Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking through the dungeons, Harry glanced around with a frown on his face. For some odd reason he had been having an odd feeling since dawn broke that morning. One that was slowly intensifying as the day had gone on and made him rather antsy. Most would have dismissed it as just something that they had eaten or perhaps it being their imagination...

Harry was not most people.

Due to having grown up on a military base, especially one that was sometimes on the front lines of the Abyssal War, Harry had gained some instincts. One of those instincts, the one he was feeling right now, had saved him more then once when the Abyssals had launched a surprise attack on the base. The black haired wizard had learned long ago to listen to his instincts about some things and right now? Right now his instincts were telling him that something was going to happen and soon. What that something was, he did not know.

It certainly did not help matters that Harry was obviously not the only one feeling it if how Hermione and the Pirateshipgirls were acting were anything to go by.

That morning he had seen all of the pirates up and about at their posts with full attention being given to their surroundings. A quiet talk with Revenge had netted him the information that they had been feeling the same thing that he had. Each and every one of them could feel that there was something in the air, a threat. A danger. Something was about to happen and it was likely to be bad.

Which in the current atmosphere meant it was very likely that the monster in the Chamber was about to strike again, whatever it was. Myrtle had listened to him when he had told her and last he saw her she was in an argument with the other ghosts about setting up a patrol. Oddly, the only two ghosts who seemed to agree with her were the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady. The Bloody Baron was tapping his sword and nodding as he listened to Myrtle while the Grey Lady had an thoughtful expression on hers. Though why those two kept giving Myrtle the odd look was beyond him.

However, having reached his destination, Harry shook off those thoughts and brought his hand up to the door in front of him and knocked three times. After a few moments there was a silky voice from the other door. "Yes?"

Clearing his voice, Harry spoke up. "Professor? It's me, Harry Potter, may I have a moment of your time?"

For several seconds there was silence before Snape's voice answered with a sigh. "Oh, very well Mister Potter. But waste my time and you shall know it."

Only opening the door, Harry walked into Professor Snape's office and gave a small glance around. Along the walls were jars of various things preserved, some of them looking rather revolting at that. More then a few though had Harry fighting the urge to look closer at them due to how interesting they looked. Shaking that off, Harry focused in on the desk that was in the room where Snape was marking something. The black haired boy waited until Snape was finished writing and had placed the paper aside before he looked up at him with a piercing stare. "Good day, Professor. I'm sorry about bothering you but I had something to ask you that I hoped to get an answer about."

A frown on his face, Snape examined Harry for several seconds narrowed eyes. He wanted to hate the boy, he really, truly did. But he reminded Snape far more of Lily rather then James, more then he was comfortable admitting even to himself at times. Folding his hands in front of him, the Potions Master gave a sharp nod. "Very well, Mister Potter. Ask your question."

Taking a moment to order his thoughts, Harry took a deep breath. "It's about the selling of ingredients, Professor. I was wondering what would happen if someone came into the possession of a rather large amount of rare ingredients. How would one go around selling them without causing any problems."

Slowly, Snape leaned back and became thoughtful as he looked around his room. "I would hope, Mister Potter, that you are not considering trying to steal some from the school. That is rather frowned upon after all." Getting a headshake, the Professor hummed. "However, in regards to your question, it would rather depend on the ingredients themselves. The rarer they are, the harder it can be to sell them yourself."

With a slight downturn of his lips, Harry glanced at the chair in front of Snape's desk and waited. Snape gave him a look but then frowned at the unasked question before nodding. As he sat down though, Harry felt a flash of amusement. The rather comfortable chair was actually really uncomfortable and from what he could see, Snape's chair should have been more so. But he remembered something that Naka had told him in regards to negotiations and he internally shrugged. If she was right, then Snape's chair likely was very comfortable. "Let's say that, theoretically, someone came upon a rather large amount of ingredients from Acromantula..."

Eyebrows raising, Snape seemed somewhat amused by the question to Harry before he hummed. "That would depend, theoretically of course, on how much of said ingredients were gathered and the shape that they were in. If there was enough of them, one would need to be extremely careful not to flood the market after all."

Glancing at the jars, Harry tried not to bite his lip some as he avoided the gaze of the potions professor. "Say... the venom and fangs from a few dozen acromantula? Silk too, but that's off to the side. Harvested from someone with experience with hunting and not ruining animal parts. Theoretically, you know."

Surprised, Snape's eyebrows raised still further. But if anything, he seemed even more amused now then he was before. "I see, Mister Potter. This is a rather interesting thought exercise." Tapping his fingers on his desk, Snape leaned back. "It would depend, of course, both on how... openly, you wish to proceed on this situation if it occurred. Mind you, I am speaking from the fact that I hardly sell ingredients myself. I much rather keep anything that I harvest for my own usage as it keeps down the cost."

Just nodding, Harry chuckled weakly. "Of course."

Only humming, Snape placed his hands on his stomach and gave it some thought. "Now, one could sell to the apothecaries themselves, mind you. That is the most common solution to such things, but it leaves a rather... easily followed paper trail. And there are those in the Ministry who might look askance at someone selling a large amount of material. For one thing, you would need a license to sell to apothecaries and while officially there are set prices, unofficially depending on the ingredient there are those who might, theoretically, want for a bit of a fee as it were to file them."

A grimace on his face, Harry caught the hidden meaning. 'In other words, they would want a cut themselves of the money.' Looking up at Snape, Harry gave a cough. "What about the type of person selling them?"

Having gotten an idea of where this was coming, Snape turned in his chair to look at his fireplace. "It would depend on several factors. For example, a Pureblood may only have a small fee to see the paperwork passed through relatively quickly. One who is a Muggleborn, on the other hand, might find themselves with a slightly larger fee due to not being as... established... as a Pureblood might be. One who might be considered a magical being, or creature, would have even more issues. After all, they would fall under quite a bit of suspicion as to where they got such items and if it was all... legal and above board as it were."

That, if anything, caused the grimace to grow on Harry's face which seemed to amuse the Professor. "I see... and what other ways are there?"

Lips turning upwards into a smirk, Snape tapped one finger against his desk. "Ah, an interesting question. There's always illegal methods mind you in that there are some apothecaries that would look the other way as to where they might get such items. Not, of course, that I would suggest someone to use such methods. After all, one depends on reputation and doing such more often then not comes back to bite one in the behind. Especially if one or the other side gets too greedy as all too often happens."

With a sigh, Harry shook his head. "Yeah... I don't think that would happen in the scenario that we're discussing."

Unable to help himself, Snape chuckled before nodding. "Quite." Realizing what was happening, his face blanked and he coughed. "Another method, of course, is to use a Middleman. These are usually established families who have business holdings in such things. More often then not, they own at least partially an apothecary and thus sell to themselves, keeping their own cost down while increasing profit."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Harry frowned as he stared off. "Would that be the best way in this case?" Suddenly turning sheepish, Harry grinned nervously. "Hypothetically, of course."

Simply giving him a small nod, Snape raised an eyebrow. "Of course." Clasping his hands over his stomach, he had a gleam in his eye. "Now, one would need to do quite a bit of research in regards to who to sell to. Some families are better then others after all depending on who you are. For example, the Malfoys are one such family who is rather involved in such a business." At seeing the distaste on Harry's face, Snape internally snorted. After all, he knew more then most the dislike between Harry and Draco, one returned on both sides. "Granted, the Malfoys are usually used by other Purebloods who wish to not need to pay various fees. If one was a Muggleborn or magical being, then there are a few other families around who would be much more likely. There are even a few with heirs in Slytherin if one was open to discussing such things using their children to sound out things, theoretically."

Just frowning, Harry sighed a bit. "That... might be a bit tough."

Chuckling, Snape shook his head. "Perhaps. But one should do some research... I do know of a few students that would be knowledgeable in such matters if you wish to know more about such a hypothetical. Granted, they are in Slytherin, but understanding where potions ingredients come from, how they go through the system, and supply and demand affects them is rather useful to know."

Eyes widening a bit. "That would be a big help and it wouldn't matter to me."

Snape gave a small nod. "I see... Very well, I shall see if I can get you some extra tutoring in the subject, Mister Potter. After all, I cannot have a student fail to understand potions unless they are a complete dunderhead."

With a blink as he realized that was pretty much a dismissal, Harry gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Professor, for answering my questions and I look forward to the tutoring." Getting up, Harry was about to reach the door when Snape cleared his throat. "Professor Snape?"

From behind his desk, Snape frowned in thought. In his eyes was a questioning gleam. "I rather enjoyed this theoretical talk, Mister Potter. A shame, I think, that you were not in my House."

Blinking, Harry finally gave a shrug. "I couldn't stand Draco and things would have happened." He then gave a nod to Snape. "Hope you have a good day, Professor."

Somewhat surprised, Snape slowly nodded. "And a good day to you, Mister Potter... A good day to you." Once the door was closed, the Potions Professor stared into his fireplace for several minutes as he puzzled over what he had heard. The ending portion more then the beginning. After he dismissed that for later thoughts, Snape considered various names and their connections to funding for the Death Eaters before nodding to himself. "Sudsy?"

There was a pop and then a House Elf appeared in front of his desk, not that Snape was looking at him. "Yes, Professor Snapsy? How can Sudsy be helpings you today?"

Rather thoughtful, Snape was silent for a few seconds before nodding. "Please ask Miss Greengrass and Miss Davis to come to my office? I have to speak to them about possibly tutoring a student who needs a bit of extra help in potions."

Bowing, the elf quickly nodded, "Sudsy will do so, Professsor Snapsy!"

And with that, he vanished with a pop as Snape continued to roll over the conversation in his head. 'Hmm... I do rather wonder where shipgirls had come across acromantula as I very much doubt that they were in the jungles of Borneo...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Shaithan Omake: "Bond Arguments"

Harry Leferts said:
Now that I can see actually, granted there might be language problems. But there's going to be historians from all over coming to see them and to ask them questions. I also expect that they might get bothered by Neo-Pagans who want to learn the old ways as well.​

Yeah, language will be a bit of a problem in the beginning, but you have lots of historians who will rope in linguists to help make understanding feasible.

And yes, same as the Vikings, the Celts will get questioned by Neo-Pagans about Celtic beliefs. And re-enactors will jump at the chance to learn more about Celtic life, just like the Vikings have helped groups like the Jomsvikings. Their ability to answer questions about an age we know painfully little about is going to be quite invaluable. Lots of Celtic knowledge was lost during the Roman conquest, regaining even some of it would be an incredible thing.

Harry Leferts said:
Oh, now this is an amazing picture.​

Yeah, it's among other things inspired by King Canute the Great going to Rome to bear witness to the coronation of he Holy Roman Emperor. It's likely going to involve all the Royal Navy sail girls, a massive Parade up the Thames and a staged fight between the Viking invaders and the Holy Roman allies and the British defenders, led by the Princes.

Harry Leferts said:
... I am laughing at the image that you gave me just now and getting odd looks.​

Have a scene from a discontinued idea:

*-*-*-*-*

When a tapping on his office window occured, Admiral Hartmann heaved a sigh. It had been a mistake to let Bismarck's tomcat Eugen raise the Wolpertingers. One of the girls was flying outside his window and wanted to be let in.

He got up and opened the window, letting the young one in. She made a beeline to his chair and landed, looking at him with an expression that clearly said "My chair now!"

With a chuckle, he picked the little one up, ignoring her halfhearted protests. Then he sat down himself, putting the little Wolpertinger in his lap. Absentmindedly he patted her head, sinking back into musing.

He was pulled from his musings when Leipzig barged into his office. "Blofeld?" she said, obviously having lost track of what she actually wanted to say.

Hartmann looked up. "What is it, Leipzig?" he wanted to know.

Leipzig was still in the process of rebooting. "No more James Bond Marathons," she mumbled. "Roger Moore best Bond," she added.

"Sean Connery! Fite me!" another voice cut in, revealing herself to be Exeter.

"Nah, that's what Graf Spee is there for," Leipzig shot back.

Exeter looked around, before laying her eyes on the admiral still petting the Wolpertinger. "Blofeld!" she shouted.

Hartmann buried his face in his palm. "What have you come here for?" he demanded to know. "I hope it's not accusing me of stupid villainy. Also, Timothy Dalton." he gave back.

"Heresy!" both Leipzig and Exeter shouted, before catching themselves.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Harry Leferts said:
It would depend, I think, on whether the magical armies would even care about muggle items or just leave them to rust in place. After all, Grindlewald was all about the "Greater Good", which meant wizards ruling over Muggles and magical beings/creatures. Though this just suddenly put me in the mind of Bismarck and such investigating one such place and finding a bunch of Maus there in various stages of construction before facepalming.​

Or even worse, a full-size Ratte. World of Tanks needs a T13 for it and its mortal enemy, the Mörser Karl. It gives players the opportunity to reenact their fondest C&C memory, ordering a tank to drive over something smaller. Like a Maus. Or a house. And picture the Inside the Chieftain's Hatch episode with him casually strolling through it, for once not having to fold into himself in a tank.

And yeah, there'd likely be whole production lines of superheavy tanks. On the plus side, tank museums and movie studis around the world will jump at the chance to get their hands on such superheavies and whatever else tanks there are. After all, fully working or easily restored German tanks, facilities with blueprints and the machinery to build spare parts, this is going to make museums very, very happy.

Harry Leferts said:
I can already see them loving it. Huh... maybe after Taigei contacts one or more in order to ask about things to make RO feel more at home or for any other German Submarine.​

Well, the Type XIVs were basically the German answer to the question of how to take care of our boats out at sea. Their sinking did decrease the performance of the U-Boats. SO this time around they'd have the same status as Taigei, beloved mother figure and hawkishly watched so nothing happens to them.

And yes, there's lots of bread for the Duckies to experience. Hazelnut bread, cocoa bread, cocos bread, almond bread to name some sweet variants. For sweet breads I'd recommend spreads like sweet fruit spreads, or sour fruit spreads.

 

[darthcourt10]

Shaithan

Three Way Dance

Harry watched with bated breath as Naka finished setting up things for her livestream. It would be a big event, 6 shipgirls in three teams fighting it out with the most over-the-top Real Time Strategy title of the last years.

After a while, Naka announced that everything was ready, six screens showing duplicates of what New Jersey, Yorktown, Gangut, Verniy, Musashi and Sendai could see.

Naka cleared her throat, bringing the setup banter to a standstill. "Hai, hai, Kantai no idoru Naka-chan desu!" she greeted enthusiastically. "And with me is my esteemed co-host chibi!" she continued, while Jintsuu swung the camera towards Harry.

Harry gave a grin and a wave. "Hai, hai, Harry-chan desu!" he stated and laughed. "And today, we're seeing a massive battle. For those who don't know, things began when Gangut fired the first shot," Harry explained, as Gangut grinned into her facecam. "For those wanting to see it, here!" he announced and a small video started playing.

Gangut was visible, marching through what subtitles helpfully identified as San Diego. She seemed taken with the sights and the people. New Jersey walked next to her, very smug from the looks of it. "So, what do you think of America?" she wanted to know. "Best country in the whole fucking world or best country in the whole fucking world?" she asked with a proud smirk.

Gangut took a drag from her pipe, before blowing out some smoke. "Da. It's a beautiful country of plenty with many good people and beautiful sights. I can not wait for this country to become a part of Soviet Russia," she stated grandly.

New Jersey shorted out at that. Every fuse blew, NewJersey.exe has encountered the fatal error Communist Takeover Imminent, Blue Screen and Red Ring of Death, everything at once.

After a few minutes spent with New Jersey trying to reboot her mental facilities from the horrible throught of America under a Red Flag, NewJersey.exe rebooted. "NEVER!" She roared. "America will never bow to the commies!" she added hotly.

The video paused and Harry grinned. "So far, so good. But things got interesting then," he promised.

"This Musashi concurs," Musashi boomed while striding into view, followed by Sendai and Nevada. "Obviously, America will bow to Japan!" she stated proudly.

For the second time New Jersey shorted out, encountering the fatal error Japanese Takeover Imminent.

"Fuck no!" New Jersey shouted. "We're not going to be beaten by the Ruskies and definitely not by the Japs!" she roared. "I'll fight you both! America will not yield!" she stated grandly, channeling the spirit of Reagan.

The whole picture was disturbed by the hilariously squeaky voice of the bald eagle on her arm. No majestic screech, more of a songbird's trill really.

Of course, this declaration brought out the Coast Guard. "No fighting on the base!" the girls ordered quickly.

New Jersey sputtered before giving both Gangut and Musashi the evil eye."We will fight this out!" she promised grandly.

"This Musashi concurs," Musashi agreed. "Find a suitable venue for Russia, Japan and America to fight and we shall do so. And then you shall have to accept that Japan is objectively superior," she added, her tiny smirk showing how much she enjoyed riling up the overly bombastic New Jersey.

Again, the videoendd, and Naka spoke up. "Things could have taken a less dangerous turn here, but it was not to be. The poor, unwitting instigator of doom is sitting here today, after spending days coaching New Jersey," she announced somberly. Yorktown gave a small wave.

Harry took over. "After hearing of the challenge requirements, she suggested Red Alert 3. A choice enthusiastically backed by Gangut and Sendai," he explained. "Over the last weeks since the challenge was first issued, they have trained hard against the computer and played matches online, to learn the game. They endured humiliating defeats, crushing losses, painful debacles and all other sorts of failure," he announced grandly, while timelapsed videos showing bases getting annihilated played.

"And now, after all the pain and suffering, they are ready. Ready to fight it out. To decide once and for all, which nation reigns supreme!" Naka announced cheerfully. "For Team America, we have USS New Jersey, BB-62. Lover of pies and pie-providing professors. Is a Battleship. This is very important. New Jersey is supported by USS Yorktown, CV-5. Aircraft Carrier. Elder sister to the famous USS Enterprise. Very proficient at micromanaging," she introduced the first team.

Harry took over. "The next team is Team Russia. And in Soviet Russia, team choses you," he said with a chuckle. "First we have Gangut, a battleship named after the Battle of Gangut. Very soviet, that is important. She's in this to prove that one day all shall be Russia. Also very communist," he introduced the first contender. "The second one is a bit of a mix-up. You might have seen Aurora in the announcements, but her and Great Grandmother Mikasa are currently unavailable. They're dealing with three abyssals and we're expecting good results from that. But never fear, for our very own Verniy, formerly known as Hibiki, has decided to join the fray to spread the glory of communism. She is very Khorosho, that is important," Harry explained with a massive grin.

On their face cams, Verniy and Gangut wore matching grins. "The Union shall ever conquer!" they both promised.

"And finally, for Team Japan we have my own Night Battle Maniac of a sister, Sendai. Yasen Baka/10 would cheerfully dump with her crush," Naka continued.

"And finally, for Japan, it is aunt Musashi. She entered the fray to prove that only Japan shall reign supreme. She is a battleship, just like New Jersey and their rivalry is a thing of legends. To date, they have had 46 contests to see who is better, and so far not one of the contests was decisively ended," Harry announced.

Naka gave a massive grin. "And after all this, it is time to say MATCH START!"

A short moment was spent loading up the battles.

"For ease of playing, it was decided to use a map were teams of 2 could work together reasonably well. We're expecting land, sea and air battles and we're quite intrigued as to who will use which tactic," Naka explained. "Furthermore did we put allies next to each other so everyone has one secure flank until people start to get steamrolled. And for those who can't watch this in more than 480 by 360, here's where the players are, clockwise, on this six-armed island. From the north-east it's Musashi, Sendai, Verniy, Gangut, Yorktown and New Jersey," she explained.

Harry took over. "If we take a look, we can see the differences already. Verniy and Gangut have quickly expanded, using the Soviet's ability to speed up building structures by building some crusher cranes. Combat engineers have built up quite a few bunkers, looks like both are setting up for a siege. And yes, they have been focussing on their land units, there's even a few Apocalypse tanks already patrolling," he commented.

"It's quite different with Musashi and Sendai however. Sendai is focussing on defenses, having deployed defensive structures and units even to Musashi's base. And yes, she has Yuriko milling about. Conversely, Musashi focusses on offense, having built the beginnings of a massive battlefleet," Naka continued.

"And then we have New Jersey and Yorktown. A study in contrasts. Yorktown has a layered defense and pretty much focussed on defending against the basically inevitable Soviet ground assault from Gangut. Time will tell if she can withstand Gangut's attacks, but with how her defense is structured, I give her decent odds. Not good ones, mind you, the Allies lack a ground attack helicopter to take out artillery units. It looks like she'll have to substitute Bombers there. At least she can rest assured that her AA will not be broken, Hydrofoils will rip even a massed Kirov assault to shreds. She doesn't have much of an attacking force, it looks like she is in for a siege-type battle that is decided by the use of superweapons and who can damage the enemy's econ the best," Naka explained.

"New Jersey basically threw all into attack. Aircraft carriers, assault destroyers, Mirage tanks and lots of smaller vehicles and infantry. It's a sizeable force, but she will have to ask herself if it is going to be worth it. In a one-on-one the Shogun will destroy a carrier," Harry commented.

"And hostilities have begun at an unexpected place. We had guessed Jersey and Musashi or Gangut and Yorktown to throw down, but neither was correct. Verniy opened hostilities with a surprise dreadnought attack on Sendai. And, oh my, seems like Sendai did not build enough generators! Her defense towers are offline, leaving her defenses considerably weakened!" Naka loudly proclaimed while the stream was treated to seeing a group of quite battered dreadnoughts hammering at Sendai's defenses.

"It was not so much not enough generators, as Verniy making a daring assault, tanking a lot of fire to get to the generators. Her gamble paid off, Sendai was busy setting up defenses in Musashi's base and thus slow to react," Harry gave back.

"And what is this, New Jersey has come under fire from Soviet tanks! Gangut crossed the middle of the Map to get at her rival, completely ignoring the well-fortified positions of Yorktown. I don't know if that was a wise choice, if the attack force gets wiped out, she won't have a whole lot of defending units!" Naka suddenly shouted.

"I don't think that Gangut will have to worry overly much about that, Musashi has just opened fire with the Shogun battleships! Three aircraft carriers were sunk already!" Harry reported. "And, oh my, Yorktown has deployed quite a few units in defense of her battered ally and it looks like Jersey is about to do a massive bombing run on Musashi's fleet. Remember kids, air power wins fights!" Harry replied, getting into it. "Things have ground down to a stalemate at the Verniy-Sendai front, with Verniy being forced to pull back her fleet after Sendai managed to get fast units onto the water. Dreadnoughts are bad at dealing with fast, close units. And those mini subs have taken out a good amount of supporting ships, so if Verniy didn't want to lose her entire spearhead, she needed to pull back. But even so, Sendai will take a while to recover from that assault," he reported.

"That's all well and good, but now watch this!" Naka shouted excitedly. "Yorktown is going to town on the poor Russian tanks and V4 launchers. New Jersey's troops have held out long enough for Yorktown to assault them from the back. As the good gnome says: Surprise Buttsex! I don't think those big, fat, slow and stupid Russian superheavies enjoyed that," she commented gleefully, watching Apocalypse tanks wither under massed infantry fire.

"That's going to land you in so much trouble with mom," Harry said slowly, before looking at the fight again. "Of course, New Jersey is not out of the hot seat, yet. Musashi's fleet is slowly grinding down her fleet and even the continued bombing runs are not doing enough to slow that grinder down," he added.

"Worry not, chibi!" Naka gave back. "For once again, Yorktown is a hero and moves to save New Jersey's bacon. Parts of her fleet have begun to engage Musashi's fleet and it looks like they finally managed to halt Musashi's advance. She's also doing her utmost with micromanagement, using secondary abilities like a madwoman. Quite unlike Jersey, who, in a very Soviet way, works mostly by the Brute Force approach," she observed.

Harry nodded sagely. "Indeed, that she does. She relies on masses of units doing the fighting, following Stalin's credo that Quantity has a Quality of its own. But the Allies are not good at that," he observed, sounding like an ancient wise man.

"Too true," Naka concurred. "The Allies work best by making the best of their special abilities, by using subterfuge and skill. The Soviets are most forgiving of a brute force approach and the Empire can with enough numbers also do the brute force, as Musashi demonstrates. The Allies can not," she explained. "Of course, while we discuss tactics, you might have seen those little timers. That's right, the first superweapons have been built!" she announced.

"And one has already been destroyed!" Harry cut in. That's right, in the Sendai-Verniy battle, Sendai has suffered another defeat. Her hastily contructed defenses and units were not expecting a three-pronged assault. She's reeling!" he reported wildly, almost eating his microphone in the process.

"Sendai is not even the biggest surprise here, Chibi!" Naka shot back. "Yorktown has been outflanked by Gangut. A daring artillery attack followed by a dreadnought rush has damaged her AA-capabilities enough for a Kirov-assault to break through! Her spirited defense of New Jersey has cost her, her base is wide open and unless a miracle happens, she will be the first to fall!" she stated with utter conviction.

"New Jersey should be able to help her, though," Harry gave back. "She might be heavily battered, but Musashi needs to support Sendai or she will fall to Verniy next. She can not focus on taking out New Jersey, only on harassing her," he said, pointing to where a good portion of Musashi's troops was making a beeline towards Sendai's battered positions.

"Those Shoguns will be a continuing headache for New Jersey until she can take them out," Naka replied with a frown.

Harry wanted to say something, but then he fell silent. "Well, looks like we have our first successful capture. Yorktown's second MCV has been taken over by Verniy! At the beginning, she had built it to help with stomping a defense out of the ground, a more expensive way of building up quickly. And now Gangut's troops are doing their utmost to protect that MCV and its retreat into Soviet territory!" he stated excitedly.

Naka nodded in assent. "And even better, her continued fighting in Sendai's base? Little Verniy managed to get an Imperial MCV, too!" she reported.

Harry boggled. "Oh my," he said in the most British manner possible. "This means Verniy might soon unleash the full arsenal!" he stated excitedly.

Naka nodded. "And New Jersey has just arrived, trying valiantly to defend her ally. But it's a case of too little, too late. Yorktown is not just flagging, she's currently going down with all hands," Naka sadly reported. "Same as Sendai, really," she added.

And it was true. Sendai's MCV changed colors as Gangut's engineer entered it and began to move it out of the combat zone. The same happened to Yorktown's MCV, robbing her of her ability to build any new structures. And with her yards and weapon factories under assault it was only a question of time before she would fold.

Sendai was in the end the first to fall. Harry and Naka tactfully deciding to let the slaughter speak for itself. Apocalypse tanks crushed the remaining resistance and when her last generator fell, Sendai gave a small salute.

Yorktown didn't hold out much longer. Her defense was spirited, but in the end futile. Reduced to fighting with infantry and what few vehicles of hers remained, the remnants of her base were ground down beneath the treads of Gangut's Apocalypse tanks.

With a sad shake of her head, she gave up her defense. She had ground down hundreds of units, but it had been for naught.

Both New Jersey and Musashi looked terrified.

Harry started commentating again. "And with that, we're down to New Jersey for America, Musashi for Japan and Verniy plus Gangut for Russia. And things don't look too rosy for America," he stated.

Naka nodded. "Quite right, chibi. Now, Musashi is somewhat battered, but she had put her focus on a fleet. Her land forces are mostly Tsunamis and Tengus with very few heavy land units," she laid out. "Unfortunately for her, she can't take out New Jersey, though judging by the way Gangut's Kirovs are moving, that won't be too much of an issue soon anyway," Naka continued.

Harry nodded. "And if you take a look at Verniy's and Gangut's bases, you'll see mass construction going on," he reported. "Chances are that they will expand into territory formerly held by Yorktown and Sendai. And they're already deploying new heavy units," he continued.

"Oh, that's a sight of beauty!" Naka cooed, directing Harry's and the viewers' gaze to where a massive army of mostly small units began to assault Musashi's base. Quite a few died to the Shogun's guns, but many, many more followed.

Soon the base defenses were overrun and Musashi's base fighting a hopeless fight against a nigh-on endless army.

"There's the artillery!" Harry shouted excitedly as the big guns began taking Musashi's ships under fire.

Structure after structure, ship after ship was dismantled, falling before the might of the combined armies of Verniy and Gangut.

New Jersey didn't have much of a chance to enjoy her enemy's misfortune. Even though Yorktown tried to help her with tips, she knew it was futile. A massive fleet of Kirovs was making its way into her base and from the sea, Gangut's dreadnoughts demanded that she pay the butcher's bill.

A part of her had to admire it. A massive line of Kirovs bombing everything in its path was a thing of beauty. But far more was it a sign of America falling to the Reds. Her only consolation that Mushi-tits was suffering the same fate.

After her MCV died, she gave up fighting back. Musashi had been defeated and having held out to the last against insurmountable odds was not a bad way to lose, she reckoned.

Harry and Naka watched breathlessly. "And that's it!" Naka declared as New Jersey's last ore refinery was blown up. "The battle is over! Winners are Verniy and Gangut!" she declared loudly.

Gangut grinned in her camera, mouthing a very happy "All shall be Russia!"

Verniy on the other hand hid behind her cap.

Sendai and Yorktown commiserated about their allies and Musashi and New Jersey simply sat there, trying to understand.

Naka turned to the camera again. "Well, this was it for the game portion of the stream. And I hate to cut it short, but I feel I need to be there for my sister right now. Also, someone has to take care of New Jersey after she was defeated by the Reds. Come back tomorrow, when I'll finally tackle Old World Blues. Akashi and Yuubari have begged long enough. This is Naka-chan, signing out!" she stated grandly.

Jintsuu cut off the camera feed and started the end-of-stream music.

Naka stretched languidly and looked at her co-host. "You really should congratulate Hibiki-chan on her victory. I think she would be very happy about that," she said with a teasing tone.

Harry nodded, still marveling at the crushing victory he had witnessed. Then he realized something. "You do realize that New Jersey-san will hear about you calling her a Soviet at heart, don't you?" he asked Naka who turned very pale at that.

"I already heard, you fucking traffic cone!" New Jersey suddenly said. "Am I not refined enough to play as an American?" she wanted to know.

Naka sweated while Harry wisely sought greener pastures. While he shared Naka's assessment of the situation, it truly would be better to not tell New Jersey such. She could be surprisingly fragile at times. He made a mental note to have a pie ready for her later.

But for now he had to congratulate Verniy and Gangut. He liked the old battleship, she was quite odd, but also very friendly towards him. He didn't quite get why she had declared that one day he too would join Russia, though.

 

[darthcourt10]

taalismn

Surf breaks on the pale sands of a beach as the tide flows back out, leaving the drifted-up detritus of the sea as the water retreats, a discarded load of random treasures for any curious beachcomber who would be out walking the coast.

Sadly, since Blood Week, beaches are not regarded as hospitably as they were before, as any shoreline can become a target, any beach a landing zone for monsters from the deep sea. A walk along an unprotected and unpatrolled beach now is more a statement of personal courage...or lack of commonsense...rather than the pastime it once was. And even though THIS particular coastline is very well protected and patrolled, it is still rare for one to encounter anybody actually on the beach.

So, it would come as a great surprise for one to observe, trudging out of the water on this beach, a few dozen figures, fighting the current and struggling to reach shore, some supporting the others as they make their way up to dry land. And as they near, details might emerge that these figures are all young women, wearing green military fatigues, helmets of dated providence, canvas hoop skirts of all things, and military boots that churn up the silt and sand as they wade through the water. Nearer still, and one can make out young voices, raised in complaint.

"...damned skirts!!! Useless godawful damned ####ing-"

"-tripping me up-"

"-stupid damned waves! Never told us about the damned waves!"

"Just a bit farther, sister, just a bit more! We're almost there!"

The group finally makes its way up past the tide line and onto exposed sand, when something seems to occur to them.

"Hey, you notice something?"

"What?"

"Where's the rest of the damned army? Where's the Navy for that? We land at the wrong beach or something? This place should be crawling with-"

Several of the girls nervously pulled rifles off their backs and started scanning the dunes...

"ARRET!"

"-you just had to say it." One of the girls grumbles as the surrounding dunes seem to break out in soldiers, tanks, and several loud hovering autogiro-like aircraft, all looking very dangerous and pointing multiple business ends at the young women.

"IDENTIFIEZ-VOUS! QUI EST-TU?!"

"That doesn't sound like German! Sounds like French to me!"

"Then why are they all pointing guns at us? Frenchy symps?"

"Ah, we're kinda outnumbered here if they are. We going to do something?" Rifles were pointing nervously.

There seemed to be some confusion among the surrounding forces as the beach's defenders got a better look at the wash-ashores.

Finally...

"Les Américains? Alliés? "

"Yeah! We're Americans! Americans! What about it!?"

Pause.

"Who are you? "

"American Army! Seven Forty-First Armored Company, ready to roll hell or high water!"

Long pause.

Finally.

"...Mademoiselles, we apologize for the greeting! Welcome to ...ah...FREE France, but you are a LITTLE bit late for the party..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Having gotten word from Harry that he had heard the voice again, Hermione had run off as suddenly several pieces had slid into place. This time, she had heard a faint hissing sound nearby which gave her a big clue and soon she had ran into the library. Part of her noted that she should have brought Harry along with her and Ron as well, but there was no time to explain. And there was always later anyways to explain once she checked up on several factors.

It had only taken her an hour of research, but she was now torn between grinning having solved the problem and grimacing at the huge issue that was now facing them. A hand though on her shoulder caused the bushy haired shipgirl to jump before she whipped around and grabbed said hand. Then she blinked at the Ravenclaw Prefect who seemed shocked at her actions. "Um... Hermione?"

Relaxing some, Hermione shook her head and then let out a relaxed breath before realizing that it was a Prefect. A quick check of her logs, and Hermione nodded. "Penelope Clearwater, right?"

Somewhat confused, Penelope tried to jerk her hand away only to raise an eyebrow at how it did not budge at all. Eyebrows furrowing, she slowly nodded as she examined the wrist of the Second Year which should not have been that strong. "Yes?"

A serious expression on her face, Hermione gave a quick nod. "Since you're a Prefect, you got some quick way of contacting the teachers, right? Or I would assume so?"

If before she was confused, the Prefect only became more so. "That's... pretty close to the truth, yes. Why?"

Now grinning, Hermione chuckled some. "Because I know what Slytherin's monster is! And how it is getting around the school!"

Unknown to Hermione, Penelope noticed Ginny not far away. But dismissing that for the moment, she frowned some and raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "Really now? A Second Year has solved the mystery? Excuse me if I'm a bit skeptical of that fact."

Only shaking her head, Hermione turned back to her book and gestured at it. "Look here! It's all fits, it's a basilisk. It's a snake, the King of Serpents, which fits Slytherin perfectly. Also, it's only controllable by a Parselmouth, which Slytherin and his descendants were, and it explains why I keep seeing spiders fleeing the school."

Frowning, Penelope glanced at the table before narrowing her eyes as she thought back. "That... makes some sense I suppose. But what about the fact that no one has died? Looking at a basilisk would kill you and it says as much in the book."

Hermione only shook her head. "Yes, if you looked at it directly! But think about it, no one has looked at the monster directly at all. Miss Norris? There was a puddle that could have reflected the gaze. Colin? He saw it through his camera, which being an older one meant that what he had seen was not just through the lens, but also reflected at least past one mirror if not two."

