With a weary sigh General Hammond picked up the red phone that sat in the right hand corner of his desk. "I need to speak to the President," he said to the person on the other end of the phone.
A moment later he said, "Mr. President, a matter of possible national, perhaps world security has come to my attention."
~*~
Harry sat on the bed in the VIP room watching the Simpsons on TV. His ankle was wrapped and sitting on a pillow. Two sharp knocks on the door pulled his attention away from the mischief of Bart Simpson.
"Yes?" Harry frowned as he called out cautiously.
The door opened slight and Jack's head popped in. "You decent?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked.
"Well I remember being a teen at your age… and well…. Umm…." Jack mumbled. "I didn't know if you were busy or not."
"Busy?" Harry replied in confusion.
"Yeah," Jack said as he slipped the rest of the way into the room while signaling someone to wait before shutting the door. "With everything going on I figured you probably needed a visit from Rosie and her 4 sisters."
Harry slowly shook his head. "I don't know anyone named Rosie or anyone with 4 sisters."
"Harry palm? Spank your Monkey? Choke your Chicken?" Jack said to which Harry shook his head. "Mangle the Midget."
Finally in frustration Jack said, "I'll just let Janet explain all of that to you." The older man turned, opening the door, Jack hollered, "Daniel get your ass in here."
"Everything okay?" Daniel wondered, poking his head in the doorway.
"Fine with a side of dandy," Jack grumbled.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders.
Daniel looked at Jack then at Harry then back at Jack. "Okay," he said slowly. "Teal'c is getting snacks and a pizza I think."
"Snacks?" Harry glanced over at Jack.
"Movie night," Jack explained. "And since we knew you weren’t doing anything we figured that you might want to join us."
"But if you don't feel like watching a movie, I'm sure we can do something else," Daniel babbled. "Maybe Monopoly or Clue?"
A touch of color appeared on Harry's face at the idea that someone beside Sirius… Jack would want to do something with him. "A movie would be nice."
"Then lets go," Jack said as he held out the crutches to Harry. "Teal'c has the best TV in his rooms. Surround sound and everything."
Grabbing the crutches, Harry followed the older men out of the room and down the hall towards Teal'c’s room.
Knocking on the door, Jack opened it without waiting for an answer. "It's show time!" he called out merrily.
Teal'c gave Jack a tolerant look. "HarryPotter welcome to my quarters," he said with a slight bow of his head towards the teen.
"Thank you Mr. Teal'c for including me," Harry said nervously as he sat down in one of the chairs placed in front of the TV.
"It is my pleasure," Teal'c replied. "I always enjoy sharing Earth's cinema with others."
"So what's the movie of the night?" Jack asked excitedly. "Horror, adventure, comedy?"
"Since HarryPotter is the guest here I believe it should be his choice," Teal'c said.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know any movies. The Dursley's never really allowed me to see a movie."
"You never go wrong with Mel Brooks," Jack suggested dragging Harry's attention away from Teal'c and his reaction to Harry's comment.
"I think that Mel Brooks might be a bit racy for Harry," Daniel commented.
"There’s nothing racy in Young Frankenstein… okay there is but I'm sure it's nothing a growing young many like Harry can't hand…," Jack said before glancing over at Harry. "Maybe… Indiana Jones?"
"Jurassic Park?" Daniel suggested. "Or Terminator."
"No to the Terminator," Jack said with a shake of his head. "Lethal Weapon? Alien?"
"Star Trek or Star Wars?" Daniel suggested.
"Perhaps it would be best if we allowed Harry to look through the movies and select one," Teal'c suggested.
"I don't really care," Harry seemed to shrink in on himself under the men's attention. "Whatever you want is fine with me."
Teal'c, Daniel and Jack looked at each other before Jack said, "Indiana?"
Teal'c nodded his head before turning to his collection of movies to find it.
"I almost forgot, Harry," Jack said drawing Harry's attention to him. "I have to visit the US Department of Magic tomorrow to register us. I also wanted to see about getting you citizenship here so that you can't be forced to return if you don't want to. I know I didn't ask you about that but I hope it's ok."
"Do I have to go with you?" Harry asked as he tried to absorb everything.
"No," Jack shook his head. "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone and Janet wants you to stay off that foot as much as possible. Besides, I don't want word of you’re being here get back to Dumbledore so soon."
"Okay," Harry said softly as he played with the edge of his shirt.
"If you want you can join me in my office," Daniel suggested. "I mean it won't be too exciting but you won't be stuck in your room, or the dining hall or the infirmary."
"Oh okay. That would be nice," Harry replied carefully, not sure of how he should respond.
