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Harco Empire	By : Toddy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 34430 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or films. I do not make any money from the writing of this story, just enjoyment.

Chapter List
- 148
- 149
- 150
[Note: “x-x” = speech & ‘x-x’ = thoughts & *x-x* = telepathy & #x-x# Parseltongue]
CRYPTIC
~~~ MONDAY 23^RD ~~~
Interlaken: 17.00 –19.20 Basel: 20.00 – Karlsruhe: 21.45
At Basel their three carriages were drawn to the apex of the triangle of lines, propelled along one side and upon a second reverse pulled back into the station.
“Why the elaborate move, Maggie?”
“Because we arrived forwards into the terminal side of the station: it is to turn us round so that the Lounge balcony is at the back, Mr Harry. For tomorrow, we take you through the Rhine Gorge.”
“Fine … So, we’re staying here for the night?”
“No. We’ll serve dinner once we’re on the way to Karlsruhe. Quite decent scenery to start with, but it flattens out as it gets dark. Some geologists seem to think it was the bed of an enormous prehistoric lake, dammed up by the mountains through which the gorge is now cut.”
“So some more dramatic landscape tomorrow then?”
“Not as dramatic as the Swiss mountains, but yes, otherwise, Mr Draco. Some industrial scenery follows that; after Köln, which just beyond the far end of the gorge, and then we have another railway surprise for you. Generally, you have a restful day to look forward to.”
“Good! Thanks Maggie, we had a pretty draining day yesterday, so some lounging around would suit us admirably.”
“Are we likely to go near Neustrelitz at all, Aggie?”
“Yes Mrs Hermione, we pass through it on the way to Rostock, where we intend to stay tomorrow night; why do you ask?”
“Viktor has asked some of us to call in at Durmstrang one morning, that is, if we can arrange it. He says that Neustrelitz is one of the nearest stations.”
“I had planned a steam railway visit for the day after tomorrow morning, would that slot do. You could apparate from Rostock and then join us at Bad Kleinen just in time for lunch.”
“Thank you; not all of us will go, so the others can get their faces blackened if they so wish. I wonder if Durmstrang has a telephone, could I borrow yours please, Dudley?
“Use one of our owls to tell Viktor, if you like, Hermione. That’d be sure to get there.”
“Thanks, Draco; I’ll go and write to him now, coming Ron?”
“Yes Dearest!” Ronald looked slightly resigned as he followed his spouse into their cabin.
“D’you think we’re all expected to attend?”
“No; Dudders; Phealey and I will be going. Viktor has some idea about persuading the Durmstrang authorities to accept other races.”
“Do you want us Blakes to come along, Pullet?”
“Probably better not, Draco. They’re still a bit miffed about Hogwarts entering two contestants in the Tri-wizard Tournament, you know, even after a decade. So, Harry might get the cold shoulder. Then again, the Malfoy name could also be a deterrent, if you know what I mean. We’re approaching the argument from a purely academic point of view. I suspect we’ll be expected to show off our prowess in some way or another. Still … If it helps with other race recognition, we’ll do our bit, grit our teeth and smile.”
“You two have been around Harry for far too long. That’s his attitude.” Draco smirked.
“I don’t think we envisage fighting an elfin dark lord, thank you very much. Besides, Harry’s taken all the kudos out of that idea already.” Phealey poked Harry in the ribs.
“Okay, okay; I know I have a hero complex, no need to rub it in. I think that Draco is secretly envious of all the fame.” Harry grinned back at his lover.
“I think I could live without the dying bit, if it’s all the same to you. This coward is quite content to bask in your reflected glory.”
“Um … someone’s changed his tune, then. It used to be ‘I’m the best’.”
Ronald and Hermione returned; wondering what all the laughter was about. Ronald creased himself when it was explained.
Hermione adopted a stern countenance: “It is not right to joke about such serious and harrowing matters.”
The rest of them stopped laughing and looked at Hermione in shock.
“Got the lot of you!” Then Hermione burst out laughing.
Before any further hilarity took place Siggy announced dinner.
After dinner, once the train was in the platform, someone made the suggestion that they go and find a nightclub, but it was turned-down as being far too athletic; them having had enough exercise previously. Everyone retired early to bed and then proceeded to be supra-athletic with their lovers.
~~~ TUESDAY 24^TH ~~~
Karlsruhe: 06.12 – Köln: 09.06
Köln: 09.15 – Wuppertal: 10.15
The Blakes woke as the train started off from Karlsruhe to find that they were attached behind a long rake of carriages. When the train stopped at Mainz the friends were just finishing breakfast. Back on the move; everyone managed to crowd into the rear balcony and had claimed enough seats before the Rhine Gorge started near Bingen.
