Published: February 15th 2025, 2:56:35 pm
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is a sequel to the story The Lion Cub. It's not strictly necessary to read TLC to follow this story. To summarise, Harry Potter managed to defeat Voldemort with the help of Flamels. He also came in possession of the Deathly Hallows, which allowed him to unlock a secret trail left by Merlin, which led him to discover the truth behind the creation of all magical species and the involvement of the Lanteans. Harry gains access to Elysium (a planet), which Merlin prepared for the species, which manages to unite the Hallows and grows capable of receiving knowledge from the Ancient repository without harm. Harry fits all the criteria set by Merlin, and now Harry is set to fulfil the tasks set by Merlin.
25 July 1998
Oscar Truman frowned at the reports his foreign relations minister shared with him. As the head of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, he was privy to the subtle shifts in the international order. It was a delicate play to balance the political arena of international wizarding relations, and in the last few months, it became a sensitive subject. Something was brewing in Europe, and the Flamels were involved in it.
The old world was behaving oddly after the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. He was now starting to suspect the Flamels managed to sink their greedy claws into British politics. He only received reports recently of the British Ministry’s outlandish move to take complete control of the British parliament using the Imperius curse. Using such magic to curtail the freedom of mind of the muggles or any sentient being was a horrible idea. The only saving grace was that the British Ministry of Magic only used it to deny the Dark Lord from using the muggles to escalate the war. It was a prudent move at the time, no matter how distasteful he found it.
But the war was over when Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord. He was told the British Ministry did an admirable job tracking down rogue Death Eaters. But the ministry led by Amelia Bones has yet to let go of its hold over the muggle government of Britain. From what little reports he managed to get from his muggle counterparts, the British government seemed to function far better than their past performance. While this was all good and well, the danger of keeping such a tight leash on the muggle government would only spell doom for their efforts to cooperate with the muggles in the distant future. He never expected someone like Amelia Bones to be so drunk on power that she’d flaunt all international wizarding law despite lifting the state of emergency imposed on wizarding Britain.
The reports before him only strengthened his suspicions that outside forces were somehow involved. The MACUSA was always aware of the Flamels and their involvement in some of the shady stuff behind the scenes. They were a strong, immortal couple with unknown ambitions, which made them a dangerous threat in his and his predecessors’ eyes. There were even rumours that the Flamels controlled much of Europe through proxies they cultivated through their long lifespan.
But the latest intelligence his agents extracted from the Old World spoke of a new power turning the cogs of the political wheel from behind the scenes.
“Harry Potter.” Minister Truman muttered, his eyes running through several lines of reports mentioning Harry Potter in the company of several heads of state.
To make matters worse, there was even a photo of Harry Potter in a secret military base of the RAF, and another was taken in the company of the Chief of Naval Staff. Similarly, certain high-level military officers of French, German and Russian services were seen in the company of Harry Potter.
“What is this boy doing with muggle military officers of Europe?” Minister Truman muttered with a troubled look.
“Summon Gregory McAllister.” Truman ordered, looking at the portrait in his room.
The man in the portrait tipped his hat and disappeared from the frame. A few minutes later, the head of foreign affairs walked into his office.
“You called for me, Mr President.”
“Take a seat, Gregory.” He offered a seat to his colleague. “Take a look at this and tell me what you think.”
“This is the latest intelligence report from our agents.” Gregory said with some shock as his eyes passed through the content. “Is this verified?”
“Not yet.” Truman shook his head with a grim look, “That‘s why I called you in Gregory. I want you to reach out to our friends in Europe and Asia. I want to know whether Harry Potter is in leagues with the likes of Flamels.“
“I shall start making some discreet enquiries.” Gregory immediately replied, sensing the urgency and potential danger.
“I don’t have to tell you this needs to be kept under wraps. The Flamels have eyes and ears in every corner, even in our Ministry. They have played this game far longer than we have lived. They’re not like our everyday wannabe Dark Lord with an ego the size of a mountain. Make your moves with great care.”
“I’ll be discreet. You can trust me on this, Mr President.” Gregory nodded emphatically.
Truman nodded at that. Before he could say anything else, his secretary opened the door to his office.
“What is it, Luciana?” Truman asked with a frown, disliking the interruption.
“You have a visitor, Mr President.”
“I don’t think I have any appointment.” Truman said after briefly consulting his schedule for the day.
