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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
- 154
- 155
- 156
[Note: “x-x” = speech & ‘x-x’ = thoughts & *x-x* = telepathy & #x-x# Parseltongue]
RECRUITS
~~~ SATURDAY 11^THSEPTEMBER ~~~
The mages were up early because they heard the rest of the household moving about. After showering, Draco and Harry went out on to the balcony and equally surprised Heironimo who was sitting there sipping orange juice. His surprise was heightened when Ginevra and Astoria appeared arm-in-arm. I took half an hour to straighten things out and describe the vows that they had taken. Imelda came to collect the Seers and was apprised of the arrangements. She grabbed Harry’s hand out of sight of the cleric.
*You should tell him about the elves, Brujos. The priests don’t look after themselves properly and the elves would have a family to look after.* Then she left off contact.
Harry nodded to her and the others smiled their recognition.
“Come to think of it,” Astoria started: “You and Ingo two live in an unusual relationship too. You both deny your sexuality. I don’t denigrate it, because of the genuineness of your callings. How is it that you have no housekeeper? Many clerics of your ilk do. Where is Ingo?”
“We don’t like to impose on our parishioners. Ingo’s gone to his parent house for a retreat; he’ll be back in a couple of months’ time.”
“Really they don’t want us meddling in their domestic arrangements.” Imelda put in: “Their last housekeeper walked out after a big row.”
“Yes … Well … She tried to order us around. She didn’t seem to understand that God’s work comes before mealtimes and orderliness.” Heironimo coloured up as he said it: “We’re able to muddle along quite successfully, thank you.”
“Not when I regularly have to physic you because you are not eating healthily.” Imelda seemed to be getting het-up, but Harry felt her calmness underneath.
*Get on with it, my son. It’s part of the plan. Imelda’s given you a lead.*
Harry looked round and saw an interestingly marked rooster roosting on the handrail and nodded to it.
“I think I have a solution to this, but I shall require your assurance that what I reveal will not go beyond these four walls.”
“As someone already aware of your powers, Hidalgos, I have no qualms about that.”
“As you already know we have peculiar domestic arrangements, but that is only the tip of the iceberg of our reality. Are you aware of Imelda’s status, Heironimo?”
“Well she’s very clueful about medicines and herbs. Some of the cures she seems to do could be called miraculous, but Mother Church would call me heretical if I said so. Mother Church also recognises others with special powers, where some time ago she would have persecuted them via the Inquisition. Imelda for one, and now I suppose we have four more such people. Probably, extremely well gifted in fact.”
Heironimo looked at the Seers curiously.
“Our powers could be counted as miraculous by those not in the know, Ronnie. You have read of magic no doubt, and probably in extracts from the minutes of the inquisition. However, those reports were only of the people who practiced what we call dark magic. Like many of the Creator’s gifts they can be used for the good of the world or for selfish gain. We believe that we are on the side of light and co-operate with others who think the same. Your discernment showed you the tip of our powers.”
“That’s a lot to take in, Hidalgo.”
“They are the true Brujos, Heironimo. Not the false ones the inquisition hounded.”
“Thank you, Imelda, but how will this help our domestic arrangements?”
“The next bit you’re not aware of yet; this is where your help will come from.” Draco continued: “Because this establishment belongs to mages of long standing, we have helpers attached to our establishments. There has been a family of such helpers resident here ever since the last Hidalgo departed; they have looked after the areas you did not inhabit. Hence there being little dust and no smells of decay, Ronnie.”
Harry took up the conversation: “In the future we intend to visit here more often. There will be a number of friends as well, coming and going, all of who are mages; in other words, wizards and witches. We support the light, but there are those who do not. Those were the ones the Inquisition was supposed to get rid of. Just as God has his disciples so does the Devil and it is against those that we wage war. The Church wages spiritual war, we wage magical war and, being on the side of the light, we co-operate. It is that co-operation that we offer.”
“So … You’re saying that there are some unseen servants here. That seems preposterous. Where do they live?”
“In the attic.”
“What? Among all that dirt and rubbish?”
“One of our talents is transforming or disguising things. We work covertly to help others and so hide from them what it is not needful to know. Now … You are sealed to us … Just as much as you are sealed to Mother Church.” Draco looked formidable as he said this: “I think you should meet your helpers … They have human forms but in smaller unfamiliar shapes. Meet Luiz …”
Pop.
“And Elmira, his wife.”
Pop.
“We met them after you had gone to bed, last night. They have a son and daughter whom we haven’t met, because they were in bed.”
Pop, pop.
Heironimo recovered from his surprise and offered his hand to Luiz. Luiz looked at Harry who nodded that he should shake hands.
