章節 93: 93. Wrong Place At The Right Time
"Where's Happy? Did you find out anything?"
"No, Hermione. Sirius is still looking. He said he'll speak with a few more people and find him soon." Harry answered dejectedly, feeling a little depressed as he blamed himself for what happened. After all, wasn't Happy helping him?
"But why isn't Dumbledore doing anything?" Ron asked. "Shouldn't they all be looking for him? He's not a nobody."
"That's what I find strange," Harry muttered. "Happy is famous among so many powerful people. They have to know something that we don't. Even Koko is gone now."
"Ahem... I recommend focusing more on your studies rather than entertaining conspiracies," Snape's voice echoed behind the trio. The Potions class was still going on, and the exams were around the corner. Even if the school wanted to, they couldn't dwell on their worry for Happy for too long.
The three never got any concrete evidence of what happened to Happy or where he was. Over the coming months, all they got were words from others that Happy was fine. Even Sirius began to say the same thing, dismissing their concerns.
They knew there was something going on, and they were dying to know what it was. However, without any major connections or help, they had no chance of achieving anything.
Eventually, the exams were completed, and the school year came to an end. The time came for everyone to return home. The Gryffindor house won the House Cup again, but there was little joy as Happy's absence was felt by the entire school. His random huge announcements and his synergy with all the houses were something students started to wait for with excitement.
"I understand that many of you feel the absence of your dear friend. But I have been provided with assurance by a trusted source; Happy is in good health, and he shall return to our school in the next term. Furthermore, I suggest all of you keep a keen eye on the Daily Prophet this summer—a great announcement shall be made, one that is sure to excite you all." Dumbledore finished the term-end speech and dismissed the school.
One by one, after eating their breakfast, everyone dispersed and headed to the train station with their small luggage bags.
However, despite all the sadness, Harry had something to look forward to that summer. After all, Sirius was going to come to live at the Dursleys along with him. Finally, his days of getting bullied were going to end—as a super bully was entering the house.
"I'll see you later for the World Cup."
"Mum and I will come to pick you up." Ron hugged Harry before leaving with his mother. "I'll write to you…"
"Me too." Hermione also bid farewell. "If you receive any word about Happy, please tell us. Who knows where he's… probably alone. All this time, we had no idea he was planning to expose Peter… we know nothing about him."
Indeed, they all felt the same. They'd been with Happy for years now, and yet he remained an enigma. What went on in his head was a mystery.
Or perhaps they were simply too young back then to notice anything.
"I hope he's okay," Harry muttered and bid farewell to Hermione to return with Vernon.
…
Democratic Republic of Congo,
"Yeah!—Grill some more meat, Marcus! This is one hell of a party!"
Music, food, and joy—Happy spent the time of his life in the middle of nowhere. The birds, snakes, gorillas, chimpanzees, crocodiles, hippopotamus, elephants, and leopards chilled near Happy's camp and relaxed in the joy of music and free food. The apes even danced, as they liked to groove.
Initially, the animals attacked Happy. But after a little bit of beating and convincing through Koko's multilingual skills, the animals clearly understood that he was the hunter and they were the prey. As long as they didn't attack, he wouldn't come after them.
Woosh!
"Lord Lestrange, we bring you another bounty hunter trying to get to you." One of the first ten bounty hunter workers that Happy had recruited appeared with another beaten man. "This marks the ninth man I've brought… Do I win now?"
Happy scoffed and pointed at a black scoreboard with the score of each hunter written with chalk. "The total number has only reached forty. I told you I wanted a hundred. Also, you seem to have the wrong idea. Bob has already brought ten… he's in the lead."
"Ugh… Bob, that fat fuck. How is he catching hunters so fast? He was always behind us." The hunter named Anthony cursed under his breath. "Understood, I'll get more as soon as possible. Where do I put this package?"
"Bring him right here. It's time he signs the employment contract." Happy chirped and, just like that, got another worker for himself. They weren't barred from living their own lives with happiness, but in no way could they harm him or his interests anymore.
Some would call it evil or barbaric, but Happy considered it a good compromise. If left, they'd attack him, and he'd fight back. They might die, or worse, they might kill someone, and there won't always be a Time Turner to fix things.
