"Temporal Boundary Invasions": Chapter X - United and Severed

[austin316hockey]

Title: Harry Potter and the Temporal Boundary Invasions
Chapter Title: X - United and Severed
Fandoms: Harry Potter/multiple
Story Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word count: ~5,457
Warning(s): Violence, coarse language.
Summary: Harry defeats Tom Riddle once and for all, but with nothing to live for, he leaps through the veil. Being thrown back in time was NOT the plan… Did the universe actually HATE him that much? The recovery of an ancient magical artefact may have the answers, and he just may gain a few powerful allies along the way... Part I: Encounters with an up-and-coming Muggle rock band.
Disclaimer: See first chapter






X: UNITED AND SEVERED
OR, A WAR ALMOST ERUPTS IN THE TRUNK

Harry was relieved to see the map redraw itself absent of his nemesis. Unfortunately, that was not quite the end of the problems, as he noted three other figures on the map: his 'loving' family. 'Better then than Voldemort,' he thought, bitterly.
"It's done, then. We're… in your world," said Matt, his voice barely above a whisper. Harry only nodded. "I know… you guys wanted more time, but-"
"We had no choice," said Jiro, "You-know-who would have killed us… probably without realizing it."
"Voldemort would have known-"
"Harry-"
"Here, we can say it and I make damned sure of it. My second best friend puts it best, Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
"Pretty smart," Matt agreed.
"Yep, smartest witch in our year."
"Well… at least he won't be having any more nightmares," said Jiro with a shrug.

