Magic Knows No Boundaries Chapter 50 (Patreon)

Chapter 50:

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Albus Dumbledore paused as if for reaction, although he received none in the UN chamber.

Naturally, everybody there was already in the know regarding this, but the many viewers across the planet probably needed a moment to digest what they just heard. Everybody in Harry's immediate facility certainly did.

For his part, Harry's eyes drifted to the workers operating the electronics. He had assumed they were squibs or relatives of muggleborns. Such people regularly provided services like this to wizards for events, so it wasn't that bizarre for them to be here. Now he was wondering if they were just run of the mill Muggles who had been briefed on what was going on ahead of time.

Dumbledore continued.

"No. This is not a prank. Yes, magic exists. Observe." He said.

With a wave of his wand the back wall of the room shattered into a million, perfectly gemoetrical shapes. Like an ornate rubiks cube crossed with a fabrigo egg. These geometric shapes split apart and in waves separated, similar to the barrier separating the Leaky Cauldron from Diagon Alley.

The fine wood, and insignia of the United Nations, were now a wide open window to the green park behind the united nations building.

"Merely reshaping the world is the least of what we can do. The great arcane magics of your written fantasy are not so far off." He said.

With another wave of his wand a great ball of fire appeared above his head like a miniature sun. He flicked his wand again, this time over his shoulder. The ball of fire flew out through the wide open wall and exploded. The grounds behind the UN building were devastated as if by heavy artillery. The trees and grass burned, the stone was gouged, and the many UN members all ducked beneath their desks.

Dumbledore waitedfor everybody to calm down before waving his wand at the carnage. His last spell was like unleashing a blizzard. Wet ice and snow choked out the flames and left the grounds looking like a burnt christmas decoration.

Dumbledore turned back to the camera.

"Turning invisible and wielding destructive elemental magic is not our usual modus operandi. We can animate the inanimate, reshape objects at will, heal nearly all wounds with incantations, and even teleport at will." Dumbledore explained. "I tell you all of this, and demonstrate all of what you just saw, to take away from you all disbelief you may have in my claims."

He paused again for effect, and even Harry hung on his every word.

"There is much to tell you all, but I will stick to the basics. Which have been written out for me to read in terms you can all understand." He said.

He then lifted a sheet of paper and cleared his throats.

"Wizards and witches are merely humans who, through a mutation we do not understand, similar to Ex-men, that allows us to perform magic. We are more akin to sorcerers from your..." He squinted. "Table top rpg, dungeons and dragons, but nothing like warlocks as described therin. Our magic is inborn, it does not come from demons, or angels, or horrific eldritch gods... What in the world am I reading? Do people actually believe in that kind of nonsense? Do I even want to know what an ex-man is?"

He glanced over his shoulder and a hitherto unseen Aurror removed his invisibility cloak before making a motion to continue. Dumbledore shrugged and continued.

"Over a millenia ago we separated wholly from the rest of humanity, carving up enormous swaths of the planet with great magics to separate it from your lands and nations, forming our own. These lands have been hidden from your eyes and your machines by that same magic. To put it into perspective, we own and control roughly a third of the planets landmass. We have our own governments, our own cultures, and our population is roughly one-one thousandth of yours." Dumbledore said, pausing to turn the page. "You may wonder why we need so much land, the short answer is nature preserves, particularly for dragons. Yes, dragons exist as do..."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"Unicorns, griffons, goblins, centaurs, mermaids, trolls, giants, basilisks, elves, dwarves, fairies, pixies, pegasi, sphinxes, vampires, werewolves, hinkipunks and many, many more magical creatures you've never heard of or imagined." Dumbledore listed off.

He put down the two pieces of paper and sighed.

"As I said, we are civilians of a separate nation, a nation of wizards and witches. We have lived in a separate society from you for well over a thousand years now. Our founding documents all revolve around remaining hidden from you, separate from you. We live in much more peaceful societies than yours, particularly in comparison to this last century. Hence the reason for this divorce in the first place." Dumbledore explained. "That all ended two weeks ago. Yes, that time anomoly was magical in nature."