Rapidly working through it all, Penelope frowned as it started to make more then a little sense. "What about Justin Fitch-Fletchery and Headless Nick?"

Shaking her head, Hermione continued. "He saw it through Headless Nick who is opaque and took the brunt of it. And since Nick is himself already dead, he couldn't be killed a second time." Finger tapping another book, she frowned. "And this book talks about how reflected spells are always weaker then they were before being reflected. It's sort of like a laser in a way, reflect it and it's somewhat weaker as it expends some of it's energy on what it hits first. And shooting a laser through something opaque like smoke... or a ghost in this case, would cause it to weaken greatly."

After a few seconds, Penelope nodded as it all did fit, but then hummed. "There's still the issue of it getting around the school without anyone seeing it. Basilisks are not a small creature after all, most could be the size of an Anaconda at full growth and they continue to grow as they become older."

With a breath, Hermione grimaced. "That is the major issue, but then I remembered something that got mentioned to me. Apparently the plumbing here in Hogwarts will expand to allow things to get through them. Not just small ones either, but apparently large objects. Which means..."

Eyes widening as she gasped, Penelope shook her head. "Oh... it's using the pipes! That is how it is getting around and since there's a large number of washrooms, male and female... Bloody hell, no wonder no one has noticed it roaming the halls! It's been inside the walls this whole time!" There was a flash of red heading through the doors, but Penelope dismissed it. "Show me everything right now, that way I can back you up!"

Turning, Hermione began showing the Prefect everything she had bit by bit. A half hour later, the bushy haired girl raised an eyebrow at Penelope who was looking rather lost. "Well? You're thinking the same thing?"

Slowly, the Ravenclaw nodded as she shook her head in disbelief. "I... I cannot believe that I am saying this, but yes. Everything works out just as you said and..." Placing a hand to her head, she took a deep breath. "We got to get this to the teachers right now."

Quickly gathering up a piece of paper she had used for notes, Hermione only nodded. "That was what I was thinking. Just give me a second to grab this and let's go..." Suddenly, she turned and regarded Penelope. "You don't have a mirror or something that we can use, do you? Just to look around corners in case?"

A frown on her face, Penelope dug into her purse for several seconds before pulling out a small mirror. "Here, should this help?" At Hermione's look, she shrugged. "Some of the older girls in Ravenclaw like to write things in code to make it harder to copy homework. Backwards mirror wording works pretty well."

Only nodding, even as she filed that tidbit away, Hermione and Penelope rushed out of the library after giving a quick check of the halls to either side. Two corners past through, their luck ran out and in the mirror Hermione spotted two yellow eyes. At the chocked gasp, her head slowly turned to see Penelope's body already almost completely petrified. There was only the the look of horror in the older girl's eyes before she fully froze. Meanwhile, Hermione could already feel herself stiffening at a much slower rate. For a brief moment, she considered summoning her rigging, but then dismissed it as she knew that it was only her magic fighting the petrification going on. And summoning her rigging would cause a moment where that would be gone which might be all it needed.

In fact, she could already hear the creaking of her body as every bit of her strained to even move as much as she could as it was. Movement which was a snail's pace compared to her normal state while various moving parts in her hull began to seize up. A chuckle though caused her to slowly turn to find Ginny staring at her with an intrigued but amused look in her eyes. "Well, well, what do we have here? How interesting..." Leaning forward, she examined Hermione closer while the shipgirl's eyes widened at seeing the massive form of the basilisk behind her. "You're not a normal Mudblood, are you?"

Even as she felt her body seizing up, her radios trying to get a signal out as they began to also die, Hermione hissed. "Giiinnn-" Then she spotted the form of a teenaged boy overlaying Ginny's body with the same expression. "Nooo.... Whooo... Arrreeee... youuu..."

Both sets of eyes widened for a moment as it seemed the person was shocked before he settled down. "My word, not only are you resisting the direct gaze of the basilisk without dying, but somehow you are able to see what is going on. Truly not a normal mudblood. But in regards to telling you who I am... I think not. You are not worthy of knowing my name."

Her boilers firing as hard as they can, Hermione remembered what Harry told her about what he saw in the diary. "Toooommm Riiiddddllleee..."

Now glaring at her with both forms, Tom sneered at her. "A rather smart thing, aren't you? No matter. Soon it won't matter for you at all nor Ginny." Smirking, he shrugged. "You won't be telling anyone anything for some time, I expect. At least not until after I've returned..." Chuckling, Ton shook his head. "Poor, poor, Ginny Weasley. It's not enough that she suspects that she is somehow behind it and pours it all out to me, but now she's gone and petrified her brother's best friend. And Harry Potter's too boot! Why... she might just want to end it all while letting me in more and more. I wonder how far it will drive her downwards..."

For a moment, Hermione's eyes widened and then narrowed into a glare. She dearly wished that she could just smack the smarmy asshole in front of her. But already, her body had seized too much to move. 'Guess that this will have to do...'

Still chuckling, Riddle shook his head. "Ah, it will be wonderful in the end. Perhaps, with my return, I will examine you more closely. Especially with how interesting you are... shame that you're not older though." Hearing her hiss, he grinned. "Something wron-"

Before he could react, Hermione spat between her teeth as well as she could at his spectre. Under most circumstances it would have done nothing but maybe annoy him. But being a shipgirl?

It knocked him, and Ginny to an extent, ass over head as it struck his spirit.

Almost a minute passed as they laid there groaning before slowly getting to their feet. Wincing as he felt his nose, he looked up into Hermione's now frozen face. "You... damn... Mudblood... BITCH!"

Lashing out with a fist, it slammed into Hermione's face and stayed there for a moment. Then he pulled it back with a hiss of pain and held it as his basilisk waited there. Unknown to him, Hermione was still conscious and on her bridge chuckling as she watched. When he lashed out with a foot, only to get much the same result, she was joined by her bridge crew.

However, a few minutes later, she was sitting in the Captain's chair of her bridge with a frown as she watched the tail of the basilisk disappear around a corner. "Dammit... now what?" Turning, she regarded her Chief Engineer and frowned. "How bad?" Ten minutes later, she was groaning and rubbing the side of her head. "To sum it up... Not only are my screws seized up entirely, but so are my turrets and any moving parts on the outside of my hull. Thankfully, that does not extend to the inside of my hull which means that we can still move around inside? And we might be able to get them working again but it's going to take weeks?"

That got her a nod from her Chief before he made several gestures and Hermione only sighed. "And somehow it's knocked out our radios? What about lights? Can we get some sort of message out that way if another shipgirl shows up?" There was a frown on her Chief's face before she got her answer. "Maybe. Great... Okay, bring down the power of my boilers for now to try and extend my fuel as much as possible. Same with the food for the crew and water, we're on rationing. Hopefully, they fix this soon enough because I am not looking forward to what might happen if we run out of both..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Glancing at Harry, Ron frowned a bit at his friend who seemed extremely pensive. "Mate? Is something wrong?"

With a frown on his face, Harry twitched a bit before turning to look at Ron. "Don't tell me that you don't feel it, Ron. You can practically taste it."

His own frown deepening, Ron furrowed his eyebrows as Neville glanced between them in confusion. "Uh, what are you guys talking about? Feel what in the air?" The brown haired wizard then fixed Harry with a look. "You've been acting especially weird today."

Only shaking his head, Harry grimaced. "Because it's right there. Something really bad has happened and it's only going to get worse." At the confusion from Neville, Harry sighed and ran fingers through his hair. "It's... I can't really explain it except it being my instincts. Trust me on this, it's the same sort of thing that I felt before..." Face paling, Harry's eyes widened. "No..."

Beside him, Ron also had a pale face and they shared looks with each other. But before they could say or do anything, McGonagall came into view. Spotting them, she walked over with her lips pursed thinly. "Mister Potter? Mister Weasley? Mister Longbottom? There has been another attack..." For a moment, she paused and swallowed. "Another double attack."

All Harry did was stare at her. "It was Hermione... wasn't it?"

Shocked McGonagall jerked back before slowly nodded. "Unfortunately yes. But however did you know, Mister Potter?"

Expressionless, Harry just stared at her. "Because I felt something, and I just realized what it was." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "It was the same sort of feeling that I get when someone back home got hurt badly. A... feeling of wrongness."

Only nodding her head, the Professor sighed a bit. "Yes, I suppose you would feel such." Looking into the distance, she shook her head. "I remember much the same from several muggleborn who lived through the war. It was an odd sort of feeling that they had." Giving the thought some seconds, she shook her head and then dismissed it for later. "However, please follow me."

It was several minutes later that they entered the infirmary and Harry looked around before blinking. He could see the other petrified students in their bed, but there was no Hermione. Frowning, he turned towards the Mediwitch with confusion on his face. "Where is Hermione?"

Glancing at McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey shook her head and gestured for them to follow her. "This way, please." She lead them through the infirmary to another door which she opened. "Through here is the private room where I hold students who might have... issues. I hope that you understand that I can only give some time for you."

As soon as they walked through, Harry let out a gasp as he stared at the form of Hermione frozen in a pose. One hand had a mirror in it while the other was clenched in a loose fist. But more to his surprise, she was laying in a small pool of repair fluid which reached halfway up her body. Turning, he regarded the two staff members with a surprised look. "Docks?"

Simply nodding, Pomfrey sighed. "Quite. Once Albus hired the security force he did, I had this made here just in case any of them got injured. It's safe to do so here as the last time this room was used was about... fourteen years ago for another student who graduated. The 'Docks' as you call it was added just after." Glancing at Hermione, she sighed and shook her head. "I did hope that I never needed it though and did not quite expect to need it for her."

Walking up to Hermione, Harry got down on his knees and gently placed a hand onto her own only to flinch. 'Cold...' Just taking a deep breath, he let it out and then looked over his shoulder. "Can she hear us?"

Madam Pomfrey blinked at the odd question before shaking her head. "I'm afraid not, Mister Potter. While I have not dealt with such a case, there has been ones like this before. And except for a rather nasty dark curse that can be added, the person does not even realize that they were petrified." Pausing, she shook her head. "Unlike what the Muggles would think, a person who has been petrified does not turn to stone. Rather, they're sort of... locked, I suppose, in a moment of time."

It took a few moments, but Harry then blinked. "Like a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who?"

Both witches shared a look of confusion before the Mediwitch shook her head. "I am not familiar with that, I'm afraid. However, in such a state nothing can effect them. Magic that would have an effect would fail. For example, the Killing Curse would have no effect. There has been attempts of using Legimancy to contact them, but... there's nothing there to contact." Humming, she shook her head. "As an example though, there was a case where one person was petrified for several hundred years by a Cockatrice and then given the potion. They woke up to find that they were technically seven hundred years old, but they were alright despite being in a flooded dungeon for over a century."

Turning back to Hermione, Harry sighed and shook his head. 'Dammit...' Just then, another thought occurred to him and he paled. "Professor... How is the Royal Navy going to react to this?"

Several seconds passed and then McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned to Ron who had become thoughtful. "Not good, I can say that. I mean, they can pass it off as her parents being well connected, but I can't see them not threatening to flood the school with shipgirls that they don't need, or... offering them as security. Maybe the Orion Sisters since they're monster hunters of a sort." Biting his lip, Ron furrowed his eyebrows. "The big ones are going to be the Submarines and Vanguard. While the Submarines care for her, Vanguard sees Hermione as her Momboat, which means we might have a very angry Battleship showing up."

Neville blinked and then turned to Harry. "Uh, Harry? Didn't you say that there was some deal that would happen if you were threatened by another attack?"

Attention now on him, Harry winced. "Yeah, Mum said something about getting some shipgirls here... And Wanko mentioned sending Regina on the first flight here as soon as she heard about it. Then there's the, um, gift that Hoppou made me for Christmas."

Confused, Ron shared a look with the others. 'Gift? And why is he nervous about that?'

Soon after though, they left the Infirmary and were back in the Tower. Writing on some parchment, Harry frowned some as he glanced at Hedwig. Once he was done, Harry folded it and handed it to his owl who took it. "Get that to Mum, okay, Hedwig? She needs to know this right now."

Bobbing her head, Hedwig then entered the owl box and closed the door behind her. With a sigh, Ron sat down on the bed and flopped back. "Well, this is just great, isn't it? Just when we thought that things were safe..."

Meanwhile, Neville saw the expression on Harry's face. A calculating one which made him clear his throat. "Harry? What are you planning?"

There was still a frown on Harry's face as he turned and looked out the window. "I was thinking that while we're waiting for Mum's response, which will take a while, we go and visit Hagrid. We've been putting off asking him some questions for some time now and we really need to get some answers to them. If nothing else, we owe Hermione that."

Sighing, Ron got up off the bed and shrugged as he made his way over. "Might as well, better then just waiting here for whatever to happen."
_____________________________________________________________________________

"BILLIONS OF BILIOUS BLUE BLISTERING BARBECUED BARNICLES IN A TYPHOON! THAT MISRABLE LILY LIVERED LUBBERSCUM! MAY ONE MILLION SEAGULLS TAKE A DUMP UPON THEIR BLEACHED, EMPTY HEADS!"

Eyes wide as he leaned back, Neville gulped some at seeing the sheer fury on his friend's face before looking at Ron who also seemed taken aback. "Harry seems... rather mad..."

"THRICE TIMING, INBRED TROGLODITE CHILDREN OF A SEA LOUSE!"

Glancing at Neville, Ron only sighed. "You think?" Then he turned back at Harry and tilted his head to the side. "I never knew that Mate was this inventive though. Did you?"

"NINNY NICKCOMPOOP CRO-MAGNON WHOSE PARENTS FORNICATED WITH UNGULATES!"

With a blink, Neville only shook his head. "Um, no? I mean, he was a bit odd but..." Weakly waving at the sight in front of him, Neville soon shook it off. "Kind of surprised that you're not angry too though."

Arms crossed, Ron only scowled as his ears went a deeper red. "Oh, I am plenty bloody pissed right now. They just sent Hagrid to Azkaban and kicked out Dumbledore. Just so that they could be seen doing something... But until we get replies, we're kind of stuck."

Eventually, Harry ran out of steam and slumped into a nearby chair. Running a hand over his face, he quickly grabbed the glass of water that Neville handed to him with a sigh. "Thanks." Draining half, he set it down before he fixed Neville with a look. "You know politics better then me, Nev... is there anything that we can do?"

For several moments, Neville became thoughtful before he started to pace back and forth. "Not too much, I mean this is the Minister of Magic. I can contact my Gran and tell her though, she likes Hagrid. And I know that she is going to be raging about Dumbledore being removed over this..." Suddenly, he paused a moment. "There might be one thing that you can do though."

That caused Harry to perk up. "Really? I'll do anything."

Still staring out the window, Neville slowly nodded. "You might want to have an interview with a reporter for the Prophet. While it's mostly trash, you're the Boy-Who-Lived and your words carry a lot of weight. I mean, just saying that Hagrid is a very good and close friend of yours and you do not appreciate having him thrown into Azkaban without a trial would put a lot of pressure on him. It won't stop them from doing it, but... it might get him out quicker."

Considering what he was told, Harry slowly nodded before a thought occurred to him. "Wanko likes him, like... really likes him. Maybe something with that?" At their looks, he shrugged. "I've hung out with Naka-Nee a lot and she mentioned that being close to me made Hoppou and Wanko more... approachable, I guess?"

A frown on his face, Neville muttered to himself. "Maybe play up that he's a friend of hers? And maybe throwing him into Azkaban might get her angry and so threaten the Statute?" Shaking it off, he sighed. "I'll let Gran know tonight when I contact her."

Head tilting to the side, Ron frowned at him. "Contact him? Aren't you sending her a letter?"

Much to his surprise, the normally mild manner wizard had something between a smirk and a snarl on his face. It was then that Ron realized that Neville was also furious with what had happened. "I'm invoking my privileges as Scion of House Longbottom. One of those is access to the Floo network when I have need of it for family business... and Hagrid is a friend and thus an ally of House Longbottom." The expression on his face turned savage. "I don't think that Gran will mind me using it for this."

Eyes wide, Ron slowly nodded at that. Before he could say anything, there was at thump and they turned to find Hedwig coming out of the box with a letter which she dropped off. But it was more what followed her out that caused Ron to jerk back. "What the bloody hell!?"

Scrambling onto a bed, Neville stared down at the thing that came out of the owl box with a pale, sweaty face. "Uh, Harry? What..."

With a blink, Harry looked up from his letter and gave it a look. Then he shrugged and went back to reading. "That's Hoppou's Christmas present to me. She called him Scruffles McClawsy."

For several seconds, his two friends stared at him before turning back to the creature on the ground. It looked like someone had skinned a wolverine that somehow had three pairs of legs before draining it of blood and then adding Abyssal carapace to cover as much as possible. Blue, ghostly flames trailed from it's fanged filled mouth and the one eye in the center of it's head. But over it's head arched a massive, bony tail with a cannon on it. Gulping, Neville turned to Harry and just boggled at him. "Her... present...?"

Harry only nodded. "Yeah, she made this egg or something with him in it. He's an AA Specialist and Akashi-Oba thinks that he's based on one of the mobile 3 Inch AA guns that were at Dutch Harbor during WWII. The cannon is his tail." The Abyssal creature then gave a cough and several smaller guns poked out of his mouth. "Oh yeah, he's also got some fifty caliber guns as well."

Utter silence met him before Ron finally commented. "Well... can't deny that your little sister doesn't take care of you..."

There was a smile on his face as he nodded. "Yeah, Hoppou's a really great little sister. Kind of worries too much about me, but still." Moving over to the owl box, he closed the door and shrugged at their looks as Scruffles scrambled under the bed that belonged to him. "Mum said that they're sending something else.'

Sharing looks of confusion, Ron and Neville turned back to the owl box. It was only a minute later when it opened and Harry pulled out a trunk and frowned at it. Neville raised his eyebrow at it. "Why would your Mum send you an expandable trunk?"

Eyebrow raising, Harry hummed. "I wonder..." Tapping it with his wand, Harry waited until it was full sized again before opening it. And then, before the eyes of his friends, his expression brightened. "Maruyu-Chan!"

A hand reached up to the lid and soon Maruyu sat up with a bit of a gasp. "Wow... that was something else." Then she turned and took Harry's offered hand to help her stand up. "Thanks, Harry-Chan."

With a smile, Harry reached over and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for coming, I feel a lot better with you here watching my back."

Even though she was blushing rather heavily, Maruyu nodded as she hugged him back. "You're welcome, Harry-Chan. I'm happy to help and will be your bodyguard." Pulling away some, her expression became serious. "Now, Nagato-Sama told me what was in your letter. But I need to know everything..."

Fifteen minutes later though found the little Submarine pinching the bridge of her nose as Harry shrugged. "And, um... that is pretty much it."

Taking a deep breath, Maruyu only shook his head. "The situation has deteriorated a lot, Harry-Chan. If Dumbledore-San is gone... And throwing someone into Prison just to be seen as doing something? This Fudge could be equal to some of the politicians from when I was a ship. None of this is good." With a sigh, she looked up at him. "Any ideas as to what should be first?"

Quiet, Harry gathered his thoughts until he noticed a spider leaving the dorms. "Yeah... I got an idea." He then turned his friends and nodded. "Let's do what Hagrid said and do a bit of follow the leader..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Frowning at the box of spiders, Maruyu glanced around the darkened grounds of Hogwarts. "Are you sure that this will work, Harry-Chan? That we might get some more information?"

Only nodding, Harry gave a sigh as he set the box down. "It should? I mean, Hagrid did say to follow the spiders after all. And we've placed warming charms on the spiders so they won't die in the cold as well."

Still frowning, Maruyu was silent as she followed Harry through the forest with Neville and Ron following. All three wizards were using their wands to light the way as they followed the group of spiders through the undergrowth. Eventually though, they reached a point where the spiders left the side of the path and Neville blinked as they began to turn. "Uh, Harry? Didn't Hagrid say that if we came into the forest to stick to the paths?"

Harry only shook his head as he began to follow the spiders. "Yeah, but Hagrid is in Azkaban right now. And he said to follow them." He then nodded to Maruyu who was glancing around the area, a machete in her hand. "Also, we got Maruyu-Chan here just in case."

A small blush, Maruyu nodded to him. "Thank you, Harry-Chan." Several minutes later though, her eyes widened and her arm blurred as the machete in her hand was flung through the air before impacting a tree and sinking nearly to the hilt. "Halt right there."

Ron, having jumped glanced just above the machete and paled. "Oh... oh bloody hell..."

Turning, Harry felt his eyes widen at the massive spider that had frozen with the machete having nearly impaled it through the head. Seeing another having appeared in Maruyu's hand, the spider paused for a moment before speaking. "Who are you..."

With a glance back to Maruyu who nodded, Harry took a deep breath. "I'm Harry Potter and these are my friends. We were told by Hagrid to follow the spiders before some people came and took him away... Was he leading us to you?"

It's eyes not leaving Maruyu's new blade, the spider clicked its fangs. "... Perhaps." Then it turned and began walking. "Follow me."

Glancing at Harry who nodded, the small Submarine had her crew take stock of what weapons she had. After all, she had heard of the troubles Kaylee had on "Spider Island" and didn't want to take any chances. Thus, Maruyu's crew was already loading up what weapons they had. Minutes passed as they walked with her glancing around and, soon enough, her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. "Harry-Chan, we got a lot of company."

Also glancing in the direction she had, Harry gave a nod. "Hai, I noticed."

Her eyes then glanced down to where Harry was tapping his finger on his leg, Maruyu narrowed her eyes and gave the slightest of a nod. 'So Harry-Chan understands that while Hagrid might not think this dangerous, he's not blind.' Inside her, she could feel various crewmembers nodding in approval. 'Hopefully, it's not needed.' Minutes later, they entered a clearing with Maruyu frowning as she spotted the web lined tunnel in front of her. It lead to what looked like a dome made of webbing which made her narrow her eyes. 'So that is how they're surviving the cold winters, they built themselves a shelter.'

From inside the tunnel though, clicking could be heard and Harry barely noted the whimper from Ron and gulp from Neville at the sight that came forward. Before him, coming into the light, was the biggest spider that he had ever seen outside a Kaiju show or movie. It's fangs clicked as it spoke in a male voice. "What is it...?"

The spider who had brought them there gave an odd bow before gesturing at them with one arm. "Humans. I found them in the forest."

Clicks from all around them could be heard before the giant spoke, it's milky white eyes looking over them. "Is one of them Hagrid?"

Once more, the spider from before bowed. "No, strangers. Dangerous."

Simply turning, the giant sighed. "Kill them. I was sleeping."

As the clicking increased, Harry shoved down his instincts. "Wait! Hagrid sent us here, we're friends of his."

Pausing, the giant slowly turned back to them. "Hagrid sent you? Odd, Hagrid has never sent men to our hollow before..."

With a deep breath, Harry shook his head. "He told us to come here just before some people came and took him away. To Azkaban."

Faster then expected, the spider turned and stared at them. "Hagrid is in trouble?" Much to Harry's surprise, he could actually hear concern in the voice. "Why?"

Even though he felt like his legs wanted to collapse, Harry kept his eyes forward as he trusted Maruyu to have his back. "They took him to Azkaban because some of them think that he's been setting a monster on some of the students. And they think that by locking him up that they could get rid of it."

Around them, the clicking intensified as the giant became thoughtful. "But that was years ago. Years and years ago, I remember it well. In fact, it was why they threw him out of the school, because they thought that it was me. That Hagrid had opened the chamber and set me free."

Blinking, Harry frowned a bit. "So where did you come from then... Aragog?"

There was some surprise on the now identified Aragog's face. "Yes, that is what Hagrid calls me. But I came from far away, a much warmer place. A traveller brought my egg here and gave it to Hagrid. He raised me after I hatched and fed me table scraps. But the Monster was released and a girl was killed, they thought it was me. Once I escaped to the forest, Hagrid brought me my mate, Morag. And through his kindness my family has grown as you can see."

Picking his words carefully, Harry considered things though a quick glance up and to the side made him relax some. Because he could see Barghast floating above, hidden in the shadows while Scruffles waited inside some roots having followed. "So someone died... And they thought that you killed them. Did you have anything to do with it?"

Aragog seemed surprised and clicked his fangs. "No, even though it is in my instincts to attack and eat humans, I have never done so out of respect for Hagrid. My children have not attacked him either as they obey me."

Unknown to him, Maruyu understood the undertone and she could see that Harry did as well. 'Dammit... no wonder he thought that it was safe. But only for him...' With a deep breath, she took note of the closest ones. 'At least this answers some questions for Kaylee-San.'

Meanwhile, Harry tried to buy some time. "What about the creature in the chamber?" There was angry clacking and hisses around them as he cleared his throat. "Is there anything that you can tell us? Because it's attacking people again"

For several moments, Aragog shuddered before speaking again. "It is an ancient monster, one that we fear above all others. Oh, how I begged Hagrid to release me when I sensed it. But we do not speak it's name, we fear it so. I have never even spoken it's name to even Hagrid."

Only nodding, Harry gave the best smile that he could while making sure that his wand was in one hand. His other drifted towards the Tanto that he had been given by Shinano for Christmas during his First Year and was hidden beneath his cloak. "I see... thank you for the talk then. I guess that we'll be going."

Now there was a noticable air of sadness around Aragog as his fangs clicked together. "Go? I think not, Friend of Hagrid. While I will not devour humans out of respect for Hagrid, I cannot deny my children fresh meat that wanders so willingly into their webs."

Much to the spider's surprise, there was a regretful look on Harry's face as he sighed. "Please forgive me then, because some of your children are going to die tonight."

Even as he backed up, Aragog just nodded. "It is the way of such things I suppose. And I accept your apologies and hope that you do the same for me."

With that, he was back into his tunnel just as the first Acromantula leapt towards Neville. However, Neville had barely turned when there was a bang and said spider fell to the ground, twitching as it's legs curled up on itself. Quickly whipping around, Neville could see Maruyu holding what Harry had told him was a handgun in her hands. Everything around them paused before the Submarine roared. "MOVE NOW!"

Quickly scrabbling to his feet, Neville watched as the world practically exploded when Scruffles leapt from the shadows onto one of the spiders that had gotten onto it's hind legs. Before it could do anything else, the Abyssal creature had then clawed it's way through it and exploded out of it's thorax before it's guns extended from it's mouth and it began to fire away. Above them, Barghast flew this way and that, using his own guns until it noticed Harry waving it down as they ran. "GUYS! OVER HERE!"

Behind them, Maruyu had switched out her handgun for a rifle that she was now using to shoot at any Acromantula. At seeing Harry pull Barghast down to waist height, she nodded. "Get out of here, Harry-Chan." One spider leapt at her and in a flash, she had a katana buried in it up to the hilt. Flinging it off, she placed the sword back wherever it had come from before resuming cover fire. "I'll be fine and hold them off for you and the others to get to safety. Meet up with you at the entrance to the forest!"

Only nodding, Harry gave her a smile. "You better!" He then gestured at his two friends as he wrapped his arms around Barghast, both of them going inside his mouth. "Grab hold of me and don't let go!"

Not needing to be told twice, both boys hopped onto his back making him grunt. Then they interlinked their arms with his as Ron practically screamed in his ear. "LET'S GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Somewhat choking from the hold around his neck, Harry nodded. "R-right! Barghast, get us out of here!"

Within moments, Harry's feet left the ground as Barghast floated upwards. Then the Abyssal Fighter shot forward, taking care not to go too fast or injured his passengers as he swerved past attacking spiders and around trees and webs. Behind him, Harry's last sight of Maruyu was the Submarine having a spider leap onto her back before she grabbed it and slammed it into another.

The result being both spiders literally getting splattered.

And then they were out of sight and could only hear the sounds of the fighting going on slowly dying out as they made their way through the forest until one point, Barghast shot through the canopy roof and into the night air above. Below them the treetops passed by before Harry gave a weak grin to Neville as he felt Barghast's tongue keeping his arms in place. "A bit of excitement there, huh"

If looks could kill, Neville's expression would have done so before he sighed. "Mate? Don't take this the wrong way... but are you madder then a box of frogs!?"

Harry just chuckled and shrugged. "Well, I have the Kongous for my aunts, you know."

Shaking his head, Ron groaned. "I just want to forget what just happened. Or ask Warspite if she could shell the area until there are no more s-s-spiders..."

Lips twitching, Harry did not comment until he noticed something and nodded. "There's the path that we took into the forest. Barghast? Could you set us down there?"

There was a growl from the Abyssal plane before it slowed down and lowered itself. Eventually, it was hovering in place and gently set them back down and they waited. Once fifteen minutes had passed, Neville gulped. "Um, are you sure that Maruyu is okay? I mean... that was a lot of Acromantula there..."

Glancing at him, Harry only nodded. "I know that she is." Several minutes later they tensed as they spotted movement and then blinked as Maruyu stepped into view with Harry's expression brightening. "Maruyu-Chan!" Then he blinked in surprise at her state. "Um..."

Uninjured, but covered in spider goo, Maruyu gave him a smirk. "Harry-Chan? Next time make sure to get proper intelligence next time. I... ran out of small arms ammo. Mogu mogu." Shaking her head, she flung some goo off one hand. "Had to go hand to hand with them and now need a shower..."

All Harry did was chuckle at that as Ron shuddered and Neville shook his head. The black haired boy spotted the similarly goo covered Scruffles munching on one still twitching leg though. But thanks to that, he missed Maruyu moving until the Submarine was hugging him, getting him covered in the stuff as well. "Ugh! Maruyu-Chan!"

Maruyu simply laughed at that. "Mogu, mogu."

 

[darthcourt10]

SkyeFire

Need to get this out of my brain before we're too far from the Valentine's Day Pun-ishment... assume this happens before Hermione meets the Basilisk.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Mate," Ron said reproachfully from where he'd rolled almost out of the splash radius. "I warned you about teasing battleships."

"Have to admit," Harry said thoughtfully, feeling at the thick gluey goo holding the massive amounts of sparkles in his unruly hair, "I didn't think Jersey-oba had it in her. This was almost subtle."

Neville stared, rather agog, and grateful he'd been too far away when the detonation had occurred. "Harry? How do you know it's New Jersey?"

Harry blinked, and pointed at the modified Howler sitting at his place at the breakfast table. "First? How often do you see a Howler made in the shape of a black dragon? Second, you hear that laugh it's still doing? She didn't bother disguising her voice."

"Mate?" Ron interjected, sounding suddenly worried. "I think you've got cruiser-sized problems right now..."

"Eh?" Harry turned in the direction Ron was staring... and gulped.

Hermione had been seated directly across from him. And she hadn't moved a muscle since the detonation. Indeed, she could have been a statue made of glue and glitter... aside from the burning intensity of her eyes, glittering from behind a rainbow racoon's mask of sparkles.

"Ahem. Er... yes. Well." Harry cleared his throat. "You realize, of course, that this means war." He bent down gingerly to intercept Hermione's line of sight. "Care to help?"

The glitter covering Hermione's lips curved in a smile that would have had Revina calling for a time-out.

"So, in brief," New Jersey stated into her laptop camera, "task force NUKEM will hook around the island chain to the North, while task force TILTHEY makes a blatant show of overconfident force to the South-West, and taskforce GLOW will sneak in close from the West under cover of--"

She broke off as someone's ringtone music started to play. Who the FUCK had forgotten to mute their phone during HER teleconference brief--

A new Skype window popped up on top of the others, and she had just a moment to realize that she might have messed with The Wrong Wizard... before pure and utter hell was unleashed into her poor, defenseless, virginal eyes and ears.

In the new window stood Harry Potter, hair a mass of glue and glitter that had somehow been slicked and styled into a ridiculous '80s 'do, wearing what looked like harem pants and a loose leather vest with nothing beneath (kid was gonna be pure Shipgirl Crack in a few years, some still-sane part of her mind reflected absently).

The opening music rose, crested... and then the kid opened his mouth and, SECNAV have mercy (please, sir, please!), started to sing.

"What is Poi (poi)?
Jersey don't shoot me
Don't shoot me
No more."

The camera view jumped to various Hogwarts students she knew from Harry's stories, several of them --including one who was obviously a young Dido-class-- showing signs of the magically-enhanced glitter-glue she'd hired certain other Hogwarts students to obtain for her, all of them dancing (badly) to the beat.

Then the main synth-keyboard line changed from normal notes to sampled variations of Yuudachi piping "Poi," and she realized that Hell was a far, far nicer place than where she was damned to now.

"Poi, poi, poi, poi-poi, poi, poi, poi, poi-poi...."

(for weeks afterward, her phone would randomly play an instrumental variation on the tune, at the most awkward moments, triggering something akin to a full-blown PTSD attack....)

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

At a soft ringing noise, Harry's eyes opened and he blinked for a moment before staring at the canopy of his bed. Mainly because there was the barely able to be seen sight of Barghast in the canopy watching over him. He knew for a fact that Scruffle was under his bed at this moment waiting for what might happen next. "{You're awake?}"

His head tilting back, Harry noticed Shiromizu on his headboard before nodding. "{Yeah, I'm awake, Shiromizu. Thanks for watching over us along with Barghast.}"

On the snake's face was an odd expression, which made Harry wonder for a moment when he had gotten so good at understanding a reptile's expressions. "{That's good then.}" She then reached out with her tail and turned off the alarm clock before giving Harry a smirk. "{Granted, I think that the two of you look rather comfy.}"

Blinking, Harry looked down at realizing that there was a weight there and felt his eyebrows raising at the sight of Maruyu laying there on his shoulder. "Uh... when did she get there? I thought that she was staying in the Headgirl's room?"

Rather amused, Shiromizu pulled out a fan from somewhere and held it open in front of her face. "{So used to such things, aren't you, Harry? Fufufufufufu.}"

Harry just gave her a look until the Subgirl spoke up. "The room is too big to be in there all alone." Sitting up, she stretched a bit with a sigh. "While the bath is nice, the rest... Isn't." Now wide awake, Maruyu looked down at Harry with a smile. "This though is much nicer."

There was a small smile on Harry's face as he nodded before scratching his head. "Yeah, if there is one thing that I miss about back home it's the cuddlepiles." Frowning for a moment, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Um, so... how are we going to do this?"

Now becoming thoughtful, Maruyu tapped her chin before slowly nodding. "Well, I'm not supposed to be leaving you alone if possible. You got the invisibility cloak, right?" At his nod, she smirked a bit. "Well, I can use that and follow you around on your day. Trust me when I say that no one will even know that I am there."

After a few moments, Harry slowly nodded. "I guess that makes sense..." While a smile bloomed on his face, he snickered a bit. Having spotted her look, he shook his head. "I'm going through my whole day knowing that you are there and no one else is. That's pretty awesome."

Smiling, Maruyu giggled some as she nodded. "I guess so, Mogu, mogu. And being that I am a real Submarine I am really good at it." Quickly hopping out of bed, she sighed some as she looked around the still dark dormitory. "So it's time for your morning run?"

With a nod as he also got out, Harry frowned a bit. "Yeah, we got to visit Myrtle to get her to join us though."

Only nodding in thought, Maruyu quickly slipped on some shorts over her usual swimsuit before heading out of the room. It was a few minutes later that Harry joined her and the two of them made their way to the bottom of the stairs and began to stretch in the common room. "So it was Myrtle-San that spider mentioned?"

