Pax Elysia Chapter 26: A relic of the past

The silver craft shimmered into view above the Scottish Highlands, sunlight glancing off its curved hull as it descended through a sheet of grey cloud. Far below, the castle and its lake seemed almost exactly as Harry remembered them—ancient towers, smog clinging to its rooftops, dew hanging from window sills, and the quiet thrum of magical power hanging in the air.

However, there was a palpable change Harry could feel even from this distance. The air felt quieter, emptier.

Harry guided the Jumper down toward the green patch of land near the Black Lake. Its engine powered down once the landing struts touched grass. For a long moment, he simply sat there, watching the fog flit past the tranquil surface of the Black Lake. Then he keyed the hatch open and stepped out into the fresh morning air of Hogwarts.

A great voice boomed from across the slope.

“Merlin’s beard—Harry?”

Hagrid was trudging up the hill with an armload of firewood, eyes wide and beard whipping in the breeze. Fang ran ahead of him, barking as if the months had never passed. Harry grinned, striding forward to meet them.

Fang jumped at him, happily yipping at and rubbing his head against his legs.

“Hey, Fang. Happy to see me?” Harry chuckled, scratching the dog behind his ears, which earned him happy mewls from Hagrid’s companion.

The half-giant dropped the firewood he was carrying with a thud and swept Harry into an embrace that crushed the air from his lungs.

“Ye came back! And what in blazes is that shiny thing? Is it one of those flying boxes shown by the Prophet in that other place?”

“Something like that,” Harry managed, laughing. “That’s a ship—flies a bit higher than a broom. It’s called the Jumper.”

Hagrid let him go, blinking at the craft with his beady eyes.

“You always did have a knack for turnin’ up with somethin’ new and ye were born ter fly. Heard tell o’ you runnin’ round savin’ whole worlds now.”

“Only trying to keep them from falling apart and in my spare time,” Harry said with a cheeky smirk, making Hagrid guffaw.

“Speaking of which, you’d appreciate this. I helped catch a Nundu last night.” Harry led with that story as he knew Hagrid would like it.

Hagrid’s jaw dropped.

“A Nundu? Alive?” Hagrid asked, his eyes glinting with excitement at the prospect of a dangerous, massive, magical creature.

“Alive, and snoring peacefully in a containment field. Took three aurors, a flattened forest and several destroyed hills to bring it down.” Harry said.

The half-giant gave a booming laugh.

“That’s a proper beast-taming story! Wish I’d been there meself.”

They walked together toward the castle. The grounds looked tidy but strangely subdued—fewer voices, fewer owls even in the owlery. The greenhouses stood locked; the Quidditch hoops leaned in the wind like relics. Harry glanced up at the main doors and felt a twist of unease.

“Things’ve gone quiet,” he said softly.

“Aye,” Hagrid muttered. “Hardly any students left. More families takin’ their kids to that new world o’ yours. Can’t blame ’em, with what’s been happenin’ here.”

“What is happening?” Harry asked, locking in on the unease in Hagrid.

“Nothing ye need ter worry, Harry.” Hagrid shook his head and kept his mouth shut.

“Come on, Hagrid. How bad is it?” Harry insisted.

“Bad enough that the Headmistress don’t sleep much. You’d best see her.”

They parted at the steps—Hagrid to his cabin, Harry to the castle’s entrance.

The doors opened at his touch; the wards still recognised him as a student, considering he should’ve been here to finish his last year. The great hall felt both familiar and hollow as he passed by. Sunlight filtered through enchanted windows, gleaming off the long tables that stood mostly bare. Only a handful of voices echoed faintly from a far corridor. The Gargoyle guarding the entrance stepped aside when he arrived.

He found McGonagall in the Headmistress’s office, standing by the window with her arms folded behind her back. Her hair was streaked with more grey than he remembered, but her posture remained iron-straight. When she turned and saw him, the stern mask broke into a smile.

“Mr Potter,” she said, voice warm but weary. “Or should I say, Marshal Potter?”

“Just Harry will do, Professor.”

They shared a brief laugh before she gestured for him to sit. The office felt emptier too—fewer portraits awake, shelves half-cleared of curiosities. Fawkes’s perch stood bare in the corner.

But he noticed one portrait was wide awake. There was no surprise in Harry’s eyes when he saw Dumbledore’s portrait wide awake.

He had expected McGonagall to seek Dumbledore’s advice once the wizarding world started changing so radically overnight. Frankly speaking, he expected Dumbledore’s cronies to put up a better fight in the Ministry. He supposed he owed it to Amelia Bones for sweeping away any such resistance before it could gain momentum.

“So, what brings you to Hogwarts, Mr Potter?” McGonagall asked.

“I was out on a mission to subdue a raging Nundu. Since the mission ended early, I thought I’d come by and see how you’re holding up.”