Dumbledore waved his wand at the destroyed wall, and it repaired itself. Stitchin back together in the same ornate, geometric pattern as before. The end result made it appear as if nothing had ever happened to it.

He then flicked his wand five times. Each time he did so a still photograph the size of a van appeared. Each displayed a face. Dumbledore said their names as their faces were displayed.

"Rolanda Hooch. Griselda Marchbanks. Goergia Shunpike. Emily Tofty. Alastor Marchbanks." He said. "These are the five terrorists who caused the time anomoly that ripped London apart and killed thousands, leaving thousands more with all of their worldy posessions destroyed. These individuals were what we call Unspeakables. They are the brightest witches and wizards who, under strict control, investigate the cutting edge mysteries of magic. Time, space, the afterlife, and more. They have gone rogue and are wanted dead or alive."

He picked the pages back up from his podium.

"It says here I shoudl tell you it would be the equivilant of Openheimer, Groves, Fermi, and Lawrence taking the fat man and little boy and using it for their own ends. That is essentially what happened." Dumbledore said. "And we are doing absolutely everything in our power to make it right. That starts with corssing the divide and revealing ourselves with you, and aiding you in some of your problems, particularly those we have caused like the afformentioned terrorists."

He waved his wand at the photos again and they changes.

"As such, we are opening our world for tourism and exchanging services, particularly in the medical and educational fields. Non wizards may now visit our attractions and wildlife preserves. Mediwitches and mediwizards, doctors who use magic, can mend broken bones and seal flesh wounds in an instant. We can't cure any disease or medical condition, cancer and some viral agents are beyond us too, but there is much we are capable of that you are not. Likewise, we are distributing encyclopedias on important information regarding our word. Spells, magical creatures, curses and more so that you may protect yourselves from criminal elements from our world."

He lifted from his podium a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them along with an encyclopedia of charms.

"I should close off with a warning." Dumbledore said. "We are doing this out of kindness, not necessity. I am aware that your kind invented weapons of mass destruction capable of destroying entire cities and nations just a few decades ago. That is adorable. We've had such weapons for millenia. Just ask Sodom and Gammora. Or ancient Egypt. We are fully capable of eradicating you, and the worst you can do is make your lands uninhabitable for the next one thousand years. In my lifetime I have personally prevented three movements intent on doing exactly that to you due to your behavior in this last century. Depending on your behavior in the coming months and years, I may abstain from preventing the next one."

Harry felt shivers run down his spine at the venom in Dumbledore's voice and the dark look on his face. He knew the man wasn't joking or exaggerating.

He then lifted his wand and held it in between his thumb and index finger as if displaying it.

"Every single child in our world owns one of these and knows how to use it. Most adults are capable of wielding spells capable of burning down entire cities, with the only countermeasure being other wizards of good conscious and good will towards you. Do not test the limits of that good will. Do. Not. Fuck with us." Dumbledore said.

Half of the people in attendance around Harry gasped at Dumbledore's use of profanity. Near as harry could tell, nobody had ever heard him use foul language before. That just went to show how serious he was.

The man then deflated and sighed so loudly it made hte speakers vibrate.

"I do not want a world war between wizards and Muggles – that's what we call non wizards, it's an old word that translates to "Mundanes." I am one hundred percent certain we would win in that exchange, but I still do not want it. That is how much more peaceful we are than you. We never had a holocaust. We never had a holodamor. We never had the killing fields of Cambodia. We have many problems, to be sure, but none of our kind envy your people and their problems. We do not want them. So, be as peaceful to us as we are being to you, I implore you."

With that done, he stepped away from the podium and twisted in place, vanishing with a crack.

The feed went silent for a moment. No UN member took to the podium to continue here Dumbledore left off. After almost a minute of this silence the newsfeed cut back to the station where the newscaster from before looked as baffled as Harry felt.

"I um, I don't know how to comment on what we all just witnessed. I have been instructed to reiterate that none of what you just witnessed was a prank and... hang on." She said, pausing as somebody offered her a sheet of paper.