"Daniel here's an Egyptologist," Jack supplied. "He studies the stuff Bill usual digs up for Gringotts."
Daniel turned to Jack. "What stuff?"
"You know," Jack said. "Rocks and stuff."
Daniel turned to Harry. "What kind of stuff?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Ron did say that they got to visit tombs that had some skeletons of some Muggles who had broken in and end up growing extra heads."
Daniel's head whipped back to Jack. "You mean there are tombs out there that we don't know about!"
Jack shrugged his shoulder. "Appears so," he said in a dismissive tone. "Cheetos?" he passed the bag of chips to Harry as the movie started.
~*~
"And then little scamp looked up at me and said in the sweetest most innocent voice that he loved me," the old woman said as she walked into the office of Department of Magical Registration on Colonel O'Neill's arm.
"So what did you do, Helen?" Jack asked
"Why I swatted his bottom of course," Helen replied as if it was the most obvious thing. "My boy may believe that butter won't melt in his mouth but as his mother I know better."
"But isn't that true for every boy?" O'Neill said teasingly. "After all we need that skill to catch wily young ladies like your husband did long ago."
"Oh you," Helen giggled as she gently swatted O'Neill
The wizard behind the counter rolled his eyes at the antics of Helen and O'Neill.
"Oh stop that Maxwell," Helen scolded as she glared at the young wizard. "I saw you rolling your eyes at me."
"Yes, Dame McKnight," Maxwell sighed in a bored tone.
Helen sighed in frustration as she shook her head. "You'll have to forgive young Maxwell," she said turning to Jack, "he has very little patience with us old timers." Helen leaned towards Jack as if she were going to him a great secret but spoke in her normal voice. "The silly thing seems to think that being descended from one of the First Colonist's is important."
"First Colonist?" Jack said as he watched Maxwell warily.
"There's some sillies out there who believe there is something important to the order in which your ancestors arrived in the New World," Helen explained. "Maxwell's family arrived some time in the early 17th century when the British first settled here."
"It was in the year 1608 and my ancestors came over to America on the Sea Venture," Maxwell said with snotty pride.
"You see what I mean," Helen said. "They're a bit like those silly things in Britain who believe that blood is important. Of course when you point out that there were people here before they arrived they get all flustered. They just can't stand to have the truth pointed out to them."
"So what can I do for you Helen," Maxwell growled through clenched teeth, "or have you simply come to torment me?"
Helen shook her head sadly. "This poor young man wandered in my office looking for help," Helen said as she pulled Colonel O'Neill to counter. "It turns out he's one of the Lost Ones."
"The Lost Ones?" Maxwell looked over at Jack who shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't know either.
"What do they teach you young people at that school of yours," Helen made a tisking sound. "It's obvious they don't teach you History anymore."
"I graduated with a perfect score in History as you well know Dame McKnight," Maxwell replied.
"And yet you don't know about the Lost Ones," Helen shot back.
Maxwell closed his eyes, took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Opening his eyes once again he asked, "And who or what is a Lost one?"
"Well since you asked," Helen said before dropping into a lecture tone of voice. "It started after World War 2 and ended during the Sexual Revolution; that was a grand time I can tell you. Anyway this time period was call the Red Scare where Americans were living in fear of communism. Everyone watched everyone else in case they acted in a way that was un-American. No one knew who might be the next one to be named as an evil communist. It was a time when the American government was very paranoid."
"Now imagine what would happen if you were a Normal born witch or wizard during that time?" Helen said. "You couldn’t go to a wizard school since people would investigate the family if a middle class child suddenly was invited to a private boarding school. It was even worse for a child who wasn't white or was of German descent. You couldn't trust anyone who was keeping secrets and that is one thing our society depends on is that we keep our existence a secret."
Maxwell snorted. "If he's a Lost One then how does he know about magic?" he demanded.
Helen looked over at Jack questioningly.
"My mother was a squib," Jack explained.
"A war bride," Helen squealed happily recognizing the term squib as one used only in England
Jack nodded his head. "My dad fell in love with her when he was over in England during the war. Since the family was killed during the bombing, mom inherited everything, all the books and stuff. I know she was confused when I didn't get a letter when I was 11 but she figured it was because dad was still in the military and we moved around a lot. She ended up teaching me from what was in the books she’d inherited and what she remembered seeing her brothers and sisters doing."
"You poor dear," Helen said as she patted Jack's arm in a comforting manner. "We really did fail you."
With a snort Maxwell crossed his arms over his chest. "Still doesn't explain how he knows where here is," he pointed out. "A British girl wouldn’t know how to get into one of our government buildings."