"Take this new guy along and teach him the job." Happy ordered and returned to his hammock to rest, with a plate of juicy steak to eat, and delightful music by his side.
'The Expendables did great—Burundi is under my control now. But which nation to focus on next? Since I'm in Africa, why not work on the whole continent?' Happy wondered about his plans.
"Master Lestrange, why live in this warm unhygienic place? You should return to the manor." Marcus, the elf, suggested.
Happy shrugged. "No, I can't for now. If I want the events to proceed according to my plans, I can't stay close to Hogwarts, as my mere existence could change things. The Dark Lord needs to come to life for us to end him for good. Anyway, since we have time, I might just focus on my other goal. The more people we help, the more he would see me in a good light."
"Who, Master?"
Happy smiled and looked toward the sky. "Grandpa God, of course."
Bang!
Bang!
"What was that?!" Happy abruptly jumped off the hammock to his feet. "It sounded like gunshots… poachers?"
"We're too deep in the forest, Master," Marcus suggested and stood alert, ready to fire off some magic.
"Grrr…!" Just then, the leopards started to growl in a certain direction.
Happy wielded two wands in his hands just for efficiency. "Marcus, increase the sound of the music. Lure them here. Koko, tell the animals to get ready."
"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Koko made gorilla grunts and announced the plan to the animals. In response, they all stood up and cautiously came to stand behind Happy, watching the direction the gunshots came from.
They were resting in a small open space in the middle of the forest, so there were only dense trees all around them. However, since the animals were natives of the place, they could sense the approaching crowd easily.
"Pawoo!" One of the elephants grunted, alerting everyone.
Happy chuckled under his breath when he looked behind himself. The huge crowd of various animals was going to mess with any muggle's mind. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel it was absolutely badass. Those mighty gorillas, elephants, leopards, and crocodiles—they were natural enemies, but now they were friends.
"They're coming!" Marcus warned.
Bang!
Da-da-da-da!
"Automatic rifles." Happy muttered. "Marcus, the moment they appear, use freezing charms on them."
"Understood."
So, they waited and waited. Eventually, the faint sound of footsteps crushing the dry leaves echoed. And right after that, the first muggle appeared, jumping out of the dense bushes into the open area.
However, there were a few of them, and they all spontaneously froze once they saw the scene.
"Wraaaaaaa!" Gorillas growled, sending shivers down the muggles' spines.
"Who are you?" Happy questioned in English. The visitors appeared as natives of the land rather than foreigners, obvious from their skin color.
"HELP! Please!"
Surprisingly, they all knelt down after walking a few steps forward. As they did that, the rest of the crowd appeared under Happy's gaze. There were at least twenty people—ten men, six women, and four children. He didn't even count the infants clinging on to the women's backs, tied on with cloth. They all looked dirty with torn clothes, dehydrated, and injured.
Bang!
"Surrender. You cannot run!"
"Immobulus!"
Woosh!
The moment men bearing guns came out of the trees, they froze and fell to the ground. This time due to magic.
Thud!
There were at least five of them, all healthy and tall men. They donned olive-green plain army clothes or camouflage uniforms.
Happy frowned and approached the soldiers to look at the patches on their arms.
"Wait a minute… Marcus, what's the date today?" Happy questioned.
"It's the twentieth of June, Master."
"..."
Happy glanced at the injured muggles. "I… How did I forget… Marcus, start packing. We found our next target. We have to stop this…"
"Stop what, Master Lestrange?"
"A genocide."
章節 94: 94. The Right Use Of Magic
Albeit with a heart filled with good intentions, Happy had no idea what he was getting himself involved in. What side of the world was he pushing himself to see?
The worst side of humanity was in full swing—he had no idea what was behind the floodgate—all he could hear were the screams calling for help.
In no time, the team of forty wizards and the Expendables gathered with him at the site of his small camp. His expression grave; he gave them a general idea of what he wanted. Lacking any experience in warfare, he left the plan making to Rambo and the others.
"I don't know much about why this genocide started, but I want to stop it. Rwanda will be our next target." Happy announced. "How we do it is something you must come up with and suggest to me."