"Okay! We are going live to our newscaster in... the magical village of Hogsmead for an exclusive interview with Minerva Mcgonnagal, Deputy Headmistres of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry... did somebody spike my coffee?"

Those last few word were barely audible, as the audio and video faded to a view from the front of, well, them.

He turned to see the workers from before pointing a camera at all of them and the newscaster among them standing up to talk in the mike. Another worker had the good sense to cut off the audio feed but keep the video on.

Harry could see, from the live feed, that they all looked liek fish out of water. Save for Minerva, who stood up, straightened her robes, and approached the newscaster.

They were too far away for Harry to make out what they were saying, but mere seconds later the students erupted. He resisted the urge to turn around and look at them, instead watching the live feed as they made fools of htemselfs.

Half of the nearly one thousands students fired off spells into the air, and the noise was deafening.

Both minerva and the newscaster ducked at the sudden noise and rainbow of flashing lights. Kudos to the camera man, he didn't even flinch. Must have been one of those warzone cameramen in a previous role, becuase he kept his lens on the action.

Harry and Remus both laughed to tears as they watched one kid use that charm for writing in the air to draw a penis in the air while the rest threw their hats in the air and dnaced or otherwise made baffoons of themselves.

Whoever thought it would be a good idea to put the entire student population of Hogwarts on live television unannounced and without coaching was either a moron or a genius.... Who was he kidding, Dumbledore knew this would happen and orchestrated it on purpose.

Their Deputy Headmistress, visible red faced in the live feed, jumped in front of the camera to block the view and made a cutting motion on her throat. The two of them continued to laugh as the feed died away and Minerva stormed down the aisles of students handing out detentons like candy.

-

Harry slept horribly that night. He dreampt of an invinite nothingness, of mirrors within mirrors, or timeless eternity twisted into a prison. He was there, the older him, as was Voldemort, and both were suffering.

He reached out to both of them, intent and grasping them by the arms and pulling them to safety, but he was woken up by a bony finger to his shoulder.

"Wha?" he said dumbly as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Tofty is instructed to bring Professor Morrigan sir to an emergency faculty and board meeting." The little house elf said.

It took him a few more moments of waking up for her words to register.

"Right. Right, I'll get right over there... also, you should probably change your name." He said as he rolled out of bed and searched for a pair of pants.

The elf tilted her head in curiosity at his words.

"What is wrong with Tofty's name?" She asked.

"You share it with a mass murdering terrorist." Harry told her. "I'm just saying, it might be a good idea to change it. It's up to you. Gotta go!"

With that done he ran to the floo and threw a handful of powder in before hollaring "Faculty meeting room."

He arrived a split second later to find it already filled with old people and coworkers.

He spotted Lucius, Mrs Sabini, old lady Longbottom and all the other members of the board of governors crowding around a thoroughly exhausted dumbledore. The faculty members, for their part, sat quietly in their seat.

"Where's the fire?" Harry asked stupidly.

All conversation ceased as every eye turned on him. Had he said that aloud?

"Thank god you're here." Lucius said.

Harry was immediately pounced upon by Mr Malfoy and Mr Tonks who dragged him into his own seat.

Harry glanced at Remus and his mom for help, but they both shrugged.

"Okay. Short version." Said Mr Tonks, who for the life of him Harry could not recall ever sharing two words with. "Muggle UK is demanding the Muggleborns back. Accusing us of kidnapping their children and trafficking slash kidnapping them."

Holy shit, that was heavier than Harry was expecting.

"We are trying to pacify these accusations." Said Lucius. "But even by our laws Muggleborns are not citizens of a magical nation until they complete their education and make the choice to emmigrate. Unfortunately according to muggle law, we did transport them across borders without any proper documentation, passports or visas so their acusations of kidnapping does hold water legally."

Harry rubbed his eyes, still groggy.

"Don't the parents of all Muggleborns have to sign consent forms for their children to attent?" Harry asked rhetorically. "And don't laws strictly require us to introduce all of them to our world?"