"The Goblins told me," Jack explained with a sigh. "They explained that I had to register Harry as my ward when I arrived back in the States. And to see if I could get him American citizenship."
"With what I've been hearing about what’s going on over there that’s a very good idea," Helen chimed in.
"Fine. Fine," Maxwell said in disgust as he started to pull out forms. "I'm assuming that you will need to be registered also."
"Afraid so," Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Name?" Maxwell said his head bowed over the papers as he started to fill things in with a fountain pen.
"Mine or Harry's?" Jack asked.
"Yours," Maxwell sighed.
"Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill, United States Air Force," Jack said very formally.
Maxwell froze in mid sweep of the pen stroke. Tilting his head up slightly so that he could look at Jack he said, "Normal Air Force?"
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't know there was a magical one."
"They don't do very much, dear," Helen said. "They're bogged down in political squabbles. Most of the lads who want to join end up serving in the Normal Air Force. I hear they have more fun in it than they would have on silly old brooms."
"Yes but brooms would have their uses to especially when you're trying to sneak into an area undetected," Jack said thoughtfully. "Any chance I can get a list of who's in the military and which branch."
Helen tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Probably not but it might be possible to post something in the U. S. M. M. S. newsletter."
"U. S. M. M. S.?" Jack asked
"United States Magical Military Service," Helen replied. "It was primarily for those who served in the magical military but after World War 2 they opened their doors to anyone who served in the US military, normal or magical."
"Excuse me but can we get back to what's really important," Maxwell requested, waving his hand at the forms.
An hour later they finished Jack's paperwork. It took a half hour longer than usual because of Jack and Helen's verbal sparring.
Maxwell sighed in relief as he straightened up the pile of forms before putting them in the Out box from which they vanished into thin air. He picked up his pen and placed the tip onto the paper once again. "Ward's name?"
"Harry James Potter," Jack said as he glanced first at Maxwell and then at Helen to see if either one reacted to the name. Only Helen reacted to the name and she simply raised an eyebrow questioningly. Jack ducked his head like a little boy who knew he was in trouble.
"Birth date?' Maxwell demanded never noticing anything amiss.
"July 31, 1981," Jack replied.
"Birthplace?" Maxwell continued.
"Someplace in Britain. Not really sure," Jack said.
"Parents?"
"Lily and James Potter," Jack said as he once again glanced over at Helen.
"Schooling?"
"Umm… I think he finished his 5th year at Hogwarts," Jack replied.
"That's a shame," Maxwell said as he pulled out some more forms and started to fill those in. "He'll have to be retest before he can enter any of the American schools."
"Why?
Maxwell sighed wearily as he set his pen down. "Unfortunately many of the European schools have fallen behind the times and are not teaching the things today's students need to learn."
"You mean like computers and advanced mathematics?" Jack asked.
"Mathematics, yes. It's important that any young witch or wizard learn how to balance their own books instead of depending on the goblins to do it for them. As for computers," Maxwell made a dismissive noise, "they're simply Normal toys. No doubt a passing fad just like the Poodle skirt. I could never figure out why anyone would want to wear poodle skins as a dress."
Jack stared at Maxwell in silence for a moment. "I think I'm going to home school Harry."
Maxwell shook his head as he pulled out more forms. "More and more Normal born are doing that."
An hour later this time without Jack and Helen's verbal sparring, the paper work on Harry Potter was dropped into the Outbox.
"So what happens to those forms?" Jack asked.
"They're automatically filed with all the correct departments," Maxwell said absentmindedly as he started to straighten his counter for the next person to visit here.
"So no one ever see those files?" Jack asked.
"No. Of course not. As long as the files were filled in correctly, which they were since they are no longer in the Outbox, there should be no reason why anyone would want to see them," Maxwell said.
Helen threaded her arm through Jack. "If Harry decides to move back to Britain someday he can have the Ministry review his forms to help speed up the process."
"He doesn’t have duel citizenship?" Jack asked Helen as she steered him out of the office.
"No. There would be too much confusion over what a person was allowed to do," Helen explained. "Did you know that over in Britain that Normal borns are not allowed to practice magic even in their homes?"
"And they're allowed to here?"
"Of course. As long as it is not seen by, or done to a Normal who is not in the know, it's acceptable. In fact it's highly encouraged," Helen explained.
Jack opened the office door for Helen.
"You know my dear Colonel, you remind me quite a bit of my son." Helen said.
"How so?" Jack replied.
"He believed butter wouldn't melt in his mouth either," she replied as she walked out the door.