Matt practically flew off the bed, tackling the guy and knocking him to the floor. By the time it truly registered with Harry what was happening, Matt was pummelling the guy.
"STUPEFY!" Matt fell limp from the strong stunning hex. Jiro seized the opportunity, and smashed him in the face, then threw him roughly aside.
"Jiro…" But he wasn't having any of it. It was twice now (even though Jiro had caused both episodes)-he was going to have his revenge.
"What the-" Padge had come in, having heard the noise from only seconds earlier. He saw red, seeing Jiro attacking one of his best friends.
"Impedimenta!" Harry snapped, thrusting a hand at Padge, then thrust a hand at the door, slamming it closed. Another snap of the hand, and Jiro found himself bound from the neck down in heavy cords, shoved roughly backward by several feet. "I fucking warned you, moron." He turned to Padge, saying, "Twitch an inch the wrong way and you'll be bound up tight as he is." He cancelled the hex.
"What did you do to him?" Padge questioned, scrambling over, and kneeling beside Matt.
"He only reacted," said Harry, kneeling beside him. "Bloody moron, I warned Jiro what would happen." Luckily the damage wasn't too bad-a busted nose and a split lip. "Kreacher."
"Yes master Harry," said the elf, as he appeared.
"Another pain-relieving draught from my stores, please."
"Right away, master Harry." The elf pattered across the room to the storage cabinet, opened it, and selected one of the many vials. Closing it up, he returned to where they were gathered.
"Thank you, Kreacher." The elf bowed, and popped away. Harry then cancelled the stunning hex. Matt hissed as the pain immediately registered, his eyes narrowing to almost slits, icy cold fire blazing behind them.
"I'm gonna fix your nose. Brace yourself, it's gonna hurt," Harry warned.
"Jub do ib," Matt managed, wincing with the pain that came with a broken nose, blood splattering as he spoke the few words. Harry pointed an index finger at his nose. "Episkey." There was a sickening squelch as bone and cartilage were magically mended, causing Matt to let out an anguished cry(1), and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"S-sorry."
"No… it's fine."
"Hold still… I'll fix your mouth. Your teeth okay?"
"Yeah." Harry again pressed an index finger against the split lip. "Episkey." Again, it hurt, but not nearly as much as the nose, as the skin knit itself back together again.
"Evansco," spoke Harry, gesturing again at his face in general, banishing the blood. "Here. It'll minimize the pain." He passed Matt the pain-relieving potion.
"Thanks."
"Anywhere else hurt?"
"No… he just got me in the face," answered Matt. His eyes still blazed with cold hatred. No doubt, Jiro had just made himself an enemy or four. Matt would waste no time sharing this latest altercation with his friends and band mates.
"Here." Harry offered a hand, and Matt took it, to be helped back to his feet.
"What about HIM?"
"That's our next bit of business. Really didn't need this dragon shit right now." Harry gestured at Jiro, releasing part of the binding.
"This is how it's gonna be, Mr. Kane. You have a choice. Either, I have you written up on charges of assaulting a Muggle-I'm sure you know the penalties, right? Or, you will pay Mr. Tuck for damages. I should think five thousand Galleons should be a nice round number."
"But…"
"Those are your choices."
"Or we take a pound of flesh out of 'ya," said Padge, coldly. Right, there was a fourth party here. Jiro glared at the others.
"Mate, I warned you once already, and this is MY home before anyone else's. I was hoping to have your help, but… Merlin's balls can't you think before you open your mouth?"
"I'll pay your supposed fine," Jiro ground out.
"Good."
"And Jiro. Let's get one thing straight. I hate your fucking guts." Matt's voice was low and cold. He was BEYOND angry.
"Ditto," Padge agreed. He, too was furious. In his books, an attack against one of them was an attack against ALL of them.
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual."
"NO. you don't have that right, moron," Harry crackled, "YOU made that bed, not Matt. So let's lay down a few boundaries. You will be finishing the apartment yourself, after which, you will not be up here except to use the floo. If this shit happens again, I will throw you and your shit out of here faster than you can say Quidditch, and I WILL file a report with the Auror's office regarding that incident AND this one. Is that crystal clear?"
"…"
"It's not a rhetorical question, Kane."
"Crystal clear," Jiro ground out.
"Great." Harry removed the body bind. "And one more thing." Harry again thrust a hand at the guy, muttering an incantation. "You are not to be within twenty feet of Matthew Tuck from this point forward, unless invited by him, so mote it be." A dark red thread of magic arced between Matt and Jiro.
"What do I do?" questioned Matt.
"Say, 'so mote it be'."
"So mote it be!" said Matt, icily. The thread of magic buried itself into his chest, then did the same to Jiro, at once making him feel VERY uncomfortable, as he was inside the twenty foot circle. He fled the room.
"Thanks," said Matt.
"I know you tried not to let him get to you, but… I can see that would never work. Merlin's pants I can't believe that happened. You're truly okay?"
"In which way, mental or physical?"
"Right."
"They can't stay here," said Padge, "The others will be pissed when they find out."
"You guys need to just lay off them for now, okay. Promise me that. Let me handle this, it's my home."
"I won't keep secrets from the others," said Matt, "We share everything."
"Just make sure they don't cause further trouble. This has been dealt with, right?"
"This time. If it happens again, I mean it, we'll beat him within an inch of his life," Padge vowed.
"No, next time he'll just be bounced out of here on his arse, sod his fancy gadgetry." Harry lay back down on the bed and blew out a long breath. "Y'know, I've met a good number of Canadians, both Muggle and magical alike. They tend to be good people. Jiro's really thrown me for a loop here."
"Second that," said Padge.
"Third there," added Matt, as he took the seat beside the bed.
"Y'know, if you guys are gonna make it a habit of gathering in my room, I guess I'm gonna have to add some furniture."
"Hey, you told me to," Matt pointed out. A hint of a smile tried to form on his lips as he said it, however.
"Guess I did." He gestured at the floor, conjuring up another comfortable arm chair. "Padge…"
"Thanks, mate." He took the offered seat. "So… how do you just… well… make shit out of thin air?"
"You just said it. What's air?" Harry questioned, glad for the distraction. One could practically taste the tension in the room.
"Hydrogen and oxygen."
"So it's not nothing, then, is it?" Harry explained, "It all comes back to transfiguration, changing one thing into another." He slid his wand out of his pants pocket, and gestured at one of the many pillows that now adorned the bed, muttering an incantation. It suddenly changed into a fluffy white kitten, who cuddled up to the teen, mewing happily. He smirked at the goldfish imitation he was getting from Matt and Padge. "One of the most advanced types of transfiguration possible." He gestured again with his wand, restoring the pillow to its original form.
"Can you do that to people?" questioned Matt. That got a laugh from Harry. "Yeah, as one of my classmates found out last year. Professor McGonagall wasn't too impressed about it, but we all got a good laugh out of it. He was turned into a ferret for a minute or so."
"Harry… you've shown us a ton of your world. It's only fair we show you ours," said Padge, "That's if we could somehow get our equipment to work here."
"It'll mean bugging Jiro-" that got a dark look from both Padge and Matt, "-but I'll work something out."
"Would be good to actually jam a bit as well. That's our fun too."
"Well, I'd like to hear you guys. The last band I saw was last year at school."
"Magical band I would guess," Matt assumed. Harry nodded.
"So what would be different?" questioned Padge.
"Well, they sing about magical things and stuff happening in the magical world, that's all," answered Harry.