Deeply breathing as he stretched, Harry nodded. "I know that for a fact that she was the one who was killed. She's pretty much all but stated it though."

Frowning, Maruyu considered what she had been told before humming. "Hmm, I see. Has any of you gotten what happened out of her?" At the shake of the head she got though, the Submarine raised her eyebrows. "Wait, really? Why not?"

Just chewing his lip, Harry considered the best way to answer the question before remembering. "It's sort of asking a shipgirl how they sunk, Maruyu-Chan. Think of it that way and, well... Myrtle doesn't really like even mentioning anything about her death."

Silently considering tht, Maruyu sighed and shook her head. "That's... understandable, I suppose. I know that I don't like talking about when I was sunk either."

Both of them quietly examined their own thoughts before shaking them off with Harry getting up and beginning a light jog out the portrait, Maruyu following him. As they made their way through the school, Harry noted that there was more pirategirls walking about. Obviously they had foregone with their usual posts and were now roaming the school with a fairy or two in front of them a distance to look down hallways. More then that though, each one of them had their swords or guns at the ready.

Granted, Harry suspected that Queen Anne walking by with a small cannon might have been a bit much. Especially as he had the idea it was filled with either grape or chain shot. Neither of which he wanted to see the effects of. Upon reaching Myrtle's bathroom, Harry knocked on the door and then opened it some. "Myrtle? You here?"

Moments later, said ghost poked her head out nervously and looked around. At seeing Harry though, she sighed and hugged him. "You're alright. That's... good, actually. I was worried after hearing what happened with Hermione, but I was unable to leave Hufflepuff until this morning as some of the First Year muggleborn girls wanted me to stay. Just to watch over them."

All Harry did though was pat her on the shoulder as Maruyu looked on in curiosity. "Don't worry about it, Myrtle. I know that you're guarding the younger years." He then turned and gestured at Maruyu who waved at her. "Anyways, this is Maruyu-Chan, she's one of the Submarines from back home and... kind of my guard."

Only nodding, Myrtle gave a small curtsy. "My name is Myrtle Warren, Miss Maruyu. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Softly chuckling, Maruyu bowed a bit. "And it's mine to meet you finally. I saw you last year but never got the chance to talk to you."

Looking between the two of them, Harry gave a nod before him and Maruyu began to jog with Myrtle beside them. As they made their way through the halls, Myrtle frowned a bit in thought. "If you don't mind me asking... what happens now? I would assume that Miss Maruyu here is not going to be the only one?"

Maruyu shook her head a bit. "Just Maruyu, please. And yeah, I'm not going to be the only one." At Myrtle's confusion, she grimaced. "The Royal Navy is going to be sending some of the older iron clads and the like. Officially, they'll be considered guards here just like the pirategirls. Unofficially? The Royal Navy wants the monster dead. Last I heard, they're waiting on the Orions to get back from some mission."

Considering that, Harry nodded some before furrowing his eyebrows. "What about... back home... in Yokosuka?"

With a glance at him, she shook her head. "It's kind of a madhouse at the moment. Whatever this is was able to take down a shipgirl apparently before she could react. So you can imagine how some people are taking it." When he nodded, she continued. "Anyways, Mikasa-Sama and several others were discussing heading over here since they're not doing too much as it was. I've been sent ahead because... well, I could fit in the trunk. They're also waiting on Regina to reach Yokosuka as Wanko wants her here. So... maybe a week? At most?"

Slowly nodding as he ran it through his head, Harry grimaced some. "Big Sister is not going to be happy with what happened with Hagrid. I really, really hope that she does not blow up over it."

A frown on her face, Maruyu chewed her lip some. "I don't think that she will. But I really would not want to be Fudge, Mogu, mogu."

There was only agreement to that.
____________________________________________________________________
Grumbling, Harry glared at the now closed infirmary door. "Dammit. I can understand why she would be afraid, but really? Not letting anyone in just in case someone comes to finish the job? When they've had all this time to do so?"

Neville only shook his head with a scowl on his face. "It's because of Dumbledore being removed. No one thinks that is going to make the school any safer."

Despite his own anger, Ron just shook his head with a grunt before turning. "Might as well head back to the Tower, I don't think that we'll get much more out of this." Turning, the youngest Weasley boy looked at his brown haired friend. "By the way, how are things going with your Gran?"

For a moment, Neville looked surprised that it was being brought up before scratching the back of his neck. "She was really, really angry over the whole thing when I explained what was going on. But Gran also said that she was proud of me for standing up for my friends and supporting them. Anyways, she doesn't quite know what she is going to do, but she mentioned bringing up that he was tossed into Azkaban without a trial of guilt as normally they would just place him in the Ministry holding cells. She thinks that Fudge is playing for a certain group."

The snarl on Harry's face grew at that. "Malfoy. I swear, I am going to strangle him if he keeps it up."

Beside him, Maruyu's voice spoke up under the Invisibility cloak. "Harry-Chan? Normally I would say to drop it, but I am considering asking for Aso-San to be sent here and have her meet Malfoy. He is... the most annoying baka that I have seen and reminds me of some people back in Japan."

Chuckling, Harry grinned darkly. "I would like to see Aso-San be brought here to meet Malfoy myself."

Only glancing between the two of them, Ron shook his head. "Yeah... I doubt that there would be a school standing after that. Not to mention that his dad would cause all sorts of issues."

Her voice chirping up, Maruyu giggled some. "I can handle him if you want. That's no problem."

A shiver ran up Ron's and Neville's backs before they shook it off with Neville clearing his throat. "That would be more trouble then it would be worth. Um, anyways, Gran has already set up some stuff tomorrow with the Wizarding Wireless Network. Crystal on the Radio is going to be interviewing you on what is going on here... They're going to start advertisement about two hours before hand and it's going to be live."

That caused Harry to raise his eyebrows at his friend. "Live? Seriously? I thought that we were going to do something with the Daily Prophet?"

However, Neville just shook his head with a sigh. "The Daily Prophet is the Ministry Mouthpiece and everyone knows it. They might run the interview, but there's a better then even chance that if it makes the Ministry look bad then they wouldn't. About the only reporter that could manage that is Rita Skeeter, but... you don't want to deal with her. She'd twist the article to better suit her."

Ron furrowed his eyebrows in thought as Harry nodded, accepting what was being said. Then the red head turned to Neville while blinking. "Wait, it's going to be live? Why?"

All of a sudden, Neville smirked a bit as Harry started upon realizing that bit. "Because the Ministry is going to assume that it's being broadcasted from the station itself a few hours after being recorded. No doubt that they'll have someone waiting outside the school grounds to escort you in such a case once they hear about it. But they're actually going to set up here and broadcast from the school itself. By the time that they realize that and tell their guy..."

Slowly, Ron nodded with a look of awe on his face. "That's bloody brilliant. They'll be too busy doing damage control to do anything." Quickly, he turned to Harry and gave him a look. "Do you know what to do, Mate?"

With a snort, Harry shook his head. "I know what to do, Ron. After all, I've been around Naka-Nee often enough to know how to do an interview and been on some with Mum." The smile on his face was not in the slightest bit nice at whoever it was actually pointed at. "I've got a few ideas already."

Raising a finger, Neville made a motion with it. "Gran wanted me to tell you not to layer the anger too much. If you do, then Fudge will need to react and do something against you. But just enough and you'll have most of Wizarding Britain eating out of your hands and calling on Fudge to right things."

Lips twitching, Harry just chuckled. "Understood, tell her she has nothing to worry about."

Even as Neville sighed and shook his head, Ron clapped him on the shoulder which made Harry roll his eyes. Underneath the Invisibility cloak, Maruyu smiled at this before clearing her throat. "By the way, Harry-Chan, what was with Macmillan-San?"

Glancing at where he figured the cloak was, and hearing a giggle that told him he was wrong, Harry shook his head. "He was apologizing to me since he thought that I was the one behind the Chamber." The giggles abruptly cutoff and he felt a small chill. "Um, because I'm a Parselmouth? And so was Slytherin?" If anything, the chill Harry felt increased and from the shivers he could tell Ron and Neville felt it as well. Part of him was curious as to the expression on Maruyu's face, but the rest dismissed it. "Anyways... he was apologizing to me since Hermione was petrified and he knows she's a close enough friend that I would never do that."

Her voice coming out in a soft hiss, Maruyu ignored how the three boys gulped. "I see...."

It was then, wanting something, anything to change the subject, that Harry noticed something outside. "Oh wow! Look, the Royal Navy's here."

Nearly as one, Neville and Ron looked out the doors and their eyes widened at the procession coming up the drive. But Ron's eyes locked on one figure in particular and his jaw dropped some. "Bloody hell, that's Invincible in the front!"

Eyes widening, Harry turned his full attention onto said shipgirl and slowly nodded. Oddly, he could see some features of Kongou's in her which told him that they were related. But the woman in front only continued to walk up towards the front door. A slight tone of awe in his voice, Harry shook his head. "Well... I think that things might be changing very quick."

That only got him nods from the other two and from the hidden Maruyu.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 14: Shaithan

Severus Snape was, no pun intended, no matter how much he could hear Lily approve, a severe man. But, he was also a wizard and a spy. And one of the core rules was that wizards and spies had their quirks.

With an interested hum he checked the monitoring equipment he had put up on one of the towers. This had two purposes. One, it gave him a chance to get out of the dungeons. Two, it allowed him to scare couples trying to get in some alone time. And three it allowed him to monitor muggle communications. Especially this one code he had stumbled across coming from within the castle. Oh well, it had three purposes.

Most wizards wouldn't have been able to identify the code, but he was not most wizards. He was a wizard and a spy. A British Spy! He could discern an Enigma code by merely feeling the radio waves.

Dutyfully the magic-operated typewriter spat out the Enigma message it had intercepted.

He knew that it was likely nothing important and definitely not his to stick his nose in, but the fact of being a spy meant that cracking an Enigma code was almost obsessive-compulsive second nature to him.

"Oh, Severus," he heard the Headmaster behind him. "Fancy meeting you here," he continued.

"Headmaster," Snape gave back sourly.

"Oh, don't be like that, Severus," Dumbledore said with a grin. "Lily's boy seems to keep you up at night," he added with a grin.

Snape glared. "I can tolerate a great many things from her son, but not this!" he stated forcefully. "There is a such a thing as too much!" he continued.

Dumbledore grinned cheerfully. "Oh, do tell, what has he been doing lately? I mean, other than carefully ensuring that our esteemed minister of magic is sitting on a pile of carefully arranged burning powderkegs?" he wanted to know.

Snape shuddered. "It is far worse. A transgression I can not possibly overlook!" he stated forcefully, waving the paper around. "He's dangling an Enigma code in front of me!" he shouted.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Surely that is not that important," he stated placatingly.

Snape shook his head. Dumbledore could not understand. "You are wrong. He uses an Enigma. As a British Spy it is my duty to crack any Enigma code I become aware of!" he explained hotly. "It is a spy thing. Chalk it up to eccentricities of being a spy. After all, LSD and your friendship with Miss Victory are things I am not able to understand," he added.

Before any reply could be made, Snape reflexively shouted "George Lazenby!"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow again. "I beg your pardon?" he wanted to know.

"Someone was wrong about the best James Bond," Snape explained distractedly.

Dumbledore nodded. "I understand," he said with a smile. "Well then, I'll leave you to your work, Severus. I trust you will act with discretion," he added with a friendly unsmile.

"Of course, headmaster," Snape gave back. "Now excuse me please, I have work to do," he said while leaving. Behind him, hundreds of people who had once worked at Bletchley Park looked on, proud to see their legacy continue.

Dumbledore gave a small smile. "Ah, youth," he said with a chuckle. "Daniel Craig," he added a bit more forceful, hearing a faint "George Lazenby!" from the staircase.

-x-x-x-
In Scapa Flow, Exeter opened her eyes and shouted "Sean Connery!"
-x-x-x-
In Wilhelmshaven, the sleeping Leipzig shouted "Roger Moore!" in her sleep.
-x-x-x-
Admiral Hartmann, who was doing a late-night Bond Marathon with his wife shouted "Timothy Dalton!" much to his wife's amusement.

"Pierce Brosnan, dear," Lisa Hartmann stated with utter conviction. She could tolerate many of his follies, from building artillery for fireworks to bringing home these Wolpertingers on occasion. But there was such a thing as objectively wrong taste in Bonds.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-
I literally have no idea where that idea came from. Felt right and funny though.

 

[darthcourt10]

smthng

Gosu said:
In his broadcast Harry should compliment the Minister on his bravery.

Few humans can remain so composed as he is after being pointed out by name to an Abyssal Princess, especially one known to nurse grudges.

Yet here the Minister carries on as if nothing has happened. Harry envies his stiff upper lip, honestly.
Shaithan said:
Might be fun to think about, but boy would that backfire on Harry.
Harry Leferts said:
Yeah, it would be funny but it would likely backfire. That is not to say that there might be ways...​

Yes, it'd be nice to for once see a story where the plucky teenage protags cannot just go and embarrass the government without any sort of consequences. Because I have seen WAY too many stories where the plucky teenage protags publicly run circles around the government that somehow cannot do ANYTHING in response. Probably because of course nobody can do anything for the protags, because they are the writer's beloved protags, who are cool and hip.

The cliche runs deepest in Harry Potter and Buffy fandoms, I think. Though there undoubtedly are many more that I am blissfully unaware of.

ANYWAY!

* * *

Aso stared at the pair of shipgirls sitting on one of the tables in the nearly empty mess hall. She knew she was not well-liked. The opinions of the gaijin girls she could not care less about, but many of her countrywomen also shunned her. That, in turn, left her often an outcast. Which meant that her fellow ship girls were, among other things, quite unfamiliar with her sometimes excellent sense of humor.

Thankfully the people on the internet appreciated her, at least.

Still, the current situation was just too delicious for her to pass. Thus, with determined step, Aso walked to the pair. "Good evening, Sendai-san, Maruyu-san. May I sit with you?"

The two girls blinked, and stared at Aso for a few seconds. Then they briefly glanced at each other. Sendai shrugged, after which Maruyu turned back to the carrier. "Ah, feel free, Aso-san."

Aso flashed the pair a brief smile, and sat down. "Thank you."

As Aso started arranging her plates, an awkward silence fell over the table, as Sendai and Maruyu gave their new companion furtive glances and picked on their food. After getting everything ready, Aso took her chopsticks, and gave a short prayer, as was right and proper. "Itadakimasu!"

Aso then picked up her rice, and took a bite, checked it slowly and swallowed. Then she put down the bowl, and smiled at the two other ships.

"Incidentally, Sendai-san, Maruyu-san, there's a question I have wanted to ask you."

Again, there the table descended into awkward silence. A small drop of sweat started making its way down Aso's brow, as she tried to keep her face passive before the suspicious stares of the two of her fleet mates. It would be worth it, Aso tried to convince herself, even if it the pair were starting to get to her nerves.

Eventually Sendai cleared her throat. "Yeeeess?"

Aso smirked. "I have long wanted to ask you two: which one of you is the Iga, and which one is the Koga?"

Sendai and Maruyu stared at Aso.

Aso stared back at the pair.

Sendai and Maruyu continued to silently boggle at the carrier.

The corner of Aso's eye started to twitch.

Sendai and Maruyu were still silent.

"Oh, come on!" Aso finally burst out. "You're like the two most ninja-like girls in the whole fleet!"

Sendai and Maruyu just passively stared at Aso, who slumped down.

"Don't tell me you've heard that joke too many times already?" she lamented, causing Sendai to blink and come out of her stupor.

"I at least haven't," she quickly replied. "It's just... I never would have guessed you'd try joking, that's all!"

Maruyu nodded at the comment, as Aso gave the light cruiser a disbelieving stare.

"I do have a sense of humor, just as everyone else!" she shot back, offended.

Sendai shrugged again. "You typically just go 'dai-nippon teitoku' this, or 'tenno banzai' that. So you trying to joke kinda just took me off by surprise."

Maruyu again nodded, as Aso raised an eyebrow. "So my joke's aren't any good, is that what you're saying, Sendai-san," she asked in annoyance.

"No, it's not that, ASo-san. I just not like you to-"

"Or were you perhaps thinking I would come here to criticize your sisters' choices in paramours, would that be more 'like me'?" Aso nearly shouted, rising up from the table.

"What's wrong with my sisters?" Sendai shot back, also surging up from the table.

"You know very well what's wrong with them!" Aso shouted. "While I cannot fault the martial capabilities of either Naka's submarine or Jintsuu's Admiral, that is the only good thing about them both! As members of the Imperial Japanese Navy, your sisters should have known better than to shack up with Amerikajin!"

For a few seconds the whole mess hall was quiet, as every person present stared at Aso. Then Sendai jumped over the table with a scream and slugged the carrier in the face.

* * *

Mind you, this started as another attempt at making Aso a bit more human. I'm not sure whether I was successful.

I must admit I kinda pity her. She drives people away from her by her own actions. :/

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Glancing at the clock, Fudge nervously handled his bowler hat before turning towards the Wizarding Wireless on his desk. A simpering voice thought caused him to turn. "Hem, hem, Minister, there is nothing to be worried about."
Despite the assurance, Fudge turned and looked at his Undersecretary with a small frown on his face. "You're absolutely certain of that, Delores? After all, this has come out of nowhere. Harry Potter giving an interview? Possibly even live on WWW? Within days of Albus being kicked out?"

All the woman did was shake her head with a thin smile. "Trust me, Minister, Potter will be unable to harm the Ministry. Why, he might even put some good words in for us as I sent Dawlish to escort him to the WWW building after all and gave him very specific orders. You do trust him after all since he is a member of your guard team."

Becoming thoughtful, Fudge relaxed slightly at that. After all, he did not choose said Auror for how good he was at fighting. Rather, he was chosen because he could be counted on to listen to what the Minister said and ordered. "Dawlish you said? Yes, I was wondering why he was not here this morning. Good, very good, Delores."

The thin smile on Delores' face became slightly more predatory as she considered the other person she had waiting outside the WWW just in case Harry slipped past Dawlish. 'I suppose that MacNair would normally want to be hunting beasts, but at least he understands how things should work after all. And he would not let that boy's reputation cloud his judgement... Also, Edgecombe should also catch them if they try to use the floo system.' Leaning back, she allowed herself an internal chuckle. 'Yes, soon things will be back to how they should be done properly. Especially once those shipanimals are dealt with and placed into their place.'

Over in Germany, Hanna was fiddling with a radio herself as she looked down at the list of frequencies on a list there. "Hmm... close, but not quite..."

From where she was on a bunk, Hipper shared an amused look with Seyditz who was fiddling with a plane model. "Do you really think that you will be able to pick up a signal from Britain, Schwester? Especially one as low powered as what we are talking about?"

Running her finger down the list in front of her, Hanna slowly nodded. "I believe so. Even if it is too hard though, Eugen stated that she will be sending me the signal over the radio." A smile on her face, she looked over her shoulder. "She is in England after all looking over Bismarck and Hood."

That got her an amused snort from Seyditz who looked up from her model. "Ja, that is true. And from the stories that I have heard they have needed it." Becoming thoughtful, she looked at her littlest sister with a slight smirk. "I am surprised though that you did not head over there, Jäger. There is a monster to be slain after all."

Hanna tried not to blush at the nickname she had been given by some of the shipgirls who somehow heard about her mission over in Britain. Then again, it was only secret in the way that it was not stated she was ordered to perform it. Since then she had been sent out to deal with a few matters that the German military wanted to be looked into since she was a lot stronger and tougher then a normal human due to her nearly awakened shipgirl state. One example was having hunted down a coven of vampires who were taking advantage of the war to make some refugees disappear due to feeding on them.

It went without saying that none of them had expected her when they had attacked a young woman all alone at night by a "Broken down" car.

Noticing the raised eyebrow on knowing look on Hipper's face, Hanna flushed deeply. "I asked and was told no for the moment."

Her two older sisters just grinned widely at that, enjoying seeing the youngest, and only Natural Born among them, react to their teasing. Suddenly there was a crackle on the radio and it came in live. "{... Welcome to Wizarding Wireless Network, Wizarding Britain's top wireless station!}"

A small smirk on her face, Hanna turned to her two sisters who just snorted back before she turned back towards the radio. 'I wonder how Harry is going to do...?'

Outside of the main gates to Hogwarts, Dawlish growled as he popped open his pocket watch and looked at it. "Where is that boy? It's less then fifteen minutes from when he is supposed to be at WWW to broadcast." Snapping it close, he scowled as he looked around. Most people would have been wondering about the orders he had been given. Which was basically make sure to take his time making sure that the boy was "Safe", whether that made him a bit late or not. And to also make sure that he did not embarrass the Ministry due to his age and likely emotional state due to the stress he might be under.

Not to mention bringing him to the Daily Prophet afterwards for an interview, a properly planned one.

Yes, most people would have wondered about their orders. Even among the other Aurors there would be some who would consider not going through with them. However, Dawlish was not one of these and had the upmost faith in the Office of the Minister of Magic. In fact, he was more loyal to the Minister then to Madame Bones who was his actual boss. Something that she knew, unknown to him, and so found it more easy to stick him on bodyguard duty rather then messing up investigations for political reasons. He also did not know how unpopular it actually made him, not that he would have cared if he did know.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Naka was making some adjustments to something on her computer before nodding and looking at a nearby screen. "You got it over there, Jane?"

With a massive yawn, Jane nodded some before smacking her lips. It was rather late, or maybe early, in Japan after all. "Yes, Aunt Naka, I got the signal here." Off to the side, Smolzona frowned some as she munched on a donut. "How are you getting this from Britain anyways?"

Smirking, Naka shook her head before waggling her fingers. "Naka-Chan works in mysterious ways with many connections." At the snort, the Light Cruiser shrugged some. "I've got some satellite hookups and are using them to transmit from Britain thanks to some friends over there to here." With a glance at the clock, she nodded. "Just about time..."
________________________________________________________________________
Eyebrows raised, the witch in the middle of the room looked around with a nod. "Very, very nice." Turning, she regarded the boy in front of her with a smile. "I have to admit, this was not what I expected when Augusta Longbottom turned up earlier asking for me to conduct an interview..."

Only shrugging, Harry lit the logs in the fireplace on fire and nodded as they began to crackle. "Well, I figured some privacy would be nice here, Miss Anderson. And these rooms don't get used too often as they are private apartments for those wizards and witches who are married before leaving school."

If anything, the witch smiled even more as she tapped her chin. "I see, and when were they last used if you know? Oh, and please, call me Crystal, Mister Potter."

Waving her off, Harry shook his head. "As long as you call me Harry. And in regards to when these rooms were last used... Something like a hundred years ago, I think. Marriages while still in school are not common anymore after all." As Crystal nodded while considering that, Harry coughed some. "I hope that getting you and your crew here was not too much trouble?"

Lips turning upwards in a large smile, Crystal gave a small laugh. "Not any bother at all, actually. In fact, being snuck into Hogwarts by your friend... Miss Maruyu, via underwater was extremely interesting. Like something from one of those Muggle spy novels. It's been great fun so far."

Brightly smiling at her, Harry glanced at the equipment being set up. "You know, I have been wondering some things about the Wireless. I mean, it's set up differently then I expected since I figured there would be vacuum tubes used."

Somewhat surprised by the interest, Crystal shook her head. "Well... when the Wizarding Wireless Network was started, we used what's known as crystal radios for them. Eventually though we moved on with some experiments with vacuum tubes, but it was a wizard from Russia who invented the true wizarding wireless. He used something he called 'Crystodyne'. Crystals after all are much better in high magic areas, less interference. They're also very easy to make which is why they've seen quite a bit of development. Why, back in the 1980s there was even attempts at making a Wizarding television channel with televisions with crystodyne parts."

That surprised Harry as this was the first that he had heard of it and made a note. The fact that he knew Maruyu was also there and likely taking notes of her own made him internally smile. "A television channel? Never knew that... wonder why it didn't take off?"

With a sigh, Crystal shook her head. "Mainly because of the danger of breaking the Statute. During tests, some Muggle televisions picked it up, which is a no-no. While one could dismiss the odd program they might catch from us as a prank, or someone filling the airwaves with nonsense, you can't do the same with a television program." It was then that she noted one of her people giving them a thumbs up and tapping his wrist. "Ah, it seems that we got a few minutes then, if you would take a seat so we can finish up?"

It was several minutes later that Harry watched as one of the wizards waved a complicated series of wand movements with a smile. "A bit more comfortable then a microphone being put there I suppose."

Unable to help herself, Crystal giggled. "Yes, I suppose that it is." Her expression then became understanding as he glanced at her notes. "Are you sure that you are quite okay with how we're going to start this, Harry? It cannot be the most comfortable subject for you."

Grimacing, Harry only nodded at that. "I am... I need to clear the air about that if I want to help a friend." The door opened and Harry looked over his shoulder only to blink as Augusta Longbottom walked into the room before she sat down. Face impassive, the stern woman only nodded at him which he nodded back. 'I really need to thank her for this.'

Unknown to him, Augusta would have dismissed any thanks as not being needed. After all, she was friends with his grandparents and had fought alongside them during the campaign to take back Europe from Grindlewald. A friendship that had extended down to her son and his father. One that she was happy to see continue with Neville and Harry, thus this was no problem for her.

And it helped that she was not only friends with Dumbledore, but also Hagrid himself and so was extremely unamused with what had happened due to 'That blonde brat, Lucius'.

Spotting the fingers being held up and slowly dropping, Harry nodded. Once it reached one finger, Crystal smiled brightly. "Hello, everyone. I'm Crystal Anderson of the Wizarding Wireless Network, Magical Britain's number one source of music, news, and informative programing. With me now is the illustrious, and mysterious, Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived. Thank you for coming onto this program, Mister Potter."

There was a similar smile on Harrry's face as he nodded. "It's great to be on here, Miss Anderson. And please, call me Harry."

Her eyes sparkling as she just imagined the reactions, Crystal nodded. "Very well... Harry, as long as you call me Crystal. Now, as I am sure you know, there are many questions about you and your life. Would it be okay to talk about that for a bit?"

Nodding as he stiffened his resolve knowing what was coming next, Harry had a thin smile. "Of course it would. So what would you like to know?"

With a sympathetic look, Crystal shuffled around her papers, making sure for it to be a bit noisy. "Well, first about your childhood. Thanks to Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet, it became rather well known about what it was like. From being in a cupboard of all things to being starved. If it is okay for you, could you tell our listeners, in your own view, about such things?"

Eyes closed for a moment, Harry sighed. "It... it's rather hard to talk about, even after so many years. Not something that I really want to even think about... But I suppose that since it is already out there whether I wanted it or not, I should say something about it. My relatives... were not nice people, to say the least. Even to other non-magicals despite what some might have you think, their behavior was beneath contempt once it came out..."

Only listening as Harry talked, Crystal blinked back a slight mistiness in her eyes. When he trailed off, she cleared her throat and sighed. "Well... I must say that being a Gryffindor suits you, that was extremely brave of you. Would you mind me asking what you think of Albus Dumbledore sending you there?"

For several moments Harry was silent as he gathered himself back together before shaking his head. "To be perfectly honest, as much as I do dislike it, I can see why he sent me there. Family is supposed to love and care for one another as my adopted mother and others have shown me. And the Dursleys were blood, so why shouldn't they have done so? I can also see the rest of the reasoning since it was dangerous times then and even now. How could one be sure if the family that wanted to take me in was doing so for just for fame or money? Or for more... nefarious reasons?"

Slowly nodding as she made a note, Crystal hummed. "Such as hidden Death Eaters? Not all of them were identified after all."

Thinly smiling, Harry hummed as he remembered one of the notes sent by his mother in preparation for the interview. He suspected that Naka had a hand in that. "Those and others. I mean, it is not impossible for there to have been sleeper agents, right? Ones who did not join up but where sympathetic to the Death Eaters, or even Death Eaters who were found Innocent due to the Imperius, but unknown to them were trapped somehow to go off if certain conditions were met. Such as seeing me... though I am sure that the years that have passed made that safe."

Briefly, Crystal's eyes widened before she grinned. Due to being a halfblood, she had no love at all for the Death Eaters and the fact that they had gotten off so easily always rankled her. But this? It would throw suspicion on them all over again. "Yes, I suppose so. What about your mother though? There would be those that say that she adopted you for the fame it could bring."

Pushing down the flash of anger, helped by the fact that she had stated that she would bring that up before the interview happened, Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. "Actually, my Mum didn't even know that I was a wizard to begin with, let alone my fame. It was not for a few years that she suspected something as a matter of fact. All Mum saw was this lonely boy who needed some love and decided to be the one to do so. To me, she is my mother in all but blood..." Chuckling, he shook his head. "I actually got a bit of a story about that if you want to hear it about her."

Intrigued, Crystal leaned forward. "Of course I would. And I am sure that my listeners would as well."

With a slow nod, Harry took a sip of water to gather his thoughts. "I was about... oh, seven or so. I was new to Japan and everything was strange, and I was still not sure about things. I was pretty certain that if I did something wrong, I would be badly punished or sent back to the Dursleys..." Gaze distant, he continued. "In Japan, they got these massive storms at times called typhoons. They're sort of like hurricanes or the worst storms out on the North Sea. One had hit where I was at the time and I woke up in the middle of the night. All that rain, wind, lightning, the building was shaking a bit. I was terrified! But I was also scared that if I made a sound that the kind woman who adopted me would be angry and punish me that I just laid there in the dark whimpering when I heard another sound. Do you know what it was?"

Slowly shaking her head, Crystal frowned. "No, what was it?"

Brightly smiling, Harry chuckled. "It was my bedroom door opening. And there in it was my Mum. Because everything was new to me, she had one of her fairies watching over me just in case anything happened and was informed about me being awake and scared. Rather then being annoyed at being woken up, she came over and sat down beside me. Mum explained that there was nothing to be frightened of and that the storm wouldn't hurt me. Then... then she gathered me into her arms and held me close stating that the storm would have to go through her if it wanted to harm me. You cannot imagine how safe I felt wrapped up in those arms of Battleship steel, so powerful and yet gentle. Heh, it's a bit embarrassing now but as a kid, I had the image of her yelling at the storm and ripping it apart with her barehands because it scared me. I think... I think that is the first time I remember actually feeling the love of a mother except in vague half remembered dreams of my birth Mum."

There was a similar smile on Crystal's face as she nodded. "Now that is a wonderful story. You are a very lucky young man to have such a wonderful person as a mother."

All Harry did was nod at that. "Oh, trust me, I know. Mum is pretty awesome and to me the best Mum. There are those that disagree with me, but..."

Chuckling, the reporter shook her head. "Quite, I imagine that my own Mum is the best, though yours is pretty good as well. Anyways, what about the rest of your childhood though? Was it just as good?"

Lips twitching, Harry hummed. "I actually would have to say it was in all honesty. Growing up on the base, I had all sorts of Aunts, such as Aunt Mutsu who's now married to Uncle John. Or the Kongou Sisters who are like those fun loving aunts you love, what with them bringing me to tea every day. Aunt Arizona is a bit stern, but no less protective and I knew that I could go to her for anything. Now, Aunt Tenryuu? She's the cool aunt, a real bad... uh, you know what I mean."

His sheepish expression got a laugh from Crystal. "Yes, I do suppose that I get what you mean. It sounds like you had a lot of aunts now."

Unable to help himself, Harry chuckled. "Yeah, a lot of them. Pretty much everyone above Light Cruisers were my aunts growing up. All of them cared for me and made sure that I knew that they were there for me. I also had a lot of sisters growing up as well. Such as Fubuki who always did her best to be the best big sister she could be. Then you had Yuudachi who always had lots of fun with me, or Naka who always had something fun for me to do that was cool like the two of us singing to people. She didn't care how good I was at singing, as long as I enjoyed myself. Growing up there was great."

Grinning, Crystal shook her head. "It certainly sounds that way. But speaking of sisters... what about two in particular? There's rumors, unsubstantiated ones, that you have two Abyssals as sisters."

Now growing serious, Harry nodded. "I assume that you mean Northern Ocean Princess and Australian Harbor Princess who have recently signed a peace treaty with humanity? Ending their conflict with us?" That caused the reporter to answer in the affirmative as she realized what he was driving at. "They are. Hoppou, Northern Ocean Princess, is pretty awesome as a little sister. Mum rescued her after some other Abyssal Princesses tried to kill her."
Eyes widening, Crystal leaned forward. "Tried to kill her? Really?" At his nod, she continued. "Why would they do that?"

Sighing, Harry shook his head. "Hoppou had taken over the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. Unlike a lot of Princesses though, she did not harm the humans there. She even allowed them to have limited trade to get medicine and the like through. Her and her fleet only fought when attacked, so the governments decided to leave her as it was for later. But after the Princesses at Midway and Wake were killed, a number of other Princesses gave her an ultimatum: Kill the humans on her islands, go on the attack, and made sure that as many humans who could die would. She said no and so they attacked her as a traitor to try and kill her. During the fighting, her fleet would often protect those humans fleeing for safety even as they were being shot at, drawing fire. Those Abyssals gave their lives for the people thee as well as Hoppou. Now, before I met her I was not sure. But after...?" Harry shrugged. "It's sort of hard to be unsure after seeing a very lonely girl who just lost it all. So I became her big brother..."

As she listened in to what he was saying, Crystal frowned in thought. She could understand that he was placing the two Abyssals and their fleets in the best possible light. And she couldn't help but think that it was effective as not only did it do so, but the Ministry would need to take a hardline against it if they wanted to deny it. Suddenly, Crystal realized what Harry was doing and had a smidgeon more of respect for him. Glancing at her watch as she noted he was winding down, Crystal smiled. "Well now, you certainly not only had an interesting childhood, but also a active one. Perhaps we can move on to more recent things though?"

Only nodding, Harry shifted before taking his glass of water again. "Of course."

While he sipped it, Crystal looked down at her other notes. "If it would be possible, would you mind giving us your thoughts on what has been going on at Hogwarts? After all, you do spend time here and many people have been following things in regard to the Monster of Slytherin."

Placing the glass down, he nodded. "Of course..." For a moment, he trailed off. "Well, to be honest, I've been rather nervous all year like most people. However, at the moment I am far more nervous and antsy then I have been all year."

There was a glint in the reporter's eyes as she hummed. "Oh? I would have thought that you would relax some now that the Ministry has arrested the person responsible?"

Harry snorted some and shook his head. "Yes, they arrested Rubeus Hagrid. As anyone can tell you though, Hagrid is the last person who would be the one setting the monster on everyone. Hagrid is a close and personal friend of mine. As a matter of fact, along with Professor McGonagall, he was the one who brought me to Diagon Alley for my first trip there. He also gave me my owl, Hedwig as a birthday present, you know? My first owl... Made sure that I had everything for her as well."

Eyes wide as she just knew how well that was going to be received, Crystal nodded. "Sounds like a rather nice guy."

Chuckling, Harry nodded. "Hagrid is actually. Almost Everyone likes him as a matter of fact. Myself and several of my friends often go down to his hut for tea. And I've spent time with him caring for unicorns from the forest, brushing them you know? They come right up to him as soon as they see him. All of them nuzzling him or looking for treats. Heck, one of the victims is my friend, Hermione. She's one of those who are always sharing tea with him and he adores their talks when she brings up something about an animal or creature she's read about. Why would he petrify her?"

