Chapter Text
Deep in the Dimensional Sea, the Admirals of the Time Space Administration Bureau were gathered at TSAB Headquarters. The Admirals sat across from each other at the war table, ready to hear a report about the situation of Un-Administered World #97, AKA Earth.
Leti Lowran watched Chorno Harlaown, the newest Admiral and son to her friend Lindy, as he took his seat. Chrono had been in charge of the investigation. That he’d called for a full meeting of the Admirals upon return spoke volumes, as did the deep furrow of his brow.
“Chrono, is it really necessary to gather all the Admirals over a single world? I know there have been far too many Lost Logia appearing on Un-administered World #97 but this seems... excessive.” Leti said.
Chrono sighed, resting his chin against his interlocked hands. “I’m afraid the situation is worse than we feared... I’ll start from the beginning, you’re all aware I was assigned to investigate why there have been an unusual number of strong mages appearing on Earth?” Chrono said.
Every Admiral nodded. They’d all heard of ‘the Aces’ now in the TSAB. Even before the Aces, Earth had produced other great mages like Admiral Graham.
“I’ve had my crew preform deep scans for possible magical groups or societies. I found several such communities across the globe.” Chrono said.
To match Chrono’s words, a map appeared onscreen. Several red dots across #97’s continents marked the locations of the magical communities. There were several larger dots, at least one on each continent, and dozens of smaller dots as well.
Leti frowned. The TSAB had never seen any signs of magical communities before, so how could Chrono have found so many? She had never heard of anything like this happening on a planet before.
“To have people with the potential to become mages so widespread, they must have been aware of magic for years. You’d think we’d have seen signs of them before now, but #97 has made no progress towards magical technology at all. The planet is close to the point we will have intervene, otherwise they may destroy themselves with physical weapons before magical technology can spread.” Leti said.
Chrono’s hands clenched. “According to the information I’ve gathered, the magical societies on #97 are hundreds if not thousands of years old. They’ve completely separated themselves from mainstream society and recruit lightly from mages born outside their community. Their technological advancement is at least a hundred behind the society.” Chrono said.
The Admirals exclaimed at Chrono’s revelation. Even if a magical society lived in seclusion, they had never found one less technologically advanced than their non-magical counterparts. It had always been the other way around!
The Honorary Marshal, Largo Kiel, rubbed his temple. “To be so secluded and technologically behind… These societies must be rife with racism and conservatism.” Largo said.
Chrono placed his device on the table without a word. It projected several grotesque images for the Admirals to see. Silence reigned as the Admirals stared at pictures of people clearly dead, injured and/or maimed. The most disturbing where the unmarked bodies. Those victims could be mistaken for sleeping if not for the fact their eyes were open.
Leti examined each image with as much professional detachment as she could. It was hard. She’d been an Admiral for decades but seeing children’s bodies that had been tortured in heinous and imaginative ways was not something she ever wanted to be used too.
“It’s as you say Honorary Marshal. Take for example Admiral Graham’s home country, England. In the last decade there was a disturbing incident. A mage terrorist organisation targeted non-mages, who they call Muggles, and mages not born of their community, which they call Muggleborns. These ‘Death Eaters’ and ‘Lord Voldemort’ murdered, tortured and killed hundreds of people, not counting their crimes on the nearby continent. The images were taken from case files that had been hidden using magic in police records. The magical society ensured the incidents were misclassified as accidental deaths.” Chrono said.
Largo’s frown deepened. Everyone in the room realised this magical population must have affected the non-magical people’s memories to manage such a feat. A necessity if you were going to keep such crimes secret, but very illegal by TSAB standards.
Chrono stopped the projection with the push of a button and rubbed his temples. Leti relaxed slightly now the dreadful images were gone. Only a little though. She knew Chrono well enough to tell he wasn’t finished.
“It gets worse. I tracked down some of the surviving Muggleborns who’d left the magical society to find out what happened to these terrorists. The leader was killed targeting a young family. There are no concrete details on how he died as the couple’s child was the only one to survive. Some of the terrorists were caught and thrown in jail after showman trials, but many terrorists were of notable families that claimed they were being controlled by magic. They were released and still hold positions of power. And as I said, this is only one incident in the last 10 years for a single country. Every continent I have researched has had similar issues in the last hundred years. The current stability varies of each society varies, but they all members of an International Magical Group that has made no attempt to stop these incidents. Hostile takeovers of local magical governments, as well as government corruption, are common tactics by magical extremist groups.” Chrono said.
Leti was perturbed by this information and judging by the pale faces of her fellow Admirals she wasn’t the only one.
The Honorary Marshal stood up. He slammed his hands against the table. “I have heard enough! The TSAB cannot stand by while magic is so grossly abused by a minority group. Admiral Chrono, when your ship’s maintenance is finished return to Un-Administered World #97. Begin building connections with the planet’s governments for direct intervention by the TSAB.” Largo said.
Chrono stood up and saluted.
“Understood sir,” Chrono said.
Chrono bowed to the room and made to leave. Leti got up, inclined her head to the Honorary Marshal, and walked after Chrono. Leti caught up with Chrono and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t push yourself too hard Chrono. Dealing with such horror will tire anyone. If you need help don’t hesitate to ask your friends for help.” Leti said.
Chrono smiled at her, but the muscles of his cheeks were stiff. Leti knew he was acting strong.