Their discussion continued until lunch time, after which, Harry finally ventured outside the trunk again. Curiosity getting the better of him, Matt followed.
"You slept here?"
"Once I got my Hogwarts letter, yeah. The room's actually supposed to be much smaller than this, but I applied a few charms much like I did in the trunk," Harry explained. It was then Matt spotted Hedwig, resting on the large perch in the corner beside the window. "Is that yours?"
"Yeah. This is Hedwig. Hi, girl." He stroked the bird's feathers, and she started, puffing out her feathers. She glared at the boy, as if to say, 'Where have you been?!'
"This is Matt, a new, good friend of mine." The bird blinked once at the newcomer.
"She's awesome."
"My first magical friend bought her for me just before I started school." He thought for a moment. "Don't come out here without me. My uncle might not like that."
"Yeah, I sure wouldn't like it either if the tables were reversed."
"Let's get back inside. I have a floo call to make."
"A what?"
"You'll see."

Moments later, Harry was kneeling in front of the crackling grate, with Matt standing just behind. He took a pinch of floo powder from the container hanging at the side, tossed it into the fire, then called out, "Fire call the Diggory Residence!" and stuck his head into the green flames.

Looking up from the grate, he spotted Mrs. Diggory puttering around the kitchen. She stopped, seeing Harry's face in the fire. "Mr. Potter! Oh dear, Cedric's been in a right state! Are you back?"
"Yeah, I'm back. Could you get Cedric to come see me? Have him floo home first."
"All right, I'll pass on the message."
"Thank you!" Harry pulled his head back out of the fire.
"Okay, that had to be the most bizarre thing I've ever seen," Matt declared, shaking his head. Harry let out a chuckle, and said, "You haven't seen anything yet."