On Crystal's face was a smirk. "Why would he indeed? But the Ministry states that he was behind it, you know? And he was expelled as it was believed he opened the Chamber the last time."

With a frown, Harry shook his head at that. "You know, I had some people look into that..." He glanced over at Augusta who nodded. "Such as the esteemed Dame Longbottom, the Grandmother to one of my best friends, Neville Longbottom. She could find nothing in the Ministry records that Hagrid was ever charged with opening the chamber the last time. In fact, it stated that the investigation could find no proof of him being involved in any way and that it all rested on the statement of a single Prefect from Slytherin."

Not having known this was coming, Crystal leaned forward. "Slytherin? As in the House who's Founder placed the monster into it?"

Slowly, Harry nodded with a sigh. "Yes, and Hagrid was in Gryffindor. And anyone who has gone to Hogwarts can tell you how our two Houses get along which adds to how odd it is. But he was popular and well liked by most of the staff and the Headmaster is able to decide to expel someone or not. And he liked the Prefect, so... But the only report on it was that he had a giant spider of some sort and there was no venom used to kill the student who died. I don't know about you, but I don't know of any spider who petrifies people."

Tapping her chin, Crystal thought it over before shaking her head. "No, I can't think offhand of any such spider. Rather odd that."

Fake confusion on his face, Harry nodded. "I mean, there is that awful rumor going around Hogwarts that he was arrested as the culprit due to the Ministry wanting to be seen as doing something. And that a student overheard the Minister arguing with Headmaster Dumbledore over it with him stating he had to do it as it was something."

Crystal frowned some as she hummed. "Arguing with the Headmaster? The same one who was the very same day removed from his post here at Hogwarts? That Dumbledore?"

A grimace on his face, Harry sighed. "The very same one actually. Which is what also makes myself, and most of the other students here nervous. He's one of the greatest wizards out there who was feared even by You-Know-Who. And yet they removed him when there's danger in the school?"

Head shaking in mock confusion, Crystal smirked. "But that was the Board of Governors for the school that removed him. Not the Minister."

Only shrugging, Harry shook his head. "I know, but it is rather odd for both to happen on the same day. No one feels safe in the school with him gone. Think about it? The attacks happened three times in a month, then the Headmaster hired shipgirl security here and the attacks vanished for nearly two months with a single attack at the end. Then almost the next day Hagrid is arrested and the Headmaster removed? You would not believe the rumors going around the school about it. Probably a bad coincidence, but still. It does not make anyone feel good. The Headmaster being gone is bad enough, but some of those like me? The fact that a person as kind hearted as Hagrid, who seems to have done absolutely nothing wrong, might have been thrown in Prison with no evidence or even trial... That makes it all the worse. If you believe the rumors that the Ministry just wanted to be seen doing something, then does that mean if there is another attack that maybe one of us would be thrown into Azkaban without any trial or evidence? And since everyone is worried about another attack with the Headmaster gone..."

Leaning forward, Crystal held back a chuckle. "Surely, you don't believe such rumors about our Ministry?"

Shaking his head, Harry snorted. "I don't want to, Crystal. I really don't. But at the same time, with all the nervousness and fear? There's that little voice. The Ministry might just have bad timing, or perhaps it's operating on bad information. Now that makes more sense."
__________________________________________________________________

Behind his desk, Fudge stared at the radio with his face paling as Harry continued. Yes, the boy did not say anything outright against the Ministry or him. But he could already feel the angry letters that would be coming. Most likely would not be about Hagrid himself, though a large number would be.

No, most would be the fear that the Ministry might throw someone into Prison without a trial.

He had to do something, and do it quick. Pulling out a sheet of parchment, he wrote on it and then sent it on it's way. For a moment, Umbridge stared at it and then turned to him. "What was that!?"

Rubbing his face, Fudge sighed. "I just sent a letter to Madame Bones. She is going to check herself in regards to what happened the last time the Chamber was opened. It's an active file after all, that way it looks like we're doing something and we can say that we checked. I trust Lucius when he says something, but this way I shall have Madam Bones backing me in this."

Lips a thin line, Delores only huffed as she sat back down and waited. Granted, that did not mean that she did not want to strangle the brat. But she could bide her time, she had done so before.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Off to the side after the interview ended, Augusta watched as Harry shook Crystal's hands and thanked her along with the rest of the group. More then one asked for his autograph which he gave them with a laugh, but once they were gone, he slumped into a chair with his head back. Her lips curled upwards slightly, Augusta sat down next to him and examined her grandson's friend before nodding. "A very nice job, Mister Potter. May I ask how well you were coached?"

Cracking open one eye, Harry looked at her. "That obvious, huh?"

Softly chuckling, Augusta shook her head. "You are an extraordinary young man, Mister Potter. Truly your great-grandfather's descendant. But you are still a young man despite that." Waving her hand, there were two cups of tea, one of which she handed to the boy across from her. "While almost all those listening will have bought into the legend, and thus would expect such, I would like to think that I am not one of those."

Weakly chuckling, Harry took a sip of the tea and sighed. "Yeah, I guess when you put it that way. But, um, yeah, I was coached."

Simply nodding at that being confirmed. "I see, there is nothing wrong with that, Mister Potter. It's speaks rather well of you that you get yourself coached to get your message out there. May I ask who it was that did so?"

Blinking, Harry glanced around before shrugging. "Once I found out that it was a live interview, I got in contact with Naka-Nee. She also got some others involved and we were brainstorming last night and early this morning." Yawning, he shook his head. "Kind of running on energy drinks right now to be honest."

Eyebrow raising, Augusta took note of some signs of tiredness. "Energy drinks?"

With a nod, Harry yawned again. "It's a type of... muggle drink? Lots of sugar and caffeine to keep you awake for a while. I'm going to crash, but it's worth it if it helps Hagrid and the Headmaster. Small price to pay and all."

A small smile on her face, Augusta nodded. "Quite. And I am certain that this will be helping the both of them, and you as well." At the confusion on his face, she shook her head. "You are quite unknown to most of Magical Britain, Mister Potter. That may well be the first time that many of them have met you, even if it was only your voice coming over the radio. It will help create an impression for many of them much stronger then one from a newspaper or a report on the radio. It was you speaking. Not someone stating that they were speaking for you."

Nodding, Harry had a thoughtful look on his face. "Huh... I never thought of it like that."

Augusta hummed as she sipped her tea. "Not many do at your age. But in regards to the interview, give my compliments to Miss Naka and the others that have helped you. It went extremely well, better then I expected."

Only smiling, Harry shook his head, "I will, they'll be happy to hear that. And thank you for setting this all up, Madam Longbottom. I know that it might have been a bit much to ask for."

Much to his surprise, he got an actual laugh from her. "There's no need to thank me, Mister Potter. You've done so very much for my Neville that I cannot begin to start. He is so different then he was even just before First Year, and I can place all that on your influence. I look forward now to his future with hope. Also, just between the two of us..." She leaned in some. "I rather liked how he took charge to help a friend as he did. It so reminded me of his father and grandfather. So thank you."

All Harry did was stare at her with wide eyes before slowly nodding.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Well, this came out quite well until the end. Although it gets through what I wanted it to. I'm just not quite sure about that one little scene at the end.
Misunderstandings

-----

The moment Nemo sees Takumi standing on the beach, she knows that something is happening. As she gets closer, seeing him pace, press his fingertips to his temples, open and close his schoolbag, her worry grows and in her desperation to get to him faster she accidentally dispels her rigging a ways farther out from the sand than usual and belly flops into the neck-high surf. Dragging herself upright and stumbling desperately from the waves, she pulls up short in front of him.

"Is something wrong?" she asks, raising a hand towards his face, Takumi wraps his own hand over hers before she can reach, and holds it to his chest.

"Yeah, but…" He smiles ruefully. "… Well, at the same time, no. It's a little bit complicated."

"Can I help?" she replies. Her distress must be showing on her face because he pulls her into a hug. She feels his cheek brush against her hair, and it's comforting—but at the same time, it only makes her worry more.

"I don't know yet," he admits, releasing her. Unzipping his bag, he reaches in and pulls out a bottle. When he holds it up to offer it to her, she sees that it's Ramune. She sighs, plants a hand on her hip, and accepts it.

"Okay," she says, "Now I know that this is about me. Takumi," she feels the plaintive tone slip into her voice, "can't you tell me what's going on already?" He replies with a half-sigh half-chuckle, and lowers himself to sit on the sand.

"Yeah, sure," he says. "Just give me a minute, alright? I need to steel myself for this." Nemo looks down at him, at how tired he seems today, and the strength leaves her legs. She drops down and fumbles with the top of her bottle, pushing the marble in and taking a gulp. She has to fight to get the drink down. Takumi sits with his eyes closed, breathing slowly and rhythmically. She's only seen him like this once, after an argument with a friend of some kind. He's more peaceful than he was that day, but it doesn't help her.

Finally, Takumi opens his eyes. Placing his schoolbag in his lap, he reaches in and pulls out a newspaper that he hands to Nemo. She looks over it, noting the date—several months ago—looking down to see—

Oh.

OH.

OH.

"Takumi," she says, voice and hands trembling. "What… Is this real?"

"Better believe it," he replies. "All kinds of media. It was on message boards, television, the papers… It's still in them."

"I… I can believe that…" she agrees, trying desperately to read the article around the haze in her mind. "This is… This is unbelievable. How…" She lowers the page, turning to Takumi. "Y-you… why… ?"

Takumi picks ups a handful of sand. He allows it to slip through his fingers, watching it form little hills where the spaces between his fingers are. "You know… A girl tried to ask me out this morning. I had to let her down, and I don't know if I was able to do it right. If people knew… If they knew about you… that probably wouldn't have happened." Nemo feels her heart stop for a moment. No, no. She has to be calm. This is the exact sort of situation where she needs to be calm.

"And it's not just that…" Takumi continues. He clasps her hand again, leans towards her so suddenly that she finds herself leaning away in surprise. "Nemo, I—I want to be with you. I could keep meeting you here until the end of the world, but I want to show you this world. It's… the buildings, the stories, the people… It's… It's so much more than just a beach and some books."

Nemo's hand moves without her bidding, wrapping over the hand that Takumi has placed over hers. She pulls them in to her chest, hugs them there, trying to moor herself in place.

"T-Takumi, I…" she attempts, but the air in her lungs escapes in those two words, and she's left fighting for more. "I need to… My Princesses, I… They don't like people coming in, they don't like talking… And I couldn't… I don't think I could run… I'm… I just—"

Takumi's hands leave hers, and he pulls her in close. "Shh," he says in a comforting tone, "you're panicking." He's right. She's losing control of her emotions. But with what he's shown her and what he's saying, it's hard to keep her head straight.

"… I never told anyone," she admits, resting her head against his shoulder. "I was scared that they wouldn't like me going to meet a human, and then… I was scared that they wouldn't like me loving one. And now it's been going on so long, if I go up to my Princess and say 'hey, look at this treaty,' I don't think she'd be happy with me. And I… I can't surrender, or run away. They're family, I can't hurt them like that."

"You know I would never ask that of you," he says reproachfully, and she relaxes.

"I know," she replies, "But… You know, we have standing orders to annihilate anything that comes into our territory. Shipgirl, Abyssal, rowboat, anything that isn't us is automatically sentenced to death. Would they even think about signing something like this?" Takumi's hands shift against her back, and in her mind's eye she can see his mouth set in a firm line.

"I don't know," he admits, and it feels like Nemo's been shot in the heart somehow when he says it. "All I know is… I want us to be more."

"Yeah," she agrees. She pulls her legs in and leans into his chest. "Me too."

They sit there, in their shared desperation and confusion.

"Hey," Takumi says suddenly. "You spilled your drink."

"It's okay," she replies.

"No, wait a second. I have another in here—"

"Takumi, please," Nemo whimpers, pulling her arms from where they're trapped between their bodies and hugging him back, "I don't need that right now." I need you right now, she says in her heart, her stomach, her eyes.

As you wish, he replies with his hands, gently tipping her head back, with his apologetic smile, and with the kiss that brushes her forehead so quickly and gently that she nearly doesn't realize it happened in her turmoil.

The newspaper, with its message, is forgotten for the moment. The words, and what they mean for the two of them, have been seared into Nemo. She wants it, she realizes. She wants to walk with Takumi through the town that he calls home, hand in hand, to see his school and the house that he lives in, to experience life the way he lives it. Her heart leaps at the very thought of it. But the fear still eats at her—what if the chance is hollow? What if their hope is built on a falsehood? Would her Princesses accept the treaty?

They will talk about this, she knows it. They will ask themselves how to make this work, who could be convinced, what would happen to bring them together forever. Because here, together, in each other's arms…

They belong there.
-----

"Incoming transmission," Ooyodo announces, fingers pressed to her temple. Her hand flies across the sheet of paper in front of her, etching out the words she's receiving. Goto walks over, examining what she's writing out.

"Dess?" Kongou asks, leaning over Ooyodo's other shoulder. Then she stops. "This looks serious."

"Yes it does," Goto agrees, stepping away. He's going to need to make some calls. He's not sure what Wanko is saying, but given their previous conversation?

Ne-Class cruiser sighted twice, stop. Going to and from Japanese shoreline, stop. Confirmed as part of Twins' fleet, stop.

Something is wrong here.
-----
Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sitting where she was in the infirmary, Augusta was looking over Hermione's still body with a thoughtful look on her face. A knock on the door caused her to look up and hum. "Poppy?"

Moments later, the door opened to reveal said woman who walked in and took a spot beside Augusta with a small nod. After a few moments, Poppy spoke up. "I must admit, Augusta, I am rather surprised that you stayed the whole day after Mister Potter was done his interview. It is getting rather late in the evening now."

The thoughtful look came back to Augusta's face as she turned back to Hermione. "It has been a while since I had a Hogwarts meal. And being as I am on the Board, I decided to do a small investigation while I have been here, or make a show of one. Hogwarts' library is one of the largest and I wished to check some things."

Only raising an eyebrow, Poppy hummed. "I see, and what does this have to do with Miss Granger if you do not mind? While I do trust you and know that you are certainly not behind this, I still must wonder. Especially with how long you have been in here."

Augusta stared forward as she ordered her thoughts before slowly nodding. "... The law books and genealogy records."

That made Poppy blink and turn towards her old friend with a confused expression on her face. "Law books and genealogy records? Whatever would you need those for?"

Not answering the question, Augusta continued. "Did you know that Miss Granger's great-grandfather was an orphan? And that when he was a teen was thought to be insane?" At the look from Poppy, Augusta smiled thinly. "Apparently he believed in magic..."

Stunned, Poppy stared first at Augusta and then at Hermione. "You believe that her great-grandfather was a Squib? But..." Then she clicked. "Wait, you think Dagworth-Granger?"

Very slowly, Augusta nodded with a frown on her face. "Yes, I suspect so. Among certain families there can be... physical traits that pop up here and there. In Miss Granger's case now that I look at her? I can see it in her as the Dagworth-Granger women were well known for having bushy, usually brown, hair. Similar to the Potters have black, messy hair."

Frowning in thought, Poppy stared at the girl in front of her and shook her head. "I suppose so, but there must be more to it then that? Surely?"

Still looking at Hermione, Augusta shook her head. "When I was a young girl, my father once took me to the Dagworth-Granger estate where I met Medea Dagworth-Granger. She was childless as a spell accident had destroyed any chance of having children. But most importantly was that there was a old photograph on her mantle of her with her younger brother. When I asked, she stated that her younger brother had been pulled into the nearby stream and drowned one summer just before what would have been his First Year by a Grindylow. In fact, she had been planning a party for him when she got word of his death, but I could see the doubt in her face. Mother was sure that he was a Squib and the family got rid of him due to that and did not tell her."

Poppy snorted and shook her head in disgust. "From my memory that makes far too much sense as a number of families were like that at the time. Squibs would disappear and be claimed as having died until laws were passed that deaths like that would be investigated and not taken at face value."

Chuckling, Augusta nodded. "Medea was one of those as a matter of fact. She never forgave her grandfather Hector for her brother's death, but I suspect that she always suspected he was alive somewhere." Then her lips twitched. "Medea though was rather... vindictive though. Her ghost is still on the estate thus the Ministry cannot give it to any heirs in other families until a hundred years has passed, and it's only been forty. But after the first war with You-Know-Who..."

The nurse became thoughtful. "The inheritance laws were changed so that those who can prove a descent from a Squib line could inherit. Granted, I can think of... two cases where that happened?"

Humming, Augusta nodded. "Yes, one of whom only managed because his Grandmother was a squib for that extinct family and remembered. If what I suspect about Miss Granger is correct, then she will need some documentation, but... perhaps one can swing it the right way."

Eyebrow raising, Poppy frowned at her old friend. "What about the issue of Miss Granger being a shipgirl? Surely that might be brought up?"

A small laugh escaping from Augusta, she shook her head. "Not quite. As long as no one knows, it will not become known. I also know a person in the Hereditary Department of the Ministry who can help. It would only need some proper documentation and perhaps asking Medea, which I am sure she would help if only to stick it to her grandfather and parents." Her expression then fell. "I will admit, if she was not as close to my grandson nor having become involved in his life like she has, I may not have made much consideration. Something that I have realized to my great shame." Once she shook it off, she stood up. "I suspect that the Royal Navy and Her Majesty's government would quite enjoy the large library at the estate. And... Well, at least this gives me something more to do then knit all day."

Snorting, Poppy shook her head. "Knit? You have never knit in a day, Augusta!"

Faking being scandalized, Augusta held a hand to her chest. "I will have you know that I have knitted before. Why, just this morning I set self-knitting needles to work." That only got her another snort, but before they left, Augusta stopped at the door and turned back. Slowly, her eyes scanned the room. "Hmm..."

Turning, Poppy looked back into the room. "Is something wrong, Augusta?"

Not replying, Augusta narrowed her eyes before she focused on one part of the room. "Hmm? No, nothing I suppose. Just my being tired I suppose from a long day." Waiting until Poppy was well away from the door, Augusta whispered a bit. "Protect her on this night, for I feel that things may yet come to a head soon enough."

With that, she closed the door and soon her footsteps could be heard walking away until there was only silence. Inside her hull, Hermione had not heard Augusta's last words as left. Rather her attention was focused on something else. 'My... great-grandfather might have been a Squib? That's...'

Suddenly, she noticed the shadows out of the corner of her eye moving until it resolved into Upholder pulling off what looked like wall camouflage off her. The Submarine stared at the door in thought before shaking it off and sitting by Hermione. "My Lady Hermione, most Beautiful since Troy... I have come to watch over you as you sleep..."

Hermione softly groaned on her bridge. "Oh for... That does not sound creepy, not at all."

Much to her surprise though, Upholder sniffled a bit before wiping at her nose. "Though I suppose that would sound most creepy." As the Submarine sat beside the pool and curled up, Hermione noticed to her shock that there were tears coming down from Upholder's face. "I... I am most sorry, Milady." Then the Subgirl buried her face in her knees and let out a choked sob. "I am most sorry that I failed in protecting you."

Choking, metaphorically or metaphysically anyways, Hermione boggled. "I... what? Why is she sorry? Failed me? I, what?"

However, Upholder continued to sniffle and sob. "I was not there as your loyal knight and thus here you lie. A body as cold as stone and as unfeeling, a heart that lies unbeating. because I was not there."

Unable to help herself, Hermione sat back into the Captain's chair and placed a hand to her forehead. "Oh, Upholder. There was nothing that you or the others could do. Don't take it so hard and, wait... What was that she just said."

Inside the bridge, Hermione was staring open mouth as Upholder stared at her. "... I was afraid, milady. After what happened at Christmas. I felt ashamed of myself, embarrassed, and many other things. I have not been by as I am sure that you did not wish to see me after what I had done. What the tea upon me had made you do. It should hate myself, and yet... Yet when I thought of what happened... my engines thrummed a bit harder. Tis most perplexing. And so, I have stayed away... With this happening." Placing a hand to her chest, Upholder took a deep breath. "A knight who has fallen for a fair maiden, the most beautiful of them all. But must stay away for a transgression, not knowing that it placed her in yet more danger."

Slumped in the Captain's chair, Hermione boggled a bit. 'Did she just... She actually...'

Outside though, Upholder continued and clenched her fist. "If only I knew where the monster that did this yonder lay. I would hunt it down and slay it, no matter what! For I can do no better for you, the Lady Hermione and I know that the other Knights of the Undersea understand much the same."

Eyes wide, Hermione got out of the Captain's chair as Upholder continued, but this time the Light Cruiser was snarling in anger. "Dammit, Upholder! Don't you dare! Don't you dare possibly throw your life away for me!" Looking around, she spotted the hammer from a previous attempt at escaping and grabbed it before swinging it at the Bridge windows. Spiderwebs spread out from the impact point and a second group did from another hit. It looked like the windows were going to break and Hermione paused. Then almost before she could blink, the cracks were gone thanks to the repair fluid she laid in. "DAMMIT!"

A frown upon her face, Upholder leaned in towards Hermione. "If this was but a fairy tail, a kiss to fair maiden would bring her back to life..." Unknown to her, Hermione on her bridge was going red. Then Upholder stopped and pulled back. "But even still, I could not do such a foul thing to milady. For it would be taking advantage of you and my knightly code would not allow it!" Now gazing down at her. Upholder quickly moved and kissed Hermione on the brow. "And so, I shall keep watch over you til the day you awake."

With a sigh, Hermione sat down on the Captain's chair and shook her head. "Dammit..." At seeing the ghostly form of her Captain look at her, as well as the other Bridge Officers, she placed her face in her hands. "Yes, I know. That was a confession. But I am far too young to deal with this. Perhaps in a few years, but only if she said it to my face and not before! None of these speaking to my comatose body." Leaning back, she grimaced. 'And even them banging on the hulls can't be heard. Just great...'
__________________________________________________________________

Three days had passed since his interview and Harry was walking alongside Ron and Neville. As they did so, he took note of various reactions to him and generally they were positive. Some of the Slytherins shot him glares, of course, but he expected that. To his surprise though, some of the other snakes were more considering, almost as if he was interesting to them because of the interview.

Weird.

However, Harry then turned back to the conversation going on. "Ron? I think that Neville is right, there is something wrong with Ginny. She has not been looking well at all the past few days."

Running his hand through his hair, Ron shook his head. "You think that I don't know that, Mate? Maybe it's stress due to everything that is going on. Or how the castle seems to be changing temperatures. I don't know..."

Neville frowned some and shook his head. "What about last night though? It looked like Ginny was about to tell us something about the Chamber when Percy showed up."

While he thought back, Harry grimaced. "We might have come on a bit strong. Percy showing up like that didn't help any... Maybe she did see something and is worrying herself sick over it? Worried that she might get silenced?"
A shudder ran through Ron and he glared at Harry. "Don't even joke about that, Mate."

In reply, Harry just held up his hands. "Sorry, Ron. I'm not joking about it though, it does make sense."

Only scowling, Ron shook his head. "Yeah, and I still don't want to think about it. Or that it makes sense." Stopping for a moment, he shook his head with a groan. "Maybe we should talk to her..."

Harry patted him on the back with a slight smile. "Yeah, classes are nearly ended for the day after all. So we'll head back and talk with her..." Internally, he checked his thoughts and then nodded. "Anyways, we got permission from McGonagall to visit Hermione, so that's good. We can go and track Ginny down afterwards."

From underneath the invisibility cloak, Maruyu nodded. "That sounds like a good plan, Mogu, mogu. And Harry-Chan is right, Ron-San. Everything will turn out fine."

Moments later, they arrived at the Infirmary door and knocked. Said door opened a crack and Madame Pomfrey looked out before nodding and opening it fully. "Come right in, you bunch. But be quick, I don't want to leave the door open for too long." She looked down one end of the hallway and then the other. "Not too long at all."

Entering the room where Hermione was separated from the others, Harry looked down at her with a frown. "Um... Hi, Hermione?"

As he sighed, Ron sat down in the chair before shaking his head. "She can't hear you, Mate." Running his hand through his hair, he snorted. "Bloody hell, this is so wrong seeing her like this. Hermione should be nagging us to prepare for the homework during Easter."

Somewhat amused, Neville stared at him. "Easter is almost a month away, Ron. You know that."

The red head just waved one hand in the air. "Exactly! One month away! And she would be on us to get as much done before then as possible."

Chuckles escaped from all of them as they imagined Hermione doing just that. Sad smiles among them, they continued to talk for some time with each other until Harry looked up at the ceiling. "Any idea when the Mandrakes will be ready?"

Becoming thoughtful, Neville shook his head. "Not until May, at least. I mean, if there was another source for them that could be used and enough, then they could make the potion earlier. But I can't think of a place off hand..."
Ron perked up a bit and looked at Neville. "Wait, what about that island? Saint Brendan's? I remember Dad saying that one of their main exports is potions ingredients! The newspaper was talking about how without the island, some of the prices would increase or something."

On Neville's face was an expression of deep thought. "Maybe? They might have some, the volcanic soil there is pretty rich for potion ingredients and they've enriched it over the years with large amounts of dragon compost..." At the looks, he shrugged. "One of the Azores had a small dragon preserve on it until the 1900s when it was shut down and the dragons moved. Saint Brendan's had all the dung transported to their island and mixed it with the soil which made it extremely good for potions ingredients as it was practically free for them."

Just as Harry was about to comment, there was a banging noise on the Infirmary's door. Maruyu who had taken off the cloak was looking at them and inched towards the door to listen as she talked with the nurse. "Ma... Madam Pomfrey... There's been another attack! But this time the student's been taken! Professor McGonagall has stated that we're evacuating the school!"

Pale faced, Madam Pomfrey looked at her. "Who? Who was taken?"

The reply just before Madam Pomfrey took off caused Ron to look like he had suffered a heart attack. "Ginny Weasley, she's been taken to the Chamber."

Elsewhere. Hogwarts was looking at the writing on the wall after the staff had scattered to get ready to evacuate. On her face was a scowl as she glared at it in pure rage. "Damn you... Damn you, whoever you are to hell." Then she looked over her shoulder and looked into an alcove behind a statue with a small frown. "Now you... I wonder when they're going to realize that you are missing as well?"

Petrified, Draco had no answer for her.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Scowling, Draco glanced around the hallway he was in with Crabbe and Goyle a distance behind. Both of them were following Draco under his orders when he got a note to come to this place. Said note stated it was from the Heir and that they wanted to meet him. Yes, the note stated to come alone, but...

Draco Malfoy was no one's fool.

With a glance around, he glared at a nearby wall and was about to turn when he stumbled as a curse hit him in the back. Snarling, he turned to see Ginny Weasley with a smirk on her face. "Weaselette, what are you..." Then he noticed the mirror behind him that was turning in mid-air and frowned. 'What is she doing with that?'

Then it turned enough he could see yellow eyes in the mirror and his expression changed to one of horror before it was frozen. Screaming in his mind and unable to move, Draco could only watch as the amused Ginny walked up and then tapped him with a smirk. "My, my, it seems that you are in a pickle, Draco." Behind her, a massive Basilisk moved into view and was now staring at Draco directly. Thankfully, being petrified meant that he was not being killed by it.

However, that did not mean he was not gibbering in pure and utter terror.

In front of him, Ginny was suddenly overlain by something that was almost a ghost, but one of a young man. "I wonder what you are doing now? That spell I hit you with? It's a special curse that allows one petrified to be fully conscious of everything. Simply unable to move or say anything. It was stated to be quite horrible in the book that I found it in, so it should be a good lesson for you."

Slowly, she, or him, Draco was not sure, walked around the frozen Slytherin. "A very good lesson. You see, Draco, there are very few people that I truly despise. One is braggarts who take credit for others, such as what I, the real Heir has done here at Hogwarts. The other is those who betray me. Sadly for you, your family is in both situations." As the two beings walked back into view, Draco noticed the black book in Ginny's hand, one that he had seen his father sometimes hold in his hand. And which his father had taken to Diagon one day and not returned with. "You're probably wondering what I mean when I say betray me?"

Inside his head, Draco was screaming. 'YES! WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU!? WHY?!'

Chuckling, with the ghost seeming to become more solid, they leaned in close to Draco. "I... am none other then Tom Marvolo Riddle." Using Ginny's wand, he wrote out said words and then tapped them with them rearranging. If it was possible, Draco's stomach would have dropped, even though it still felt like that. "I am Lord Voldemort, yours and your family's Lord and Master. But with my fall those years ago, it seems that your dear father forgot that. In fact..." Leaning in, he whispered into Draco's ear. "Your father betrayed me by claiming he never followed me at all. That it was all just him being under Imperius. Your grandfather was my servant and I know that Abraxas would have stood up and proudly stated such."

Now walking around Draco again, Riddle chuckled. "And then we got you. Draco Malfoy... I will admit, I was intrigued by Ginny when she told me about you, complaining about your actions. I found such amusing on a number of levels... Like a little dog barking loudly. Annoying, but amusing. But then you crossed the line when you started going on about how you know all about the heir. How you might be responsible, but then claiming not to be. Taking credit, or rather giving it to your father for Dumbledore being thrown out." Ginny's and Riddle's snarling face then filled Draco's vision. "Taking credit for my actions! And that, my dear Draco, is unforgivable. I was the one who drove Dumbledore from this school, not you. And certainly not your coward and betrayer of a father."

Then Riddle and Ginny were back to smiling. "But I am a magnanimous sort, so I have not killed you. No, you and your family may yet be of use, though I suppose that the rest of me will be most... annoyed... that your father endangered this backup for us by what he did. He too will suffer for his betrayals. But I promise not to do too much to him, or to your mother. After all, I shall now return! And so, I won't kill you, but rather punish you." Reaching out, his and Ginny's hand enclosed around Draco's throat before they hissed in a low, venomous voice. "But do not think it so easy. The curse that I used is done so before petrification you see. Under normal circumstances, you would experience nothing between the time of petrification and when it is cured."

It went without saying that the smile they gave Draco made him want to crawl as far away as they could. "This curse though allows, when used before petrification, to allow the person to be fully conscious. They're able to see and hear, and to think. But nothing else. Stuck in the prison that is their body until the petrification is removed. Perhaps, the lesson will stick with you." Waving Ginny's wand, they wrote a message in blood that Ginny's bones would forever lay in the Chamber of Secrets and then nodded. "Now goodbye for now, Draco Malfoy. I shall see you after my resurrection is complete."

With another wave, Draco's body floated into the alcove behind the statue. Now out of sight, Riddle waved the wand with a spell or two as he knew that Draco could just barely see the hallway. 'Good, not know one will be able to stumble on him for the next several hours.

Just whistling, they then walked off with the Basilisk following behind. All the while Draco stared forward, screaming in his head.

A few hours later he was screaming and begging for someone to see him when he could see the teachers. But then they left with him still there. All alone, knowing that Hogwarts was about to be abandoned with him still in it...
__________________________________________________________________

Eyes wide, Harry rushed over to the pale faced Ron and placed his hand on the red head's shoulder. "Ron? Ron, calm down..."

That got him a glare from Ron who grabbed his arm. "My sister, Harry! She's down in the Chamber right now and... And she might be dead. All the while the teachers are just going to leave her down there while they evacuate the school! Calm down?! WHY THE BLOODY HELL SHOULD I CALM DOWN WITH MY BABY SISTER IN DANGER!?"

Neville gave a weak chuckle. "Um, she's your only sister?" At the glare though, he backed off. "Uh, right then, shutting up now."

Just turning back to Harry, Ron grabbed him. "We got to do something, Harry! I... She's my sister!"

Slowly nodding, Harry looked around the room while looking for something to distract Ron. "We will, Ron, we will and..." It was then that he noticed something in Hermione's hand. Normally, he would have missed it except for the angle he was at. Reaching out, he gently worked it out of her clenched fist and then unfolded the crumpled paper, which was also stained with dried repair fluid. Eyes running over it, Harry paled some. "Oh... bloody hell."

Confused, Maruyu walked over. "What is it, Harry-Chan? What have you found?" Reading over his shoulder, she blinked. "A basilisk?"

Needless to say, that got a reaction from the others as both Neville and Ron paled and shouted. "SAY WHAT NOW!?"

Rushing over, they looked over Harry's shoulder and Ron let out a low moan as he read Hermione's arguments. "Oh no... A basilisk... Ginny's down there with a basilisk..."

A grimace on his face, Harry nodded. "It does made sense, though Hermione forgot that Hagrid's roosters got killed too."

His eyebrows furrowing, Neville looked towards Harry. "Uh, Harry? But Hagrid said that those were killed by animals though..."

With a glance at him, Harry shook his head. "It only looked that way, so who knows? But it makes far too much sense including why people were only petrified. And pipes! Why didn't anyone think..." His eyes widening some, Harry straightened. "Myrtle..."

Really confused, Maruyu looked between Harry and the others. Ron and Neville also looked confused until Harry turned to them. "Harry-Chan?"

Quickly whipping around, Harry grabbed her shoulder. "I know where it is, Maruyu-Chan! I know where the Chamber of Secrets is!" Running out, he grabbed a paper and wrote a quick note on it before sticking it to Madame Pomfrey's door. "Who's the closest teacher?"

Thinking it over, Neville nodded. "Lockhart! His apartments aren't far away and he might be there!"

With a final nod, they all took off out of the room running for said teacher's apartments, not noticing Peeves come out of a wall with a glare on his face. Then the Poltergeist turned to the note and smirked, not seeing Upholder watching him with narrowed eyes. Meanwhile, several minutes later the group reached Lockhart's apartments and banged on the door. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal Lockhart with his bags partially packed. "Yes? Mister Potter, Mister Weasley, Mister Longbottom, and..." He gave Maruyu an odd look before shaking it off and looking at Harry. "What seems to be the problem? I am rather busy and so should you since we are evacuating the school."

Shaking his head, Harry's breaths began to calm. "Professor, you know about Ginny?"

On Lockhart's face was a saddened expression. "I do, Mister Potter. It's a real shame as she was a nice girl, my condolences, Mister Weasley."

Much to his surprise, Harry shook his head. "That's just it, I know where she is! I know where the Chamber is and I can even show you. Then you can tell the rest of the teachers and go rescue her."

Frowning, Lockhart shook his head and began to walk back into his apartment. "You may think that you know where it is, Mister Potter. Maybe. But right now it is too dangerous to go looking for it. We need to leave right now and after we get out of here and after we can get a proper party together to go and look."

Shocked, Ron stared at him. "What..." His face turned red and he practically roared at the teacher. "WHAT!? MY BABY SISTER IS DOWN THERE! AREN'T YOU SOME SORT OF HERO!?"

With a sigh, Lockhart closed his eyes and shook his head. "Your sister is sadly likely dead already, Mister Weasley and..." Opening his eyes, Lockhart's gaze fell on a picture. Said picture was of him and Royal Sovereign with a book held in their hands and smiling at each other. The book in question was there beside the picture and he picked it up with a thoughtful look as Ron continued to hell at him. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before twirling around. "You know what, Mister Weasley? You are correct! And as a hero, I shall come with you to examine the possible site in order to get some intelligence on it, now let us be off!"

As the four stared at him, he wrote something out and began jogging out the door with Harry and the others following. Soon, Harry took the lead and brought them to Myrtle's washroom and burst in. "MYRTLE!"

