Chapter 53.

Space Travel, Part X: Expansion

8:50 am, July 27th, 1993

In Harry's headquarters office, Harry observed the ex-Lord Malfoy who was again "brought back to give testimony", and estimated how much influence this man would have on Severus Snape as the blond continued to speak: "Lord Potter, there is another matter that I have to report to you. According to the Russian guard whom I recently bribed, Grindelwald spoke to Dimitrov in private three times in the recent two days. I think they are up to something, maybe an escape plan, or something more sinister in nature. I think Grindelwald might be trying to show us that if we don't agree to his request, he will make it happen anyway."

-Great. Now, not only the second most powerful dark wizard in the world is planning an escape, but also his accomplice may or may not be Voldemort.

Harry sighed inwardly. He would really like to spend all his time on the space stuff, but there were always so many petty squabbles between human beings that might lead to instant world destruction. And Harry's current deadline for gaining power that most wizards could understand was in the middle of September, when Grindelwald would receive his Stone treatment. Harry dearly hoped that Severus' trip to the Moon would result in something on how to save Dumbledore from Time. Otherwise, Harry would have to either come up with some new schemes against the "nice (aka, less predictable)" Voldemort, or rely on Lucius' probably-not-that-reliable diplomatic skills until someone on their side became a top wizard.

"Mr. Malfoy, if Grindelwald escapes, and in the worst case, allies with You-Know-Who, who can help us?" Harry asked.

It seemed that Lucius had already thought of this matter, for he immediately answered: "Lord Potter, I am afraid that the rest of the world has some misconceptions on the potential danger of our enemies, and they also wonder what we can do. I suppose, if we continue our current policy, the majority of the top wizards in the world would hold back their hands and watch, as what they had done in the late seventies and early eighties. They would very much like to let the two most notorious dark wizards rob the Stone from us, and then they themselves would become the hero who save the day, and study the Stone and the Mirror as a reasonable reward for their great contribution for humanity. Of course, unless we promise a limited number of them that they and they alone can have the privilege to study the origin of magic while others cannot. Lord Potter, if you desire the later approach, I have a list of names who have reasonable good reputations for your consideration."

Harry sighed: "Mr. Malfoy, please write down the names, and their advantages and disadvantages, and I would have a background check on them."

"Lord Potter, there might be something about the majority of the top wizards that could be a good news to you." Lucius' face twisted into a bitter smile. "If the rest of the world knows who has the Stone, the holder of the Stone would have to share its service with wizards around the world - I don't suppose anyone dares to face the wrath of the entire world."

-Err, OK, this IS actually a good news for humanity. The problem is, we don't know what would happen if someone who is NOT that rational becomes the holder of the Stone.

Harry supposed, he needed another alternative plan, but he couldn't think of anything safe. "Mr. Malfoy, please keep thinking what other alternatives we have. And there is another matter that I need to tell you, so that you can ponder on its implications."

Harry observed Lucius closely, and then revealed the space mission to Lucius, with the potential danger exasperated a little and the part about Baikov omitted. As Harry had expected, Lucius showed shock, excitement, and also concern after he heard that Severus would be the astronaut. Harry knew Lucius could be an amazing actor if he wanted to, but Harry thought the concern for Severus' life was real to a certain extent.

After flattering on how smart and creative Harry was (Lucius was really good at this), Lucius said: "If Severus can find anything that may save Dumbledore from Time, then most problems we have will be solved. If there is only regular Interdicted magic in our collection, and the news about this mission leaks -" Lucius' face turned a bit whiter, "Then, we - or at least Severus - will be in graver danger."

Harry was temporarily confused, and then he realized: Capturing and torturing Severus for information wouldn't be that dangerous or hard as robbing the Stone, and it surely wouldn't cause the same level of wrath and endless hunting from the rest of the world. And in Severus' folly, he has leaked the information to Baikov. On another hand, since Lucius can think of the danger Severus would be in so quick, the ex-Lord Malfoy must care about Severus a lot. Moreover, Lucius is indeed genuinely quick on dark things.

Just as Harry was considering how to reveal the Baikov matter to Lucius, the blond wizard continued: "However, even if this mission fails to provide us instant security, it might be a way to solve a long term problem." Lucius hesitated a bit.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Lucius delivered another matter that Harry hadn't thought of before he provided the service of the Stone to the world: "A side effect caused by the Stone is the blockage of the upward mobility of the youth. Even before the Stone, the problem has been there in the wizarding society. For example, Madam Griselda Marchbanks became a member of the Wizengamot at the age of one hundred and twenty-one, after her father passed away at the age of one hundred and fifty-seven. And now, since Madam Marchbanks has regained her youth, her eldest son may never become a member of the Wizengamot."

"Oh, that." Harry already knew a plan to solve that problem, "We can give a term to Wizengamot seats and any other posts like that, something like you can't serve more than x years in a y year period."

Lucius raised an eyebrow, as if asking Harry, how long Harry's leadership term would be.

-Err…

To be honest, Harry wanted to lead the humanity forever, which meant that Harry would become the one who blocked the way for others. Harry didn't really want to imagine the horrible scene where Harry was fighting with someone who was as smart as Harry for power. However, if the time scale was long enough, this someone would eventually turn up.

Hufflepuff wanted to assign a term for their own leadership, but Slytherin was against the idea: Hey, we need to make sure that the humanity is safe, right? We may never fully anticipate where the danger might come from. And if it suddenly comes, and we are not the Leader, we may not have the authority and resources needed to stop the danger. According to Prophecies, we are the only hope humanity has, remember?

Excuse! Gryffindor roared.

Ravenclaw said: I think we just need to know all the important knowledge. With knowledge, comes power. And that's enough for me.

While Harry was debating in his own mind, Lucius continued as if the eyebrow was raised for nothing: "If we can expand to other planets, there would be a lot of opened vacant seats, and the problem is partially solved."

Slytherin thoroughly agreed: Yes! We can send the young aspirants to far-away galaxies, or even other universes, so that they won't fight for power with us.

Although Harry knew Hermione would scream at him for this, he still felt a bit relieved upon the prospect that he could hold the power for a tad longer, and -

-In the name of Atlantis, the Malfoys are really good at serving their Lords.

I apologize for such a long time without an update. In the past year, I failed to win the H1-B lottery for the second time. For those who don't know, H1-B is a type of working visa to legally work in the US, and you have to enter a lottery in April to have a chance to get it. The chance of winning was ~30-50%. And since I failed twice and expired my OPT-allowed working period, I had to go back to China.

As a matter of fact, I am quite lucky to be from China, where there are quite some job opportunities where my knowledge and skills obtained during my PhD and postdoc years are highly valued, and my US-earned PhD would help me to move up the work-place ladder quicker. I know in a lot of parts of the world, not only there is practically no such position available, but also hard to survive for most people.