“It’s not a scheduled appointment, sir.” his secretary said with a flushed face.
“Then give them an alternate date or ask them to wait.” Truman said dismissively.
“But sir… it’s Harry Potter.”
“What?” Truman reeled back in his seat.
He was not the only one surprised by this abrupt turn of events. The department head of foreign affairs was also similarly stumped by the sudden appearance of Harry Potter on their doorstep.
“Is this true? Did your department issue a portly licence to Potter?” Truman asked, turning on his foreign affairs head with an incredulous look.
“All high-profile portkey licences go through my personal vetting, Mr President. Either Mr Potter arrived using an unlicensed portkey, or someone messed up in their job.” said Gregory.
Truman grimaced at the implications, and the timing of this visit did not sit well with him.
“What should I say to Mr Potter, sir?”
He frowned at his secretary and then exchanged a concerned look with Gregory.
“Send him in.” Truman finally said, intending to face whatever came next head-on.
Truman drummed his fingers as his secretary withdrew from his office while Gregory moved his seat to the side of the table so that they could show a united front. They didn’t have to wait long for their guest to make an appearance. Truman felt the presence of Harry Potter long before he met the young British wizard. The air itself cackled with the weight of Potter’s magic as the British wizard walked into his room.
Truman sat up straight, feeling his magic surge forward, almost as if it were a natural response to the danger before him. In some sense, Potter’s magic was also coercive because Truman felt like a dwarf looking at a giant. The disparity in power was keenly felt, and Truman tried his best to shore up his defences to ward off any foreign influence gripping his mind. His eyes followed Potter's movements as the young wizard walked into his office dressed in black pants and a blue jacket. It was surprisingly a common muggle attire.
“Mr Potter, what a pleasant surprise. We never expected such an urgent visit from you, so forgive us for the lack of a proper reception.” Truman said courteously and offered a seat from across his table.
“I assumed by the number of spies you sent to observe my activities you wanted to speak with me urgently. So, I came urgently without any delay.” said Harry, as if talking about the weather while Truman and Gregory spluttered.
“Mr Potter… we would never…” Truman bumbled with words before the intense stare from the pair of glowing green eyes.
“Your spies were cleverly posed, but I take my security and that of my loved ones very seriously. Nothing escapes from my sight, Mr President.” Harry said sternly, his aura of power becoming visible a notch by a dark green hue colouring the office.
“However, in the spirit of international cooperation, I’m of the opinion we can work together for our common good, and there is no need for such subterfuge. So, I’m here at your disposal to address your concerns and answer any questions you may have. So, please, let’s start anew, shall we…” Harry offered.
Truman exchanged a look with Gregory and realised they lost the initiative. The only thing left to do without escalating an international diplomatic issue was to chalk it up and go ahead with their gut. Besides, this was far better than spending untold resources and men gathering intelligence from Europe. At least, that was the excuse they made themselves, as they were ready for what they hoped would be a fruitful conversation.
“Tell me, Mr Potter. What are your intentions with the muggles?” Truman started from the crux of the issue.
“My intent is not important because, in the grand scheme of things, our collective intent is all that matters, gentlemen. Trust me, I have no delusions of grandeur where I become the sole voice in the political arena of the wizarding world. So, instead, let me enlighten you about a secret program the US government is engaging right under your noses – the Stargate Command.” Harry started, launching into the details of the progress of muggles in interplanetary travel and all the shenanigans they were up to, backed up by an extensive paper trail leading all the way to the White House and a classified senate committee.
*****
Harry fell onto his couch with a satisfying purr as he stretched his legs and arms. He had a long conversation with the President of MCUSA, and the man was spooked by the end of their conversation. The fact that the American aurors had completely missed the existence of the Stargate program and its longstanding consequences shook the man enough to listen to Harry's proposal with an open mind.
Only time would tell whether the American Ministry would be receptive to the Pax Elysia project currently in progress.
Ever since he gained access to Elysium, he had been gathering resources and personnel to transfer the Earth’s magical population into Elysium. Though the nanoparticle suppressors Merlin programmed to suppress certain species failing the selection process were deactivated, Harry felt like it was better to start anew on another planet. Earth, for all intents and purposes, was in the hands of the muggles. He could not see a future for magical races on Earth without being subservient to the muggles or without eradicating the muggles. Since he was not interested in both outcomes, the only safe way to preserve the autonomy of wizardkind in the distant future was to relocate to another planet and build a civilisation there.