Sure enough, about a half minute later, the flames in the grate roared to life, and someone stepped out of them, dusting the ashes off his clothes. He was good looking with a chiselled face, and soft, grey eyes that took in everyone in the room. He had short, brown hair, and stood easily a head above Harry.
"Cedric!" Harry grinned, swamping the taller boy in a tight hug.
"Just a heads up, Sirius is on his way as well, you might want to add him to the trunk access list."
"Right!" he thrust his hand at the fireplace. "Addendum, Sirius Black." The fireplace flashed green for a moment, and it was a good thing he had. An instant later, the flames roared green yet again, and out stepped a man taller yet again. He had an aristocratic appearance about him, although it appeared to be somewhat tarnished, his skin slightly waxen. He had startlingly blue eyes that contrasted Harry's green ones, and a large mop of shoulder-length curly brown hair. Harry broke away from Cedric, and was again enveloped in a tight hug. "Harry! Thank Merlin you're all right. We were all going half spare," said the man. Harry grinned and they separated, at which Harry said, "Cedric, Sirius, this is Matt. Matt, this is my boyfriend, Cedric, and my godfather, Sirius."
"Pleasure," said Matt, shaking their hands. "I'll get the others, they'll probably want to meet you as well."
"What others?" questioned Cedric, as Matt headed to the bedrooms.
"He's a member of a Muggle rock band. I accidentally crashed into their motor coach when I… err… landed," Harry explained, "There's a bunch of stuff I have to explain, let's go into the study."
"Since when do you have… oh, right," said Sirius. Harry smirked as he led them down the same corridor Matt had just disappeared into, down the far end, and into said study.
"You've done all this yourself?" Cedric was impressed.
"I still need to configure the fireplace, and the bookshelves are a little bare, but."
"An amazing job, Harry," Cedric praised. Just then, Matt stepped into the room, followed by his friends and band mates. Jiro and Zachariah followed moments after. Zachariah was clearly not happy.
"Matt… I'll need you to 'invite' Jiro into your twenty foot range for now," said Harry, taking a seat at one of the tables. He nodded, taking the seat beside Harry. Cedric occupied the seat on the other side, while others filled in around. Harry thought for a moment, then called, "Kreacher?"
"Yes, master Harry?" the elf croaked out, appearing with a slight pop. Sirius was astounded at the change that had taken place in his house elf. He now wore a spotless tea towel, his ears were neatly clipped, the hair in each a snowy-white. It was as if the elf had de-aged by years.
"Could you bring us some refreshments… perhaps some butter beer this time."
"Right away, master Harry!" Kreacher vanished with a light POP.
"You've had the Midas touch with him, I'd say, Harry," said Sirius.
"He's been kept quite busy here, with seven of us around, but he likes it." Kreacher was back with another pop, and he placed a large platter of bottles at the centre of the table. He also produced a tea service.
"Thank you, Kreacher." The elf bowed, and popped away again.
"He's behaving himself?" questioned Sirius.
"I've told him there are certain things he can't say, that's it. I'm kind to him, and he reciprocates that," Harry explained, grabbing a bottle of butter beer from the plate at the centre of the table. "Either way. What date are we here?"
"July 24th," answered Cedric, "Why didn't you keep writing, keep us updated?"
"Because to me, I'd only just written to you. I don't know how that's possible, but it's like this universe isn't running at the same speed as the one where these guys came from."
"Very odd," Sirius agreed, "So tell us what happened. What did you do for the three or so days you were gone?"

Harry took his time, and gave a fairly detailed account of his first venture into another universe. Matt and his band-mates, and Jiro and his partner helped fill in the details where necessary.