Draco, Astoria and the other Slytherins were entranced by the names of the vineyards they passed, starting with Rudesheim they told the assembly of the various flavours and bouquets. Hermione, Ginevra, Seamus and Ronald spent a lot of time castle spotting; grabbing people’s arms to show them. The two Americans, Dudley and Harry were intrigued by the procession of trains on both sides of the river and by the gold and black half-timbered townships built precariously between river and hills. Dean with the others spent time gazing at the many kinds of river cruisers and barges towed by small tugs. In turn each group would command everyone’s attention for special sights.
Just to create the right atmosphere Aggie had put on a CD of some Wagner Rhine-music and the listeners drifted into a kind of half dream world. That was until Harry gradually became aware of some filmy presences with them on the balcony.
“Hail, thou great protectors,” seemed to come from the partly-visible, wet and toga-draped young women: “We greet thy passage and wish thee well. Thou hast many trials yet to come; but know the Nibelung support you. Thou hast thine allotted share of Rhein-geld in thy vaults.” The spectral ladies slowly melted out of vision.
The quartet all felt Fawkes approval of the gift.
“Who were they?” asked Dudley: “And what was that about gold?”
“You need to go and consult Wagner,” his wife playfully admonished him.
“Wasn’t he the Mayor of New York some time ago?”
“Yes, but he’s dead now,” explained Hyatt
“Not that one … Richard Wagner, the composer.” Millicent pretended to look cross.
“Oh! … What’s he got to do with it?”
“His operas told that the Rhine-maidens are supposed to guard a fabulous treasure which various dwarves and gods tried to pinch off them,” Aggie explained. “There was a ring of power made from Rhine-gold that wreaked havoc in Valhalla. Eventually the girls got it back again. So, it seems, Harry, that they’ve given you some of it.”
“I think it’s a gift to all four of us. Now we are Seers; the dragons sort of indicated that we would get help from different beings on our way.”
“Lucky you!” Aggie pretended to be jealous. “I came back to show you the Lorelei Rock, where, so legend has it, a beautiful young girl would sing. Her song was so charming that the steersmen of the river boats would forget to look where they were going and crash into the rocks.”
“At least we’re on a train. If we had Harry on a boat here, maybe we should be somewhat warier.” Astoria giggled. “It sounds very much like the Greek siren story, to me.”
As they stared at the sheer rock face opposite, Aggie put on an ethereal German song, all about the Lorelei maiden. They had imagined a large edifice commemorating the lady. Instead they almost missed the life-sized carving in the rock by the river’s edge. Five minutes later they reached Boppard, here the Rhine makes a tight ‘S’ bend and the railway follows. They did a quick count and found that there were twenty sparkling public carriages on their train.
Soon the brakes came on gently and their equipage drew slowly to a halt at Koblenz. A quick look at the station indicator had them marvelling at all the destinations available; then the train continued.
“Are we out of the Gorge now, Maggie?”
“Not yet, Mr Fenton; in a few miles at Andernach the hills close in again.”
“This area is quite pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yes! In a few minutes after that we’ll be reaching Remagen and, if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to look back and see the top of the castle-like abutments of the old bridge.”
“Was that the one over the Rhine that was captured whole by the Allies in the Second World War?”
“Yes Mr Dudley; how did you know?”
“TV, of course! They keep repeating the film about it. No doubt it was bloodier and less heroic than the film, but it still makes a good story.”
Dudley and Millicent managed to fill them in about the story, so much so, that they nearly missed the quick glimpse of the remains as they passed.
Quite soon they were out of the remaining piece of the gorge and passing through a series of towns leading to the former capital of Bonn where the train stopped to exchange passengers. Köln was next. Everything here was all efficiency. Train stopped, carriages detached, local driver on, taken to a siding. Ten minutes later the signal showed clear and they were off. The scenery was mainly industrial, but Maggie managed to show them various items of interest, nevertheless.
Then came Wuppertal Vohwinkel where they alighted and got into a minibus. It took them under the railway and along a few streets until they were underneath a large metal edifice.
“Why do we have to climb all these steps?”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
There was a train in the platform waiting for them and a slightly agitated platform inspector. So, they rushed on board and it set off.
“It looks like a normal old-fashioned train to me; a bit narrower, maybe.”
“Hey there are no rails below us, but I can hear the wheels.”
“Look upwards.”