“A Nundu!” McGonagall looked alarmed.

“There is nothing to worry about. It went rampaging when the Magical Creatures Facilitation Department failed to subdue it and transport it to Elysium. I was asked to help out since the Nundu’s rampage was threatening exposure to the muggles. It should be waking up now in the wilderness of Elysium.”

“So, you’ve been cleaning out the magical creatures from the rest of the world as well.” McGonagall said with a snort.

“Since most of the Ministries have migrated to Elysium, leaving magical creatures in their habitat presents the risk of breaching the Statute of Secrecy. We’ve been sweeping the planet clean of magical creatures and transferring them to Elysium. The work is ongoing with a few hiccups here and there.” Harry admitted.

“A few hiccups?” McGonagall asked with a raised brow. “If we’re counting the headaches you’ve caused me, Potter, then a few hiccups would not be the expression I’d choose to use.”

“Hagrid mentioned there were problems in Hogwarts.”

“Problems! Hogwarts now only has 45 children enrolled. Do you realise what that means?” McGonagall asked with an affronted look.

“It means that there will be far fewer children next year. But that is a good thing.” Harry said calmly.

“A good thing! How can you say that? This is Hogwarts! Your parents and you learned in these halls.”

“So?” Harry raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by the Headmistress’s attempt at evoking an emotional response from him.

“What happened to you, Potter? No student of Hogwarts would say something like that. How can you so easily sever the bond you have to this place?” McGonagall asked, with a defeated look.

“Because I know the Founders built this school as a place of liberation and safety for all magical kin. This place was intended to be a place that empowered our kind, not imprison us in the idealistic nonsense of some select individuals who, in their arrogance, think they could forge and control the destinies of others.” Harry said, his eyes flitting away from McGonagall to the portrait of Dumbledore.

“I see. So, it’s I who have offended you to act in this manner.” Dumbledore said from the frame, who had remained silent so far, making Harry snort.

“Please. Do you think me so petty to intentionally act against Hogwarts just because I have some issues with your actions, Dumbledore?” Harry asked with a roll of his eyes. “The problems Hogwarts is facing are the natural consequence of the rapid migration of wizards and witches. This was bound to happen at some time, even if that pace was slowed down.”

Harry took his eyes away from Dumbledore’s portrait and stared straight into the grey eyes of McGonagall.  

“I should also remind you, Headmistress, that other schools across the planet are also facing the same problems Hogwarts is facing.” Harry reminded them. “This is not some conspiracy to undermine Hogwarts as you seem to think.”

“But why did you make this possible, Harry? Why abandon Earth? We have been living together with the muggles for centuries without any problems.” Dumbledore asked earnestly.

“Are you kidding me?” Harry asked with a snort. “We’ve been hiding from the world for a thousand years. There is a difference between hiding and living, but I’m sure you will not understand that difference.”

“Harry…”

“Enough, Albus. Potter has done what he thinks is right, and in the end, that’s all any of us can do.” McGonagall said, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly as she stared at Harry and then at the office around her.

A nostalgic look overcame her face as she leaned back in her seat.

“You might be right to think that I have an unhealthy attachment to this school. I have, after all, spent most of my life within these walls. This is more of a home to me than anywhere else. To see it diminished in its glory pains me, Potter.” McGonagall admitted, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses and slowly regained her composure.

“Though I dislike what happened, I must heartily congratulate you on the success of Elysium. My daughter, Diana, has only good things to say about the city you’ve built. You have shown enormous courage and fortitude in uniting the wizards and witches across national boundaries and leading them to an admittedly better place.” McGonagall said with a proud smile. “If Lily and James were here, they would be proud of you, Potter. Of that, I have little doubt.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Harry said, calming down, though he felt irritated to be sitting under the self-styled moral overlord that was Dumbledore.

But he was pragmatic enough to realise that Dumbledore was an old relic and had no levers to change anything in the real world. So, he moved to another topic.

“Though this was an unplanned visit, I had another reason for coming here.” Harry started. “Like Hogwarts, there are many other wizarding sites that are culturally important to our people. Back in Elysium, there is a growing demand among the people to have these sites reclaimed or preserved in some way. As you know, the Goblins have been making a ruckus to claim unoccupied land left by wizards and other magical creatures.”

“Ha, don’t I know it!” McGonagall huffed, her eyes squinting with displeasure. “The Goblins are a persistent problem. They’ve been giving trouble to many wizarding families, chasing them outright to Elysium and claiming every parcel of land they could get their grubby hands on.”   

Harry already knew that particular problem. It was one of the reasons why the free housing bill was pushed through the Senate, providing first settlers with a five-year blanket break on all rents. It was only given to those in the economically backward strata and confined only to Elysia city. Anyone wanting housing outside the city would have to purchase land from the Housing & Public Works Department. Although the costs of such a radical policy were eating into their budget, it helped to increase and smooth out the migration pace into Elysium.