At the mention of Harry's duel with Voldemort, Cedric was shocked and mortified. Without even knowing it, he could have lost Harry. In fact, Harry had to get Kreacher to fetch yet another calming draught from his stores, his boyfriend was shaking so badly.
"He used the Taboo curse during the last war as well," said Sirius, as Harry at last finished, "A good number of Order members were captured that way."
"Except that he only controlled Britain and part of Europe last time," Harry pointed out, "Where these guys come from, he controlled a good part of the world, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," said Jiro. The guy had not said too much, and this was not lost on Sirius. He filed it away for later, but said, "As I said in my letter, Dumbledore's been working hard to get me a trial."
"Well, they do have Crouch's testimony, right? He should be forced to testify."
"But Harry, you know how that works already. Just getting a fair trial is a hit-and-miss thing with idiot Fudge in power," Sirius reminded, "It will really hinge my solicitor."
"Why don't you petition for political asylum in a foreign country?" questioned Zachariah, "It would probably get the wheels turning a little quicker than sitting on your ass waiting for the antiquated British system to get in gear."
"Never really thought of that."
"See what I mean, Harry?" said Jiro, "There's a ton of things Sirius can do here, if he'd get a second opinion and not be blinded to the whims of one Albus Dumbledore."
"Jiro has an issue with Dumbledore," Harry supplied, at Sirius and Cedric's questioning looks.
"Problem with him?" Jiro snorted, "The man's a manipulative goat-fucker, that's what he is." That got a round of laughter from Matt and his band mates, while Harry looked mortified.
"We could probably get the Canadian ministry to hear his case," said Zachariah, drawing the conversation back on topic, "This is a gross miscarriage of justice, our legal system will want to rip the British ministry a new one." That got a snicker from Harry. "Why, it's true… or was, before you-know-who took over."
"Then that's where you guys can help us," said Cedric, "Use the floo-I imagine you would know who to contact over there."
"Yeah, pretty much," said Jiro, "I've got a pretty thick file on the computer."
"Computer?" questioned both Sirius and Cedric.
"The desks out in the common room-you guys probably didn't notice them, but, it's a Muggle electronic device that's incredibly useful," explained Zachariah.
"There's no way that sort of thing should work in here," Cedric pointed out, to which Harry grinned, answering, "That's what I thought, too. It seems Fred and George were pretty busy in their world. On that note, gonna have to speak to them."
"There's an extensive file on my computer, everything they'd want to know," said Zachariah, "And Harry, Jiro and I want to talk to you after this about the, um, arrangement you made earlier."
"If you're asking me to forget about the fine-"
"No. A substitution, but this isn't the place for that, no sense in airing dirty laundry," said Zachariah. He flinched, and felt back to his left ear, adjusting one of his piercings.
"Fair enough," said Harry. That got a curious look from his godfather.
"Harry. You do need to let Ron and Hermione in. They're your best friends, right?" Cedric questioned. Harry nodded, although reluctantly. It was bad enough inviting the twins. It was going to result in questions he wasn't quite ready to answer-he'd already said too much to Matt, after all.
"Something else you will have to consider, Harry," spoke Sirius, "Your new friends here may already exist here. You might want to check on that so you avoid major problems in the future." Harry only nodded. "Makes sense. Never mind the fact they're from twelve years into the future as WELL as being from a different dimension."
"It still floors me this happened, though," said Cedric, "Merlin, Harry, you have no idea how bent out of shape people have been. Ron's mum's been nothing but a mass of nerves, even Snape has been-well, do I dare say it-concerned?" That got a smirk out of Harry. "Yep, I knew he actually cared."
"It's not funny, Harry. Dumbledore's recalled well…"
"The Order? Doesn't surprise me. He did the same thing the first time around as it was."
"Dumbledore plans on moving you to my place 'as soon as he is located', his words," said Sirius.
"No offence, Sirius, but I'd rather stay here. Your house has far too many unpleasant memories for me. Beside the point, I haven't been here long enough to charge the blood protection."
"Blood protection?" questioned Matt.
"I'm not going into detail," answered Harry, "But my mum's sacrifice when Voldemort attacked gave me some powerful protections against him… as long as I live with my aunt… as long as I stay at her house for a month or so, Voldemort can never physically attack me here." He looked down the table at Jiro, who looked about ready to burst out laughing. "What?"
"Dude, that has to be the biggest load of horse shit I've ever heard!"
"Jiro… you have no clue what you're talking about, mate. My aunt doesn't really love me, but she doesn't HATE me either."
"Have the wards ever been tested? Has he ever tried to visit you at your relatives?" Jiro challenged.
"Well… no."
"There's my point, you can't know that. I thought you knew Bill."
"I do, but-"
"Ask him about your 'blood protection'. He knows a thing or two about wards as well as curse-breaking."
"I know. Considering I almost married him." That got strange looks from the members of Bullet for my Valentine, and a smirk from Cedric. After all, he was well aware of the 'future' Harry was from.
"Right. But ask him, see what he has to say about it. I guarantee, you won't like the answer."
"So how do you know so many people from our world, Mr. Kane," questioned Sirius.
"There were only a few of us who were truly fighting to undermine the Dark Lord's regime. We were constantly sharing information, meeting, and acting. So it was only a natural thing I should run into the Weasleys. Great people. You know Victor Krum as well, right?" Both Harry and Cedric nodded. "He worked all over Europe, trying to draw people together to fight. Sheeple. All I have to say." Harry burst out laughing at that comment. He finally collected himself, saying, "Glad we agree on something, Jiro."
"That is?"
"The 'sheeple' of Wizarding Britain. They'd rather listen to what the supposedly unflappable, great, ministry of magic has to say, rather than actually taking initiative and thinking for themselves."
"Exactly why our world ended up with the Dark Lord in control."
"And if things don't change here, we'll be facing the exact same thing. And Jiro. There's no taboo curse here. You can say his name."
"It's hard to break an old habit," answered Jiro, with a shrug.
"What is the taboo curse anyway?" questioned Jay.
"It acts like a tracking charm," answered Jiro, "Quite clever, really. Just saying the name cancels any protective enchantments, and causes a strong magical disturbance(2)."
"What about a Fidelius charm?" questioned Harry.
"Not certain, that's a powerful charm, Harry," answered Jiro.
"I know, I've cast it before."
"A fid-ius charm?" questioned Matt.
"Fih-day-lee-us," said Harry, "It completely hides an object or a place from those who don't know the secret of it. One person knows the secret, and can pass it on to others. Like Jiro said, it's a very powerful charm-many counter spells and so on have little effect against it."
"Harry… are you gonna contact the twins?" questioned Jiro.
"Yes, right. Guess that's the next thing. Cedric, do you mind calling them?"
"Now?"
"yeah, now's as good a time as any," Harry decided. Cedric nodded and stood.
"In the meantime, I'm gonna hook up the fireplace in here. Give me a minute." He also stood up, and left the room.
"So has Harry put you guys under a secrecy charm yet?" inquired Sirius. Matt and his friends shook their heads. "That will need to be taken care of, if you're to continue to interact with the Muggle world."
"Yeah, I understand that," said Matt.
"Guess I should be getting our notes and so on together, if the twins are coming," said Jiro, "Zack…"
"Right." The two of them left the room as well.