Coming out of her stall, said ghost stared at him in disbelief. "Harry? What are you doing here? Everyone is getting ready for the evacuation!"

Just grimacing, Harry shook his head as Lockhart and the others tried to catch their breath outside of Maruyu. "Myrtle, I know that you don't like talking about it, I really do... But I need to know how you died and what happened."

Myrtle's eyes widened and she jerked back. "Harry? You want to know about how I died but... i..." Shaking her head, she turned away and closed her eyes with a gulp. "I really don't like thinking about it."

Head shaking, Harry walked up. "I know, Myrtle, I really do. But this is important, I need to know to help Ginny. She's been taken down into the chamber and might die, but she might still be alive. I need to know to confirm something."

Turning, Myrtle stared at him for several moments. "It's... to save someone? From what happened...?" At Harry's nod, the ghost took a deep breath. "I was there in that stall, the one I haunt. The reason that I was in there was due to Hornby being really nasty that day to me, so I was crying pretty badly. But I heard a voice just outside the stall. It was speaking some sort of odd language..."

With a nod, Harry swallowed. "Did you hear anything else? Anything at all?"

On Myrtle's face was a frown as she thought before furrowing her eyebrows. "I... Yes, there was another sound. A grinding, almost scraping sound." When Harry asked if the voice was hissing, her eyes widened. "Why yes! Yes, it was mostly hissing for some odd reason and since it was a boy, I threw the door open to demand to know why he was here. But all I saw was two great big, yellow eyes. Then poof! I was dead." Confused, Myrtle looked at him. "However did you know?"

His thoughts confirmed, Harry nodded. "Because the monster is a Basilisk which means that the Heir is likely a Parselmouth since those are the only people who can control one. And that sound was likely the Chamber being opened, so the entrance must be in this room."

Desperate to save his sister, Ron began looking around. "Come on, look for something that's out of place. Hurry!"

As he turned and was about to look, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder that was cold. Turning, he saw Myrtle's worried expression. "You're going to open the entrance at least to confirm that it was here, aren't you?" At his nod, she sighed. "Be careful, if you die I shall be most cross with you. Granted, you can still share my U-bend with me in such a case, but still. I would rather you not die."

In return, Harry just smiled. "I'll try not to, and thanks." Hearing a shout from Neville, Harry ran over. "You found something?"

Looking over his shoulder, Neville nodded. "Look right here, it's a snake on the sink."

When Harry joined him, he smiled and clapped Neville on the shoulder. "Great job, Nev!" Glancing at the others, he waved at them. "Back up some..." Harry then turned back to the sink and focused on the snake and tried the first word that came to him. "{Open.}"

Slowly, with a grinding noise, the sinks slowly moved outwards. Soon, it revealed a massive hole leading down beneath the school. Moving to the edge, they all looked down and thus missed the door opening a crack. At the same time, Maruyu pulled out an empty shell and tossed it in, listening as it slid down the pipe with a shake of her head. "That's... deep."

Harry nodded with a relieved smile. "Now that he know that it's here, we can-" He was about to continue when suddenly, a bunch of stink pellets were thrown in and covered the room with a disgusting, green mist. Coughing, Harry brought his hands to his nose and only had time to widen his eyes as he saw Peeves appear. The poltergeist grinned madly at him.

Right before he gave the wizard a shove, causing him to fall backwards into the pipe.

Of course, seeing that, Ron grabbed Harry but was pulled off balance, as was Neville when he tried to grab Ron. For Lockhart though, Neville was the one who grabbed him in a panic and so also fell back. Maruyu only leapt into the pipe to follow with Harry's last sight being the horrified expression on Myrtle's face and Peeves waving at him with a grin. "Bye, bye, Potty!"

Then the washroom was out of sight past a turn of the pipe.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 39: S0ngD0g13

In Yokosuka just prior to Maruyu leaving for Hogwarts...
............................................

"Maruyu? What's goin' on; Nagato's lookin' like she's about to go plumb spare," asked Virginia, who'd come up from Kure with Jaw to visit the Duckies. "And why are you loadin' up like you plan to storm Europe all by yourself?"

The submarine gave the ironclad a quick summary of the most recent events at Hogwarts as she loaded weapon after weapon into her hull.

Virginia's eyes hardened then, and she issued orders to her own crew to unship one of her howitzers and ready it and ammunition for transfer. "Here; it's one of my twelve-pounders, Maruyu. You can lash it down on timbers for a carriage. I'm giving you some canister and chain with it." She also pulled a cartridge-box and belt out, wrapped around an Enfield rifle with an elaborately-carved stock. "Here's the rifle I used on Spider Island; Sting's her name and she'll do ya right. The socket-bayonet's on the belt."

"Virginia, why-?"

"Just take'em, Maruyu. I ain't met Harry but a few times, but he's a good kid and apt to make a helluva man once he's grown. You're lightin' out to guard him, and whatever's Slytherin's Beastie might-well take a lotta killin', so here's my contribution to the 'Keep Harry Alive/Make the Monster Dead' Plan." The teen's face was grim, but she nodded as the howitzer was transferred aboard Maruyu along with Sting.

"Th- Thank you, Virginia. I'll use them with pride," said Maruyu. The pair set out toward Nagato's quarters. "Any advice?"

"My Granddaddy's Three Rules of Combat: One, Don't Die. Two, Always Dead-Check; put an extra round in their head or a bayonet in their heart to make certain they're not playin' possum. Three, if someone tells you the enemy's dead, you don't believe'em until you actually see the corpse and carry out Rule Two."

As they parted, Kaylee laid her hand on Maruyu's shoulder. "Stay safe, watch your six, and keep your powder dry, Maruyu. If reinforcements get sent from here I'll be bucking hard to go, so save me a piece of the action, eh? Fair Winds, Sister."

Maruyu nodded and clapped Virginia on the shoulder. "Fair Winds, and Following Seas, Sister."

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

And with all the talk of Aso going around, I had a brain thing while I was trying to revise an essay and ended up writing this out. As you may guess, I am no great conversationist.
-----

It was late, and Houshou had all but closed the cafe. In fact, she was cleaning the tables in preparation for turning out the lights and locking up when the door opened and shut. She looked up and saw Aso standing there, sullen with her arms rigidly crossed. Houshou sighed.

"Have you had dinner yet?" she asked. Aso shook her head no. "Give me a second to get some rice going."
-----

Fortunately, Houshou took the precaution to make an "Akagi-sized" meal. It took a little longer, but Aso proved once again that a Shipgirl's appetite far outweighed her size.

"So," Houshou said after she had wolfed down half of the tower, "why were you so upset?" Aso paused, chopsticks poised directly in front of her mouth. She shoved her rice in her mouth, chewed rapidly, and swallowed, wincing when the food didn't go down immediately. Putting her rice bowl and chopsticks down, she scrutinized her food.

"I… I had a fight with Sendai," she explained. "About her sisters, and their… Americans." Houshou didn't doubt for a second that she had nearly used a more offensive term. "And now I'm in trouble with the Admiral. Again." Houshou sighed, pinching her nose. She had had a feeling that the incident was at least part of the matter.

"We're all allies in this together," she said, trying to hide her tiredness. This was an old conversation that had never quite died. "Japan, America, Germany, all."

"Sure," Aso replied acerbically. "Sure we are. Everyone playing nice and shooting at the same enemy. And… sharing resources and men. And—Why? We—We have pride! And now everyone's saying, 'oh well! They beat us!'" She gripped her hair, pulling on it. "So let's—let's just roll over and show them our bellies!"

"Aso," Houshou said, irritation creeping into her tone. Aso subsided, lowering her hands to the table slowly. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating again, this time at a much slower rate. Houshou leaned back and looked down into her lap. At this rate, the conversation would close the same way it always did—with bitterness and ill temper. What could she do differently? What could she…

"Aso," she said again, "Do you have faith in me?" Aso blinked, and stared at her awkwardly, trying to figure out where she was going.

"Do you trust me?" Houshou tried again.

Aso sighed, exhalation driving all the air from her lungs. "Yes," she admitted, as if it was a fault.

"Well," Houshou continued, "I have faith in them." Aso made a face. "So, for the moment, why don't we work from there?" Now the face looked like she was telling her to eat a live chicken, feathers and all. The exchange of looks continued for a few seconds, and then Aso returned to her meal.

She spent her remaining time there in silence. Finally, when nothing was left, she put down the bowl and chopsticks, folding her hands for a second.

"Thank you for the food," she intoned solemnly, then stood and walked towards the door.

"Aso," Houshou called after her and she stopped, one hand ready to push the door open and release her from the cafe. Half-turning, she gave Houshou a side-eyed look. "Please… think about what I said."

With a sigh, Aso turned back to the door. "Why not," she said with what Houshou prayed wasn't bitterness. Then she was on her way.
-----
It's honestly hard for me to write Houshou. Whenever I try, my brain goes "Mom."

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Shaithan

Surrender

Scapa Flow carried the unconscious Retribution to her drydocks. Some of her worker fairies had already begun to board the Princess, getting to work alongside abyssal specters, patching up the various valves that had been smashed when she had initiated scuttling. The bigger damage, the blasted doors and the holes caused by scuttling charges below the waterline would need considerably more treatment.

Overall, she was amazed how incredibly though a Re-class was. Her workers and the specters agreed that there was no structural damage. Sure, a few sections would need extensive work, but overall, she would be mobile again quite soon. And unless she really messed up, the only scars remaining would be psychological.

Scapa Flow held the Princess like she would a small child. And to be fair, next to her everyone was a small child. Some of the younger destroyers she could see were barely over a third of her height.

Carefully she patted the Princess next to her on her back. The girl hadn't stopped holding her daughter's hand the whole time. "It'll be okay, lass," she rumbled reassuringly.

The Princess looked up at her. "But it was my fault she became that way," she gave back softly. "I am at fault for them all losing their lives," she continued.

Scapa Flow snorted. "Lass, ye couldn't have known that peace was a possibility," she stated. "It was the beginning stages of the war, chances are y'all would have been killed either way. Shoot first, don't ask questions was pretty much the first policy," she explained.

Wandering Princess shuddered. "Still, I led my daughters to their deaths," she said softly.

Scapa Flow sighed, rearranging Retribution on her arms. Amusingly enough the tail moved to hold onto her.

"That's a good sign," Wandering Princess said slowly. "A Re-class uses her tail to communicate in addition to all other forms of communication she has. Getting hugged by her tail means she feels safe," she explained. "It also means Retribution is already recovering," she continued.

"So, it's a bit like a cat's tail?" Scapa Flow wanted to know.

"What is a cat?" Wandering Princess replied, completely puzzled.

Scapa Flow looked down at the puzzled princess, before giving a deep, booming laugh. "Seems like we'll have to show you humanity's masters, lass," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

At the pier, the British girls were busy taking care of the destroyers and the light cruisers who were quite willing to express their concern for their little sister. Especially the three Ha-class destroyers were quite restless.

Not that the girls could exactly fault them for it. These girls had been dead by the looks of it and now had returned as their youngest sister had tried to scuttle herself. Some of them had heard Scapa Flow's words, so speculation was already running rampant. Was it the Abyssals that had through their return let Scapa turn up or was it the other way around.

At the shore, Admiral Collingwood waited for the returning girls. She had feared the worst when news came in that a Re-class Princess was on her way to Scapa Flow. Especially a Re-class Princess that may or may not have been on a one-way-trip. What had happened had exceeded her expectations massively. The Re-class Princess had been on a one-way-trip. It was undoubtedly a Princess. She was indeed the last survivor of a fleet that had attacked here long ago. She remembered the fight, the attackers had been weakened to a great degree, visibly damaged, but they had tried to do as much damage as possible. And they had succeeded. Scapa had taken quite a bit of damage and made the Royal Navy focus on massively protecting it for a while. And after the battle, they hadn't checked who all had been there. The only thing that had mattered had been that every single abyssal had been sunk. That they had missed the likely strongest ship was something that only now had been realized.

In a way they were quite lucky that this Re-class had been suicidal. She shuddered when imagining what a determined Re-class could do to Scapa. Especially one that had become a princess. She had no doubt that her girls would have been able to put her down, but she wouldn't bet on still having all her girls when all was said and done.

But now, things looked quite different. Scapa Flow, the installation herself had self-summoned, quite likely in response to the princess scuttling. She had brought a large group of abyssals with her, from the field reports, sisters and the mother. And the fleet composition had thrown her for a loop. Roughly twenty destroyers, two light cruisers and a Princess. Well, and a Re-class. And it made no sense. Abyssal fleets tended to grow along generally predictable paths. Generally they began with destroyers before adding cruisers, both light and heavy. Sometimes there were Armored Cruisers in there, too. Once there were cruisers, it was usually followed by battleships and/or battlecruisers, which tended to get followed by Wo-class carriers. Having Re-class battleships only happened when there was already a sizeable fleet of capital ships. Offhand, she didn't remember hearing about any princess who didn't employ heavy units having a Re-class.

And yet, here it was. A fleet lacking any conventional capital ships, but fielding a Re-class.

Looking towards the pier, she saw the abyssal destroyers and light cruisers glancing toward where a massive woman next to an abyssal princess carried a Re-class towards land. Their agitation was easily palpable. In a way she could understand it. It still annoyed her that Scapa had simply decided to put them up.

Finally, Scapa Flow and the princess reached the pier. Their height difference almost comical, the Princess was about 5" 6' and Scapa easily reached 4 meters.

"Admiral," Scapa Flow greeted her.

"Scapa Flow," Collingwood gave back. "Thank you for coming," she added.

Scapa gave a crooked grin. "Aye," she said, shuffling her feet a bit. "I cannae let it happen again," she said, gently rubbing Retribution's back.

Collingwood raised an eyebrow. "Oh," she said softly when understanding hit, looking out to where the last ships of the High Seas Fleet rested.

"Admiral," Wandering Princess said slowly. "I wish to formally surrender myself and my daughters to humanity's control. We can not fight you and without your harbour coming to our aid, my precious little daughter might have died, just as we did so long ago," she stated formally. "But please, allow me to look after my daughters," she requested.

For her part, Collingwood couldn't shake the feeling she got from watching the Princess. She reminded her of a girl that had fled onto Victory during Blood Week with her daughter. She had been barely sixteen and had been scared out of her mind until Victory had appeared and calmed her down. The story had been heartbreaking, really. Her family had kicked her out, disagreeing quite strenously with having one of those sorts as son-in-law. Sometimes she wondered what was so wrong about a Scottish boyfriend. At least the boy, who was just her age, had done his best, had even got his parents to help out. And then, because he was looking at a Royal Navy Career, just like his family had done since the days of Queen Elizabeth and Francis Drake, the whole family had come down to Portsmouth. At the most inopportune moment, really. Ninety-six Wo-class carriers had wrought havoc up and down the channel coast. A strike of over a thousand bombers had hit Portsmouth. The devastation had been horrendous. Over the day the bombers had returned twice. Those who could fleeing inland. And during it all, the girl had lost her boyfriend and his parents. From what she had told, the boy had told her to run to Victory, to hide aboard her and to wait for him, while he got his parents to a medic.

The next day the first responders managed to clear their way towards the harbour area. The night having been spent rescuing as many as they could from the burning residential areas. The first shipgirls had been sighted, too. Ark Royal, Glorious and Courageous valiantly fighting off the incoming strikes. Some destroyers had turned up, too. Błyskawica had returned to defend Cowes once more, declaring that as long as she was afloat, Cowes would always have her protection. But for the boy and his parents, it had been too late. The father had tried to shield them, but the bullets had torn straight through all three. In a sick sense of mercy, their faces were almost painfully clean and recognizable.

Victory had taken care of the girl, a girl that couldn't rely on her parents any longer, looking out for her. She had also added the boy's name to her crew register, stating that he had earned it.

And now, looking at the Princess before her, she saw the same look. A too young mother that was hopelessly out of her depth and wasn't even sure how to provide for her offspring.

Collingwood shook herself from her reminiscence, trying to figure out how to go ahead. Quite honestly, she was out of her depth. She wondered how that Japanese admiral would have reacted here. This was a perfect storm of headache material. "Ah, no, I don't think that is a fair deal," she stalled. "I will, for the time being, allow you to port here. You will be treated as interned ships and may not leave the harbour area," she decided. "Scapa Flow will look after your daughter, and I will call upon various people to hash out an agreement," she laid out.

Wandering Princess looked at Collingwood with big eyes. "We do not have to surrender ourselves to your every command?" she asked hopefully.

"No, whatever makes you think that?" Collingwood wanted to know.

Wandering Princess cleared her throat. "Every Princess is her own sovereign. While there might be those who command various princesses, they tend to be family units. A princess who's daughters grew up to become princesses themselves. If someone like me wishes to end hostilities with a stronger faction, the weaker one has to surrender to the stronger one completely. We become subsumed into the greater fleet, to a lesser or greater extent slaved to the will of the new Princess," she explained. "No Princess I know of would allow another princess to join her ranks without that princess completely submitting. A lesser ship won't have to completely submit and powerful roamers may join and leave at any time, but a Princess does not have that privilege. She either rules on her own, by the grace of her mother or not at all," she continued with her explanation.

Collingwood quickly jotted that explanation down, that was incredibly useful to know. "Humanity does not operate like that. We will negotiate a treaty with you, where we lay out how the coexistence will be ensured. If you have an island base, chances are good you may keep it, as long as you agree to allowing shipgirls to stop there, too," she said slowly.

Wandering Princess sunk into herself. "I never had a base. I was sent out by my Princess to build a base at the North Cape. I was a freshly-promoted Elite destroyer when I got sent out. My Princess sent some Wa-class transports with me, which held the resources for a fleet and a naval base," she explained. "I did as my Princess instructed, built some destroyers and my two light cruisers before raiding," she continued. "Then, I built more ships. Things were going well, until I set out to construct a big girl. I wanted a heavy cruiser or an armored cruiser for additional firepower. I got my dear little Retribution. I consumed the resources for the Naval base and even the Wa-class ships to finish construction. Thankfully my girls could keep up their raids and bring me food. And while my darling little Retribution was growing, I too grew. I had been an Elite destroyer, within the week that she grew in my internal yards, I changed from Elite Destroyer to Princess class. My Princess severed her ties to me due to that," she explained. "She did not like that at all. Which might have been for the best for me, as you meatbags killed her barely a week later. That was about six months before what you call Blood Week. One of her destroyers told me, before leaving to roam herself. Nevertheless, with Retribution at my side and a Princess in my own right, I lacked resources to keep my girls fed. So we raided. We followed the call when the Princesses ordered all abyssal units to start hostilities. Few did not follow the call or followed it to the barest minimum they could get away with," she recalled. "We had about another six months in us, before we met our end at Shetland, Spain, Iceland, Greenland, Jan Mayen and finally Scapa Flow," she finished softly. "We were so hungry, no port to call home and always afraid of running into Shipgirls. Dying here was peace for us, and we only realized what we had done to our youngest when she began to bring the specters of my lost daughters together and set off for Scapa Flow to finally join us," she told the astonished Admiral. "And if Scapa Flow hadn't intervened, I would have had to greet my daughter after she scuttled herself," she finished and fell silent, looking downright tiny.

Internally, Collingwood groaned. This was going to be hell to negotiate. The Princess had no home port, an operational history of at least a year from before Blood Week, someone had killed an Abyssal Princess half a year before shipgirls were a known phenomenon. And then there was the glaring lack of experience the Princess exhibited. She would need help for a great many things. This also meant that calling in Wanko was almost definitely a needed thing. She was the closest the Princess before her would have to someone in her corner who would look out for her best interests in the negotiations. Though, considering how Scapa took care of that Re-class, Scapa Flow might be willing to help out with negotiations, too.

In the distance she could see U-490 getting swarmed by both her own as well as the abyssal destroyers. The To-class sat on a pier and had produced a fishing rod from somewhere and gave an air of exasperation with Bulldog, who was busy questioning her. The He-class tried to ride herd on the destroyers, but it was futile. They wanted food. And if what the Princess had told held true, they might be afraid that lean days were to follow.

With a deep sigh, she turned to the Wandering Princess. "Well, our spooks will want to talk to you, what you know about Abyssal actions is long outdated, but what you know about how abyssals work and think is still invaluable to help us understand their motivations. Anything further is out of my hands, but I will try my best to ensure that you and your daughters will be treated fairly. And yes, that means regular meals, too," she reassured the Princess.

Collingwood did not expect the hug, but she gracefully accepted it, patting the Princess on the back. "It will be alright," she promised.

 

[darthcourt10]

smthng

NotHimAgain said:
Well what do you think, sirs?​

Follows Aso & Houshou
*-*-*-*-*-*-
It was very good. And definitely a lot more merciful for Aso than the aftermath I envisioned. Which included Hosho coming to collect Aso from the Kure naval base brig:

"Hey!" Sendai hollered as the guards led Hosho and Aso out of the holding area. "How come she gets to go, and I'm left here!?"

Hosho froze in place, and then slowly turned to face the light cruiser. The look on her face would have been enough to freeze nitrogen. "Do you honestly believe that being released into my care is a more merciful punishment for Aso-kun?"

Sendai could not help but swallow as Hosho's ice-cold eyes bored into her. "And besides, you will not be 'left here', Sendai-san. Jintsuu-san has merely not yet arrived, as it takes some time to reach Kure from Yokosuka. Rest assured, you will get yours in time." The light carrier then whirled around, and marched out. "Come along now, Aso-kun."

"Hai, okaasama," Aso muttered in defeated voice.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shaithan said:
Collingwood did not expect the hug, but she gracefully accepted it, patting the Princess on the back. "It will be alright," she promised.​

One of these days I need to write a follow up to the Abyssal snippet I did. If for no other reason then to show people how inhuman even surrendering Abyssals can be. Because the way I have envisioned those three, their morals are nowhere close to that of humanity.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Well, it's the weekend and I figure I've got the time. Let's see how this goes over.
Alternative Routes

-----
Nemo and Takumi watch the birds running to and fro, racing the surf as if it will drag them away if the water so much as touches them. It has been a week since he brought her the newspaper, three meetings in which they've tried not to let the specter hang over them, but fallen to it all the same. Looking back, Takumi has to admit to himself that he had underestimated the effect that such a document would have on his girlfriend—Nemo has been alternating between agitated and morose whenever he sees her. Figuring that Romeo and Juliet would have an adverse effect, he instead tracked down Much Ado About Nothing for her. Though she cracked a smile at the happy ending, he had ended up describing the performance of the show that he and his classmates had put on for their middle school festival. She laughed at how he describes Benedick's antics trying to spy on his friends, but it began to ring a little hollow, and that is where they are now—sitting and watching, as if that will solve something.

"Suppose," Takumi says, "Just suppose for a moment… What if you went to the Navy, and offered to carry a message to your Princesses? Do you think you could open up some kind of communication that way?" Nemo groans, kicking the sand.

"They'd shoot me as soon as look at me," she grumbles. "If they didn't do that, they'd lock me up wherever they keep the hostiles they capture. If, you know, they do that. I don't think they do."

"Don't you think you're being just a little pessimistic?" Takumi asks, shrugging half-heartedly. Nemo glares, and he raises his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying. It feels like you've been going out of your way to see the ways these little plans will fail." Nemo glares a second more, and then looks back at the birds.

"I guess you're right," she apologizes, leaning against his shoulder. "I just… I keep going over the scenarios in my head, but I can never see any good coming from them. Ask the Princesses directly? Get placed under guard, never to leave the territory again. Try to build up support in the rank and file? Start a civil war in the forces. I just… I'm scared, alright?"

"I know," Takumi says gently, but Nemo shakes her head.

"No, you don't," she insists. "This is… Our actions have consequences. Whatever we manage to pull off? It could be bigger than anything that ever happened to us, and things like that, the way we'd have to do them…" Her chin shrinks into her collar. "I try to think, I keep trying to think, but I've got nothing."

"This isn't a situation that your average couple deals with," Takumi admits, raising his arm. Nemo yelps as she flops into his lap, and looks up into his eyes. "But we were never your average couple in the first place, were we?" She smiles ruefully, and doesn't protest when he begins to stroke her hair. "We'll just have to be the first to pull it off."

"You are ridiculously optimistic, you know that?" she mumbles. Takumi shrugs.

"I suppose that life has taught me to look on a slightly shinier side," he admits. "Sometimes I wonder if it's a character flaw." Nemo 'hmms' and adjusts her body to lie more comfortably in the sand. "But you know, I've always thought that someone has to look on the bright side. Otherwise, they'll never see how good they've got it."

"I think that you're talking in circles," Nemo says, yawning. Takumi raises an eyebrow. That's definitely something new.

"Circles are interesting," he defends himself. "It's a line that will truly never have a beginning or end." He leans back to look up at the sky. "Eternity captured perfectly with ink and paper."

"Dork" she says.

"You're one to talk," he says. As the tension leaves her body and her head rolls against his stomach, he brings his fingers up to rub his eyelids. This is a problem that will never just "go away," and in the week that they've known of it, they haven't figured out anything.
-----

"Have you heard anything about some kind of joint military action?" Goto asks. Wanko, sitting in front of his desk, shakes her head firmly.

"I've spoken to Supprin… And her intelligence has nothing… as well," she replied. "All we know… is that this cruiser… has been going back and forth… every few days."

"Besides," Kongou adds, leaning down and wrapping her arms over Goto's shoulders like a particularly battle-worn scarf, "from what you've told me, these Twins don't play well with others. How likely do you think it is that they'd work with whoever it is out there to hit the coast?"

"There's… that too," Wanko concedes in a tone that sounds a bit grim.

"What if she really is just checking out the lights?" Hiei suggests. The other three people in the room turn to look at her where she's flipping through a manga. "What? That is what she said to be doing, right?"

"Hiei, what are you doing in here?" Goto asks tiredly. Hiei raises her manga so that they can see the cover.

"I was looking for a quiet place to read," she explains, "so I came here, because this is usually pretty quiet, and then Wanko came and everyone started talking. Why?" she continues, swirling a finger in her hair and her tone just a tiny bit caustic. "Am I not supposed to be here?"

"No, that's…" Goto presses his palm to his forehead and groans.

"We've considered… the possibility," Wanko replies, "But it doesn't… change the facts."

"Yeah, yeah, girly might not be a tourist," Hiei replies, snapping her book shut. She's probably going to want to go find yet another place that she can be alone with Hero Academia. She has only gotten through half the tankobon in the seven hours she's had it because everywhere she's gone, someone's been talking and screwed over her focus. Even trying to cut the discussion before her out and power through the reading has failed. "That's what you've been talking about for the past fifteen minutes."

"Hiei," Kongou says, but Hiei continues over her cutoff.

"What? Be serious? I'm not good at that, you oughta know that better than most," she says flippantly. She's not being fair, somewhere inside she realizes that, but she's so frustrated at her inability to finish her book that she's not very worried about it right now. "You've been talking and talking about what she might be doing, but from the way things sound to me, this Ne-class is just running around seeing sights—not something that scares me that much. Why don't you just go up and ask her? Heck!" She slaps her book shut with a clap, "If these guys are as 'no touch us, no touch you' as I've heard, why don't you just give her a brochure or something for the treaty? At least that way we'd be able to say something to them!"

Her momentum lost, Hiei stops to look at her sister, staring at her incredulously, Wanko's maybe-not-a-glare, and realizes how she was just acting in front of Admiral Goto. "Ah, sorry," she apologizes, "I've been a little cranky today, didn't mean to blow up like that—"

"No," Goto replies, turning to his computer. "You're right, Hiei. We need to look at this from another angle, if I just—ah—" his finger comes down on the button on his desk.

"Sir?" Ooyodo's voice comes through.

"Get me a newspaper. One of the ones with the Treaty in it, we should still have a few lying around somewhere. This—"

Hiei watches as her commanding officer begins to tackle his job with a renewed energy. From the angle she's seeing him, it looks slightly ridiculous. Turning, she figures that maybe she'll head over to the archery range—that's usually empty this time of day.

"Wanko, what times was the cruiser seen again? Oh, Hiei? I'm going to need you to stay a little while longer."
-----

"Nemo," a voice says gently, tugging her shoulder back and forth. Suddenly the meadow, the takoyaki, and the swordfish in Nemo's hand fade into the beach and the night sky. She blinks, trying to put everything together before she finally figures out what's real and what wasn't.

"What? Where?" she babbles, clawing her way up Takumi's shirt and pushing herself into an upright position. "What time is it?"

"Late," he says cryptically, but she's already looking inwardly at her own clocks. Oh—it's time to go? And he let her sleep the entire time? "You must have been really tired," Takumi says as she stands and brushes the sand from her body. "Having some kind of trouble?" She pauses, then resumes brushing as he stands and begins running his hand up and down the center of her back, right between her shoulder blades where she can't get to.

"It's just this whole business," she admits. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and I guess I've missed a bit of sleep."

"That's not good," he advises her sagely. "If you're not well-rested, you have trouble making good decisions."

"I know that," Nemo replies, clapping the remaining particles from her hands. "But it's easier in theory than practice." They stand there in silence for a moment, before she spins around and hugs him. "Monday?" she asks hopefully.

"Monday," Takumi agrees. Nemo nods, and steps out onto the water. As she speeds away from land, she can feel his eyes on her back. She likes to think of his gaze as keeping her safe, chasing away anything that could be following her. She's not so childish as to believe it's true, but she's learned that it fills her with a sense of slightly greater security.

Appropriately enough, it's right as the beach vanishes into the distance that she pings multiple objects moving towards her—and one in particular is going faster than she'd like to see. She picks up speed, and the pings change their angle. And then she has them in sight, approaching gradually, and her skin goes clammy at the one in the center.

It's a battleship. Not an Abyssal battleship, a battleship battleship. They've caught on to her, and now she's going to die. No! She can't die! She still needs to fix things, to walk hand in hand with Takumi—she nearly brings her cannons to bear, but stops herself—if she opens fire, they'll do the same, and she counts five now—the battleship, two destroyers, and two Ho-class Abyssals—Oh, you've got to be kidding!

And then the Battleship raises her hands to her mouth and yells "HEY, WAIT UP!" Nemo is so surprised that she loses her footing and goes skipping along the surface of the ocean like a stone across the surface of a mill pond. As the world spins into a blur before her eyes, she finds a foot against the water's surface again and, in the split second she has, braces against it. She brings her other foot down, nearly shoving it into the water too deep and sending herself head over teakettle again, but she's able to keep her balance this time around. She spins, trying to get a bearing on the joint force that was coming up on her.

And she finds herself staring right into the battleship's eyes.

"Are you alright?" the battleship asks her, "That was quite a tumble." Nemo begins to backpaddle as quietly and slowly as she can. She nods slowly, uncomfortable under unwanted scrutiny. "That's great. Now, we were wondering if you'd be here today, and I guess we lucked out. My name is Hiei, and I have something that I'd like you to deliver to your leaders." And as Nemo's stomach twists between optimism, defeatism, and complete confusion, she produces a small, colorful book. "Wait, no, sorry, that's mine. Thought I left it back in my bunk." And then out comes...

The newspaper.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sliding down the pipe backwards, Harry bit back a yell while Ron was shouting with Lockhart. Neville seemed to be whimpering, but Maruyu? The Submarine had someone gotten to her feet and was in a crouch as she used her hands to keep herself stable. Slowly, she sped up bit by bit. But what caught Harry's eyes was the sparks coming from Maruyu's hands which told him that she was increasing her weight to speed up.

And it was awesome looking.

Upon reaching him, Maruyu nodded and used one hand to move him the right way. "You okay there, Harry-Chan? Not hurt?"

Sucking in a breath, Harry only shook his head. "Nope! Not hurt at all, Maruyu-Chan!" Looking down at the winding pipe, he shook his head as he spotted smaller pipes leading off from the ceiling of the one they were in. But what caught his attention was how far they had yet to go. "At the moment anyways. And I do know that there's someone that's going to be very hurt."

The grin on Maruyu's face was not nice in the slightest and her chuckle was rather cold. "Oh, trust me on that, Harry-Chan. Peeves will regret what he did."

While Harry nodded, they waited for the pipe to reach it's destination which they soon did. All of them shot out of the pipe and landed on something that crunched beneath them. Neville groaned for a moment before opening his eyes and looking down. Eyes widening, he scrambled to his feet. "Bloody Hell!"

He was not the only one as the rest scrambled to their feet and looked around them with Ron swallowing nervously. "Um, that's a lot of rat skeletons..."

Crouching down, Harry examined one skull he could see and shook his head. "Not just rats, this one was, um, a cat I think..." Finger moving, he pointed at another. "That one is a rabbit..."

A knife in her hands, Maruyu was using it to dig around in the pile of bones before stopping. "Um... then you got this one..." When they turned, she used the knife to lift up a human skull, colored with age and by the scummy water. "Wonder who this was..."

Only shuddering, Lockhart rubbed his arms and looked around. After a moment, he carefully walked forward and muttered under his breath while waving his wand. The skull glowed in a nimbus of light and nearly made Maruyu drop it before the nimbus rose and transformed into words. "It seems that it was one Elizabeth McCalister? And she died about two hundred years ago."

Blinking, Ron stared at it and then around them. "Wait, does that mean that the Chamber was opened more then once? I mean, we know about back about eighty years ago, but this?"

There was a frown on Harry's face as he considered the skull which Maruyu gently laid down. "It sort of makes sense, I guess? After all, there's had to be a line of descendants for Slytherin... Maybe one of them got too arrogant and unleashed the Basilisk fully?"

With a muttered Lumos, Neville began looking at the ceiling of the roughly carved cavern with a frown. "I think that we should be careful, look! There's cracks and fissures all throughout the ceiling. And... they're dripping?"

Maruyu looked up and took some quick calculations with the help of her crew all of whom paused and looked at each other inside her hull. "That's... not surprising, Neville-San. Judging by everything, I think that we're somewhere underneath the Black Lake itself." At the confused looks from Neville and Lockhart, she smiled and shrugged. "Submarine, I often make my way places without being able to see."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry frowned as he looked around. "We must be pretty deep then, there's spots in the Black Lake that go nearly a thousand feet down. Though... I think that the deepest spot around here is something like three hundred feet."

Slowly nodding, Maruyu looked around in thought. "That's... what I thought myself, Harry-Chan." Turning to the pipe that they had come down, she narrowed her eyes. "I think that I can climb it back up, but we would need to do it with me carrying one of you at a time..."

Also looking at it, Lockhart though shook his head. "No, I don't think that would work at all in this case. Splitting up would be a bad idea... No, there must be another way out." At their looks, he smiled a bit. "Slytherin by all accounts was rather vain. I very much doubt that he was slide up and down a tunnel like that if he had any choice. No, there is likely another passage way from here. We just need to find it and quick."

Unsaid was the fact that they needed to find it before the Basilisk found them. Something that everyone there agreed with. And with that, they began to walk forward, though not before Maruyu brought out a shotgun. However, she paused and held up a hand. "Do you hear that?"

Glancing around, Harry and the others blinked before Lockhart frowned. "It sounds like... claws on stone? Rats perhaps? There was enough of their bones down here after all."

Lips turning downwards, Maruyu frowned from where she had taken point, Harry just behind her. "Maybe... though that many?" Shaking her head, she gestured with her hand. "Stay close. Mogu, mogu."