“Our Master has said that we should help you Masters; something that we and our parents have longed to do for ages, but you were not sealed to our confraternity. Mistress Imelda has known about us and has been supplying us with food in return for us looking after her cottage.”
Harry felt that if Luiz had a locket, he would have been polishing it with pride.
“You won’t have any arguments from us about what is proper, we house-elves know how to behave,” Elmira added.
“Remember what we said last night, Elmira. You have a duty to advise us too. I think you should meet Elder Kreacher. He’s my Reeve and the leader of our band of elves at home.”
Pop: “You called, Harry?”
“Hello Kreacher, were you listening in?”
“No. I just felt the tug when you spoke my name, that’s all.”
“Sorry, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“Not really, Dorothy, Schnauzenhund, Otto, the other leaders and I were going to have our usual dull domestic planning meeting in half an hour. Now I’ll have something interesting to report, won’t I?”
“Who’s Otto?”
“The Hauptdiener at the Grunrasenhof, Harry.”
“Oh, right! You had better meet Luiz the Mordomo here, his wife Elmira and their two elfins, Nacho and Tonia.”
“Will they be part of the team, Harry?”
“Elder Kreacher, surely it is not fitting to call the Hidalgo by his given name?”
“He’s a member of the British Wizengamot, Luiz; equal rank with ourselves, he’s also the British Elder Elf,” Harry answered.
Luiz’s mouth opened in awe.
“Shall I go and explain it all to him, Harry? Do you think you could make a portal, please? It’s quite a long way to apparate from La Maison, and Otto’s a bit doddery, besides which, Schnauzenhund hates apparating. I imagine we’ll need to look over your new domain.”
“We will at the next two equinoxes?”
“Why two? Surely there are four of you now. I realise you need a staging post, but one pair could connect the post to Guéthary and the other pair from here to the post.”
“We’ll have a chat with Hermione and Grammarian and I’ll raid the Palazzo’s library,” volunteered Draco.
“That’d be nice, but you’d better explain a little more to your gaping muggle … Right now; Luiz! Harry won’t let me usurp your mordomo’s position here, not that I want to; but my being his Reeve, you’d better show me around.”
The elves popped off the balcony.
“Erm … Harry … Were those beings real?” Heironimo was awestruck. “Do they just appear and disappear like that, too.”
“Yes, and they seem to have an uncanny knack of knowing just what you want before you ask for it. Two words of warning. Firstly: never talk of punishment to them especially if you get cross, they take things very literally. I have a long list of punishments which I’ve forbidden Kreacher to impose upon himself. It has now become a joke between us, but to begin with I had to stop him punishing himself if I showed even the slightest displeasure. Secondly: they are very forthright, Kreacher even more so, now we treat him as an equal.
The next surprise was Fawkes who blossomed out of his rooster disguise.
“I remember your phoenix from last time. I wasn’t aware that they could transform, too. I think I’d better check my Bestiary again.”
Prompted by Fawkes Harry replied that it was something special to this particular phoenix because he was destined to serve the four Seers.
Pop: “Master, that kitchen’s a disaster area; it’ll take an age to get it shipshape.”
“You can always use my kitchen until then, Elmira,” offered Imelda.
“Thanks, Mistress I will.” Pop.
“See what I mean, Ronnie.”
“Can we not just go back to our old ways?”
“Sorry, No!”
“Harry’s right, Ronnie. Dirty food preparation probably led to your dyspepsia.” Draco looked stern: “One of my fortés is potion making – medicines, if you like. I have to be meticulous in my preparation area and I suspect Imelda is too.”
“Absolutely scrupulous, Draco.”
“All right, I know when I’m outnumbered.” Heironimo held up his hands in mock surrender. “Ingo and I did keep on promising each other that we ought to … and then conveniently forgetting.” The priest looked quite guilty.
Harry could see flagellation and hair-shirts looming in the background: “Right, Imelda … I believe you’re going to conduct me round the parish and Ronnie has to go and defend his altar from the flower-arrangers.”
Astoria stood: “I’ll go with them Harry, if I may. Draco and Ginny can explain about portals to Ronnie in between his supervisory bouts. The business about bringing Otto reminded me that we need to check where the ley line marker is. I suspect it might be that castle on the hill over there.”
“It will definitely need a staging focus; it’s about a hundred and sixty magi-leagues to Guéthary.” Ginevra and Draco then had to explain to Heironimo about magical mileages and their limits. Harry left them to it.
~~~ VISITING ~~~
As they left Harry realised that he had only had a glass of orange juice for breakfast and wondered if he’d last out until lunchtime. He needn’t have worried; every casa’s habitant they visited offered them a nibble and a drink. Just after midday the pair returned and were met by Luiz.