His stand was that a price couldn’t be put on Elysium’s prosperity and long-term cohesion among its populace. Besides, any cost incurred could be easily covered now that Elysium had imposed its shadow rule over Heru’ur’s empire. The resources extracted from even one of those planets could easily cover the extra housing costs the government had to bear.

Even now, with the influx of gold, silver and naquadah looted from Chulak, the senate was sitting on massive surplus revenue. There was talk among certain groups to give interest-free loans, but the banks represented by Dwarves have actively lobbied against that particular talk in the senate.

“Frankly speaking, I’m not confident I can change the behaviour of Goblins any more than you could.” he said honestly. “Instead, I have an alternate proposal.”

“Say your piece, Potter.” McGonagall nodded.

“There has been a suggestion in Elysium to transport several parcels of wizarding land straight to Elysium. Hogwarts could be transposed to Elysium by using the same technology that allows us to travel to different planets.”

“Using the stargate, you mean?” McGonagall asked. “Is that really possible?”

“We’re perfecting the magic and technology to facilitate a smooth transition. Once we have perfected the method, it should be possible to safely transport Hogwarts and other such culturally important structures and places from Earth to Elysium.”

“Hogwarts cannot be so brazenly unearthed, Harry. The castle is built on…” Dumbledore started to say.

“…three major ley lines. I know.” Harry cut in smoothly. “Hogwarts is not the sole castle built on ley lines. There is the Nuremberg prison, which keeps the most dangerous prisoners in Europe, built over converging twin ley lines. There is the Azkaban prison, Durmstrang and many other significant constructs across this planet. We’re in the process of surveying similar ley line node points in Elysium to facilitate a smooth transposition of many such culturally significant places.”

“It seems you have thought through it all.” Dumbledore said, nodding slowly in his portrait.

“Not really.” Harry said with a shrug. “There are a lot of things I don’t know about the transposition. I’ve sought the help of the brightest minds in Elysium to develop a safe method. I help out when I can and have the time. That’s all.”

“Good. One does not lead a healthy life taking on too many responsibilities.” McGonagall said with a smile. “Now, let’s take a walk.”

Harry felt that was a barb directed at Dumbledore. But he couldn’t be sure because he always considered McGonagall as someone who worshipped the footsteps of Dumbledore. Though the woman was blessed with a good head on her shoulders, her penchant to cave in to Dumbledore’s whims was the sole failing he saw in McGonagall.

‘Maybe, something changed in the last few months.’ Harry mused as he followed McGonagall out of her office.

They walked in silence until they reached a window side where there was a good view of the grounds and the Black Lake.

“I learned some of the things my predecessor was up to regarding your upbringing and some of his recent plans to deal with the Dark Lord. I don’t know how much you know, but I want you to know that if I knew the things I know now back then, I’d have done some things differently.” McGonagall said while staring straight ahead into the distant lake.

Harry was initially slightly surprised that McGonagall was coming out like this.

“Dumbledore has always been unnecessarily secretive.” Harry commented gently.

“Yes. That has caused a few problems along the way, as you well know.” McGonagall said with a sigh. “I asked you out here to ask you about something else.”

“Oh, ask away, Headmistress.” Harry said, now facing her fully as he became interested.

“Severus Snape. Did you know that he was acting under the orders of Dumbledore?” McGonagall asked.

“You mean, he claimed he was working under the orders of Dumbledore.” Harry corrected her.

He realised Dumbledore most likely babbled about his pet Death Eater being a loyal lapdog who only acted under his orders. If that was the case, and McGonagall was either after closure or clearing Snape’s name.

Either way, it was wasted effort considering Snape was dead with the Ministry throwing the poor sod through the Veil.

“That’s not what Dumbledore is claiming. He claims he asked Snape to kill him.” McGonagall said.

“Can portraits become senile or inherit the senility of the wizard?” Harry asked with a chuckle.

“I’m serious, Potter.”

“Then let me tell you something to put your mind at ease, Headmistress McGonagall. Even if what Dumbledore says is true and Snape was supposedly involved in an assisted suicide, the law will not see anything different. Snape committed murder, and he was caught red-handed as a Death Eater during a raid where eight aurors were killed in battle.”

After saying that, he made his exit from Hogwarts.    

He could only shake his head as he climbed the ramp of the Jumper, cursing the fact that Hogwarts remained living in the past and stubbornly refusing to move on. He was oh so tempted to leave the castle here as a relic of the past.

But then good sense prevailed.

He reminded himself he had put this all behind him, and there was no need to be petty. As the Jumper pushed itself up into the sky, Harry took one last look at the castle before he turned away.

‘Let them wallow in the past at their own peril. The wizarding world has moved on to the future.’ Harry thought as the Jumper punched through the clouds.