It seemed a split second later, Harry popped into the room, bringing a small notebook. "I did it last time without this." He knelt in front of the fireplace, and began to draw a series of strange symbols in various places. "Sirius, who's been staying or visiting your place while I've been gone?"
"Just about every member of the Order at one point or other. All the Weasleys are there, save for Charlie and Percy. Merlin, even Snape's been there far more often than I can stand."
"And just now?"
"A busy house, if that's what you mean. Dumbledore wasn't there, but a good number of others were," answered Sirius.
"In other words, best I don't actually fire-call there myself. Made the right decision getting Cedric to do it… there, that should just about do it." The flames roared green for a second. Harry then pointed an index finger at the fireplace. "Addendum, Fred and George Weasley." The fireplace flashed green for a moment.
"Harry," said Cedric, returning to the room, "They want to come, but-"
"Yeah, I forgot. Tell them to come through now," said Harry, "In fact, tell them to use the address: Harry Potter's trunk, library."
"All right." With that, his boyfriend was gone again.

Seconds later, the fire roared a brilliant green, and out stepped two identical, ginger-haired twins. One actually had a bit of soot on his nose, and it was debatable whether it was from the use of the floo network, or something else.
"Fred, George, glad you guys could come," said Harry, indicating vacant seats at the table. "Thanks for christening my second floo connection, by the way."
"It's an honour," said Fred, accepting a seat, while George finished, "Always glad to help our esteemed business partner!", occupying a seat next to his twin. At the same time, Cedric walked back into the room, and retook his seat beside Harry.

"Harry, what happened?" questioned Fred, once introductions were made, "Mum's going half spare!"
"So Cedric and Sirius have told me," said Harry, "Let me share a few memories with you. Look directly into my eyes, and don't break contact until I tell you to."
"Okay." Fred looked into Harry's eyes, and was instantly flooded with a series of memories pertaining to the past few days.

Several minutes later, they at last broke eye contact. Fred only shook his head, saying, "You certainly have a knack for finding trouble, eh, Harry?"
"More like trouble finds me," answered Harry.
"May I share this with George?"
"Yeah, of course," answered Harry. George turned to his twin, and it was obvious Fred was doing the same thing to George as Harry had done to him. 'So they DO know the mind arts,' Harry realized.
"How come you didn't do that with me?" questioned Cedric.
"It's not quite as personal, I guess. I wanted to tell you in my own words, not just give you a stream of memories. The thing is, passing a stream of memories is much quicker."
"Dumbledore will want to know you're okay," said Sirius.
"And you can tell him the bare minimum. I'd rather he didn't know about my trunk."
"Yes, he was curious as to what you meant by your trunk following you."
"He doesn't have to know what KIND of trunk, just that it managed to follow me somehow, at which I'm still completely baffled as to why it did, you can quote me on that."
"Why don't you want this Dumbledore to know about here?" questioned Matt.
"Because I'm not quite ready to tell him certain things just yet. See, Jiro is partly right, in that Dumbledore is rather manipulative. I know the why, and yes, it does irritate me to no end, but at the same time, I know how to deal with his manipulations. He needs me far more than I need him at this point.

