Chapter Six: Remembrance Day

Fabletown, New York, August 2011

"Happy Remembrance Day everyone!" Harry greeted as people came to the ballroom of the Woodland. The entrance hall to the building was extravagantly decorated and packed with people wearing their best. Many of whom were buying raffle tickets for a grand prize at Grimble's desk.

"Looking good Harry. How'd you get the suit?" Flycatcher asked as he came up to the well-dressed boy, while he himself still wearing his orange janitor outfit.

"Miss White insisted, though don't ask me how she afforded it." Harry replied. He was currently wearing an age appropriate suit, mostly black with some visible blue.

"I think you look great Harry." Jane said, coming up to her friend with Wendy not far behind. Jane was wearing a shoulderless but not sleeveless violet dress with a black sash around her waist, and Wendy wore a shoulderless and sleeveless sapphire blue dress with a red sash around her own waist, and a cut that displayed a modest amount of cleavage.

"I'm glad to see that MACUSA agreed to help with security here." Wendy noted, looking around. There were a couple of aurors mixed into the crowd, dressed for the occasion and practically indistinguishable from any other guest here. The only thing that came close to a giveaway was they were the only ones here who didn't share in the festive spirit, which was only something you'd notice if you were looking for it.

"You don't think that guy will make a repeat appearance here do you?" Harry asked, not sounded as certain as he wanted to.

"Not going to take that chance. Besides, we still have no proof that he's the only one here." Wendy told the young boy.

"Can't you use your powers to find out Wendy?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Sorry Harry, they don't work that way. We'd need Spoiler for that kind of power and no one wants him around."

"Hey Harry, is that Dumbledore guy going to be here?" Jane asked.

Harry nodded. "I think so, but he's not here yet. I'm just waiting for Grandpa to show up."

"I think he's waiting for Miss White to get ready." Coraline asked as she showed up. She wore a modest light blue sundress with thin vertical white stripes. Accompanying her was Violet from the Blue Grocer, wearing an orange dress, and a tall thin man with brown hair wearing a brown suit.

"Hey Violet, Augustus, if you're here who's managing the caterers?" Harry asked in a teasing matter.

"We're off the clock Harry, let whoever the bigshots hire do that job." Violet replied. "By the way, what exactly are they raffling off? I think the sign said 'win a kingdom' or something."

"Oh that? Well, from what I heard from Snow, Charming's selling his land because right now it's his only way to make any money. A raffle's just a way to make people think they're winning it rather than buying it."

Coraline just looked confused. "But it's back in the Homelands, and controlled by the Adversary. Who would want a kingdom they can't go to?"

"Like they say, the lottery is just a tax on stupid people my dear." Snow said as she came up. She was wearing an elegant dark blue dress with sleeves but no shoulders and a pearl necklace that looked more like a choker. "Hello everyone."

"Hello Miss White." Everyone greeted back. After all she was practically the one in charge of the entire community.

"So where's Bigby?" Snow asked, looking around.

"I thought he was with you." Harry answered. "I've been waiting for both of you here."

Snow rolled her eyes and sighed in exacerbation. "I just hope he knows what he's doing. We've already got trouble with Bluebeard thanks to all this, and Mayor Cole really appreciates his donations every year. The last thing we need is for Bluebeard to decide Fabletown's not worth it because of the situation with Jack."

They all went inside the ballroom, seeing the various Fables mingle and reminisce about old times, like when Fabletown was just starting out and how things had changed since then. The ballroom itself was rather fancy and much bigger than the building should have allowed inside it. In the center was a small mountain with trees and two waterfalls pouring into a pool. Three Greek gazebos were by the pool, where a band was playing soft music.

"This is different than last year." Violet said, looking around. "Didn't they have a big apple tree in the middle with some flowers at the base?"

"No that was 2009. Last year was the moving ice sculptures and the chocolate fountain." Augustus corrected.

Violet chuckled and patted his arm. "Leave it to you to remember a chocolate fountain."

"So you gentlemen and ladies are the best magic users of Fabletown aside from Miss Totenkinder?"

By one of the tables adorned with some of the offered food and beverages Dumbledore stood talking to three people. Said trio consisted of a young blonde girl who looked younger than Harry, a man who was dressed much like a mundy stage magician, and a beautiful black-haired woman in an old-fashioned dark green dress.

"Some may say otherwise, but yes the three of us are the most powerful magical Fables in town." The young girl answered. "My name is Ozma."