~*~
Meanwhile back at the ranch… um SGC
Daniel walked slowly beside Harry as they went down to his office with the guards following close behind. He knew from experience how difficult it could be to walk on crutches and it wasn’t like Harry had a cast to protect him from injuring his sprained ankle even further.
Opening the door to his office, Daniel waved the young man in. "I know it’s a bit cluttered, which will make it a little hard for you to move around, but I moved all the really fragile stuff to a table against the back wall."
Harry’s head swiveled from side to side taking in the clutter of books and artifacts. The first thought that came to mind was: Hermione would probably offer to carry Daniel’s first child for a chance to look at these books. While he was no expert on books, a lot of them looked old… very old. And there were a few tablets that looked like they had runes right out of Hermione’s Ancient Runes class carved on them.
The desk was covered in papers and sitting on the far corner of it was a computer that looked like it had a screensaver of ancient Egyptians walking across stone walls on it.
Daniel ran his hand through hair feeling a little nervous, before gesturing toward the couch against the opposite wall. Having no idea what Harry’s hobbies or interests were, Daniel just hoped that the things he had gotten to keep the teenager occupied would work. Bored teens were almost as dangerous as a bored Jack "Just make yourself comfortable. I have a little work to do, but Teal’c loaned me his Gameboy and some the games he plays on it for you to use and I borrowed some fiction books of various types in case you want to read."
Harry nodded as he hobbled over to the couch. The guards had already taken up a position outside the door. And closed it.
~*~
Harry looked at the Gameboy and the selection of games. Super Mario and Tetris were about the only ones he recognized and that was only because they were in the pile of games Dudley had rejected and therefore they had been consigned to Harry’s bedroom.
As Harry set the box with the rest of the game cartridges on the table in front of him, he accidentally knocked over a stack of paper and most of it slid to the floor.
Daniel looked up hearing the thud of paper hitting the floor and saw Harry awkwardly move off the couch onto the floor intending to pick up the pages. He immediately hurried over to help. Jack and Janet would both have his head if Harry injured that ankle any further.
"I’m sorry," Harry hastily apologized as he saw Daniel come over.
"It’s ok," Daniel was quick to reassure him. "Nothing has been damaged. These are just copies of things I intend to work on when I have time."
Harry took a look at one of the pages curious about what he was working on. "Are you writing a book?"
"Not really," Daniel chuckled. "Everything I work on here is top secret."
"I doubt this would be," Harry looked back at the piece of paper in his hand. "I think Jack may have intended to play a joke on you, cause this looks like the opening to a science fiction story."
"What do you mean?" Daniel recognized the squiggly symbols that were on the back of the page. Those symbols had come from a wall on a planet where the Goa’uld had destroyed an entire race with a plague more than a thousand years before. According to the warning plaque that had been there, the entire race had been viewed as a threat to the Goa’uld race, but not even Teal’c knew why. He had been hoping to find out why from the rubbings he’d made of the wall but so far he’d not found a comparable language from which to work.
"It says ‘Greetings, if you can read this, then I welcome you home, for you are a child of this place, even though your ancestor had to be taken from here by Moros to preserve some of our race because the Serpent Lords wanted to kill us all’." Harry read the first paragraph.
"You can read that?" Daniel couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.
"Of course I can, it’s English after all." Harry told him, but as soon as he saw the expression on Daniel’s face he had a feeling it wasn’t English he was reading. "From the expression on your face, this isn’t English so what is it?"
"I can’t tell you that right now." Daniel regretted having to say that. He knew from the little Harry had said the night before that people had been keeping secrets from him his whole life, but this secret wasn’t Daniel’s alone to tell. "Harry, this involves the work Jack does here and it is top secret. We will have to wait until he gets back since he is responsible for you to see if he can get the ok for you to be told."
"You promise," Harry wanted a guarantee.
"Yes." Daniel assured him. "If Jack gets the General’s permission for you to be told, I will explain it to you. Besides, I want to know what the rest of the document says and so far you are the only one who can read it."
Harry smiled for the first time that morning.
"Now let’s get you back up on the couch before Jack and Janet have my head for letting you strain your ankle." Daniel slid a hand under Harry’s arm to help him to his feet and back on to the couch.
~*~
In a well-to-do neighborhood in South London, a black Lexus rolled to a stop in front of a detached home that only had one car, and a Land Rover parked in front of it.
As soon as the car stopped the passenger side door opened and several men built along the lines of a bodybuilder and exuding a menacing air exited the cars. The men checked the area for danger before signaling to those in the car that they could get out.
"So is this the place?" a rat face man asked as he looked at the house with a disquieting expression.