Soon after they came upon a side cavern and Harry leaned into it with a flashlight before his voice crackd. "Um, Maruyu-Chan? Professor? I, uh... think that we can confirm there's a Basilisk down here..."

With a shared look, Maruyu and Lockhart looked into the side tunnel and rapidly paled at the pile of shed skin there. Swallowing nervously, Lockhart looked around with a shudder. "That's... that's a rather big snake."

Only shaking her own head, Maruyu grimaced. "That's putting it mildly... It's like a Uwabami..." Remembering the skull, she paused for a moment. "Or the Yamata no Orochi."

Muttering to herself, Harry grumbled to himself. "It's definitely deserving of the title 'Monster'..." The black haired boy blinked at the sight of Maruyu pull out an item and clip it to her ear. "I didn't know that you had a head mounted camera, Maruyu-Chan."

Softly snickering, Maruyu only shrugged and smiled. "It's pretty useful and-" Coming to a stop, she narrowed her eyes and looked around. "There's that sound again... But where is it coming from?"

Their gazes looking over their surroundings, Neville pointed. "Right there!"

Quickly, those wizards with their wands lit shone in in the direction given and froze at the horror there. Most of it looked to be a pike, except someone had gone and fitted a bird's beak over the very tip of it's snout. They had also attached a bird's legs to where the fins would be on it. Legs that it was using now to grip at the stone while staring at them with glassy eyes. Taking a step back, Lockhart gulped some. "That's not an Inferi..."

Glancing at Lockhart, Harry frowned. "Inferi? As in the undead?"

Only nodding, Lockhart tried not to let his heart explode from his chest as he caught another movement, and then another. "Inferi have eyes that seem to be filled with mist. Those eyes... they're just the glassy of something that is dead."

A hiss made them turn to see another creature. This one had to have been a cat, except the flesh was removed from it's claws and there was a badger head attached to the side of it's head. Then it's tail raised up into position and they could see the snake that was fitted there. More and more of the odd, Frankenstein-like monsters appeared. All of them composed of animal parts.

With each of them seeming to glare at the group.

Suddenly there was a scream and everyone turned to see Lockhart struggle with something on his back before he threw what was another of the creatures away. Even before it hit the wall, the Professor's wand was out and he was already casting a spell, one which hit the creature and pretty much slew it.

Unfortunately, it was also a blasting type curse and caused the ceiling to give way.

Rocks falling around them, the group ran for wherever they could get to safety. For Harry and Maruyu, that meant forwards with the Submarine at the last moment pushing Harry out of the way of a massive rock and herself jumping to the side into a tunnel there. Getting up, Harry noticed that the tunnel had caved in and rushed over. "Maruyu-Chan? Ron? Nev? Professor? Are you all okay?"

On the other side of the rockfall, Ron let out a small pained gasp. "Yeah, we're okay, Mate. A bit banged up and I think that I broke my leg, but okay."

Maruyu's voice then came from the side and Harry could just see a gap where the opening of the tunnel was. "I'm right here, Harry-Chan. I'm unharmed at the moment."

Just sighing in relief, Harry rushed over to her. "You are?" At her nod which he could just barely see, he nodded. "Thank the Kami."

Trying to push some of the rocks away, Maruyu stilled before shaking her head. "Harry-Chan? This is too unstable right now, but I'm going to work at it and it would be best that you're not here. A rock hitting me would do a lot less damage then it hitting you."

From the other side, Ron called out. "We'll try to get things going on this side as well. You just find a way out or... or find Ginny and get her out."

Simply nodding, Harry let out a breath. "Don't worry, Ron. You all just stay safe."

With a frown, Maruyu nodded some. "Hai, we will." After a moment, she spoke up again. "Harry-Chan? Do you have RO-Chan's hydrophone?"

His eyes widening, Harry began digging around in his pocket and pulled out what looked sort of like a bluetooth headset. "Hai, Maruyu-Chan! I got it right here. I, um, grabbed it back during Christmas break in case I needed it since whatever was attacking might have been doing so with it's eyes. And I thought that using it to listen might help me avoid it... I started carrying it after the last attack but, um, kind of forgot until now?"

Through the crack, he could just see the small Submarine nod. "Okay, wear that Harry-Chan, it should help you if the Basilisk shows up. And take this!"

Eyes slightly widened, Harry took the handgun that Maruyu was holding through the gap. Holding it in his hands, he turned it over in his hands before looking up at her. "This... You're giving me a Nambu?"

Chuckling, Maruyu nodded. "Hai, it's a Type 14 that belongs to my Captain. He wants you to have it just in case, and since it's pre-war, it's a good gun. Now get going!" Once he was gone, Maruyu glanced into the darkness of the tunnels where she could see some Grindylow making their way towards her. Granted, these ones had the glowing mist in their eyes of Inferi. The reason for her not sending any fairies becoming apparent as they came out and began to take aim. Others slipped out through the cracks and kept an eye on the other side tunnels so nothing snuck up on Harry from behind. "I take it that those things are over on your side as well, Ron-San?"

Grunting, Ron glared as the creatures from before moved forwards. "Yeah, but we got it covered."
___________________________________________________________________

A few hundred meters above them, and a few minutes earlier, Myrtle had problems of her own. There was a snarl on her face as she moved to one side only for the grinning Peeves to get in her way. "Get out of my way, Peeves! Now!"

Peeves gave a small giggle as he wagged a finger at her. "But you didn't say please! Peeves won't move a little unless you say please!"

Her eyes narrowing, Myrtle kept moving and trying to get past him. "What the heck are you even doing, Peeves!? Wait..." If it could have, her face would have paled as she looked at him in disbelief. "You're trying to kill him... you are actually trying to kill him..."

The poltergeist's face twisted into an expression that made Myrtle jerk back some. "Peevsie is getting very angry with Potty for stopping from having fun, he is. So he is making sure that Potty won't stop him again."

Hands clenched togather, Myrtle glared at him. "Having fun? Is that what you call tormenting everyone, Peeves? Because no one is laughing! Harry is right to put a stop to that when he comes across it. If you think that leaping out at students scared out of their wits and making them think that they're about to die is funny, then you got a sick sense of humor!" Then she frowned at him. "You just made yourself some enemies, Peeves. Powerful ones, and they'll make sure that you never hurt anyone again."

For a brief moment, it looked like Peeves was considering the fact before he shrugged. "Others have tried to get rid of Peeves, they have. All have failed. Peeves thought that the lesson stuck the last time when Peeves threatened to kill the students, but it seems like they forgot. Maybe this time they won't and leave Peeves alone... If they find out."

Eyes narrowing at him, she fought back every urge to do something though that last bit gave her a sinking feeling. "I'm going to make sure that everyone knows what you did."

Floating forward, Peeves sneered at her. "Maybe poor, little, soon to be friendless Moaning Myrtle should learn the same lesson that Potty did." As Myrtle floated back a step, Peeves giggled some. "No one would care. No one likes poor, poor teary, pimply, moaning Myrtle..."

Those words hit home and made Myrtle jerk back as if physically struck. 'No... he's wrong...' Her mind then flashed back over the past two years. To all the runs she's joined Harry on, to the cups of tea with Rose. His friends welcoming her and making her feel friendship she had not in the past fifty years.

Her mind also brought up the image of Andrew for a moment.

Just hanging her head, Myrtle allowed her hair to hang over her face as she clenched her fist tightly as she muttered. "You're wrong... Peeves. I would be missed, Harry would miss me. So would Rose and the others..."

Blinking in confusion at what was going on, Peeves frowned at the change in posture. He expected for her to run crying like she had so many times, most likely into her toilet. Then he would be able to deal with her. But the poltergeist did not expect the reaction she had. "What was that?"

Practically shaking in anger the more that she thought of what Peeves had done, and what he wanted, Myrtle growled low in her throat. Neither Peeves nor her though noticed her clenched fists seem to become more solid with black veins able to be seen beneath the skin. "You bastard..."

Before anything else could be seen though, the whole room shuddered and a roar of falling stone came from the tunnel to the Chamber. Looking towards the hole, Peeves giggled. "Sounds like Potty is in trouble~" Turning, he had a grin on his face. "What do you think, Moaning, Weepy Myrt-"

He was cut off as Myrtle's fist slammed into his jaw in an upper cut, sending him flying back. "YOU BLOODY BASTARD!" Peeves' hat, his pride of joy bounced on the floor before it's owner joined it there. Looking down at him as he laid there with a pitiable moan which caused her to blink as she calmed down. Glancing from her now normal looking fist to Peeves, she blinked in surprise. "Didn't know that he had a glass jaw..." Quickly shaking that off, she took off out of her bathroom. "I got to go and find someone right now! And get Harry some help!"

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 40: S0ngD0g13

In Kure...
....................................

"Aso? A word?" asked Virginia as she took inventory of her stores and magazine, prepping in case of trouble. It was doubtful either she or Aso would be tapped to reinforce Maruyu in Scotland, but both Shipgirls were getting ready all the same.

"Yes, Virginia?" Aso responded waspishly.

"Listen, I want to apologize for the last time we had words; I was out of line and I know it. I had no call to threaten you like that."

"I... Understand, Virginia. Houshou-Okaasan and I spoke later and she explained that you felt my words to be a slight on your family's honor. I won't apologize for what I said, but I can't truly blame you for reacting like you did." Aso flexed her hands and kept up a steady rhythm as she started limbering up with a kata.

"You reckon we'll get sent to Hogwarts to back Maruyu up?" Kaylee started moving herself, loosening her muscles with a half-remembered kata from her brief time taking lessons as a child.

"Your form is absolute garbage."

"Haven't had any formal instruction since I was eight."

Aso sighed. "If you're going to do it, do it correctly, Gaijin. Here, watch me, and do as I do. Saru wa saru o sanshō shite kudasai."

Virginia nodded. "Hai, Aso-Sensei."

After the ironclad had learned the kata to the carrier's satisfaction, they rested. "You're a good teacher, Aso."

"You're... an adequate pupil, Virginia."

"There's too much other important shit goin' on for us two to be at each other's throats. Especially since we're officially on the same side. Truce?" Kaylee looked over at Aso.

"Truce."

Kaylee smiled slightly. "I don't think we were ever properly introduced." She stood and bowed slightly. "USS Virginia, Casemate Ironclad formerly of the Confederate States Navy, at your service, Miss."

Aso returned the bow with equal formality. "Unryuu-Class Aircraft Carrier JDS Aso, formerly of the Imperial Japanese Navy, at yours, Miss Virginia."

"By the way, Aso," Virginia said, "Uncle James and I are having a fish-fry this weekend; you're welcome to come by if you want."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Remembering one of the tales that his grandmother told him, Neville was about to fire off an Incindio when a hand grabbed his wrist. Looking over at Lockhart, the twelve year old tried to pull back his hand. "What are you doing!?"

Lockhart glanced at him and then shook his head. "Saving your life, my dear boy." Seeing Neville open his mouth, he frowned as he kept one eye on the approaching monstrosities. "You were about to use a fire spell, were you not?"

A scowl on his face, Neville nodded. "Yes? I remember stories from Gran that Inferi can be killed only by fire." He glanced at one of them which looked like a cat with various other predatory heads sewed on. "And we really need to kill these things before they kill us."

Slowly, Lockhart shook his head as Ron shuffled around him with a grunt, trying and failing not to put any weight on his broken leg. "And that is a very bad idea. You see, we're underground in an enclosed space. Do either of you know how to cast a Bubbleheaded Charm?" At their head shakes, he gave a self-depreciating chuckle. "Neither do I, I am afraid. But any fire would suck up all the oxygen and leave us suffocating... Assuming that there's no explosive gas from the sewer pipes down here."

That caused Ron to look at him. "How would you know about that?"

On Lockhart's face was a grimace as he shuddered. "Do not ask, but it has to do with an incident in an old sewer." Another shudder went through him. "Took me forever to feel even the tinest bit clean afterwards."

Blinking, Ron shared a look with Neville before using a banishing charm on the closest creature. Said charm sent it flying into the walls at high speed. "So what the heck are we supposed to do!? We can't just blast them or else the roof will come down again! And if we can't use fire, then we got nothing else." He shuddered a bit. "I remember Aunt Muriel when drunk going on about body parts crawling towards her."

Also flinging another creature away, Neville nodded. "It's not like these things feel the pain of broken bones after all!"

Suddenly pausing partway through his own banishing charm, Lockhart blinked and looked at Neville. "Say that again, my boy?" When a confused Neville did so, Lockhart chuckled and nodded. "Brilliant! Twenty, no thirty points to Gryffindor! Lift those things above the ground and I shall take care of them!"

Even though both boys felt like their teacher had finally snapped, they did as he asked. Two of the creatures were lifted and Lockhart cast a spell at them which made Ron blink. "Wait, wasn't that the spell..."

With a grin on his face, Lockhart nodded. "That vanished Mister Potter's arm bones? Yes, now you may drop them." Said creatures were dropped to the ground and simply laid there like an empty sack of flesh. "Ah-hah! As I said, brilliant. Without bones, they cannot move!"

Eyes widening, Ron blinked. "Huh... That's actually pretty smart..."

Neville meanwhile was already lifting the next one. "Less talking and more bone vanishing please! They're getting closer!"

Just blinking, Lockhart suddenly nodded. "Quite right, plenty of time to explain, hmm?"
____________________________________________________________________________

Making his way through the tunnel ahead of him, Harry kept an eye out around him. Every so often he paused when he heard the distant sounds of combat with the help of the hydrophone clipped to his ear. But besides the dripping of water and the sound of stone grinding back at the rockfall, there was nothing. Coming to a pair of doors with carved snakes in them, Harry examined them and frowned. It may have been just his nervousness speaking, but they almost looked alive, their emerald eyes glaring down at him.

Quickly, Harry shoved that thought as far back into his mind as he could.

Walking up to the doors, he glanced around but found nothing there. Then he brought his gaze back to the snakes. 'It couldn't be that easy... could it?' With a shrug, he hissed at the snakes in front of him, "{Open...}" For a second, nothing happened and then the snakes slithered apart before the doors pulled apart. Harry found himself at the entrance to a long, dimly lit chamber and he ran to the side and looked in. He could only just barely see something at the end of the chamber, but could not make it out. He could see pillars with more life-like serpents thought coiling up them and just the bare features of some giant statue at the end. "Snakes... why does it always have to be snakes..."

Oddly, quoting that old movie actually helped him calm down some and he pulled the gun from the inside pocket of his robes he had placed it in. Checking it over and making sure that everything was right about it, Harry nodded to himself as he remembered the lessons that Arizona had given both him and Jane once on using guns. Texas had also taken him shooting once while he was visiting her.

Those memories in mind, he slipped it back into the pocket and held his wand as he slowly made his way down the chamber in a crouch. His eyes scanned back and forth as well as behind as he walked, his wand at the ready. When he spotted the red hair of the now apparent body, he nearly broke into a run but held himself back at the last second as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. If anything, he slowed down while taking in details such as the massive effigy at the end of the chamber. Harry recognized it as Slytherin and internally shook his head before muttering to himself. "Definitely did not get his good side..."

Finally, he reached Ginny and did a quick examination. Pressing his fingers to her neck, Harry nodded to himself and brought out a small penknife he used for his quills before holding the flat of the blade over her mouth. As the blade misted, Harry gave another nod and then shook her. "Ginny? Can you respond?" Not getting an answer, he looked around again and frowned as he stared at one spot. It seemed slightly out of focus.

But before Harry could do anything, the wand was ripped from his hand and flew through the air to the spot which soon resolved into a ghostly Tom Riddle who was looking at him in interest and amusement. "Well now, I must admit. You surprised me there, Harry. After all, any other Gryffindor would have gone running down here to her and kept trying to wake her while ignoring everything else. Bravo, it was almost Slytherin."

Moments later, everything sort of clicked and Harry's eyes widened. Then they narrowed as he hissed at Riddle. "Onryō."

Puzzled, Riddle stared at him for several moments in confusion before shaking his head with the amused look coming back. "We're Englishmen, Harry. Do not be using the words of foreigners. But if you mean ghost, no. I am a memory trapped in a diary for nearly eighty years." Pocketing Harry's wand, he chuckled. "And I have been waiting a very long time to talk with you."

Slowly, Harry got to his feet and shoved one hand into a pocket and felt one of the Ofuda he kept around just in case. "Talk? With you? I don't think that you got much time to talk with me."

If anything though, that only seemed to amuse him more. "I don't think that your friends are going to be coming, Harry. In fact, I do believe that very likely right not their corpses are being torn apart by my pets." At the slight widening of the eyes, his grin grew. "Oh yes, I created those creatures that attacked you and your friends." Riddle then chuckled a bit as he shook his head. "While I was growing up, I came across this wonderful author by the name of Lovecraft. Amazing work... In particular, my two favorite stories was 'Herbert West-Reanimator' and 'Imprisoned with the Phaorohs'. Incredible stories, which inspired me when I came to Hogwarts."

Harry just blinked at that. "You were inspired by... Lovecraft. Your using a monster to kill those born to non-magicals while liking a non-magical author..."

Laughing, Riddle nodded. "Yes, the irony is not lost on me. I especially enjoyed Imprisoned with the Phaorohs as it had a Muggle magician encounter true magic. But I kept going back to the scene where he comes across the half-human, half-animal mummies created by the Ancient Egyptians. And Herbert West... Ah, we were so similar. Both of us pushing into what normal society shied away from. Trying to come up with ways of extending life without fear of death... Of course, unlike him I did not fail. But I did come across an interesting potion which could animate the dead. Apparently the person involved used it for a side show of sorts by using it on animals and sewing them together as chimeras. He never used it to the full potential, though I suppose that Basilisk blood is rather hard to come by..." Musing, he shook his head. "Though they do work, any of those damn shipgirls come down here, they'll be torn apart."

Eyes narrowing, Harry internally snorted. 'You really underestimate shipgirls then. You dumb idiot.'

Meanwhile, Riddle continued as he hummed. "Eventually, I shall get around to better study of them. Perhaps some might even serve me alongside these Abyssals once I have fully returned when I crush the muggle animals and the Mudbloods under my foot."

Scoffing, Harry rose to his feet. "Like that is going to happen."

With a chuckle, Riddle shook his head. "It will, after all, it almost happened before." Seeing Harry's confusion, the boy waved his stolen wand in the air spelling out his name. Then he tapped it and the letters rearraigned themselves. "You see? I am Lord Voldemort. By the dint of my might of dark magic, my army of dark creatures, and the blood of the Great Slytherin that flows through my veins, I shall triumph and bring about a new era for our world. The greatest sorcerer in the world."

For several moments, Harry stared at him and then blinked. And then he blinked again while raising his finger. "Holy Hannah... You're freaking Chuuni."

Utter silence echoed through the room as Riddle looked at him in confusion. "I say... What did you call me?"

Groaning, Harry facepalmed and shook his head. "You have got to be kidding me... All this because someone never grew out of being a Chuunibyou? Seriously? I... I am at a loss for words.."

Not quite sure what was just said to him, Riddle blinked before shaking it off. "I rather wanted to ask you some questions. To try and find out how you, as an infant, defeated the Great Lord Voldemort."

All he got though was a look from Harry. "My Mum was the one who kicked your ass."

It took a few moments but then Riddle nodded. "I see... a self-sacrifice. That does make some sense I suppose." He then shrugged. "But our time has come to an end, Harry. You may have impressed me and in any other circumstance I would have given you the chance to serve under me. You may have a Mudblood for a mother, but you are knowledgable in magics I am not and reasonbly intelligent and powerful. Not as much as I, but you could serve. Unfortunately, I need to kill you."

His tone dry, Harry reached into his pocket where the gun was. "How unfortunate then that I can't let that happen."

Thinly smiling, Tom turned towards the statue and hissed. "{Speak to me, Slytherin, the Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!}"

Eyes wide, Harry glanced at the statue to see it open it's mouth and he could hear something moving on the hydrophone. Snapping his eyes shut, Harry pulled out his gun which made Riddle chuckle. "Really, Harry? While I must applaud you for having a backup, must you descend to Muggle barbarity?"

Having gone into a shooter's stance, Harry brought up the gun in his hand as he ignored the taunt. That did not mean that he could not send one back. "Oh, by the way, Greatest Sorcerer, Tom? I'm afraid that would be Dumbledore. After all, even your adult self was afraid to face him."

While he could not see it, Tom's nostrils flared in rage as he shouted at the boy was was pointing the gun in the general direction of the Basilisk that was now entering the moat and slowly raising. "DUMBLEDORE WAS DRIVEN OUT BY THE MERE MEMORY OF ME!"

Most people would have wondered about Harry having his eyes closed, but right now that did not matter. With the hydrophone clipped to his ear, he was able to "See" in sound. It was odd, he could sort of see the sound waves in his mind's eye create a picture of the chamber. Riddle's yelling helping him see all the better as he took aim at the general form of the Basilisk even as he heard it hissing about how it could not wait to taste his flesh. "No, as long as there is even one of us loyal to Dumbledore here, you will never drive him away. You will fail, as you always did."

Screaming in rage, Riddle pointed the Basilisk at Harry and hissed. "{KILL HIM!}

Before it could strike though, Harry smirked and pulled the trigger four times. A screech tore from the Basilisk as all the bullets slammed into it. Unfortunately, while they may have broken bones beneath the hide, all it did was anger the Basilisk when a song could be heard overhead. 'Wait, is that Fawkes?'

Then Harry felt something land on his head as Fawkes dove at the Basilisk. Dodging a tail, Harry blinked a bit at a familiar feeling in his head. 'Well, hello again, Mister Potter and-Oh my, this certainly is a different way of seeing the world? However can you do this?'

Mentally rolling his eyes, Harry was unable to dodge again as the tail of the serpent smashed into him and threw him into the wall. Spitting up some blood as his ribs ached, Harry groaned. 'Mum, my biological one, was a shipgirl. So I can use shipgirl stuff...'

Humming, the Hat gave him a mental nod. 'Rather interesting that. Never knew such a thing was possible but learn things every day!'

In reply, Harry cleared his throat while ducking behind a pillar. 'So, uh, can you help me here? Kind of busy trying to stay alive here.'

Suddenly, the black haired boy saw stars as something clunked him on the head hard enough to leave a bump. Inside his head, he could hear the Hat chuckle. 'There you go, my dear boy. You truly are a Gryffindor after all, no matter how well you would do in Slytherin... Oh, and Fawkes has pecked out the Basilisk's eyes by the way.'

Pulling the Hat up, Harry could see that this was right and smiled as Riddle shouted at it to ignore the bird and go after Harry. At the same time, the black haired boy noticed a golden sword hilt with giant rubies in it before pulling it out the rest of the way with wide eyes. "A sword from a Hat? What the heck..." Then he heard Riddle shout the same order from before but this time in normal english and Harry's eyes grew wide as he spotted several creatures from before enter the Chamber. "Right, time to plan on the fly!"

With a look around, he ran into a side tunnel with the Basilisk following and the creatures just behind. His feet splashing in the puddles, Harry continued to run along with the Hat still on his head. "I do hope that you have some sort of plan?"

Only nodding as he took note of twists and turns, Harry gave a small nod. "Yeah, I do... kind of, sort of... Right, this way." Grabbing one of the stones, Harry concentrated and ducked into an alcove before tossing it down the tunnel. He could see the glowing object shoot down and bounce, making a lot of noise which the Basilisk followed after. Pulling out Ofuda, Harry stepped out into the tunnel as he could see the creatures running in his direction while he thought to the hat. 'Did you know that tunnels can channel and concentrate explosions...?'

Holding up the Ofuda, Harry closed his eyes and smirked as they began to hiss...
_________________________________________________________________

Myrtle's ghostly form burst through the door to her washroom and she looked around. Part of her realized that Peeves was gone, but the entrance to the Chamber was still open. As the door practically exploded as Royal Sovereign and various Pirategirls burst through it, followed by McGonagall and Flitwick, Myrtle pointed at the tunnel. "Right there! That's the entrance to the Chamber and Peeves pushed them down into it."

Not even waiting, Royal Sovereign practically dove into the hole while Golden Hind patted Myrtle on the shoulder. "Aye, much thanks to you, Lass. Know that yeh have our favor from now on, but we'll take it from here."

For a moment, Myrtle looked like she was going to go along with it. But then her expression firmed up and she shook her head. "No, I need to do this. I need to finish this right now and... and if I don't, how can I look at myself again?"

Thoughtful, Golden Hind slowly nodded as Queen Anne dove in followed by Revenge with a yell. Then the pirate clapped Myrtle on the back. "Aye then, Miss Myrtle. It would be a pleasure to have yeh with us."

Nodding, Myrtle gave a thin smile. "Thanks, I guess.." With a deep breath, though she did not need it, she dove down into the tunnel and flew down it. Soon enough, she was past Royal Sovereign who was at the front and soon escaped from the tunnel as the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Once she was ejected, she rushed through the tunnel until she blinked at the sight of Ron, Neville, and Lockhart all looking exhausted with... things twitching around their feet. Not really wanting to look at said creatures, she turned back to Ron. "What happened? Where's Harry?"

If she still had a beating heart, Myrtle was sure that it would have stopped at Ron's next words. "Mate's on the other side... Trying to find a way out besides the Chamber, but."

Eyes wide, Myrtle rushed for the stone but then bounced back. Tapping it, she found that she could not go through it. 'Of course it would be enchanted against ghosts... Otherwise we might have found it.' Even as she could hear the others coming through the tunnels, she closed her eyes and ran her hands along the stone until she felt a breeze. For a moment, Myrtle chewed her lip before nodding as she remembered something she overheard. After all, most ghosts ignored her existence at the best of times and it was from a very old ghost. "I'm going after them."

Confused, Ron looked at her as did the others with Neville voicing the question on their minds. "Wait, how?"

Not answering them, Myrtle seemed to loose all substance until she was a cloud and began to seep her way through the cracks in the rockfall. 'I'm coming, Harry. I'm coming...'
_________________________________________________________________________

'So, my dear boy, any other ideas?'

Dodging around another pillar, Harry groaned. 'Not really? Wait for it to bleed out from the wounds Fawkes gave it?'

There was a snort from the Hat as Harry weaved around a strike from the serpent, slashing it across the snout and making it rear back. 'I'm sorry to tell you, that may well take a while.'
Softly groaning, Harry shook his head. 'So what ever is knew?' He took a chance and glanced at the side where Riddle was fuming more and more. 'At least I'm annoying the hell out that bastard.'

Chuckling, the Hat gave him the impression of giving him a nod. 'Quite, I suppose that is true.' Then it shouted at him. "LOOK OUT!"

It was sadly too late as Riddle, tired of how things had gone had cast a freezing spell and turned the water on the floor to ice. Slipping on it, Harry's legs shot out from beneath him and he barely avoided a strike, only for the Basilisk's tongue to send him sliding. As he got to his feet, Harry noticed that it's head was already striking so he did the only thing he could.
He aimed the sword right for it's mouth and jabbed it upwards with all his weight behind it.

The sword easily parted the thin flesh of the mouth and then pierced through the bone into the Basilisk's brain. A screech tore it's way out of the dying creature even as it tried to take it's killer with it by biting down on Harry's arm. Almost immediately, Harry's world was filled with pain as his bloodstream was pumped full of the deadly venom. His arm already spasming, Harry dropped the sword and backed away from the thrashing snake as it died. Falling with his back to the wall, Harry blinked as already, his vision was getting blurry and he could see the blood vessels in his arms turn black with the skin taking on a sickly tinge. If he could have, he would have laughed at the thought that went through his shocked mind. 'Oh... that's not good'
__________________________________________________________________________

In Mamiya's resturant, Verniy sighed as she looked out the window with a grimace. She was rather annoyed with how she had just gotten back too late from a Sortie to go to England. And part of the reason was across from her, visiting Yokosuka. "Harry-Chan."

A laugh burst from her companion who grinned at her. "Tiny One! Do not worry yourself over your friend! He is strong, like Russian bear, he can take care of himself until reinforcements arrive."

Glancing over at Gangut, Verniy frowned a bit. "You sure about that? I got a bad feeling..."

Just about to laugh, Gangut paused and gave Verniy a narrowed eyed gaze as the Destroyer suddenly paled to a deathly white. "Tiny One, what seems to be the issue? You do not look well at all." Frowning as she saw tears building in Verniy's eyes, she stood up. "Tenryuu! Come here!"

The Light Cruiser looked over from where she was ordering some food for the rest of her family and rushed over. "Hibiki-Chan? What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

Slowly, Verniy turned and looked at her with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I-it's Harry-Chan... He... he's dying, Kaa-San!" Now sobbing, she grabbed her mother and shook her. "Harry-Chan's dying right now and we're not there to stop it!"

Not paying any attention to how the whole place had gone as silent as the grave, Tenryuu stared at her daughter in shock. "What? I... How do you know that?"

Trembling, Verniy shook. "B-because, because I can feel his fairy starting to manifest in me! IT'S MANIFESTING IN ME!"

Gangut turned and looked at Tenryuu with as serious an expression as she could. "Fairy manifesting? How would such a thing be possible for Tiny One? For her Harry is too young to have served on her."

Only glancing at her, Tenryuu shook her head. "She, um, can manifest her hull. Last summer she took Harry out for a cruise around and had him sign his name in her crew manifest. But... I never thought-"

Before she could say anything else, Gangut was already throwing Verniy over her shoulder. "Then we have no time to lose! We shall get Tiny One to Harry right now! For none will stand in our way or face the might of Mother Russia!"

With that, she rushed out of the resturant with Tenryuu and the rest of DesDiv6 following. Soon, the rest inside also rushed out in pursuit.
______________________________________________________________________

Laying against the wall, Harry softly groaned as Riddle continued to talk. 'For the love of Kami, can't he just let me die in peace? And not run his mouth like some bad villain...' Then Harry blinked and snorted some as Riddle went on about his, Harry's, mother and how she failed. 'Then again... he's Chuuni.' Blinking, Harry could barely see a form at the chamber looking at him in shocked disbelief, and then at the Basilisk before settling on Tom who was now going on about gaining victory over him thanks to the Basilisk. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Rather bemused, Tom looked down at him as Fawkes landed beside Harry and started to cry. "Of course, I suppose that I can grant you this one bit for lasting as long as you did."

Just snorting, Harry shook his head. "Why Myrtle? Why kill her?"

After a moment, Riddle shrugged. "Myrtle? You're wasting your question on her? Well, besides being a Mudblood, she dared to state that some dirty Muggle she knew was better then I. The fact that I needed her death for something was only the icing on the cake... And I hope that I tracked down said muggle later on-"

Hearing something, he stopped and turned to see an enraged Myrtle charging at him. Her hair seemed to be whipping around her in an unseen breeze with pitch black eyes while her veins stood out due to being a dark blue. For a brief second, Riddle was scared until he remembered that she was a ghost and was about to dismiss it when he remembered another fact.

Right then, he too was mostly spirit.

But before he could do anything, his attention was grabbed by another fact. Mainly that of Myrtle's leg coming up between his and quite literally lifting him into the air. Despite the pain he had been in, which was now lessening for some reason, Harry winced as Riddle had a bunch of expressions and colors cross his face. But even when he landed, he did not get a reprieve as Myrtle was on him punching him in the face. "YOU FUCKING BLOODY BASTARD! IT WAS YOU! ALL THIS TIME IT WAS YOU THAT KILLED ME YOU BLARMY, SON OF A BITCH!"

Grabbing Riddle by the back of the head, she pulled it back and then slammed it into the ground as the boy struggled to get the enraged ghost off him. Meanwhile, Harry just watched in disbelief before nodding. "Go Aunt Myrtle..." Realzing that his pain was gone, Harry stopped and looked at his arm. The wound and the obvious physical effects were gone. A soft object then landed by him and Harry looked up at Fawkes who kicked the fang towards him. "Wait what do you... Oh... OH!"

Myrtle meanwhile was not letting up just raging. Decades upon decades of rage, hate, grief, and everything else was not bubbling to the surface and she was using everything that Andrew taught her to great effect. After all, he was not about to let his girl go to some school without knowing how to defend herself! However, she paused as Riddle suddenly screamed in pure agony and she looked down to find a massive glowing hole in his stomach. Her rage spent, she went back to normal and blinked. "What in the world...?"

Then Harry yelled out at her. "MYRTLE! OVER HERE!"

Her head whipping around, she could now see the Diary in front of Harry with it gushing ink like blood. In one hand, Harry held the Basilisk fang which he brought down onto the Diary again, stabbing through it. Once more, another hole tore itself through Riddle and Myrtle's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "The Diary.... he's connected to..."

Closing the book, he held the fang above it. "Come over here and help!"

A gasp escaping him, Riddle tried to grab her as she rushed over. "N-no..."

Simply holding the fang, Harry waited until Myrtle's hands were on his with the ghost looking right at her murderer. "I hope you find Hell nice and warm when you get there, Tom. Now you go there right now!"

With that, an Riddle screaming, the two of them brought the fang down onto the Diary, piercing right through it entirely. Much to their surprise, Riddle seemed to crack with glowing lines crisscrossing him before with one final scream, he seemed to explode. Harry just blinked and then tilted his head to the side. "Poi?"
___________________________________________________________

Her hand open, Verniy stared at the small, transparent fairy in her hand that was looking blankly with green eyes. Slowly, it haad become more and more solid as she felt more agony tear through her. "Harry-Chan... no, no. Please, not Harry-Chan..."

Inazuma, like the others could only look on in sadness and grief as Gangut ran for the Admiral's office with Verniy slung over her back. "Nanodesu..."

All of a sudden though, the fairy blinked and then faded away before disappearing entirely. While Verniy stared in disbelief, Tenryuu looked up at her. "What the hell? What just happened, Hibiki-Chan?"

Mouth opening and closing for a bit, Verniy shook her head before a laugh ripped out of her throat. One filled with enough joy to make Gangut slow down to properly hear her answer. "H-Harry-Chan! I don't know how, but... he's alright again, Kaa-San! Harry-Chan is okay and safe..."

"He's not in danger of dying anymore..."

 

[darthcourt10]

JayJayForce

So, another snippet. Different time, different place and different people, but this time with dialogue!

_________________________________________________________________

Dawn

She slowly made her way through the pre-morning gloom. Letting her weight increase a bit to avoid slipping on the rocks hidden under the snow, the Demon surveyed her surroundings.

Bare, snow covered ground made up the immediate landscape and stretched out to the horizon and the stark mountains in the distance while the pack ice groaned out in the fjords. This was one's first impressions of this land, indeed all the land in her Princess's domain, but keen senses honed by war allowed her to see the hidden details that made this place unique.

All around her lay the signs. The shattered and flattened remains of a few buildings, their foundations sometimes the only signs they ever even existed. The seared and bleached stones sticking out of the snowdrifts. Trucks and other vehicles lying on their sides. With a load crack she knew she had stepped on some of the bones scattered here. Not far away she could see the wreck of a Ro-class destroyer, capsized and half buried in the ground as if it was flung about by a giant. And in the distance, staring at where it happened was her Princess.

"Report" was all her Princess said as she stopped a few metres behind her.

"The upstart Princess has been dealt with, and the remains of her fleet scattered. The North island is now yours, and with that the whole of Novaya Zemyla. Our forces sustained moderate causalities, but nothing we didn't expect."