Elysium hosted the perfect environment and resources for a new beginning. However, convincing the ministries to commit to the project was challenging. Even with his current fame and political pull, Harry had difficulty convincing the British Ministry to go all in. At least, his working relationship with Amelia Bones facilitated some cooperation, resulting in the setting up of a small budding colony in Elysium. It was nothing much, but a couple of wizarding families were discreetly met and sworn to secrecy before they were moved to Elysium.
To simplify the operation, Harry moved the gate from Africa to his home along with the repository and all artefacts left by Merlin in the cave. The knowledge he gained from the ancient repository allowed him to modify the gate so that it only activated for the traffic between Earth and Elysium, neatly sidestepping all traffic incoming to the gate in possession of Stargate Command in the US.
Getting the classified documents from the Stargate Command was one of his boldest plans, and it paid off thanks to the incriminating evidence in the reports. The icing on the cake was the latest debacle of Earth nearly getting glassed by the Goauld Apophis. The Americans were now sufficiently jolted out of their self-assured bubble of security after that report was handed over. While he didn’t know how they would react, he hoped to enlist their support for his Pax Elysia project.
Similarly, Harry hoped to press hard on the French, German and Russian ministries to scale up their contribution to the project. As it stood, he was shouldering the bulk of development on his shoulders by heavily relying on time turners to compensate for the lack of time. The lack of time was also the reason he was forced to use muggle labour to speed up the construction efforts in Elysium. On that front, the European ministries were more than willing to lend a hand in using their respective muggle militaries and private sectors to funnel resources and personnel to build up Elysium.
While he was only allowed to use the muggle military engineering corps to build up basic infrastructure on the planet, he went ahead and used the Lantean knowledge he gleaned from the repository to build orbital defences.
‘I suppose it’s time to bring some trusted people into the project and take it from there.’ Harry mused.
Harry thought about it for a brief moment before he palmed the necklace handing on his neck and sent out a message to all Knights for a meeting.
*****
“Harry, don’t take this the wrong way, but this sounds like bullocks.” Neville was the first to respond after Harry filled in the group.
It was a bit difficult to gather everyone abruptly, especially during summer vacation. British wizarding families were still celebrating the fall of Voldemort and the return to normalcy. Some were hastily planning their vacation plans now that the spectre of war had been averted.
Still, he managed to cobble together a decent number of Knights in his manor on short notice. But they were sceptical when he revealed what he had been up to for the last week or so after Voldemort’s fall.
“Merlin – an alien from another planet? Come on, Harrikins. You can pull better pranks than that.” George scoffed, shooting him a disappointed look while Fred nodded along.
“He’s not joking. He’s telling the truth. I was there for some of it, but he has been secretive about what he did afterwards since the reveal.” Daphne grouched from the side with a glare.
Everyone looked at Daphne with wide eyes before their confused eyes settled on him once more.
“You’re not pulling our leg?” Cedric asked hesitantly.
“I’m not.” Harry shook his head, “As we speak, a colony is being established in Elysium. But I’m not satisfied with the pace of development. I need more people to migrate to the planet and make a sustainable colony before the year is out.”
“Well, that is a lot to take in.” Cedric breathed out before falling onto a couch.
“Meh! I think it is a cool origin story, George.” Fred piqued up, breaking the awkward silence that came in the wake of this sudden revelation.
“Yeah! Instead of being freaks of nature, we now know we were made by a space wizard in his lab.” George said enthusiastically, which made some of the crowd green at the thought.
“What were these space people called again?” Katie asked with a frown.
“Lanteans, since most of them came from the city of Atlantis to Earth. But they’re commonly known in the wider galaxy as the Ancients. They came from a faraway galaxy millions of years ago and seeded life across the stars in our galaxy. They built the Stargate network, connecting planets using an instant teleportation device.” Harry explained.
“So, these Ancients or Lanteans created us just for fun and left us here for experimentation?” Tracey asked with a look that suggested anger and disgust.
“Not exactly, but not completely wrong either.” Harry said slowly.
“What do you mean, Harry?” Cedric leaned forward curiously, picking upon the fact that there was more to the story.
“The Lanteans were fleeing from an enemy from Atlantis. Once they returned to Earth, some of the Lanteans chose to live amongst the humans and create new civilisations. The others chose to Ascend to a higher plane.”