That said, I also don't want to be at odds with him. There'll be a time when I will share absolutely everything with him. I will need his help, and he is truly a powerful and influential wizard. That's the kind of power I will need behind me for the sort of changes I want to make in the wizard world. Our fight is NOT over once Voldemort is gone, it will only have just begun."
"Why do you say that, Harry?" questioned George. They had obviously finished their memory-sharing.
"If I want the world to be a better place for Hermione and Dean and their children, or any other Muggle-born, for that matter, things have to change. I really don't want to see another Dark Wizard like Voldemort come along a generation from now. If that happens, then everything we're doing now will be for nothing."
"Yes, a point well made," said Jiro, stepping into the room. He brought one of his 'power boxes' with him, while Zachariah brought with him a notebook computer. He placed the computer in front of George, while Jiro set the box behind it, closer to the centre of the table.
"What are these things?" questioned Fred, eyeing the equipment curiously.
"This-" Jiro pointed to the box, "-was one of your creations, at least where we came from. You guys worked on it for a couple of years. Your dad was quite proud of you."
"Fred, look! It's one of those Muggle pluggy things like dad has in his shed!" George pointed excitedly at the eight standard electrical receptacles attached to the side of the box. Zachariah was already connecting the computer to one of them. Jiro turned the box around, and pointed to the label affixed to the back.
"Fred, either someone's copied our trademark-"
"Or Harry's new friends tell us the truth," finished Fred.
"Once this thing boots up I'll show you some of your notes," said Jiro.
"Okay, as interesting as this is… we're going back to my room," said Padge, gesturing to the others. Matt declined, however, getting a shrug from his band mates.
"All right with us."
"And I do need to floo home. I'll pass on the message to Dumbledore that you're back at your relatives' place. I assume that's where your trunk is?"
"Yes," answered Harry, standing. He gave his godfather a hug, and the man quickly used the floo to return to Grimmauld Place. The three members of Bullet for my Valentine who had not seen the floo in use yet stood rooted to the floor, jaws hanging open in utter shock.
"What the fuck?!" Padge swore.
"The floo network," answered Harry, with a grin. Padge only muttered something unintelligible under his breath, and the trio left the room.
"I said it before, they haven't seen nothing yet," Harry grinned, returning to his seat at the table. Already, the twins were in rapid conversation with Jiro and Zachariah about the notes contained on the computer. Clearly they were indeed most interested in the information. Hopefully the twins would keep them occupied and less apt to antagonize Matt-at least as far as Jiro went. 'Still can't believe what happened earlier,' Harry thought to himself, as he felt an arm slide around his shoulder. "Missed you," Cedric hissed into his ear, and Harry had to smile. 'Perfect distraction'.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Have I mentioned before, Jiro's an ass? Okay. So yeah, he's got issues with his social filter… doesn't always think before he opens his trap, like yours truly at times. That's gonna get him in trouble, and it certainly played out here. Matt's about ready to murder him, and so is Padge at this point… the other band members wouldn't be far behind for that matter.

On the note of the Taboo-jinx vs a Fidelius charm… would the jinx actually bring down a Fidelius charm? Love to hear thoughts on that one.

(1) Drawing from HBP movie-verse here. JKR described the healing charm as being 'very hot, then very cold'. I think the movie-verse application is more realistic. C'mon, it's a broken nose! It's gonna HURT being magically reset.
(2) Taken from p.316, "Deathly Hallows", Canadian soft-cover edition.
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