"Indeed it is my dear, Benjamin," the well-dressed blond said with pride. "This is my little bird house."
"Bird house, cute name," Benjamin replied with a snort. "So how many little birds do you have in residence here, Steven?"
"Currently about a dozen but we're expecting to pick up a few exotic birds in the coming week," Steven replied with a leer. "Shall we take a look at my birds? After all a good owner should always take care of their pets."
"Why not," Benjamin replied with an air of disinterest.
Steven led Benjamin into the home through the security system. "One should always protect their pets. After all you wouldn’t want them to disappear or be found by a snake, now would you?"
Benjamin looked at Steven with a curious expression. "Never heard of them referred to as snakes before."
"But that's exactly what they are," Steven explained. "They catch any of my little birds and I’ll never see them again. All gobbled up by the system."
With a snort Benjamin shook his head. "That's an interesting way to put things."
Steven chuckled. "What can I say my mother forced me to read classical literature in the hopes I’d become something besides a street thug and look what happened," he said as he waved his hand at the impressive interior and at some of the women leaning cautiously around the doorway to see who was here.
"Mr. McMaster?" a young blond man who slightly resembled a pig walked into the room.
"Ahhh Double D. Come and meet my new associate," Steven said as he waved the younger man over. "Benjamin allow me to introduce you to Double D, an up and comer in the business field."
"Is that so," Benjamin said as he studied the young man before him. "What type of business?"
Double D glanced over at Benjamin. "Mostly debt collection and security but Mr. McMaster has me branching out into bird watching and… high altitude flying."
Benjamin chuckled. "High altitude flying! I'll have to remember that."
Double D smiled at that. "If you don't mind I need to speak to Mr. McMaster for a moment privately."
Steven nodded his head. "Why don't you look around Benjamin," he suggested. "I'm sure you can find a little bird to entertain you for a bit."
Benjamin nodded his head before wandering off.
"What is it?" Steven demanded when Benjamin has disappeared into an adjacent room.
"Got word from one of my men that the Coppers are planning to raid the warehouse in North London," Double D explained.
"How soon?" Steven demanded.
"3 days," Double D replied. "I've already ordered them to move what they can and to torch the rest.
Steven looked curiously at Double D.
"That way if they track the building back to you, you can say it was an investment and you had no knowledge that someone had been making drugs in it," Double D explained. "Besides you can collect the insurance off if it then, so it's not a total loss."
Steven laughed out loud. "I like the way you think!" he said. "You'll go far in the business with a mind like that."
Double D smiled. "Learned it off my old man," he said. "When life gives you trash beat the shit out of it until it makes you a profit."
~*~
The room Benjamin had wandered into contained two preteen girls who had a very submissive air about them as if they no longer held out any hope that things would get better for them.
"Girls," he said with a nod of his head.
The girls looked at each other then one of them rose from her seat and walked towards him in what she thought was a seductive way.
Benjamin shook his head. "Not interested," he said with a smirk. "My old lady would cut them off if I ever thought of it."
The girls looked at him in surprise. "Then what are you here for?"
Benjamin glanced towards the door where he could barely hear Steven talking to his employee. With a smirk he say, "Just laying in the grass."
~*~
"POLICE!"
The front door was knocked off its hinges as the police used a battering ram against it. As soon as the way was clear they swarmed in like an army of invading ants. They spread everywhere quickly arresting the men who were in the house and escorting the girls and young women out to a waiting van from social services.
The police in the rear of the house wound up having to use their nightsticks on a blond young man when he tried to charge through them like an enraged elephant.
"You're under arrest," a police officer said as he put the cuffs on the suspect.
"My arm!" the young man cried. "My arm! You broke my arm."
"Tough break for you lad," the officer said as he haul the man on to his feet and dragged him to the waiting transport will news reported snapped photos and filmed the action for the morning news.
~*~
The next morning Vernon Dursley sat down to his breakfast with his morning paper. Opening the paper he began to read as he ate his toast.
"There was a fire in North London," he announced. "Drug related. Probably some damn foreigner."
"You're probably right, dear," Petunia agreed as she read the entertainment section of the paper.
"Hmmm… police raid in London. Page 3" Vernon said to himself as he turned the page.
The phone started to ring
"I'll get it," Petunia setting her section of the paper down.
"Dursley residence," she spoke into the phone.
"Mummy," Dudley's voice came from the other end.
"Dudley where are…?" she said in a slight panic as she turned to look at Vernon who was staring at the paper with a lost expression. "I thought you were upstairs."
"I ran into a little trouble last night, mummy," Dudley said.