“Oh! So, we’re hanging down from the rails above, how strange.”
“It’s odd looking down on a street like this, you don’t normally see cars from the top.”
They watched the vehicles and the pedestrians below. Very few of them looked up, so it was obvious that this kind of train was an every-day occurrence – but not for our goggling party.
“Hey! We’re over the river now.”
“It’s a bit like being in a plane, but for the jolting.”
“Planes don’t rock from side to side; it’s more like being on a small boat. I wonder if people ever get seasick.”
“It’d hardly be seasick, I think it’s the way the train sways outwards when it goes around a corner. Some of them are quite tight so as to follow the course of the river.”
“Not as good as riding a broomstick, but then we wouldn’t dare to be seen by all these people, would we?”
They passed a train, on an adjacent line, comming the other way: “I think it’s an upside-down railway, look at the shape of the underneath – turn it over and it’s the shape of a railway carriage roof.”
###
Having finished the ride, the party alighted and walked down a spiral footpath to gain ground level. A couple of hundred yards away was the Wuppertal Oberbarmen Bahnhof and they could see their short private train awaiting them.
The company enjoyed their trip on the Schwebebahn and thanked Iggy for arranging it when they re-joined their carriages.
~~~ FLAT TERRAIN ~~~
Wuppertal Oberbarmen: 11.20 – Berlin Zoologicher Garten: 15.00
Coffee break and relaxing some more; the weather had turned nasty, so they stayed in the lounge car. At Millicent’s insistence Aggie had found a copy of ‘The Bridge at Remagen’ and, after lunch, the company watched it as they sped through the flattish countryside. They enjoyed the muggle derring-do and, as they were refreshed by the story, so the weather improved, and tea was served.
“What have you planned for us in Berlin, Maggie?”
“You only have a couple of hours; so we thought either the Zoo or the Reichstag building with its marvellous new dome.”
F: *You four Seers have something special to carry out, my children.*
Whilst most of the company asked Maggie for more details the four Blakes went into a huddle.
*I can smell roses.*
*We have something else to do, don’t we?*
*Um … Yes.*
*Something to do with a bombed-out church, I think.*
*Mmm … in the crypt, possibly?*
*Okay, let’s see where the Spirit is leading us.*
“Erm, Aggie, is there a ruined church somewhere near the ‘Zoo’ station we’ll be stopping at?”
“Yes, Mrs Astoria, the Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche is not very far. It’s twinned with Coventry Cathedral and the Orthodox one in Volgograd. They were all bombed in the last world war, you know. Why do you ask?”
“Erm … We think the Spirit wants us four to go there, but we’re not sure exactly why.”
“Probably because it’s a peace sanctuary, there’s the old spire with some mosaics at its base and there’s a very modern octagonal church attached; lots of blue glass. It has a real atmosphere of calm about it, despite being surrounded by busy roads. Let me show you on the map.”
“Thanks! We’ll be going there for definite.”
~~~ BLUE CALM ~~~
Others in the party decided to go elsewhere, but the Blake quartet stuck to their feeling of certainty. The church was easy to find from the map and the pedestrian signs helped them avoid most of the buzzing inner-city traffic. As the Seers entered the building this oasis of calm called to the Blakes’ souls.
A pastor was there, seemingly waiting for them: “You must be the four I was told about.”
Astoria observed internally that she smelt roses again.
“Possibly, Pastor. Who told you?”
“Why, the Spirit of course. I have to bless you, so she says, and then be on my way.”
“Oh … Well … We had this feeling that we had to come here also … It was fairly convincing too.”
The golden image of Christ was especially compelling as was the cross of nails made from those extracted from the timbers of the burned-out Coventry Cathedral. To begin with they sat for a time taking in the pervading peace and then the Minister laid his hands on them, calling down a special blessing. The quartet sat in stunned silence after he had left.
Recovering, they went walkabout and found a tessellated mural of various members of the old German royal family. One particular image caught their eyes and then surprised them.
“Wilcommen Mein Puissant Meisters und Herrinnen,” came from between the lips of the striking man.
They all stared hard at the mural and the little pieces of pottery slowly moved around for the royal personage to smile. At the same time his hand extended to point to a blank piece of wall between two pilasters supporting a blind arch.
*Room of requirement?*
*No need to search; the door’s appearing already.*
*I’m smelling roses again!*
Sure enough, a door appeared with a dragon shaped piece of mosaic beginning to glow upon it. The dragon’s tail ended in the door handle. The Blakes all felt a benign presence and automatically went towards the door. Draco twisted the handle and opened it to reveal a set of spiral stairs revolving in the same way as the ones at the Headmistress’s office; only these led downwards. Harry went first; then the two girls, and Draco made up the rear-guard, not that they felt they should be afraid.