Standing up straighter and letting a hint of a smile grace her lips, she continued.

"I've used the lessons you've given and started surveying the land even as I pushed our forces onto victory. I've already located several sources of metals and oil as well as sites to salvage. Further, I've started fortifying key locations and setting up patrols and watchtowers to secure our gains."

Letting out a sigh, the Princess let her shoulders slump slightly. "Good, that's good. As promised, Severny will be yours to oversee in my stead."

Taken a bit back by the downcast tone in her Princess's voice, she stopped for a second, only to remember where they were.

Taking on a caring tone, she responded. "Hey, you shouldn't come here so often, you know it always leaves you depressed." Perking up again, and pushing as much confidence into her voice as she could, she continued. "Our domain is one of the largest and most isolated of any Abyssals. Under your leadership we've expanded and fortified, turning this land into a veritable fortress in the wastes. With all of Severny finally secured our dominance is unquestionable. The other Northern Princesses won't dare attack us and the humans haven't sent a force to try and reclaim it in years. We're safe, we've won".

Violently whipping around, the Princess turned to stare at the Demon revealing the scars marring the left hand side of her face and spreading out to cover all exposed parts of her left flank.

Burn and scorch marks still covered every exposed surface, the walls of the bunkers and buildings that survived bleached white. Except for the dark stains where unlucky imps caught outside when it happened were, their shadows forever burned into her. Gun mounts still showing where their previous emplacements were violently ripped out. The buildings built on top of the foundations of previous ones. The network of patched up cracks running throughout. The rangefinders, one set clear and blue, the other dull and clouded. The delicate lenses that were shattered having been long since replaced, but the more general damage still being covered up by those initial, hasty patch jobs.

And as she looked up into her Princesses eyes, she saw not rage, but fear in them.

"We are far, far from safe. Yes, the other Northern Princesses may not try to attack us even as they squabble over what little resources there is here in the polar sea, but to the humans, we are nothing! Do you know why they haven't taken back our territory? Or that of any of the other Princesses vying for supremacy up here? It's because it's too inconvenient for them."

Relaxing somewhat, she tried to reign in her emotions.

"The humans and their shipgirls are simply too busy dealing with other, stronger, more problematic Abyssals in the warmer seas. They focus only on containment, keeping us outcasts locked away up here and out of their way. All while we waste our few precious resources fighting each other. You talk of us being a rich and unassailable fortress." With this she huffed. "What kind of rich and powerful ruler has to decide between building a handful more destroyers or using those resources to continue her own long overdue repairs?"

Unsure of how to respond, the Demon just stared uncertainly at her Princess.

Letting out a huff crossed with a sigh, she spoke again. "We are weak, few and divided while the humans and their allies are powerful, numerous and united. Eventually, they will come for us. Yes, it will be a slow, painful and costly slog for them as they battle the environment as much as they battle us. With our fortifications and ability to focus on training and growth now that the pest up North has been dealt with, we may even last a few years as they siege us down. But eventually, one by one, we and all the other Abyssals will fall."

Now with fear and anger mixing in with her confusion, the Demon finally spoke up. "But if we're all going to die anyway, what was the point of all this!? Fighting off the invaders, gathering resources and fortifying our territory. I helped drag you away from here so long ago."

Tears slowly started to well up in her eyes. "I helped look after you and repair you. I fought off countless rivals that tried to take advantage of your state, going up against Princesses to defend you. And just for you to turn around and say it was all pointless?"

Realising she had caused both of their emotions to run away with them, she put a comforting claw on her daughter's shoulder and turned to face the sunrise. The first few rays of light in over a month just now starting to peak over the horizon.

"All is not lost. I've known what was needed for a while now, but needed to build up my forces and strength. Make sure I had the respect needed to carry it out." She let a faint smile cross her face as it was lit by the sun. "Together, the humans are unbeatable. And only together, will we be able to fend them off."

Realisation slowly appeared on her daughters face.

"Soon, I will send couriers to all the Princesses and wanderers in the North who might be willing to listen. I will invite them to send their representatives to meet with me at a set date so that we may all discuss the terms of an alliance. It will be a long, difficult and draining affair with countless problems, but it is our only hope."

Now with a renewed sense of hope, but still deeply uncertain, the Demon replied. "Are you sure this will work? It is not like our kind to work with others."

Sighing slightly, but with the traces of a smile still on her face, the Princess responded. "No, it may well be impossible to create a strong enough alliance to resist even the other Princesses let alone the humans, but we need to try."

The Demon looked up at her mother, distant but always caring, as she continued.

"Just as this dawn, as brief and feint as it is signals the beginning of a new year, this hope, as feint as it is, could be the start of our new future, of a Northern Alliance."

____________________________________________________________________________

Again, hope you enjoy and any feedback would be appreciated. Especially names. I suck at names, even the descriptive ones Abyssals tend to use. And I'm going to need a few of those for all the major and minor players up North.

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

Big thank you to S0ngD0g13 for helping me iron out the missives, and especially RBomber for linking me to a site detailing how a letter written by Medieval Nobles and Royalty would have been composed, shown here. It was most informative to get the missives written accurately.
------

It had taken weeks of tense waiting, weeks being cooped up in a small apartment in an out of the way abandoned barracks that would make for the first de facto Embassy for the Gateway Princess' government. But finally, Reivana was granted her first audience with the British Government. Sadly, it was not with Her Majesty the Queen like she had anticipated. Rather, her audience was with the Portsmouth Admiral, the First Sea Lord and a man claiming to represent the Prime Minister. For what seemed like forever the three men shared their attentions between the two pieces of paper she had provided from the Princess, and she was starting to feel very uncomfortable at the silence. 'What I wouldn't do for a book right now,' she thought, 'if only to distract me. Even Stab would be welcome… If he wasn't staring out the window looking for that battleship!. What could be going through their minds? Do they approve? Are they angry? They're angry aren't they. Any minute now they're going to order an alpha strike and kill me right where I standwhatdoIdowhattodowhattodo!!!'

The three officials didn't seem to notice how Reivana's expression grew more fragile by the moment, or how she started to glisten with nervous sweat. They simply continued to go over their copies of the texts she had provided. First being the Gateway Princess' letter of introduction for her emissary, and the second being her letter of intent for the Queen, both written in the flowing script of the Princess' own hand on the finest dolphin vellum, and adorned with beautiful marginalia depicting the Princess and the Queen shaking hands in friendship. Pendant seals stamped with the Princess' sigil dangled from the two sheets. Both texts Reivana had memorized over the long days of sailing for England. First there was the shorter letter, whose importance was only for the short term, the one that introduced her to the United Kingdom -

Well Met, and Merry tidings unto thee and thy Kingdom, O Queen of Britannia, and her Commonwealth, blessed with wisdom, long health and regality of a Just rule, from the Princess of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway.

In this war of late, you have also proven mighty in War as you are noble in Peace, with your island nation blockaded for a third time in a century. And yet through your Divinely-Appointed command your nation has weathered as it always had. Surely you and yours have been blessed beyond mortal measure, as shown by all that has transpired. Whereas Our Rule as of late has grown stagnant. And yet even in Our most humbled state, We fear that We must needs be in search of your benevolence to preserve what is yet to be destroyed.

For too long, your people and Ours have been silent to one another. And for too long Our race and yours have waged a needless war upon the other. Though this was not by Our Command, Our realm and subjects must yet be bidden to fight. And without a voice to share in the Darkness, there can be no hope for Peace – nay, survival itself. Unless of course, in your grace, you permit a discourse.

The bearer of this letter is Our créature, Reivana of the Re-Class sisterhood. She is of keen intellect and of earnest nature, and she has been known to Our pleasure as curator of Our Archives and advisor of the matters of yonder surface realms. Thus, We send this child of Our realm unto you and your State, in the hopes of linking your realm and Ours into the pleasant bonds of fellowship – not only in settling peace between our lands, but in securing the same amongst all the territories of the Atlantic. We trust that you will treat her well, knowing that in this she speaks with Our Voice, and from the lowest depths of Our bosom we pray for fair tidings of these talks of peace.

Courteously, O Greatest of Monarchs, We wish you good health and Fair Seas for all the days of your life.

Writ by Our Own Hand on this day December the 31st in the Year of Our Lord 2012 by Us, Princess, By the Grace of God, of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway, et cetera.

And after that was the longer, and absolutely vital letter. It was what gave Reivana and her hosts a guide for what to work towards, if there was any hope for peace -

All Hail, Glory and Peace be upon you and your realms, Elizabeth, second of that name, Queen by the Grace of God of the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, Glory of the House of Windsor, Hope-Sustainer to Europa, et cetera. Know of Us, the Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess, a humble fellow member of Royalty of the House of the Abyss.

By now you, O Queen of Kings, know of how you are perceived by We of the Abyss, as if you were not at all familiar with your renown. Of your great Union of Crowns, of how even now, the realms that hold loyalty to your Majestic Radiance covers a quarter of this fair gem in the universe, and how for a third time you and your august family stand firm between your subjects and utter obliteration with unquestionable success. It is for these reasons and more that We humble Princess look to you first among all others for what We desire.

For many years, We and Our subjects have hidden ourselves from the war after a most bitter defeat. We have been gathering Our strength. For clearly the only way We and Our Race can survive the onslaught of Man is not through conquest and destruction, but through Racial Unity and a amiable and perpetual peace between Our Realm and the Realms of the Land.

In the hope of achieving this goal, We offer unto you this Declaration of Intent, in regards to the recent delivery unto your government Our Envoy, the Re-Class Reivana, and what We much desire to produce from any alliance or pact with your government and your allies. The simple summary is as follows:

1) A Cessation of hostilities between Our realm and territories and the realms and territories of the Land Powers, so that We and Ours may rebuild and find a new life for Our subjects.

2) A secured flank of non-hostility, so that We may endeavor to not fear the power of the Surface in any conflict against Our neighbors.

3) The initiation of trade and the sharing of our cultures, to the betterment of your people and Ours.

4) Recognition of Our territory, both presently and in future conquest until the end of hostilities, as Our Sovereign Domain.

5) The Annexation of all the warring factions in the Atlantean Abyss, and subsequent creation of an Abyssal State in the Atlantic, with Us as its Imperial Sovereign.

If these last points are in some way unpleasant, We understand. However, the benefits to you and your allies, O Wise Queen, should be readily apparent.

1) Not all of Our race would desire co-existence with yours, and thus a realm for them to live and love and die amongst their own race, secure from any hostilities they may find or fear to find in the rest of the world would mean they are not at risk of lashing out at innocents - something that we both can agree would be most tragic.

2) In a peaceful future, which even We can foresee coming in the years hence, there must needs be a place to deport or report troublemakers unto, and in which to engage in peaceful discourse with other States and Nations over particulars of conflict, and bring them to an accord without the need for violence and bloodshed.

3) With peace comes opportunity for trade. The merchant classes of the world would no doubt be pleased over the thought of a new market to exploit where none existed before. Furthermore, the Atlantic Realm for the first time would have her resources exploited properly, providing the bounty of the sea bed to the world in unprecedented quantities. And thus, filling your coffers and Ours beyond what has been heretofore done.

4) With a Sovereign State comes a need to police it. With the establishment of such a State and guardians of the territory, there would, of course, be employed such personages whose sworn duty would be to see to the protection and preservation of all who reside there, be they natural citizens, or the crews of mighty ships traversing Our realm for foreign ports, thus ensuring safe passage - or at least preserved lives - regardless of sea or wind or storm, and regardless if they be Abyssal or Human.

These are of course but vague desires for now, O Queen of the Britons. The specifics of borders and trade and rights can be secured at a later date, once stability is secured and hostilities silenced. For the moment, a mutual pact of Non-Aggression – if not co-operation - shall suffice for Us and Our people. Allow Us the chance to pacify the Atlantic from those that wage cruel war upon a people that has done no harm to them, and We shall offer unto you and your allies a secured Atlantic in total or in part.

In the meantime, Reivana shall be at your service as your obedient servant in the name of encouraging amiable relations. With this O Queen of the Britons, We wish you and yours to prosper and maintain good health, and continue as you have in safeguarding your subjects as We do Ours.

Courteously, writ by Our Own Hand on this day December the 31st in the Year of Our Lord 2012 by Us, Princess, by the Grace of God, of the Ancient Atlantic Gateway, Princess Royal of the Azores and the Canaries, Claimant of the Arctic, Claimant of the Atlantic Ridge, Pretender to the Throne of the Sargasso Sea, et cetera

At long last, the last of the men put down the documents and shared a look. After a moment's hesitation, the First Sea Lord turned to Reivana.

"Well Miss, I must say that this is a surprise, you showing up out of the blue like this with a request for peace. But it is hardly an unwelcome one."

Reivana curtsied, "I am happy to hear that my lord."

"Tell me, where is it that you said you sailed from?"

"Um… I am under strict orders to preserve that knowledge, from my Princess' second-in-command."

"I see. Well, could you tell me about the forces you have at your disposal? After all, this promise of your Princess' about reclaiming the Atlantic all on her own is a bold one."

"Well, as of the moment, I know of about nine-hundred destroyers, six-hundred submarines, and many capital ships are registered as a part of her fleet. However, only one-in-ten are out of mothballs at a time."

At the silence that followed, Reivana was almost afraid once more that she had done something wrong. As the pregnant pause stretched into half a minute, the government man cleared his throat.

"Well, Madam Ambassador, this matter demands careful consideration. The Sea Lord and I will advise the Queen. Rest assured that we will contact you when we are ready to begin talks in earnest."

The Re-Class looked at the three men, nervousness clear on her face. No doubt she had expected the process to be more expedient than it was turning out to be. Nonetheless, she gave one lass curtsey and exited the chambers.

"What do you think she will do while she waits?"

Admiral Collinwood turned to the diplomat. "From what Warspite says, she mostly spends her time at the local libraries reading book after book."

"Any particular subject?" the First Sea Lord inquired.

"Not that we can tell your Lordship. She seems to bounce from topic to topic as suits her fancy. Currently she seems to have picked up the works of Tolkien, so she ought to be busy for some time. But what troubles me is her refusal to tell us about this… Ancient Atlantic Princess. None of our intel hints to there ever was such an Abyssal Leader. Let alone one that fields an armada of a thousand ships!"

"Could it be a bluff?" The diplomat suggested, "perhaps she's a feral or orphaned Abyssal, and is using this ruse as a way for her to get into our good graces and escape confrontations with more aggressive fleets?"

"I doubt that. She doesn't seem to be Feral, and that… tail of hers is clear indication of a well-developed home fleet."

"Hmmm… Robert? You've been quiet, what are your thoughts?"

Lord Admiral Robert Fairbank, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, was quiet for a moment, before stroking his beard in thought and replying.

"Ancient Atlantic Gateway… Atlantic Gateway… I wonder…"

"Wonder what sir?"

"Yes, don't leave us in suspense man."

As he spoke, the Sea Lord seemed to fall back, half dreaming in his memories of the early months of the war.

"…When the Americas were first discovered, navigation and ship provisioning over such long distances were utterly unknown. Thus, for decades after Columbus returned, the go-to route was to first travel south… Far south. Down to the Canaries, or the Azores. And then turn west, as that was the shortest route know at the time … Thus, making those islands the Gates to the Atlantic… One of the first Installation-Type Princesses we destroyed was only about… seven months after Blood Week. We were still with only a handful of summoned girls at the time, and I was in command of the task force assigned to liberate those island chains. There was a battle, and we have visual confirmation of the Princess there being destroyed. However…"

"…However, sir?"

"It was too easy. The whole operation went as planned. Far too much as planned. There was a sea battle, but the force we engaged was much smaller than we anticipated, and the fleet turned tail and ran much more easily than we expected… And when we made landfall, there was no sign of any dockyards, or building slips or fuel bunkers. All these years, in the back of my mind something about the whole liberation bothered me, as if we had been made fools of somehow. I think after this meeting I will head down to the Ministry of Intelligence. Have them run some enhancement on the Drone footage. Because if my hunch is right, then this Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess is our Azores Princess, and is one of the last – if not the last - surviving original generation of Abyssal Installation Princesses, the ones from before the war."

"If you are right sir, then why would she reveal herself now?"

"A good question Collinwood..."

"Actually," the diplomat interjected, "I might have a theory. Ever since the Pacific Pact was signed last year, Her Majesty's government has suspected that there could be Princesses in the Atlantic that would be similarly inclined to peace, but were waiting it out to see what happened to the first to give it a try. It's likely that she heard about it and decided that the time had come."

"Yes," Collinwood replied, "but time for what?"

"Ah, yes," the Diplomat jerked his head to the documents on the table, "judging by the missives we received, and the Princess' insistence on interacting with the Queen, rather than the PM or some other official, I suspect that we diplomats will need to take a crash course at Oxford or Cambridge on Medieval court politics before dealing with miss Gateway in earnest. Because, thinking about it, I say you have the right of it Lord Fairbank, and that this Princess was formed from the times of the Old World exploring and conquering the New World. Which means that we could be dealing with someone more in-tune with 14th or 15th century ways of politics. From what I recall from an elective I took at University, the sniveling, subservient tone of these letters was the norm even between equals if one wanted something."

"Such as an alliance?"

"Precisely. Put another way gentlemen, it is possible that she knows that we can crush her, eventually, and wipe out her race. And thus, unless I miss my guess, she may yet want to make sure her fellow Abyssals have the chance to survive in the best way she knows how: The accumulation of Absolute Power over all of her people. It's simply a question of if she will do it like Alexander the Great, or perhaps like The Iron Chancellor."

The First Sea Lord snorted, muttering under his breath before continuing louder.

"A thousand ships. I think we can guess how she plots to do it. If Azores Princess, or Gateway or whatever she calls herself escaped with all of her infrastructure intact, then it would be easy for her to set up a shipyard and churn out ships, mobile dockyards and who knows what else one after the other, and if she has been keeping out of the war then her numbers would only grow. Have been growing unmolested for the past… How long has it been? Fifteen, twenty years? Her only limits would be the resources."

"Yes," Collinwood said, "such as oil, and steel. Not exactly common."

"Not as rare as you think. A lot of ships have gone down since Blood Week. I can easily see a pragmatic leader using the wrecks as rudimentary mines. And if she has repositioned somewhere with a lot of volcanism I can easily imagine, with the nonsense magic inherent to the Abyssals and Shipgirls, that she would find a way to crack the crust and let the molten elements she needs to rise up to where she could use them. Perhaps she may have formed an island for herself by… No, I do recall hearing about increased volcano activity in the Meteor Seamount, and it is the closest region where they could settle if that is the case."

Admiral Collinwood paled at that. "I recall hearing that come up a time or two. But, surely you can't honestly think that could be an Abyssal's doing!"

"My boy, we live in an age where the souls of warships past take the forms of young ladies and fight off sea demons. And where one of those young ladies is currently running an infiltration of a shadow government populated by genuine witches and wizards. I hesitate to toss any outlandish thought out the window without some serious thought."

"…Point. But that just leaves the oil. If the Meteor Seamount truly is where she's been hiding, there's no way she could possibly field a navy that large. Last I checked there are no oil fields within a thousand miles of the place."

At that, the First Sea Lord simply got an odd twinkling in his eye.

"Oil is nothing more than specially prepared organic matter Collinwood, through the application of high pressure and heat. And you don't need to bury it underground for an epoch in order to make it, provided that one is clever and patient. Both of which are traits this Gateway Princess has shown.

The diplomat took a calming breath in the silence that followed before collecting his affects.

"Well, that just leaves the question of a treaty's military value."

Collinwood and Fairbank looked at each other for but a moment, a full conversation going on in the gaze.

"Frankly," Fairbank admitted, "opening a front to spearhead into the Atlantic would probably be the best thing to happen since the arrival of our shipgirls. And if she can genuinely wage a war of unification, all of the other Abyssal Fleets would gravitate to fend her off, weakening the other fronts to the West and South. From there the Americans, the Canadians, even the Central and South American navies would be able to apply pressure in ways they couldn't before."

"Agreed. And even should this Gateway Princess fail, it will bloody a lot of noses, which I could easily see use capitalizing on. Assuming it's all genuine of course."

The diplomat nodded in agreement at that before gathering the documents, along with the notes he had been taking.

"Very well gentlemen. I'll advise the PM, and I shall return with whatever decision he and Her Majesty come to."

"Very good. Perhaps in a week's time? March tenth?"

"I shall check with my secretary. Good day, gentlemen."

The trio made their pleasantries and the diplomat exited the room, leaving the Admirals to continue with other matters regarding the fleet. As he made his way down the hallway, the sound of a bit of wood striking stone gave him pause. He turned around to see that something had fallen from his collection, the third item to be included in the diplomatic package Reivana had carried with her – A wood panel, about as large as a standard sheet of paper, on which was a painting of what could only be the Princess Reivana served. The diplomat was not one for art, but if he had to classify it he would suspect it to be Renaissance – an art major would identify it as German Renaissance. The figure stood proud on what seemed to be a large set of stairs with a throne behind her. Though the details of the setting and background seemed to be done in a darker pallet in order to better highlight the sovereign the work portrayed. Not that it would be difficult to do all things considered.

Assuming the painting was an accurate portrayal, the Princess was certainly a beauty, though not in the classical sense. Her curves could be likened to the sort of women preferred as models by Peter Paul Rubens… If all of the fat instead settled in more… Pleasing places, to the modern man. And it was all quite evident where her curves began and ended, with no taste for leaving it to the imagination, considering that she was clothed in naught by a scant hip-cloth that reached the floor but leaving her long legs bare, and her upper torso covered less by a shirt and more a pair of strategically designed hammocks, both articles as white as their wearer's skin and waist-length hair, that fell naturally around the ring of short black horns on her head that appeared to be genuine, despite their design looking like some sort of tiara. The only other article of clothing she wore was a sheer white cape that terminated in a ring on each middle finger.

The diplomat shook his head and sigh as he put the portrait back with the rest of his collection and continued walking for the nearest exit.

"Thick as a brick," he muttered.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Sitting down against the stone floor, Myrtle blinked and stared at the massive, motionless form of the Basilisk. The same one that she knew now was what killed her all those years ago. Very slowly, she blinked. "Is... is it over?"

With a blink of his own, Harry was partway through a nod when he stopped and looked at it. "Well..." Painfully, he got to his feet and walked over towards the Basilisk. As he reached it, Harry could see Ginny's color coming back to her and reached into his pocket to pull out the gun that Maruyu gave him. Carefully, he checked it, turned off the safety, then got into a shooting stance before taking aim at the bloody eye socket of the monster before firing.

Then he fired again.

After a few moments of no response from it, he nodded some and put the safety back on before placing the gun into his pocket. "Yeah, now it's done."

Looking at it, Myrtle then turned to stare at him in confusion as Ginny began to stir. "... Was that necessary? You stabbed it through the mouth."

Just glancing at it, Harry frowned and then shrugged before wincing. "It's a Kaiju. If anything movies have taught me, it's to make sure that they're dead." Ignoring how Myrtle was now mouthing the unknown previously to her word, Harry walked over to Ginny and shook her. "You alright there, Ginny?"

Her eyes opening, Ginny looked at him in confusion before they widened and she sat up with a gasp. "Harry! Oh Merlin! Tom... I mean, his Basiisk and... he's been setting it on the school! Using me, he told me so and... and..."

She trailed off as she spotted the dead Basilisk and Harry did too. "Yeah, I... kind of know about that." With a shrug, he shook his head. "At least we don't need to worry about anything? Anyways..." Helping her to her feet, Harry let out a sigh as he walked her over to the wall as he ignored her stare at his bloodied arm. "Let's just walk over here until someone comes."

Once they reached the wall, Harry sat down with Ginny beside him still staring in shock at the dead monster. Letting out a sigh, Harry cracked open an eye as Myrtle placed her hand on his shoulder, feeling the tiredness of adrenaline running out. "How are you feeling, Harry? Not hurt?"

With a chuckle, Harry shook his head. "No, just a bit sore and tired, Aunt Myrtle."

Unknown to him, that got him an odd look from Ginny as Myrtle looked at him with an expression both equal parts hope and curiosity. "Aunt Myrtle, Harry? Really?"

After a moment, Harry opened his eyes a bit more. "Um... yes? I mean, you were with my Great Uncle, which kind of makes you my Great Aunt? Unless you don't want me calling you that."

To his surprise, Myrtle had tears in her eyes as she looked at him before shaking her head. "As a matter of fact, I do not think that I would mind much at all, Harry." For a brief moment, she had the image of a much older version of herself with a similarly old Andrew meeting Harry. 'I think that you might have liked to have met him, Andrew...' Reaching over, Myrtle ran a hand over his head. "I do not mind much at all."

Leaning back against the cold stone, Harry cracked one eye open enough to see the sword before concentrating. Moments later, the sword slowly made it's way towards him. At the curious look from Myrtle and Ginny, Harry gestured at the water. "I'm using the water on the floor to move it. It's easier then floating it along."

Soon after, the sword reached him and then turned to where the hilt was facing him. Picking it up, he examined it closely including the name that was on it. "Wait, this was Godric Gryffindor's Sword? Really?"

A chuckle made him look up to see the Sorting Hat hop over. "Aye, it belonged to Godric. And a finer blade you're not likely to see..."

For a second he paused and Harry could have sworn that he muttered "Unless you're a Potter, damn Magpies..." but then shook it off. Holding the blade in his hands, Harry made sure not to cut himself accidentally as he examined it. The blade itself was only three and a half feet long and the hilt was was made of gold in a cross shape. At the very end was a large ruby the size of a chicken's egg. "It doesn't really look like the type of blade that would be used in combat."

The Hat just let out a laugh. "Good thing that Godric is not here to hear you say that about his sword. But in this case, appearences can be deceiving. It is extremely effective..." It hopped to look back at the dead Basilisk. "As you can attest."

Harry only nodded as he continued to look at the blade including the description. "But why did it come from you? From inside you?"

Once more, the Hat chuckled some as Fawkes let out a warble. "Because only a true Gryffindor could wield it, Mister Potter. And even though as I said, you could have fit in Slytherin, you have all the qualities of being a true Gryffindor in you. Which is why you were able to pull the sword from me."

Blinking, Harry looked down at the blade again. "So that's why? It's sort of like Caliburn then?"

From where she was beside him, Ginny frowned before trying to get her mind off what she just heard. "Caliburn? You mean Excalibur, right?"

With a hum, Harry looked over at her and shook his head. "No, Caliburn. That was the Sword in the Stone, Excalibur was given to him later by the Lady of the Lake. Sometimes it gets mixed up, but..." He shrugged some. "Read a lot when I was younger." Turning towards the Hat, the black haired boy raised an eyebrow. "So it doesn't need to be a descendant then to pull it out."

There was the odd feeling that Harry got of the Hat giving him a dry look before making a sound like a throat being cleared. "Well... Godric was something of a Ladies man. While some claim he left no descendants, that's... not quite true. Probably about three quarters of the Wizarding population and more of the Muggles are probably descended from the man."

Eyebrows raising, the wizard stared at the Hat. "I see..." Harry then smiled and looked to the side. "Looks like we got some company... Maruyu-Chan!"

Having reached the Chamber, the dirty Maruyu stopped and looked at Harry before running towards him. Before she got too far though, she slowed to a stop and just stared at the Basilisk before pulling out what looked like a large cannon. Walking slowly towards it, she relaxed some at seeing it dead. "How did you...?"

In reply, Harry raised the sword in his hands and the Submarine could feel her crew just boggle at what he said. "Um, that gun didn't work. So I sort of used this sword and stabbed it through the mouth. Bit me, but some pheonix tears fixed that right up."

At his words, Maruyu quickly ran forward before falling to her knees and examining the puncture, which was now fully healed except for a scar. Glancing at the bloody hole in the fabric, Maruyu looked at him and then bopped him on the head. "Baka." Hugging him, she sniffled a bit. "I'm glad that you're safe though. Even if you pulled off something right out of legend."

Rubbing the top of his head, Harry grimaced a bit but hugged her back. After a moment though, he pulled out the gun she gave him and held it out. "Here, this belongs to you. The bullets didn't penetrat until after it was dead and I... sort of shot it in the eye."

Softly smiling, Maruyu only took the gun back and stored it away. "Thank you, Harry-Chan."

Gently holding her as Myrtle floated around them, Harry chuckled. All four sat there for a few minutes until footsteps approached them and Harry could see Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. Behind them, Queen Anne, Golden Hind, and Revenge all appeared with their cannons out. Then came Royal Sovereign beside Lockhart while Ron was being supported by Neville. All of them just stared at the giant serpent before Golden Hind removed her hat with a gulp. "Mother of God..."

When she turned to Harry, the boy blinked for a moment before holding up the sword and grinning. All their eyes went first to the blood on it and then to Harry who grinned even more. "I call dibs on it."

The facepalms were worth the smack to the back of the head.
____________________________________________________________________________

In a high towering rage, Nagato snarled as she punched a steel topped desk hard enough to put her fist through it. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T SEND ME TO ENGLAND!? MY SON JUST NEARLY DIED! HIS FAIRY WAS MANIFESTING ON ME AND YOU STAND HERE STATING THAT I CAN'T BE AT HIS SIDE!?"

Nonplussed, Goto just raised an eyebrow from behind his desk before glancing at the hole. More then a few humans would have been frightened with the form of the enraged Battleship in front of him, but he knew that she would not actually harm him. Just the same though... "Yamato, Musashi?"

Both shipgirls appeared behind Nagato and grabbed her, pinning her in place. Musashi only grunted a bit as Nagato pushed against them. "Hai, Teitoku."

Even Yamato was finding Nagato hard to hold on to. Part of her actually just wanted to let her go and charge in, but she knew that Goto had to have his reasons. "Please, just listen to him Nagato-San."

Snarling, Nagato glared at them both. "Listen? LISTEN! MY SON NEARLY DIED JUST NOW! AND YOU JUST WANT ME TO LISTEN!?"

The sound of flesh slamming down onto the desk made Nagato pause for a moment and turn towards where Goto had brought his hands down and stood up. "I know that you are angry, Nagato. The Kami knows that I want to go there right now as he's sort of my nephew. But I also know that charging forth will do absolutely nothing at the moment. What happens if you are on an airliner and shift your weight from normal human to something more massive." He made a point to look down to see where the floor was cracked and groaning under the Battleship. A floor reinforced enough that a tank was supposed to be able to be sat right there with any problem. Needless to say, Nagato flushed at that, though it was more embarrassment then anything else. "Until you calm down, I cannot in good conscious let you go. Once you do though, I am willing to send you."

Her chest expanding with each deep breath, part of Nagato wanted to rage. It wanted to scream until there was no air left, fire at something. To rip and tear apart whatever it was that threatened her son and then end it/. What made it worse though...

Was that there really was nothing that she could do.

It was a good thing that Hoppou was currently sleeping at Wokyuu's island with Aeroprin. No one wanted to see what would happen when an enraged Princess got word of what was going on. Wanko had already been informed and apparently was just barely able to keep from tearing her way through the Indian Ocean to get to England. With several deep breaths though, Nagato relaxed some and then slumped into a chair before holding her face in her hands. "I just want to protect my Son... to make sure that he's okay."

Feeling that the danger had passed, Goto relaxed himself and sat down. "I understand, I really do. As soon as I got word though, I will pass it on and-"

Before he could get any further, the door to his office was kicked open and Gangut rushed in with Verniy in her arms. "COMRADES! I HAVE BROUGHT TINY ONE WITH TERRIBLE NEWS!"
All Goto did was look to where the door was now embedded in the wall with a sigh. It said something about either his sanity or how used to things he was that only caused one thought in his mind. 'I wonder what sort of looks I'll get this time for asking my door to be repaired...'

Most likely both his sanity and him being used to things though.

Simply shaking such thoughts out, he gave Gangut a look. "If this is about Harry, then we already know." At the surprise, he gestured at Nagato who was now giving Verniy a searching look. "Apparently his fairy started to form on Nagato here..." Goto didn't say the rest of his thought. 'Which makes one wonder...'

Getting up from his chair, Nagato walked over and placed a hand on Verniy's shoulder. "How far did it get?"

For a moment, Verniy chewed her lip before shaking her head. "Too close." When Goto focused on her, she took a deep breath. "H-he was almost fully formed."

Leaning back in is chair, Goto considered what was happening and was about to say more when his phone rang. Just picking it up, he frowned. "Isoroku Goto here." Several seconds later, his eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline and he nodded. "I see, allow him in and get him to my office as soon as possible. Thank you, Lieutenant. Yes, you saw nothing." Placing the phone back into the cradle, the Admiral gave a thin smile to the others. "Dumbledore-San apparently just arrived at the front gate and they're bringing him here."

The minutes ticked by as Nagato tapped her foot on the floor. No one commented that there was a spider web of cracks slowly spreading outwards. However, it was not long before Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. "Hello-"

Before he could get much further, Nagato stood up and walked forward until she seemed to loom over him. Her teeth grinding made a sound not unlike that of her turrets moving. "What. Is. Happening. To. My. Son?"

Unable to help himself, Albus Dumbledore, the vetern of numerous battles, defeater of Grindlewald, and the only person that Voldemort truly feared... Took a step back. Internally, he was sweating a bit at the aura being given off by Nagato when a poem from when he was much younger. 'The Female of the Species is far deadlier then the Male indeed...' Shaking off the thought, he nodded. "Mister Potter is safe and well after what happened. If you wish, I can provide some transport now that I am the Headmaster again."

Tenryuu sighed and stepped forward with the rest of DesDiv6. "Well, guess that we're taking a trip." At the looks, she snorted. "If you think that I am leaving Hibiki to go alone, you're crazy."

A laugh bursting from her, Gangut slapped the smaller Cruiser on the back. "Ah ha! Truly a strong mother this one, especially for Comrade Tiny One. But do not fear, for I shall come as well! And if needed I shall use the great strength given to me by Mother Russia!"

Raising his eyebrow, Goto internally sighed. But he still had to ask even though he already knew the answer. "You do realize that you are only visiting."

In reply, Gangut shrugged. "And? I am still visiting, just somewhere else. Is not a big problem, Kisama. I go with Comrades." She then hummed a bit. "Besides, I wish to meet the one that Comrade Tiny One has her eyes on."

That only made Goto pinch the bridge of his nose as Verniy blushed and Tenryuu snorted. Eyes twinkling in amusement, Dumbledore glanced around. "If you would like, I can fix the... unfortunate damage here." At the wave of the hand he got, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and with a few motions, the various damages were gone. "There we go."

With a look around, Goto nodded some. "Very nice."

Lips curling up, Dumbledore then took one of the paperclips and enlarged it before tapping it with his wand, which made it glow blue. "And there we go. It's set for two minutes. If everyone would grab hold?"

Almost immediately, all those going did so and Nagato looked at Goto. "I shall send word via Hedwig for Hoppou, Teitoku. They shall include some fairies of mine, so please keep her calm until then."

Only nodding, Goto took a deep breath. "I will. And I shall also be sending a few... second tier shipgirls in the coming days. Just to be sure."

Dumbledore gave a small nod. "Very well, I look forward to it." With a quick look at the clock, he nodded. "I shall see you then."