"Yes, but that's not the issue." Said Grandpa Goyle. "The problem is, twice or more per year, we transport children of a foreign nation in secret to ours. Hundreds of them."

Oh. That did look bad.

"Muggle news muckraking?" Harry asked.

"We would show you the video save we are at Hogwarts." said Mrs Longbottom. "Word has also gotten out about obliviation, which obliviators or now working full time to reverse."

Harry supposed that made sense. With the statue gone, and wizards trying to make peace with Muggles, a good first step is undoing all of the memory charms cast for the sole purpose of protecting the statute of secrecy. He imagined the very first person having heir memories repaired would run straight to the media.

Obliviation was widely considered the closest thing to an unforgiveable that was still legal. And it was only legal because of the statute. Odds were the spell would be turned into the fourth unforgiveable by the end of the year.

Delicate situation, indeed.

"Are they demanding we return all Muggleborn students back to their country of origin?" Harry asked.

"And to prosecute the "kidnappers", namely, all of us." Said Minerva.

"It doesn't help that many on our side are all for it." Said Lucius. "At least the deportation part. After all, we only invited Muggleborns into our society because of the statute of secrecy. To properly train them to control magic and go undetected in Muggle society, should they choose to remain in it after graduating."

Harry gave Lucius an accusatory glare.

"Hey! I'm on the 'let them finish the school year' aisle of that debate." Lucius defended.

Oh, so the purebloods were already banding together to kick all Muggleborns out of wizarding Britain but Lucius was on the 'moderate' end of things by saying to wait a year.

"It's always been important that those of Muggle birth who wish to integrate into our society be given all of the tools necessary to do so." Said Old man Goyle. "New blood is important to us, Mister Morrigan. When you get your memories back you will recall such. But Hogwarts is the only home many Muggleborns have ever had. Most all of us would prefer all Muggleborns attent Hogwarts for the alotted seven years. It is the best our culture has to offer, and we like to put our best foot forward for potential countrymen."

Oh, Harry could see that. Hogwarts really was the shining jewel of their culture. Eveyr pureblood wanted to show it off, and it worked as an introduction to the best their world had to offer. The best way to recruit new citizens to making the decision to emmigrate.

"Well the answer is obviously no." Harry said. "The problem is coming up with a way to say it without bullets flying."

"Our thoughts exactly." Said Albus. "Prior to your accident, you always had interesting solutions to difficult problems. I think I speak for all of us when I say we would like your outside of the box thinking now."

Tha sounded like a challenge he was not up to. Older him had over a decade of experience, and knoweldge of the future to work off of. But he had left things in his hands, so he must have been meant to be able to handle all of this.

With this thought in mind, he thought on the issue. The only solution he could come up with was dead stupid, but definitely outside of the box.

"Student Visas." He said simply.

"Student visas?" Half of the table echoed.

"That's right. Many Muggle nations have different types of visas and passports. Some for workers, some for college student. We should issue new visas for all students in our nations." Harry told them.

There was grumbling between the faculty.

"That could take weeks, or months." Said professor Sinestra. "Longer, if the speed of beurocracy can be counted on."

Harry shook his head.

"You aren't hearing me. I'm not saying we create a new government department, hiring people on board, have them perform a metric ton of paperwork and issue visas. I am saying WE, here, create visas for students. Backdate them to whenever the student started with a seven year expiration." Harry explained. "Hogwarts is technically independant of the Ministry of Magic. Entry and exit into its territory is solely in the authority of the Headmaster."

Dombledore removed his half-moon spectacles and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on. He then looked squarely at Harry.

"Forgive me, but it sounds like you are suggesting we deceive these critics." His boss challenged.

"Oh no." Said Harry. "I'm suggesting we outright lie."

-

Yes! Finished it just before midnight.

First of all, merry Christmas everyone.

Second of all, these are not Dumbledore's words. These are the words given to him by an international committee of wizard and witch leaders. The threats of utter anihilation against the Muggle world as a deterrent is absolutely a necessary factor for cultural exchange. Or at least, most world leaders in such a scenario would believe so.

You just know Dumbledore hated having to make such a threat.