"You want to fight a nation?" Rambo interjected. "The Hutu are the majority there… the genocide has been going on for almost a month now."
"And nobody gives a darn about it." Trench spoke (Played by Arnold.). "The UN is keeping silent, the US is silent, and the French forces only want to extract their own people. In simple words—Rwanda has nothing to offer to the wealthy nations, so they don't matter to the world at large. These people are dirt in the eyes of the so-called 'superpowers'. And as Rambo said, the Hutu are the majority there; They're armed, and they have the backing of the people—going in there is suicide."
Happy, visibly distraught, asked. "Do you have intel on the cause? Why did it start?"
"Colonialism," Trench replied. "Belgians once ruled that country. They divided the people into two groups—the higher and marshal caste called Tutsi, and the peasant caste called Hutu. There have been civil wars before and bloody conflicts, but nothing like right now. Just recently, the Rwandan President's plane was shot down when he was on the way to sign a peace treaty with the Tutsi militia, who wanted to gain power.
"Simple to say, the already fragile relations, and the anger fueled by propaganda in the Hutu community, reached its peak—so now we have this genocide. Perhaps by now, neighbors have turned on each other, and Hutu husbands have turned on their wives—it's a messed up world, boss. You don't wanna see it personally."
Happy heaved a long sigh and glanced at his team of forty wizards, all well-versed in the art of combat. "Can you guys take this country?"
"Easy-peasy, Lord Lestrange." Spoke the heavy-bodied Bob, the man with the highest record of tracking down other hunters. He was slightly too fanatic about working for Happy for some reason. "We only need to put the most senior officers under Imperius curse and orchestrate a peace treaty."
Happy's brows rose. "Looks like you have experience."
"I used to work for the Australian Ministry for Magic, Sir. But I mistakenly exposed the Minister's corruption and got kicked out. To feed my family, I work as a bounty hunter now. In all honesty, I am glad to find respectable employment." Bob replied, finally clarifying why he was so excited to prove himself.
'Did I just hit the jackpot? Wait, I'm always supposed to hit the jackpot.' Happy remembered, feeling considerably more optimistic.
"How do we bring peace after we end the civil war?" Happy asked Rambo and Trench. "How do we legalize things? We're not a government, after all."
Trench smirked, easily formulating a plan. "I heard your grandma is the President of America's wizard folks, and your grandpa is the Governor of New York—I think you can pull some strings with the high and mighty. As far as I know, the US doesn't want to enter Africa again, after being humiliated in Somalia. But… if you were to hand over this victory on a silver platter, they would send soldiers, and aid."
Happy smiled, liking the sound of it. "Well, in that case, let's start preparing. Bob, you're the temporary leader of the wizards—Lead ten of them to build a giant detaining facility for at least a hundred thousand men. Ask Lord Greengrass about how to get the blueprints through Chris.
"Expendables, make a list of all high-value targets in Rwanda. We're going to manipulate them to bring peace. Ask for Bob's help if you need to enter the country to gather some intelligence in secret. In the meantime, I'm going to visit my Grandpa."
"What about the animals?" Rambo asked, gesturing toward the hoard of wild animals relaxing and sunbathing by the small man-made pond, surrounded by dozens of hammocks and cushioned grass.
Happy shrugged. "Don't worry about them. Just let them relax. They won't disturb you guys. Consider them friends."
"SWEET!" Hale Caesar exclaimed. "I always wanted to arm wrestle a gorilla."
Happy chuckled and, brimming with certainty in his heart, rose to depart. "See you guys in an hour or so."
Woosh!
A tiny blue portal appeared before him, and he briskly walked straight into it with Koko on his shoulder.
…
United States of America
Happy arrived right on the rooftop of the building where Elaine and Benjamin lived. Since he had already been there before, he wasn't rejected by the security magic. He just made his way down the staircase and arrived at the main hall, where the head butler was directing the others to dust the areas.
"Ah, Mr. Lestrange, how may I be of service? Perhaps a succulent Chinese meal?"
"..."
