over, they returned to topic.
"So, we need to find the Fae, before we can go and find them?" Hermione asked.
There was silence as they all thought about that statement. Harry had returned them to Alpha Origin, since it was the anchor point of the Superspace. Or, at least it had been, when he made it. They were still contemplating it, when Harry felt a pull in his magic. There was an answer, if he was willing to accept it.
"Girls, I believe that there is a part of me that knows what to do." Harry said.
"Your 'other self'?" Pansy asked.
"There's an answer in Superspace." Harry nodded. "I'm feeling that tickle again."
"Tickle?" Pansy asked again.
"Like he felt, before creating Superspace." Hermione clarified, realizing what it meant. He'd not used the same terminology with everyone.
"If I followed the feeling, I'm almost certain we'll get where we're wanting to go, but I'm not certain what's going to happen." Harry said, apologetically. As he said it, the feeling dulled some, like the information was correct, and no longer needed to be delivered, but leaving a bit for him to follow.
"Well, you're not leaving us out of it this time." Pansy said, crossing her arms. She was still miffed that he'd gone back in time without them. He'd explained his reasoning to her in private, when she asked, but that had had the opposite effect than he had hoped for. Apparently she'd have preferred staying with Harry, rather than losing him entirely, as was the possibility when he'd left.
"I told you." Harry said. "I'm not leaving you girls behind again. You are now my first priority. The wolves, the Asgard and the Ascended can handle any threats to our world, with what they know, while we are gone." He had obviously told their allies of the Wraith and the Ori. If either of them tried to come to the Milky Way, either by Stargate or directly, they would have a very difficult time indeed. The StellarNet would be capable of picking up irregular movement and the wolves had access to Project Black Light for anything that got past that. He'd love to see an enemy get past their defenses. If push comes to shove, Harry could always pour magic into the 'Spare Room', so that they could deal with interlopers directly, not that he knew if they could use the power…
"So, we're going to a different universe?" Hermione asked, just a little dubiously.
"Yes!" Luna exclaimed. "I can't wait! It will be so much fun to meet my ancestors, and me!"
"That will make sense later, right?" Susan asked Luna.
"Of course." Luna agreed, smiling serenely.
-The End-
AN: First off: Yes, I am writing a Post-Apocalyptic and Origins Crossover, so that the two Harry's can meet. At present, it's 57K words already.
Secondly, I'd like to address some things that have come up during the writing of these last two stories.
I wanted to see what would happen if Harry trusted people he knew from his previous timeline, who he knew could be trusted. Poppy was incapable of breaking her healer's oath. Minerva had always cared for Harry and he knew that. Most everyone swore an unbreakable oath. The problem with these kinds of stories is that Harry, more often than not, ends up needing to do everything on his own. That has been done many times and I wasn't going to write just another one of those.
Forgiving Dumbledore was not something even I saw coming, but that's how it just came out. When I write, the story forms during the writing. I somehow find it impossible to plan far ahead, as that's just not how my mind works. So for all you Dumbles haters out there, I get it. The old man really needs a few good kicks in the groin.
The Weasley/Prewitt curse was fun to write and gave things a different spin to how everyone apparently just loves hating the Weasleys. Especially Ron, Percy, Ginny and Molly. That being said, I don't particularly like those either, except for Molly. She was always just an overbearing but lovable character in my mind.
The thing with the grooming of 11-year old girls. Yes, I agree with you. That seemed creepy to me too, when I read it again, but my intentions were never as sinister as it seemed. Harry had a bigger goal, but it was to have influence in all the houses and to elevate the girls' standing so that everyone would look to them and through them to Harry, not to be a pedophile. Seeing him as their protector and love interest just seemed the natural way to protect them. I was going for Harem, but not even I know how you'd go about achieving his goals, and not making it seem creepy without a lot of jealousy and catfights later in the story, so I wrote it the way I did. I'll likely never write Harem again. It's just too damn difficult to give everyone a proper voice and to play all the characters correctly.
As for Superspace, that was a bit of a surprise to me too. I had intended for Superspace to contain magic. I never intended for it to basically become the source of magic across all the bloody universes. Unfortunately, the way I wrote this story just ended up making that fit right into place.
As for Harry's Ascendance. Yeah, he's basically a god of magic now, but he'll likely continue to keep a part of himself dedicated to keeping himself human. He doesn't like the idea of becoming so detached from mortality as the other ascended and even the Asgard had become. Immortality is something he never wanted to begin with. Unfortunately Magic had other ideas, but he'll not stop trying to make a space for his family, who will then likely become something akin to demigods themselves.
As for why the Harrys need to meet… Well, you'll find out in my next story, won't you? :P
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