“We didn’t make any lunch for you Hidalgo or Bruja. We surmised that you’d be fed by every household.”
“Thank you, Luiz, however a couple of glasses of orange juice would go down a treat, some of that alcohol was a little overwhelming.”
“How about a small draft of green-yellow potion first, Master?”
“Yes please, and a phial each to take with us; I suspect this afternoon will be much the same.”
“What’s the green-yellow potion, Harry?”
“Yellow for hangover, green for prevention, Ronnie. Something one of our elf professors came up with. Elmira, do we have any wards surrounding the house?”
“Just the attic, Master and that magic is on its last legs, too.”
“Right … We’d better do something about that too, hadn’t we?”
“All in hand, Harry. Hermione, Probert and Grammarian are coming over this afternoon. They are going to investigate the possibility of a node halfway. Imelda has a brother mage whose elderly aunt lives on a smallholding called El Altogranja. It’s on a plateau near Valladolid. She’s about a hundred-and seventy and he’s worried about her; so once the portals are made he’ll be able to visit her easily.”
“Thanks Astoria … Ronnie and Ron, we’ll have to be careful not to mix them up,” Harry giggled: “Where’s Draco?”
*I’m making Imelda a couple of cow physics in her lab – Luiz has just brought me my lunch.*
Pop: Dorothy appeared; “Harry, Bertie is agreed that we need to set up three bank accounts in Euros, like the one you set up at Godric’s Hollow. May I arrange that with Gallus, please?”
“Okay, you’ll need our signatures, will you?”
“I expect so; probably during next week. We’ve drafted a few of the corps in to help with the initial cleaning here. Most of the house is okay.” Dorothy looked hard at Heironimo, who blushed. Pop: and the elf was gone.
“Right Imelda, we have the other half to visit.”
“I’ll let Arnetz know about the impending portal, he was wearing himself out apparating back and forth to Altogranja. She’s a stubborn old witch, that aunt.” Imelda lifted her head in scorn.
~~~ WARDS ~~~
When they returned Grammarian and Hermione were there explaining to Heironimo exactly what wards were and what the limiting factors were, including the drain of energy in making them. They also had Probert with them because he was showing much promise in his ward making classes and he was good at thaumic anchors. He was a challenge for the resident cleric too, but his obvious piety won Heironimo’s reservations over. Everyone survived to have dinner together round the oval table in the dining room. The cleric beginning to feel less alarmed about the new Hidalgo and his friends.
Afterwards, Heironimo went to look through the pile of letters on his desk and came rushing into the lounge where the others were relaxing including Kreacher and Winky.
“We have a problem, friends.” Heironimo said, waving a letter around: “My Monsignor is coming to the Harvest Mass, and wants to talk to me. He will expect to be asked to lunch.”
“That’s no problem, Ronnie; we’ll just set another place.”
“But he doesn’t know about elves.”
“Still no problem; show him please, Kreacher.”
Carter stood there, with Winifred next door to him, smiling at the astonished cleric.
“I have a date singing in the choir at our church in the morning,” said Probert: “So that will solve one problem, won’t it?”
“Oh! Very well; thank you. I wonder what he wants. I’d better check over the church to make sure everything is in order.”
“Please, Padre, sit. You’ve already checked twice. Relax, sip your port.” Imelda had almost to hold Heironimo down in his chair. Probert came to the rescue by offering Heironimo a game of ‘ordinary’ chess to take his mind off his worries. Imelda and Hermione were soon curled up in chairs reading, and the Seers started a game of bridge.
Their peacefulness was interrupted by Minerva arriving and bringing Zandra Bradley with her. That created another teach-in session for Heironimo, this time about magical governance and academies.
“Sorry that I interrupted your bridge, Seers,” Minerva started; once they had been introduced: “There’s a little window of opportunity available in the Wizengamot’s ranks. Seneschal Zachariah died recently and has no descendants; so the court felt it might be right to offer the place to a representative of the Blake Trust.”
“We asked Bertie,” continued Zandra: “But he declined, saying that playing politics was why hge resigned from Gringotts. He says he’s a practical bloke not a schemer.”
“On top of that Luna’s been campaigning in the Quibbler about Kreacher being the token elfin member …”
“… So you thought that as Dorothy was a director we could put her forth as our representative,” interrupted Astoria: “Is she willing?”
“Well … It took some persuading, but yes.”
“So we need a board meeting do we?”
Pop: Luiz appeared, “There’re a strange goblin and your chatelaine to see you, Hidalgos.”
“Ask them to come in, please Luiz.”
“Yes Master.”