Once downstairs the quartet arrived inside a crypt and there were three doors in its walls apart from the one, they had entered by. The doors looked like the ones in a portal cabinet.
“I think this is a focus, they’re something I read about in the Palazzo’s library” said Astoria examining the other doors. “Each one has a coloured device on it; look.”
“Merlin mentioned something about some of the previous helpers using portals.”
“With the one we came in at, it’s that magic four that the dragons mentioned, again.”
“Okay. Before we go through let’s see if we can fathom out where they go to.
“That one’s got a Viking ship on it in front of a big terraced building; therefore, somewhere in Scandinavia possibly?”
“Lots of scope there. What about the next one?”
“Um … I think this next one looks like the tram motif we use for the Grunrasenhof.”
“I agree with Harry.”
They saw a shimmering door with a lake scene as its emblem.
“Maybe it’s only for magic four to find and to everyone else there’re three doors.” Draco looked puzzled: “We ought to give this some serious thought.”
“Later Lover, It’s probably a special node. I’m for exploring one of the portals, which shall it be?”
“Yes Harry, I think we were brought here for this; let’s.”
“Okay. We’ll go for one that we think we know.” Harry felt round the edge of the wooden frame, eventually finding a knot that depressed. The portal opened with a long creak to reveal that they were on a rooftop enclosure with two side picture windows. It was not very big and had a door at each end, plus blank spaces for another two doors.
“I think we’re in Dresden,” surmised Astoria: “Probably on top of the old royal palace. It has only just been rebuilt. We visited last during last year’s peace rally in February.” She shivered: “I feel dreadfully exposed up here although I expect it has an occlusion on it. C’mon, let’s open the other door.” Suiting actions to words she did just that and revealed darkness beyond.
“Obviously not been used for a long time: ‘Lumos’”
Astoria started giggling.
“What’s wrong, Tor?”
“I told you that that panel looked like a door, Harry.”
“Fine … You’ve made your point, Tor.” Harry looked slightly peeved.
“Okay you two, where are we?”
“The same cupboard at the Grunrasenhof in which we made the portal to connect to the Schwartzberg. Now there’s an orb and cross emblem glowing on it.”
“Great! I can collect that book from the library which I meant to bring with me and forgot.”
They traipsed out of the cupboard and into the library. Francis and Gallus were there poring over some papers.
“Hello, you four, we thought you were on the train somewhere up north.”
“Um … We are … Um …” Harry looked lost.
“… I wanted a book and we were near a portal, so we came to get it,” interrupted Draco, “Are those Black, Blake and Malfoy papers you’re studying?”
“Yes! You gave us permission to consult them, didn’t you? The Duchessa said we could come here to look through some of hers as well. There are quite a few interesting connections between Greengrasses, Malfoys, Potters and Blacks here,” replied Francis; pointing at a row of bound papers: “Only something’s come up about the Dacha. In the spirit of glasnost and the New Ukraine the authorities are offering recompense to those landowners who were dispossessed and yet treated their serfs well. It seems that most your ancestors fell into that category. However, we have to prove it.”
“How much?”
“Quite a considerable sum actually: based on the rent due, inflation etc.” Gallus smiled, rubbing his hands together. “Mind you, they will deduct money for improvements carried out and for the care of one’s tenants during the interregnum. We are going to make a reasonable claim. If we appear too greedy the new government will balk; the application has to be carefully worded. We’ve found an absolute mine of thank-you letters to one of the Malfoy/Blake ancestresses, all tied up in ribbon with dates and the occasions carefully inscribed. It seems that the Malfoys and Blakes have been connected before, as have the Greengrasses. We’re carefully omitting references to Boyar Vladimir; he seems to be the ilk of your father, Draco.”
“Anyway, you haven’t told us why you’re here, yet,” cajoled Gallus.
“Yes, we have … The book … Remember.”
“Oh yes … Sorry … Enjoy the rest of you holiday.”
“Thanks … We intend to … Um … Gallus, I think you might be getting a gold deposit into the trust account from the Rhein maidens.”
“So that’s where it came from. That’s one question I can take off my list to ask you on your return.”
“I hope it’s not too long.”
Gallus had a mischievous smile: “I hear that one of the previous potions masters used to demand three feet of essays.”
“Touché!”
Draco had done a quick shelf search and picked out the book he wanted. Then the quartet departed the way they had come.
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