Happy realized his image was that of a boy who just eats in others' eyes. "No, not today. Where is Grandpa Benjamin? I have something important to talk to him about."
"I'm afraid Mr. Roosevelt is in the office, working. Perhaps you can enjoy the succulent meal while waiting for him?"
Happy nearly coughed at that. "No, just inform him that Happy Lestrange is home. Tell him I have something extremely important to talk about. Also, tell him it can help him win the Presidential elections."
"Very well."
So, Happy waited for the old man to show up. In the middle, he eventually ate the tasty Chinese meal that the head butler was persistently offering. Koko also cozied himself up on the table and fell asleep.
Fortunately, Benjamin was fast despite being a civil servant, a busy one at that. He arrived in his work suit and tapped on Happy's shoulder affectionately.
"Nice to see you again, my boy. What brought you here today? And what's so extremely important you wanted to talk about that needed me to skip a press conference for?" Benjamin, despite being a tall and robust man, didn't even show an ounce of anger.
Happy smiled. "I've decided to stop the Rwanda Genocide. The work is in progress. I have the means to end the war and even forge a peace treaty. But I don't have governmental authority to actually help establish a new government there. The United Nations has been a group of cowards. They left the country to burn—so, I was thinking you might be interested."
"After Somalia? Not at all." Benjamin replied. "I've spoken with the related authorities after some Rwandans living here filed a petition to me. They've known about the genocide before it even happened, but they were reluctant to intervene. Moreover, they intend to eliminate the term 'genocide' from the talks of this event altogether."
Happy felt a surge of anger but kept himself calm. "Then it's even worse—the strongest nation on the planet lost its spine. Well, no worries, I still have mine. Grandpa, think about it—what if peace in Rwanda was credited to your name? What if I could help you get a Nobel Peace Prize?"
Now, could Benjamin really not get a Nobel Prize on his own? His wife was the President of MACUSA. Of course, she could easily help him. However, he was a proud man who understood the boundaries of work. He never sought to gain anything from his wife's position—love alone was enough.
"Hmmm... If that were to happen, my chances of winning the election would undoubtedly increase. But what is your plan? Care to tell me?" Benjamin asked.
Happy straightened his back and began. "...All you have to do is continue to advocate for the word 'genocide'. Continue displaying the images you'll receive from the country, shed light on the situation to the world—pass a resolution in your state, at the very least, condemning the genocide—use my company's name to help donate free food. Go to Rwanda yourself and cast a spotlight on the issues—and above all, pull the US government into it, at least in the later stage."
"And how do you plan on achieving all this? The news media, across the board, is controlled by a select few who are politically motivated themselves. Do you think the footage of the genocide isn't out yet? They have it, but they won't show it." Benjamin tried to give Happy a dose of reality.
"Oh, man." Happy sighed, frustrated. "Fine, I'll buy a major stake in a few mainstream media outlets then. That should seal the deal."
"..."
"Don't worry about bringing peace, I have the means for that." Happy got up to leave. "Grandpa, say hello to Grandma for me. I'll come back and see her once this is over. I'll see you in Rwanda later then—Chris, from my company, will be in touch with you."
Woosh!
With that, like a passing storm, Happy vanished from his spot, leaving Benjamin wondering why he even believed in the kid. After all, he WAS a kid.
…
Back in DRC, near the Rwanda border.
Happy returned to his camp and saw the Expendables working in full swing. They had set up antennas and small towers for communication.
"What's the progress?" He questioned and removed his heavy jacket since it was very warm. "I've secured political help."
Trench handed Happy a glass of water and brought him to a map on the table. "We have a problem—there's a lot of radio stations under Hutu extremists. They're sending out propaganda and openly calling for murders, even giving out lists of targets."
Happy shrugged. "Then what are we waiting for? Go ahead and get rid of them."
"That's what we were waiting for." Rambo turned around. "You have the green light—move out!"
Woosh!
The Expendables vanished with a few wizards. It was the peak of muggle and wizard cooperation, doing something good on a monumental scale. At last, magic was directly benefiting humanity.
However, Africa was not devoid of wizards. How would they react when a strange group of foreign wizards came to meddle in their lands?
Was peace even an option?
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