Chapter 1
Chapter One: The Future is full of possibilities
The City of HogsHaven, July 1st 2069.
“Right this way please people, right this way. Steady..STEADY!” barked Clementine Forthsright, as the staggering, tripping and barging group in front of her unsteadily gathered around her.
International Portkey’s were rough at the best of times, but mass evacuation Portkey’s were another entire level of nauseating. The ramshackle group in front of her were on the whole a dirty, battered, and generally unkempt lot. Likely been kept days at one of the continent Haven faculties she thought with some empathy for the troubles they’d suffered to even just get to that point.
“Ok so, I need everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE” she said throwing a look at a group of Goblins that already looked ready to slink away to the nearby woods “to move to the left-hand tent just up here and register yourself with the desk-Wizard. He’ll take your details and issue you your city pass. Remember to wear your pass on you at all times for the next few weeks until you’re officially inducted into the city. HogsHaven is very much alive and very protective of it’s inhabitants. Those unregistered and without a pass will feel it’s…displeasure…..and depending on how annoyed it is by you, you may only ever feel it once!” she finished emphatically with a determined hard look at the group to emphasise her last point.
The assembled refugees grumbled their assent in low voices that ranged from the gruff but human, to scratchy Goblin speak, and finally to the resonating baritones of a few centaurs at the back.
Shuffling off towards the indicated tent the group moved past Clementine at a steady pace. As the last few passed her, her shoulders slumped, the formerly stern expression on her face dropping into one of sheer exhaustion instead. She shakily sat down on the edge of the rickety low stone wall that ran past the edge of the city, here at the international apparition point. She soaked in the first rays that were peaking through the clouds and illuminating the tops of the forest in front of her. Part of her wanted to just get up and walk off into the woods leaving the turbulent though still sleeping City behind her.
She dropped her face into her hands and just breathed for the first time in a few days.
‘That had been close’ she thought, it was common knowledge that muggle advancements in their technology, their ‘ekeltricity’ and ‘computators’ had threatened the Statute of Secret for years. The simple ‘notice-me-not’ or ‘muggle repelling’ charms did little to halt the new methods muggles had begun using to surveil and catalogue every inch of the planet it seemed.
Every year was a new close call, every year a last minute kerfuffle by a division of the ICW to stop the exposure of the magical world. And now….now it seemed like every other month or even week it was something else.
There were just…too many of them, Clementine realised. Too many people on the planet and too many muggles to so easily hide the way they had used to. It would come to a head sooner or later, thought. Thinking back over the last few days in particular Clementine thought ‘sooner, it’s definitely going to be sooner’.
As she sat back against the wall trying to relax and enjoying the feeling of the weak morning sun on her face and briskness of mild wind she heard light padding footsteps not too far away.
‘Oh Gods, let it be for someone else. I need a break….and some food……..and a shower’ she thought glumly.
The padding feet slowed as they drew close, as well as the slightly scratching that indicated a walking stick of some kind too.
“Well then Miss Forthsright, you seem to be enjoying this rather beautiful morning, a well deserved rest I should imagine what with all the good work you’ve been doing” a thin slightly reedy voice called.
Startled by the familiarity of the speakers voice she leapt up immediately turning to face the man with a embarrassed blush creeping up her face and mild stammer “Oh Profes-I mean I didn’t-what I mean is, sorry Headmaster I didn’t realise it was you”.
The figure of Neville Longbottom, Headmaster of Hogwarts, merely beamed up at her with a benign expression of pleased satisfaction. Despite having been out of Hogwarts for over a decade at this point Clementine still found herself awkward and uncertain how to behave when facing her old Headmaster, and favourite teacher.
Though a noticeably tall woman Clementine didn’t remember her Headmaster having to tilt so far up to look her in the eye, she knew he was old ‘must be nearby a hundred by now’ the absent thought crossed her mind, but his hunched shoulders and aged stoop seemed far more pronounced than she remembered.
Neville Longbottom merely continued to smile at her as he came round and sat on the low wall beside her, gesturing for her to do the same with a wave of his gnarled hand.
“Hehe, I didn’t mean to startle you Miss Forthsright. Merely commend you on what I have heard is a rather starting display of hard work and dedication to your duty” he winked at her conspiratorially “something your old head of house would be proud of after all, nice good Hufflepuff ethic there.”
“Thank you Professor, I must say any compliment coming from you has always made me feel better” Clementine said, while she internally felt buoyed by his praise. They settled in companionable silence for a few moments, together in the early morning glow.
Sitting there Clementine gave a discreet glance over at her former school teacher. He was an elderly figure, slightly shrunken with age, though clearly a once tall man. He had on his customary pale blue robes and matching pointed hat, from which several strands of flyaway snow white hair protruded, as well as the heavy practical belt that perpetually seemed to be fastened around his waist. Incongruously he also had a pair of dirty, battered dragon hide gloves in a truly garish green colour tucked into the belt.
The vibrant colour of his robes and hat, in combination with the frankly acidic looking gloves gave him a mildly eccentric air, while the thick lensed glasses on a chain around his neck and the gnarled walking stick in his hands were both new additions that suggested a frailty that hadn’t been there only a decade or two before.