There was the small sound of displaced air and they were gone. Closing his eyes, Goto shook his head slowly as Yamato and Musashi took up positions to wait. "Be safe, all of you."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore and the shipgirls appeared in his office. Scanning it, Nagato could see Molly and Arthur both holding their two youngest. Over in one corner, Lockhart was wincing every once in a while as Royal Sovereign dabbed at this wound or that with rubbing alcohol. Her gaze then swept past Neville who was being looked over by the school nurse.

Then her eyes fell on her son and widened a bit.

He was standing there with a rather fancy sword in one hand and an odd look in his eyes. His clothes though were covered in dirt and such, though one arm made Nagato's boilers nearly stopped. Right close to the elbow, the cloth was torn to shreads with a large hole ripped in it. But it was also drenched in blood from the smell, though she could see no wound on him. "Harry?"

A tired smile on his face, Harry placed the sword onto the desk and took several steps until he was hugging his mother. Said hug was returned much more forcibly then what his was. "Mum... I'm okay."

Pulling back, Nagato was about to say something when Verniy stepped forward. "Okay? Harry-Chan, you are not okay! You... you..."

Quickly, she made her way over and pulled Harry into a hug nearly as tight as Nagato's as she buried her face in his neck, not caring about the dirt there. Patting her back, Harry gave her a smile best that he could in his tired state. "Hey, everything is okay. And it wasn't that bad, I guess."

Eyes narrowing, Verniy gave him a growl. "Not that bad... You nearly died, Harry-Chan! You almost became one of my fairies!"

Much to her surprise, Harry just shrugged. "Like I said, not that bad." He did blink at the blush that crossed Verniy's face as well as the grin on the silver haired Battleship he recognized as Gangut according to Jane's. Behind him, he could hear Tenryuu snicker some. "Heh... Oof!"

Nearly falling backwards, Harry found the rest of DesDiv6 hugging him tightly. Sniffling, Akatsuki gave him a glare. "You scared us, Harry-Chan! That's not very Gentleman like!"
Blushing, Harry scratched his neck in embarrassment. "Um, sorry about that?"

Akatsuki just puffed out her cheeks while Inazuma shook her head. "Oh, Harry-Chan. You really did worry us, Nanodesu."

It was then that a throat clearing made Harry look over to where Tenryuu was looking over the sword with an interested look though she also gave a look at Maruyu who was in a corner. "So... besides scaring some years off our lives, what the heck happened? And what was with the sword, kiddo? I mean, it's a bit gaudy, but it's got a good balance I suppose. If you want to copy me though, you'll want to try something else."

Somewhat nervous, Harry coughed and scratched the back of his neck. "Right, what happened... well... it was sort of like this..."

When he started, the various shipgirls had an interested look. Then, slowly, they became more and more filled with disbelief as it continued. However, there was also an undercurrent of anger there at Peeves and Tom Riddle. When it reached the point that he was revealed as Voldemort, Nagato had to take a deep breath.

Then it got to the point of his fight with the Basilisk.

Grabbing for a chair, Nagato sat down shakingly at what she had been told. Once Harry was finished with it, she reached out and took his arm to examine the scar that was there. What had been a bad wound was now scarred over and looked at most months old with puckered skin. Her fingers probing it, Nagato frowned at it. "It seems to have been healed..."

Ikazuchi placed her hands behind her head and gave a low whistle. "Wow! Guess that your account name on SGO is actually pretty apt! Ow!"

Just rubbing her shoulder, she looked at her twin sister while Inazuma pulled back her fist and scowled at her. "Aki, not the time!"

While she kept rubbing, Ikazuchi grumbled at Inazuma. "What? It's true. He slew a giant serpent monster with a sword, saving a group of people and a young girl. Heck, he's already considered a hero."

Only pinching her nose, Inazuma sighed a bit. "Not the point and not the time, Nanodesu. You know that."

Nodding, Akatsuki had an arm around Verniy's shoulders while frowning. "Inazuma-Chan's right, Ikazuchi-Chan! It's not lady like to be saying such things at the time." Then he noticed that Harry was digging around in his pocket for something. "What do you have there, Harry-Chan?"

A small grin on his face, Harry pulled out a piece of fabric and then put it onto the desk and unwrapped it. Moments later, eyes widened all around at the sight of the massive fang there. "I brought back the fang with me. You know, because I heard somewhere that keeping the tooth of something that bit you meant that you wouldn't be bit by the same thing again."

Closing her eyes, Tenryuu groaned a bit. "I'm pretty sure that's sharks, kiddo." With a sigh, she shook it off and then picked up the fang in her hands before shaking her head. "Still, got to admit... you're pretty badass."

That only made Harry grin as he did not notice Gangut look at the fang in deep thought.

 

[darthcourt10]

Azzaciel

The Once and Future Ship, Part 15.5

Hogwarts Epilogue & Prelude to Adventure
__________

Standing at the bow of the ship, Helena looked down at the diadem in her hands, the swaying of the deck under her feet making it easy to lose herself in her memories.

Memories of that fateful day, when she found out that 'she' had vanished overnight. Two years since then and still none the wiser, for her mother refused to talk about what she knew of the events that happened during the night before.

Lord Gryffindor and Lady Hufflepuff had also kept what they knew to themselves. Lord Slytherin would most likely have done the same, if he were around to talk to, except that he had been unavailable for the week he was at Hogwarts before he had that falling out with the three others.

Two years since she decided that she would try to find out what had happened to 'her'.
Two years since she first dove through her own memory with the help of magic.
Two years since she figured out that 'she' most definitely was not human, or at least not anymore.

But now, now she was underway and as Helena raised her head to look towards the shore of the mainland, heading into the future on a path with an uncertain end, she hoped.
Maybe, maybe their paths would cross, and then she could find the truth that yet eluded her…
__________

At the same time, Prydwen was staring at the metal beneath her feet, elated to be once more unbound by land. Half again as long as she was tall, blue like the cloth parts of her armor, riddled with lines and symbols lightly glowing golden like 'his' blade.

And yet it was only half of what would allow her to traverse the oceans, for she and her knights had known that no sail would catch enough wind to move her. And so it was that her armor now had two rows of gaps on her back under her shoulder blades connecting to a sealed and heavily reinforced chamber.

Placing most of her weight at the back of the enchanted Fae metal and leaning slightly forward, her garrison moved to open the sealed chamber. And as they did, harsh winds forced themselves through passages and out of the armor gaps on her back, for shackled inside the chamber was a storm like those that she had often let loose in frustration.

Accelerating away from Britain and towards Ireland, the water behind her churned in her wake in an otherwise untouched sea, like an ominous sign that her passage would bring upheaval to all in her path.
And yet she would not see it, for her gaze did not stray backwards, but stayed unflinchingly towards the front and things yet to come.

__________

AN: So, super short since the Hogwarts part just wouldn't want to be written, and I really wanted this to get moving towards events that were actually planned. Harry knows what I'm talking about.
And on the thing that made Prydwen leave Hogwarts? I'll tell the Kaiju and then you all get to wait until it can be revealed in story.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Arthur looked at his daughter who was being held by her mother. "Oh Ginny, haven't I taught you anything? Do not trust anything if you cannot see where it keeps its brain. Those can be the most dangerous and in this case it was obviously full of dark magic."

Sniffling, Ginny shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just found it inside one of the books that Mum got me. I thought that someone had forgotten it in there and then he started talking to me..."

Her eyes narrowing, Nagato reviewed her logs of that day and knew from the look on her son's face that he was doing the same, or rather looking over his memories. One incident stood out in particular and she clenched her fist tightly. 'So... That is who is responsible. But unless it can be proven...'

Meanwhile, Dumbledore stood up and walked to his cupboard before taking out a large mug. With practiced ease he filled it with hot chocolate and soon had it sitting on his desk. "Do not be too harsh on her, Arthur. There are many more, much older and wiser wizards and witches who have been hoodwinked by Voldemort. However, since Madam Pomfrey is still awake, I would suggest that after she has a lovely hot chocolate, just perfect to help her, that Miss Weasley heads down to the Hospital Wing to be checked. I suspect that she would be just fine though."

Glancing at him, Nagato frowned until she internally sighed. 'Right, he went to Hogwarts in the early twentieth century...' As Ginny sipped the hot chocolate, Nagato walked over and tapped Molly on the shoulder. "Would it bother you much if we talk to the side? Maybe give Arthur some time with her?"

Clearly torn between letting go of her daughter and wanting to see what Nagato wanted, Molly looked towards Arthur who noddded and placed an arm around Ginny's shoulders as the young girl looked confused. Moving somewhat to the side, Molly frowned up at the taller woman. "What do you need to talk with me about, Nagato? If it is about the debt, know that we would clearly repay it."

Quickly, Nagato waved her hand around. "No, no, it's nothing about that." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before nodding. "Rather, it's about how to maybe help Ginny recover from her experience, if you give me a moment of time."

Somewhat confused, but wanting to know more about helping her daughter, Molly nodded. "I... suppose there's no harm. What is your thoughts?"

With a slow nod, Nagato considered her words before glancing at Ginny. "First, I'm not familiar with some aspects of the Wizarding World, but may I ask how they would treat someone who has gone through something rather traumatic?"

Frowning, Molly gave it some thought before shaking her head. "The usual method would be to give them some calming potions for a time, dreamless sleep potions until some time has passed. Other then that... Perhaps Obliviation for really bad events or similar spells to dull the memory."

Just blinking, Nagato stared at her before slowly nodding again. "I... see..." Internally though she was wincing. 'No, it seems that the Wizarding World is behind in other ways.' Clearing her throat, the Battleship hummed. "In the non-magical world, especially after Blood Week and various attacks by Abyssals, we have become quite good with dealing with events like this. You know Warspite, correct?"

Now confused, though interested in what she was hearing, Molly nodded. "Warspite is a close and dear friend to my Ronald. In fact, I have often had her over along with some of the other Royal Navy shipgirls, why?"

A small smile broke out on Nagato's face as she let out a sigh of relief. "If it would not be too much, I would suggest asking Warspite if she could have one of the counsolers used for shipgirls help Ginny. They're not psychologists before you say something, just people that will listen without judgement and help one work through any problems. Haru-San back in Yokosuka acts that way for most of us and is a great help for us shipgirls. Sometimes... it's best to have someone to just talk to and they would be covered for keeping anything they hear secret, so no danger to the SoS."

Molly's first instinct was to yell at Nagato for what she was suggesting, but then caught herself at the last moment. Examining the taller woman's face, Molly could see the worry there and remembered something Warspite told her. Very slowly, Molly gave a nod. "I will consider it..."

With a nod of her own, Nagato gave a very small smile. "Thank you, that is all that I can ask." Having spotted that Ginny was now finished, the Battleship tilted her head towards it. "I think that Ginny is likely ready for that check up."

Once the Weasleys were gone, Dumbledore turned to Lockhart and gave him a small nod and smile. "I must thank you, Gilderoy. Going with them to check the location to make sure that the Chamber's entrance was there was quite the brave thing to do. I believe that you also need to be checked out at the Hospital Wing as well. And Minerva? I believe that this is an event worthy of a feast, please let the Kitchens know."

Sharply nodding, McGongall left as did Lockhart and Royal Sovereign. Being as their destinations were different, they soon separated and Lockhart glanced at the stony faced Royal Sovereign before giving a dry chuckle. "Well now, that was rather exciting I suppose-Ow! What was that for?"

As he rubbed his cheek where Royal Sovereign had slapped him, Lockhart was stunned as she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close. What shocked him more was the tears in her eyes. "What in the name of the Bloody Queen did you think that you were doing, Gilderoy!? Looking for the Chamber with only some kids for back up was utter idiocy! You could have died down there tonight!"

Gently, Lockhart placed his hands on her shoulders and sighed. "It's... something that I realized that I had to do." A frown on his face, he furrowed his eyebrows. "All these years, those books that I wrote of others adventures and heroism as if it was my own... even if it was with their permission. And then the time I've spent with you, I suppose that I realized then that I needed to prove it to myself. That I could hold my head high."

Royal Sovereign gave a hiss as she shuddered some. "You got nothing to prove, Gilderoy. Absolutely nothing. You were right there beside me when you wrote that book regarding me."

Bitter laughs came from Lockhart as he shook his head. "Ah, yes, the only one of my books that I am truly proud of... And which subsequently bombed in sales. But that was actually part of it, I needed this to show myself that I could do it, even though it's one adventure that I am likely never to print."

With that he removed her hands from his shirt and began walking as Royal Sovereign thought over what he had told her. Then she sighed and grumbled a bit. "Idiot." The Battleship pointingly ignored the twitch of his lips before shaking her head. "Well, I suppose that you have the excuse that your plan called for."

Laughter came from Gilderoy at that. "Yes, I do suppose that is right. The Curse of the DADA position claims yet another Professor. The stress and strain has forced me into an early retirement from my travels. And so I shall retire to my estate from where I shall recover for an unspecified time with the public eventually moving on. Just one more adventurer, though perhaps one that might be a tad more popular then others." A sigh escaping him, he looked at Royal Sovereign who was shaking her head in bemusement. "You'll stick around, of course?"

The Battleship snorted some before giving him a smile. "You couldn't get rid of me, Gilderoy." Taking his hand in hers, she smiled a bit more. "Besides, if you want occamy to be raised for their eggs, you may need my help."

All Lockhart did was smile back and nod as the two made their way towards the Infirmary.
___________________________________________________________________________

With the door closing, Dumbledore sighed and sat back in his chair. Slowly, he turned and gave Harry a small smile. Part of the old wizard was rather amused at the sight of the four Destroyers currently hugging Harry tightly. Clearing his throat, Dumbledore began. "Firstly, I must thank you my dear boy. You showed great loyalty to me down in the chamber, for there was no other way that Fawkes would have known to have arrived." He glanced at said Pheonix who was currently being happily stroked by Nagato in thanks. "It's one of his more odd aspects, I suppose."

Only nodding, Harry considered that before shrugging. "I don't see why you need to thank me for that." A frown then crossed the black haired boy's face as he considered what happened. "One thing is bothering me though, down in the Chamber, Riddle mentioned that there was an odd likeness between the two of us."

Softly sighing, Dumbledore shook his head. "I suppose, in some ways there is a few similarities between you. Both of you can speak Parseltongue, are intelligent young men, popular, orphans of magical parents raised in the non-magical part of our world... And both of you, like Slytherin himself, have a certain disregard for any rules that get in your way. Unlike both of those two though, Harry, you can not be called dark in the slightest."

Furrowing his eyebrows some, Harry frowned in thought. "Is that why the Hat thought that I should go into Slytherin? And I found Slytherin's daggers..."

A snort escaped from Dumbledore who shook his head and gestured at the sword that even now, Tenryuu was performing some Kata with. "You pulled the sword from the Hat, Harry. Only a true Gryffindor is capable of that feat." Glancing at Nagato, Dumbledore seemed thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "As to your Parseltongue... When he gave you that scar, it seems that Voldemort transfered some of his powers to you."

His face paling, Harry stared at him. "There's a piece of Voldemort, inside me?"

Dumbledore then shook his head as he shared a look with Nagato. "Harry, there is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. What happened was accidentally and it seems to have had no effect on the wonderful young man who stands in front me. Voldemort would have never thought to go and try to rescue someone as you have." Even as Harry nodded in thought, there was a knock on the door and the elderly wizard sighed. "Ah. Lucius, do please come in."

Walking in, Lucius opened his mouth to speak before stopping as he noticed the shipgirls there as well as Harry. Nagato and Harry in particular looking at him with narrowed eyes. Shaking it off though, he gave Dumbledore a glare. "So, you have been reinstated it seems."

In reply, Dumbledore just leaned back with a small smile on his face. "Yes, it was rather odd. I was relaxing at a home of a close friend when a verible storm of owls descended upon us. She was rather put out, though also somewhat amused when one of those dropped in my tea. A wonderful blend at that." After a moment of thought, Dumbledore gave a nod. "It seems that with Miss Weasley's abduction and apparent death so soon after my being removed had changed their minds and they wanted me back. Especially after a certain radio interview aired."

As Dumbledore gave him a nod, Harry barely held back a grin. 'Good. Worked better then I thought.'

Turning back to Lucius, Dumbledore seemed bemused. "Rather odd tales some of them told me. It seems that they believed that they were threatened by you with blackmail. Or that you threatened to curse their families. Strange."

While Lucius' face turned an odd combination of pale and red, Harry noticed something else. Right behind Lucius and clutching at his robes was Dobby, who looked frightened out of his mind. But he also kept giving Lucius looks. Then there was a pop and suddenly an angry Wanko was standing in the room with Revina beside her and Regina also there. Upon sighting Harry, her expression became one of relief and she leaned down to hug him. "Little Brother... I am happy... to see you... alright."

Now nervous as he now had a Princess class Abyssal to deal with, Lucius kept giving them looks while Dumbledore gave them a smile. "Ah, Miss Wanko. Thank you for coming when you did."

The Abyssal only gave him a brief nod from where she was holding Harry, and Verniy as a bystander, to her chest. "No, thank... you for... giving us a... way to reach... here. Regina was... going by... airline soon..."

Swallowing nervously, Lucius turned to Dumbledore and tried to sneer. "Yes, rather odd about their accusations. So I suppose that you have caught the culprit?"

Chuckles escaped from Dumbledore as he raised the diary which suddenly all the Abyssals focused on. "Yes, it seems that the Chamber was opened by a memory inside of this Diary of a young Voldemort." He ignored the flinch from Lucius as he continued. "It seems that someone had slipped it into Arthur Weasley's daughter's books. Over the year, it had been draining her of her lifeforce while using the Monster of the Chamber, a Basilisk which has been slayed. Miss Weasley has been recovered, safe and sound from her ordeal though."

Feeling the gaze of Wanko fall on him as well as Revina, Lucius tried his best to keep a cool head. "Ah, I see. That is... a good thing, when all is said."

With a hum, Dumbledore turned it over in his hands. "Yes, a very good thing. It would be terrible for Arthur's reputation as he stands for muggle rights if his daughter was suspected of opening the Chamber to slay muggleborns. Thankfully, it was not her fault, though one must wonder how it got into her books..." Turning a knowing gaze on Lucius, Dumbledore hummed. "You were in the bookshop at the same time, were you not, Lucius? Did you see anything suspicious?"

Hand gripping his cane tightly, Lucius barely held back a snarl. "No, I am afraid that I saw nothing at all, Albus."

Sadly sighing, Dumbledore shook his head. "A shame, I suppose then. Though I do wonder what someone was thinking when they did slip it into Miss Weasley's books. After all, Voldemort would not be happy if he returned to find such a valuable object missing. I fear for whoever's lives it was."

Just paling, Lucius nodded while Dobby kept giving glances at Lucius and pointing at the Diary and then his master. He stopped though when Lucius turned. "Very well, we best be off then."

Gulping, Dobby played with his tea dolly a bit. "M-master? Mistress sent me with a message and-"

Before he could finish, Lucius gave him a sharp kick through the open door. "And I said that I do not want to hear of it! I shall speak to my wife and find out what she wants when I return home."

And with that, they were gone with Dobby yelping in pain. Snarling, Gangut was already moving. "I shall teach that damned Bourgeois a lesson in treating the Proletariat better! As he is not a Comrade and there are many walls here, I shall teach him such post haste!"

Realizing the danger at the same time as the others, Harry quickly turned and looked at the Diary. Then his eyes lit up a bit. "Professor? May I... return the Diary to Mr. Malfoy?"

Moments later, Dumbledore nodded some with a smile as he spotted Harry kick off a shoe. "Ah, I see. Yes, I do not see a problem with it as long as you see if it can be returned soon after and hurry."

It was just a few minutes later that Lucius was storming through the halls, every once in a while kicking Dobby. Suddenly, he could hear footsteps hurrying towards him and turned to find that Harry was sitting on Gangut's shoulders. Part of Lucius wanted to run at the rage on Gangut's face, but held his ground. "Yes? What is it?"

Getting off Gangut's shoulders, Harry walked over and held out the Diary. "Here, this is yours right? So I'm just returning it." Seeing the narrowed eyed gaze, the black haired boy shrugged. "I saw you handling Ginny's books, we both know it was you."

There was a sneer on Harry's face as Lucius took the dirty, ink covered book. "I see... brash as a Gryffindor. One day that will see you get into trouble like your parents." Looking at it in disgust, he tossed it to Dobby. "Here, take this."

With that, he turned and quickly walked away without any more words, just wanting to be out of the school. Harry meanwhile pointed at the Diary as Dobby blinked in confused and mouthed to open it. Still confused, Dobby did so and his eyes widened before his expression became one of pure joy. "A sock... Master has given Dobby a sock!"

Freezing in place several meters down the hallway, Lucius turned and stared. "What!?"

All Dobby did though was hop around with the sock in his hand. "A sock! Dobby has a sock given by Master! Dobby is free! FREEEEE!"

It all clicked in Lucius' mind at the sight of the open Diary and Harry giving him a smirk. Then the boy gave him a mocking salute as Gangut grinned widely, which made him see red. "You lost me my servant, boy!" Pulling his wand from where it was hidden in his cane, he pointed it towards Harry as Gangut began to get between Harry and him, not seeing Maruyu, Regina, Verniy and the rest of DesDiv6 appearing from around the corner. "REDUCT-"

Dobby though was already snapping his fingers as he glared. "Bad Master will not harm the Great Harry Potter Sir!"

Every one of the shipgirls as well as Harry and Regina stared as there was a flash of light and Lucius was sent flying down the hall. Hitting the floor hard, Lucius sat there for several moments just groaning before he slowly got to his feet. With a final glare at Harry, he walked off with a slight limp. Moments later, Harry felt a heavy hand clap itself on his shoulder. "HAHA! Very good, Garri! No wonder that Tiny One likes you so! Standing up against the Bourgeois for the Proletariat and tricking them by using their own arrogance!"

Blinking, Harry was about to comment about the name she gave him when Verniy reached him and whispered into his ear. "Harry-Chan, Garri is the Russian version of your name."

That caused him to nod as he turned towards Dobby who was still hopping around. "So you're free now, Dobby. Glad to see it."

Eyes shiny, Dobby sniffled a bit and shook his head. "Dobby is ever so happy that Dobby is free now! Free from Bad Master! And all thanks to the Great Harry Potter Sir! Truly yous is a great wizard! Dobby will do anything for Great Harry Potter Sir! Anything!"

Scratching his head, Harry suddenly frowned before looking down at Dobby. "Anything?" At the rapid nods he got, a small smile crossed his face. "Um, don't save me unless I ask?"

For a moment, Dobby was confused before he gave a sharp nod. "Dobby will do his best to do so, Great Harry Potter Sir! Dobby will be seeings you around!"

With a snap of his fingers, he was gone and Harry picked up the Diary before Regina suddenly hugged him. Her tail wrapping around him and Verniy as she turned them around. "Um, we should be heading back to Lady Wanko and the others, before they worry about us."

As they walked, Gangut had an odd look on her face before turning to Harry. "What did you mean when you asked for him not to save you anymore, Comrade Garri? Would you not want him to?"

Chuckling weakly, Harry winced a bit. "Well... it sort of went like this..."

Gangut's eyebrows rose higher and higher. Suddenly, she started to laugh loudly as she clutched her gut. "Little Dobby seems to be full of enthusiasm! Like Russian! But not very understanding as to how to use such..." She paused for a moment before nodding. "Like some Russians during Glorious Revolution! But heart is in right place!"

While Gangut was laughing and clapping Harry on the back, Inazuma was looking around in some worry and confusion. Seeing that, Ikazuchi looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow. "Something wrong, Ami?"

Slowly, Inazuma nodded some as she looked into one of the alcoves that lined the hallway. "I was just wondering where Revina-San was." At the looks, she shrugged. "She left the office with us after all."

Turning his head to look over Regina's tail, Harry shrugged. "She's probably gone to see Fred and George. You know how she is."

After thinking that over, the Destroyer just nodded as it did make sense.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 41: S0ngD0g13

Now that I finally got my phone's keyboard straightened out and working again, have a snippet...
.........................................

Jaw stood straight and still next to Akizuki as one by one, Destroyer-Girls filed into the room. There were representatives from many navies in attendance for this ceremony.

The assembly arrayed themselves around Akizuki and Jaw, and he noted the ones in the foremost rank...

Johnston, with her feathered war-bonnet and what looked like fresh war-paint on her cheeks and a pipe-tomahawk thrust through her belt. HMCS Huron, cradling a gunstock war-club in the crook of her arm, next to HMS Gurkha, fingers tapping the hilt of her sheathed kukri. There was FS Mogador, the French Destroyer resting her hand lightly on the grip of a jambiyah tucked into her sash. Makinami flanked Mogador, her wakizashi 'Overflow' at her hip alongside Z3 Max Schultz, the German bearing a katzbalger at her side.

In the middle stood Fubuki, and it was Fubuki who broke the silence. "Sisters, lend me your ears, Sisters of the Tin-Can Mafia. We are assembled here to initiate a new member, a Brother, into our ranks. What is your name, gaki? Who are you who seeks entrance into our fold?"

Jaw responded clearly. "I am James McAmis, son of James McAmis, grandson of James McAmis, Fubuki-kumicho."

"IJN Akizuki, of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, do you vouch for this gaki?"

Akizuki nodded. "I do. He's like a Big Brother to me; moreover if I were able to manifest my hull like Verniy, I'd offer him my Crew Roster to sign. But even without his name on my Roster, I consider him one of my Crew."

Fubuki nodded solemnly, her face grave. "Are there any who would dispute this man's initiation?"

HMS Afridi spoke from her place on a teleconference screen, fingering a Khyber Knife. "I would. I foresee Death from the Surface for this one. Aye, it's Death I see."

"Who would defend him?" said Fubuki.

JDS Yuugumo spoke up then, saluting Fubuki with her katana. "I believe this one need fear nothing from the Surface."

"Are there any other who would dispute the initiation?"

The German Destroyer Leberecht Maas spoke, leaning on a zweihander taller than she was like a crutch. "I foresee Death from Below the Waves for this one. Aye, it's Death I see."

"Who would defend him and refute this Seeing?"

USS O'Bannon stepped forward, shillelagh across her shoulders. "I believe this one need fear nothing from the Deeps."

"Would any other dispute the initiation?"

Forward stepped USS Semmes, the Four-Stacker's Bowie Knife bumping her leg where it hung on her belt. "I foresee Death from the Skies for this one. Aye, it's Death I see."

"Who would refute this Seeing?"

Naganami bowed, showing the tanto in her sash. "I believe this one need fear nothing from the Skies, nor from Any Else on Land or Sea."

Fubuki smiled brightly. "Thrice Disputed, and Thrice Defended, vouched for by one of our own. Johnston, take his Oath."

The Fletcher stepped up to him. "Alright, Jaw, make your brag."

Jaw grinned and placed his hand over his heart; his voice rang out strongly.

"My name is James Aubrey Wilson McAmis and I'm a Destroyerman. I'm no Flat-Top Flyboy working on a Bird-Farm, and I'm no Cruiser-Sailor Light nor Heavy. Subs are too small and Battle-Wagons too big; I Sail with the Destroyer Fleet in fair winds and in foul.

I'm a Giant of a Man on a Tiny Ship, and I'd happily take my pitching, rolling Tin-Can through seas that look like Hell on High-Water for a scrap, and do what damage I can.

When the Brass-Hats turn the Destroyer Fleet loose, no Sub is safe and no convoy in peril, and the skies above the Tin-Can Fleet are always clear.

I'll Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young, and when I do I'll make my grave a hundred fathoms deep with All Tubes Empty, All Rounds Expended, and the guns so hot from Rapid-Fire that I can light my Last Cigarette off the glowing breech-block. I'm James Aubrey Wilson McAmis, and from Now till the End I'm a Destroyerman of IJN Akizuki."

"Well-said, Jaw," replied Fubuki. "Well-said, indeed, Brother. Akizuki, take charge of our new Brother and feed him a meal fit for a Destroyer."

Akizuki smiled widely. "Aye, Fubuki. Come on, Girls! Harry and Jane are waiting in the Chow-Hall with a Feast!"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Watching as the door closed behind Harry and the rest of his group, Nagato frowned and waited a few minutes before turning to regard Dumbledore with narrowed eyes. "Now then, since my son is no longer here... What was that about a piece of Voldemort's power. There is more to the story then that."

A frown on his face, Dumbledore opened his mouth before closing it after a second. His expression becoming thoughtful he looked off to the side. Nagato as did the others could tell he was fighting with himself about something and guessed it was about the Battleship's question. Finally, Dumbledore closed his eyes and nodded. "Nagato, the story behind it is rather complicated and the information must be kept secret."

Eyebrow raising, Nagato crossed her arms with a nod as she went expressionless. "Indeed? Then it is a good thing that as members of the military we all know about keeping some things secret. If you need to, we could swear that as long as it harms no one then we could not speak of it except to those you allow."

Chuckling, Tenryuu pointed to herself with a grin. "Yeah, we can keep a secret."

Off to the side, Wanko slowly nodded with a frown on her face. "As can I... It is... something that I... am very good... at." She then pointed one claw at towards the door. "It has to... do with... that book does... it not?"

Simply nodding, the wizard sighed. "Unfortunately so." After another pause to think, Dumbledore nodded. "In regards to the issue, I have exhausted nearly every European expert that I know of but one. But the Diary means that I may go to the last person here... But perhaps it is time to look towards other traditions. You would not know of anyone expert in such things, would you?"

Not expecting that, Nagato blinked before becoming deep in thought. It was Tenryuu who spoke up. "Ya, there's a few." At their looks, the Light Cruiser shrugged and shook her head. "Haru-San, she's the local Priestess, and she really knows her stuff about magic. Then you got Junyou, Hiyou, and Ryuujou. Those three have a lot of knowledge since they had Onmyouji serving on them during the war and they've only sharpened those abilities since becoming shipgirls."

Thinking it over, Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Perhaps then in... let's say three weeks? I need to follow up one last lead for this before continuing. Around then I should have plenty of time for consultation."

Raising her eyebrow, Nagato frowned. "Oh? How so?"

As he relaxed some, the old wizard leaned back looking his full age. "It is currently March the Second. In three weeks, it will be the Twenty-third and I shall shut down the school for an extended Spring Break. Mainly to go through it from top to bottom and make sure that there's no other surprises that Tom has left us at this time. Such as more of those... abominations, that Harry described. It will be three weeks as I am sure it will take that long to get all the people together that such a task will need."

Softly snorting, Nagato shook her head. "Are you sure that you'll be able to do that? That you'll be able to get enough people?"

On Dumbledore's face was a rather thin smile. "Ah, I am sure that I can. Minister Fudge will be wanting to help his tattered reputation due to everything that has occurred tonight and the preceeding weeks. So he will jump at the oppotunity to be seen doing something that everyone will agree is both constructive and productive." His expression darkened. "Also, depending on another chat I shall be having with those experts that you have named, it would be a good thing in order to get all the children out of harm's way before we deal with another issue."

Hissing, Nagato clenched her first hard enough that the sound of steel under heavy strain could be heard. "Peeves."

Wanko actually jerked back some at the sheer rage and hate in Nagato's voice before narrowing her eyes. "Who is... this Peeves?" Once Nagato quickly explained, Wanko's eyes were glowing an omnious red. "Then I shall... deal with him... if need be."

To that, Dumbledore only nodded. "And I would let you. Peeves has gone too far, but I'm afraid that there is little that we can do to him. Especially as we in Europe lack the... expertise to take care of him. But from what I have overheard from Harry, Japan may have an idea or two."

Needless to say, if Peeves could see the looks on their faces, he would have run in the other direction. Probably. Maybe.

Shaking any thoughts of maiming spirits off for later, Nagato turned to Dumbledore. "However, there is one last question." Once he raised an eyebrow, she continued. "What shall happen to the Basilisk?"

With a chuckle, Dumbledore leaned back. "Well, your son did call... Dibs, I believe he said?" At her sigh of exasperation, his lips twitched. "Under magical law, it would indeed belong to him fully. All the parts included, though he could get it rendered and/or sold by certain parties..." Frowning in thought, Dumbledore hummed a bit. "Yes, there may be a few that if they were to be approached, would jump at the chance. If we go with revealing what the monster was and that it is now dead... Yes, they would may be willing to do anything at cost if only to raise their own profile. It tweaking Lucius' nose would be a bonus."

For a moment, Nagato considered the answer before commenting. "Would these people be the Greengrass family by any chance?"

More then a little surprised, Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Yes, that would be the family in question as well as their friends, the Davis family. Both of them are quite close and have worked together in a few fields such as potion ingredients. May I ask how you know of them?"

Thinly smiling, Nagato shook her head. "My son asked your potions professor for a friend of his. One who has recently come into a rather large amount of harvested components from a... infestation of Acromantula on an island close to Japan."

Slowly, the Headmaster nodded. "Yes, I suppose that would explain it. Is there any time that you wish to perform a survey? Being a Basilisk, it will keep for several weeks at least until the magic in it's body fades enough that some scavangers might feed on it."

Eyes closed, Nagato gave it some thought before nodding. "Perhaps tomorrow." Glancing at Tenryuu, she gave a nod. "I shall contact Teitoku and ask about a certain shipgirl, an Ironclad, to come with us. We can also cover the chamber along with some others to fully be certain that there is nothing else in there." At Dumbledore's agreement, she then took the massive fang on her desk and examined it. "I will also be sending this back to be examined by some people we know. If the venom is magical as you said, and considering how fast acting it was, it may have some... uses. Though it will be returned to my son."

Leaning back, Dumbledore glanced at Wanko who seemed curious. "Do you mean... to be used... against Abyssals? Perhaps against... Demons and Princesses?" At Nagato's nod, Wanko chuckled. "Yes, then I... agree that it... would be a... very good thing even if... it only weakens... them."

Somewhat dubious, Dumbledore frowned. "May I ask who you might be sending samples to?"

Lips twitching, Nagato examined the fang in her hands, She could feel some of her bridge crew still staring in disbelief at it. "There's a doctor back in Japan that I was rather impressed with. While she is only a general practicioner, she does have some experience in lab work though she mostly works in a rural area near one of our lakes. There is also an Army Major in the United States that has worked with us shipgirls that I want to give a sample to. I want to know more about it."

Even as Dumbledore stated his agreement, Wanko turned to him with narrowed eyes and an air of danger around her. "When is... Hagrid going to... be returned? I would... hope that it... would be soon."

There was a bright smile on Dumbledore's face as he shook his head. "Tonight as a matter of fact. I already talked with Madame Bones and she stated he was going to be released." His expression then fell some. "While I am happy that he will be freed and likely cleared fully, even a short stay in Azkaban is not good for one's health. I fear that he shall need some time and somewhere to recover. There is a dragon reserve that the main keeper owes me a favor at, though it would not be until summer that I can send Hagrid there as that would be the first time slot available for the reserve."

However, Wanko stood up tall event though there was a flush on her face. "I see... Until then... Hagrid shall stay... with me and... my fleet." At the looks of amusement, she flushed deeper and looked away as she played with her claws. "The sun and... tropical air... should do him... some good. And I will... make sure that... he is taken... care of fully."

Smile in her voice even bigger then the one on her face, Tenryuu hummed. "Yes, I'm sure that you will make sure that he's taken care of."

If anything, Wanko flushed deeper as she covered her face with her hands.