“Higher plane?” Neville asked.
“What’s that? Candyland?” Luna asked breezily.
Harry rolled his eyes, but Luna looked at him earnestly for more details.
“Yes, Luna.” Harry sighed, “Like Candyland, but a metaphysical one where matter no longer exists. Everything is pure energy.”
“Anyway,” Harry shook his head and continued with the tale, “…the crux of the story is that Merlin was one of the ascended Lanteans. But he returned to the mortal plane and assumed a physical form. He perceived a threat to the galaxy and chose to make contingencies. Merlin fashioned a mortal race of beings capable of wielding ascended powers to protect this galaxy.”
“Protect from what?” Tracey asked.
“It’s not important.” Harry shook his head, deeming such knowledge a distraction for now, and he was concerned about attracting the focus of the Ascended this early in the game. “We have other problems to deal with before we take upon such Herculean tasks.”
“What other problems?” Jack Harper asked.
“There are too many to count, but primarily, we’re terribly understaffed, and muggles already know about the portals. They’ve been using it for nearly a year, and they’re rapidly catching up technologically, which could make our magical powers obsolete in the near future. I suspect, within a decade, no magical place on Earth will be hidden from the muggles.”
That declaration was met by disbelief and a healthy dose of fear from everyone present in the meeting. While no one in the group had it out for muggles, no one was interested in living in a world where muggles knew about magic and all that would follow.
“Well, I suppose I can lend a hand.” Cedric offered in his usual helpful Hufflepuff self.
“What about your job in the Ministry, Cedric?” George asked, imitating Percy by adopting a snobbish look.
“Yeah, don’t you know it’s important to debate cauldron bottom thickness in detail next Friday? How irresponsible of you, Mr Diggory.” Fred played it up by taking over from his twin.
“Well, I wouldn’t have you involved in this project without the necessary tools at your disposal.” said Harry before offering a headgear to Cedric.
“What is this? What am I supposed to do with it?” Cedric asked with a frown, looking at the black polished headgear with fascination.
“You place it like this.” Harry helped place the headgear on Cedric’s head, which had a smooth surface that hugged the temples.
Once Harry activated the device, Cedric jerked slightly on the couch as his mind was bombarded with a limited volume of knowledge stored in the device. He made sure to impart only the most essentials into Cedric’s brain without straining his friend's neural transmitters. After all, not everyone could sustain the mental strain by absorbing an interactive, self-sustaining learning program within their mind like the Lanteans.
Even if wizards and witches were blessed with some level of control over the bioelectric fields, not everyone was as proficient in controlling them. Even Harry had to employ the best of his Occlumency practices to house the Lantean learning protocol within his brain.
Seeing the difficulty he was having with the Lantean knowledge, Harry devised a method of imparting packets of data in sporadic streams over a longer timeframe.
“Oh, okay. This is weird.” Cedric murmured, blinking his eyes rapidly after the headgear stopped, imparting a small packet of data into Cedric’s mind.
“What is weird?” Fred asked, staring at Cedric with large, curious eyes.
“Is your brain melting out of your ears?” George asked with an overly enthusiastic look.
“Or maybe you’re now possessed by Harry's secret evil twin.” Fred piqued up with a wicked grin.
“Oh, sod off you merry pranksters.” Cedric made a shooting motion at the twins.
“So, how do you feel?” Harry asked curiously.
“I think I’m quitting my job at the Ministry. We have a lot of work to do if we want to complete that ship and make it operational.” said Cedric with a growing smile.
A shallow smile bloomed on Harry’s face upon hearing that.
“Welcome aboard.” Harry nodded before setting his eyes on everyone else in the room. “So, who’s next?”
Harry dangled the headgear before everyone and picked a few data crystals containing diverse data streams. Several hands shot up in a jiffy as Cedric explained the whole process behind the headgear. Looking at the gathering of eager looks of his friends, he suspected it was the start of his own crew for the first spaceship of the emerging fleet of the Elysian Federation. But this was not enough. Harry needed more people and fast. Time was a factor working against him because once word got out to too many people and even the Goblins, chaos would be unleashed. He needed to get a grip on the project and direct it to a level where it became a self-sustaining process capable of weathering political upheavals.
'I suppose some drastic actions are needed to raise the population of Elysium.' Harry mused, an idea already forming in his mind.