“I will manage. This is Nanoha and Hayate’s home planet. I can’t let them hear how bad it is without offering them a solution. However, the issue is so large that I don’t know where to begin.” Chrono said.
Leti understood his sentiment. It would be hard for the girls to hear what was happening on Un-Administered World #97 after leaving on the assumption Mid-Childa needed their power more.
“Chrono, why not prioritise recruitment of first-generation mages? Give them the chance to help themselves and their planet by introducing them to magic and all its technological benefits.” Leti said.
Chrono was silent but he flickered through several minute expressions. Leti knew he was considering several scenarios based on her proposal. There were several benefits if Chrono could manage the risks of providing advanced technology to an Un-Administered Planet. Helping new mages would deny the magical society recruits that they otherwise wouldn’t value and provide Un-Administered World #97 a force capable of resisting the magical terrorists when the next conflict starts.
Harry James Potter had once had high hopes for Primary School. He would be away from his Aunt and Uncle for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. He’d even daydreamed that he could avoid his cousin, Dudley. The odds that Harry would be in the same class as Dudley had seemed small. Without the Durselys around, Harry had thought he would have the chance to make friends.
However, Harry had sorely underestimated Dudley’s perseverance. He targeted anyone who approached Harry with the ferocity akin to one of Aunty Marge’s feral dogs. Not that many were willing to befriend a boy wearing his cousin’s hand-me-downs... but the few that had tried were scared off soon enough.
Harry sat in the back of the classroom, right by the door for quick escapes. If he hurried, Harry may manage to get home before Dudley met up with his friends and escape getting beaten up on the way home. Harry had done well enough avoiding Dudley’s attention today, so if he could last one more class then he’d be home free (as free as one could be under Aunt Petunia’s gaze).
Of course, things rarely went the way Harry wanted and it was declared that for last period they’d be watching a magic show. Harry wasn’t enthused like the other kids when the teacher led them to the Assembly Hall. Harry was interested in magic but knew he couldn’t be seen enjoying it. Dudley would tell his parents Harry had seen a magic show and they’d lock him in his cupboard for a week. It could only get worse if Dudley said that Harry had enjoyed it.
Harry hung his head and stayed at the back of the line. If he was quiet and stuck to the shadows, then Dudley might not put 2 and 2 together. Dudley loved breaking rules, so he’d not tell his parents about the magic show if he didn’t realise it could get Harry in trouble.
Inside the Assembly Hall, Harry had found an excellent hiding spot by the stage stairs. The magicians were mingling with the class, showing off balls of light and encouraging students to try to make their own.
Obviously not everyone was succeeding. Harry knew they had to make the ‘magic’ seem special. Harry was more impressed that these magicians were doing a good job of giving everyone a go. Dudley had tried to hog their attention when he produced the biggest ‘magical light’ of the group, but it didn’t make the magicians do more than admonish him for not sharing.
Harry amused himself while each student took their turn by wondering how the lights were made. He couldn’t smell anything off, nor were there any obvious devices he could see... It reminded Harry of his dreams.
Sometimes, Harry dreamed of colourful lights making strange things happen. Some of those dreams were full of laughter and happiness, usually including red hair or brown eyes. Mostly the lights showed up in Harry’s nightmares though. Those nights were filled with green flashes and chilling laughter. Harry shook his head to free himself of the memory of that laugh.
“Aren’t you going to join in the fun?” A man said.
Harry stiffened and slowly turned to look up. One of the magicians had snuck up behind him. The magician was smiling at him.
Harry bit his lip. nothing ever good came from adults who noticed him. “No, I’m fine. I just- my family wouldn’t like it... for religious reasons?” Harry said.
Harry nodded, more to himself than the magician. There were plenty of people whose religion banned witchcraft, right? If Aunt Petunia heard that he’d refused to participate, then she may not get mad! Religion was a perfectly normal and the Dursleys loved normal things.
The magician knelt down to Harry’s level. He winked at Harry and held out his hand. “Well, if that’s the case let me tell you a secret... Honestly this is all science, no witchcraft to be found.” The Magician said.
Harry squirmed under the magician’s expectant stare. Everyone had noticed them talking and he was going to have to accept the man’s hand lest the teacher call home because Harry was being rude to a guest.
Harry reluctantly laid his hand on the man’s. His fingers tingled and there was an odd pulling sensation in his chest. A ball of light began to form above his hand.
Harry looked up at the light, wincing at the sight of his ‘magical feat’. Harry’s light was biggest yet, something he could already see already had Dudley turning red over in the corner of his eye, but it was also misshapen. The emerald orb was covered in flickering golden flames. It would be pretty if not for the black tendrils also crawling along the emerald orb wherever the golden flames weren’t. Seeing the black tendrils made Harry’s skin clammy. It was so creepy.
The Magician looked equally distressed, his face pale and pupils blown wide. Harry pulled his hand back. The magic light vanishing to his relief, but everyone was pointing at him and whispering. Harry scurried around the corners of the room towards the exit as the other magicians did their best to draw the student body’s attention back to them with more tricks. If Harry hadn’t of been panicking, then watching people fly around the room would have been awe inspiring.
When the bell rang Harry was out already out the door and running, leaving behind Dudley’s demands for the freak with ugly magic to stop. Harry was going to save Uncle Vernon the trouble and lock himself in his cupboard until this all blew over.