Neville seemed to notice her enquiring glance at his visage and opened his arms wide displaying the subtle golden sun patterns that flowed across the pale blue of his robes.
“Good aren’t they” he said with a grin, “apparently they’ll change with the season to reflect the actual shine and position of the sun. I think they’ll make quite a splash in the fashion world of Hogwarts if I do say so myself” he finished with a chuckle.
Clementine couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing at her old Professors humour. He had always been her favourite teacher, exciting all the students when he took time to take over their Herbology classes for a fascinating lesson on Venomous Tentacula, or deadly Flourishing Flesh-Eating Flowerpots. He was a gregarious and charming teacher and oh so passionate about his subject.
Like all those entering the school she had heard stories of the Fall of Voldemort, and her Headmasters role in the School Resistance and later Battle of Hogwarts that took place nearly a century ago. But despite those stories and great deeds he had supposedly accomplished the Headmaster had never seemed like a warrior to her, never seemed like a man who craved violence or the fight. He seemed principled, and Just…..but mostly he was just kind. Effortlessly and eternally kind. To the students, to his plants, to mostly any of the myriad witches, wizards, and creatures he came across.
Pulling herself out of her brief reverie she refocused on her old Headmaster who was drawing his robes close in again, wrapping his hands within its folds in an attempt to soak up some warmth in the early morning chill. Clementine pulled out her want to cast some bluebell flames to heat them both while they sat only to notice the momentary flinch of the Headmaster as she reached in her pocket, as well as the slight but noticeable tug she had felt on her wand as she had drawn it. ‘The brief pull of a disarming jinx?' she thought, 'Silent and wandless too'…..perhaps there was more of an old soldier to her old teacher than she had previously believed’.
As she paused with her wand out she saw that the Headmaster seemed calm again and merely glanced expectantly at her with raised eyebrows.
“Some fire to warm us on such a morning Miss Forthsright perhaps?” He enquired.
“Right-sorry sir” she said and quickly conjured the small bottle of bluebell flame that was a common feature of any cold Hogwarts evening.
Placing it between then she suddenly turned back to the Headmaster with a curious look “Headmaster, you didn’t come all the way down here just to see me did you.” She didn’t phrase it as a question.
He chuckled again and looked back over his shoulder at the relatively silent swell of tents, pop up housing, half constructed buildings and older, taller more stable housing that formed the small city of HogsHaven. Built from its origins as Hogsmeade the city had rapidly expanded over the last decade or so to try and accommodate its now nearly 25,000 inhabitants.
He sighed then turned back to her “No my dear, I’m here because it’s time yet again for me to go off and wrangle favours, agreements and help to keep HogsHaven growing. I don’t know how much I can do but I do have alot of connections….old students you know, you never know where they might end up” he laughed. “But our Ministry at least understands the need for the city, the wider problem we’re all facing….but the Ministries for other regions? France, Italy, the MACUSA in America….they all seem determined to see this only as a passing phase, something to be endured but not planned for. Or planned against.”
He sighed looking older than she had ever seen him.
Clementine started, “But surely most of the other countries must be seeing the same issues we’re facing, look at the near misses and dangers I’ve faced just over the last 6 months. The muggle world is encroaching more and more, their ways are polluting our sanctuaries, damaging the very soil and air, disrupting magic itself” she cut herself off suddenly as she went white. She wasn’t supposed to reveal that particular unverified tidbit to anyone.
The Headmaster continued on as though he hasn’t heard anything untoward.
“Oh they know Miss Forthsright, they see the same threats…..they just think the same spells and protections we've had for centuries will keep us safe. Regardless the Minister has my support such as it is, along with the Austro-Hungarian magical enclave, and the Greek Islands. With that backing we’ve got a fair amount of resources to pull from.”
“What about Scandinavia sir?” Clementine asked tentatively, it was well known that the Scandinavian Hexenheim reached from the far edge of Russia across to Greenland to cover most of Northern Europe under a single banner within the magical world. And that they had a bitter animosity against much of the rest of Magical Europe.
“Oh” Headmaster Longbottom said gravely the word weighty with inference, “They’ll help….if I ask……well they'll help if he asks. They still honour him you know, every year with a Yuletide Feast. He goes to them occasionally, he says he always feels a bit awkward.”
From the sombre tone in his voice and the well known events from 20 years before at the time of her own school days Clementine was under no misunderstanding about who the Headmaster was referring to.
Her old Headmaster continued on seemingly lost in thought for a moment, “He…..I don’t think he’s ever forgiven the ICW either for its action or inaction during those events. Nor their treatment of him afterwards”. He looked sad.
“He’s a stubborn bastard at times” he barked out suddenly with a somewhat forced laugh.
“But if he asks….they’ll help. And with that in mind I’d better take my leave and go find my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Miss Forthsright”.
With a jovial wave the Headmaster slowly tottered off along the path back past HogsHavens outskirts, back to the school.
'His DADA professor', Clementine thought, 'what an innocuous way to refer to a man who was held in almost equal parts fear, awe and distrust across Magical Europe. The somewhat luridly named ‘Man-Who-Cannot-Fall” in a recent biopiece in the Daily Prophet.
The most infamous Wizard in most of the known world…..Harry Potter.