Bertie and Dorothy came in, so more introductions were made, plus some further explanation about sentient magical beings, Wizengamot etc. Imelda was intrigued and Heironimo flabbergasted.
“Yes Harry,” Dorothy replied when she was asked: “I am still reluctant, but I can see the sense in having another elf in the Wizengamot.”
“In fact the elves are under-represented, if one looks at the figures,” put in Bertie: “We goblins with two representatives are nearly on a par; one more would be the correct amount taking into account the relative populations of human mages and goblins. However the elves outnumber the goblins at nearly two to one; so five would be their quota, pro rata.”
“That was one of the arguments that swayed me, fellow directors.”
“So all we need is a board decision, is that right?” Harry asked: “All in favour?”
Six hands rose.
“Carried nem con. Please minute that Dorothy, I’ll sign these minutes and the last ones at our next scheduled meeting. Tell me, Minerva; what was that about Luna?”
“Many more mages read the Quibbler now, Harry. It still has its batty moments, but with Luna as its editor quite a few articles have depth to them. If you want to know what serious people are thinking, read the Quibbler. If you want the latest gossip and headline politics read the Prophet. Bane has written a very interesting series on astronomy recently and Horace is writing a column of everyday potions. Septima has a regular Arithmantic Sudoku puzzle too. It’s rapidly becoming the thinking mages’ newspaper.”
Some more discussion took place about magical subjects, eventually leaving Heironimo feeling baffled: “I think that if I need an explanation I’ll ask Doña Imelda.”
Imelda chuckled: “I have much to learn too, Ronnie, we’re relatively isolated out here, you know.”
~~~ SUNDAY 12^TH SEPTEMBER ~~~
Monsignor Ricardo arrived with his Mercedes car all covered in dust from the gravel roads. He was thin and aesthetic with a black cassock and purple sash. Harry thought he looked like a male Minerva. When they shook hands with the grim-faced cleric there was no tingle, which surprised Harry and his friends.
The service was elaborate and yet simple. Because they were wearing their talismans it was understandable in English despite the language used. The Hidalgo’s pew was slightly raised and behind the choir. It was in full view of the congregation so Harry was on tenterhooks in case they made a gaffe. Astoria had the solution, she asked Imelda to grace their pew, thus providing them with mental prompts about the ecclesiastical etiquette. The order of service had changes because of the language used, but its main form was that of Saint Godric’s. What was different was the plainsong chanting, very atmospheric and haunting.
Lunch was not the cheerful mêlée of the Farmers Arms, but a formal one served in the hacienda’s dining room. As well as Imelda some members of the parish council were present. There was quiet chat of an inconsequential type, almost as if each person was protecting their own privacy. It was not until after the meal that Monsignor Ricardo was prepared to talk business with Heironimo.
“Perhaps the Hidalgo would like to attend also,” Ricardo invited.
Harry acquiesced and ensured that his mental antennae were fully functional as they went through to the now gleaming parish office.
“I see you have overcome your domestic difficulties, Father Heironimo; I must say the place is much better for it.”
“Yes Monsignor, Hidalgo Harry found someone suitable.”
“Ah yes … Someone suitable … I have a trainee priest whom I am trying to place and I thought that you could take him under your wing, he’ll be replacing Brother Ingo, his order wishes him to serve elsewhere.”
Harry realised that, despite the politeness, this was not something that the Monsignor expected opposition to.
“I had hoped, Hidalgo Harry, that accommodation would be available here. However you appear to have a full house.”
Harry smiled secretly: “There is a spare bedroom available if that would be suitable, Monsignor.”
“Very Good! Father Estéban will arrive at five o’clock this evening. He will be designated as your curate, Father Heironimo. Should you have any difficulties with him you are to chastise him thoroughly. I’m afraid that he made himself very unpopular in his previous appointment. So seclusion here will ensure time to ponder his errors. Good-day gentlemen, thank you for your time and offers of help.”
With that, the Monsignor rose and swept out of the room in a very Snape-like fashion. By the time Heironimo had gathered his wits, the dusty clerical car was leaving the village.
A distraught Heironimo returned to the reduced community in the lounge. The warding team had departed, as had the various village elders. Imelda had been holding hands, so she was aware of the peremptory demands of Ricardo.
“He’s just a pen-pusher with no finesse, Ronnie,” said Imelda comfortingly. I’ll be here to help as necessary.”
“The four of us will lend our aid, too,” said Astoria quietly.
Fawkes, who had been missing when the Monsignor was present, flew round Heironimo’s head a few times and the priest’s anguish seemed to diminish somewhat.
There was just time to recall the parish elders and apprise them of the new assistant priest’s imminent arrival.
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