"I'm Abraham Kadabra. You can call me Abra or Kadabra." The man said, giving a bow like he was performing.

"And I'm Morgan le Faye." The woman added.

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "Wait, you're not..."

She nodded. "The Morgan le Faye."

"But… but that would make you..."

She nodded. "Yes, I am that old, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a fuss over it."

Dumbledore took a moment to clear his throat. "Pardon. Now I know it's improper to discuss business at parties, but would any of you be interested in having a job at Hogwarts this year?"

Ozma shook her head. "I doubt any students would take me seriously there."

Morgan put a hand on her chin. "I might be open to it, but wizards and me don't exactly have the best history if you know what I mean."

Kadabra smiled. "I would be willing. My son Arrab went to Hogwarts and I've been interested in seeing the school for myself."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. "Your son? But I thought that Lily Wolf was the only Fable who attended Hogwarts."

"My son was inspired by her to attend too. He started his first year in 2002 and graduated in 2009. Don't you recall a student named Arrab Kadabra?"

Dumbledore thought it over. "It does ring a bell, but right now that's all the familiarity I'm getting. It is hard to remember every student my school has, especially when I don't get to interact with all of them."

"So what's the job exactly?" Kadabra asked.

"Quiet, it's time." Ozma said, gesturing towards the back of the ballroom. Everyone turned to face that way.

By the band there was a podium surrounded by roses, to which a somewhat portly man with white hair and a beard wearing a black tux came up and tapped a microphone, silencing the band and getting everyone's attention. "Hello everyone and welcome to Remembrance Day at the Woodland. I'm sure I need no introduction."

He really didn't. He was Old King Cole, the long term mayor of Fabletown and quite the generous one. Despite the fact Fabletown was democratic no one had actually run against him in an election since he took office, so for the time being Cole was going to stay mayor indefinitely.

"We gather here today as friends and neighbors, but there was a time we would all be strangers to each other. Once we were all part of many countries and kingdoms, scattered over several worlds that were not this one. Some of us were kings, some were cobblers, some were witches or woodcarvers. We had our saints, our sinners, our social status climbers, but from the grandest lord to the hungriest peasant, the one thing we all were was strangers to each other. It took an invasion to unite us as a common people."

He paused for a bit, allowing the people in the room to recall that day in their lives when everything they knew came crashing down and nothing would ever be the same for them again. It had been devastating for them all, most all knowing at least one who did not escape like they had.

"Beyond the shores, in a land we paid no mind to, there was the one we all know as the Adversary. As we went about our lives, he massed his power, letting his ambitions grow with each day. Some of us would claim he is just a woodland sprite who went dark, some say he's a sorcerer who has been corrupted by the devil himself, some would even say he is the devil himself. But whoever the Adversary is, whatever his origin, we know now that he has become a thing of horror with an insatiable hunger, who conquered his own world, killing each king with a single sword, then turned his eyes on our homes."

Dumbledore blinked. 'So this Adversary is like a Voldemort who did win?'

"When the Emerald City of Oz fell to the Adversary's small army, most of us ignored it in favor of asking what were we going to have for dinner that day." Cole continued grimly. "We took no pleasure in the suffering of the innocents there, but we found the inhabitants odd and the land too far away. We saw no reason to intervene. Then Narnia suffered the same fate, with the great lion Aslan slain by the Adversary's soldiers. We again did nothing, most of us who knew the lion thought he was a little too holier-than-thou for his own good. Then Neverland was conquered, with no army to defend it except playful children and sour pirates. It stood no chance against a fleet of armed soldiers."

"All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing." Dumbledore whispered to himself, feeling the same inspiration he got when he decided to fight Voldemort the first time.

"One by one all our kingdoms fell under the Adversary's domain, creating an empire that spanned realms. We had thought he was only after a select few, but it soon became clear he wanted all of the Fable worlds. None of us were safe from his ambition, and by the time we realized that, it was too late to take action. He was just too powerful. Many of us didn't even have the chance to run away." Cole added.

'This man is sounding more and more like Voldemort. I hope Harry will see this and understand our plight now.' Dumbledore thought.

"But some of us did run away." Cole claimed. "We survived, we hid, living as outlaws and avoiding capture. Small groups banded together and over time we finally had a glimmer of hope. There was one world, and only one world, that the Adversary had no interest in conquering. That one world he would not go to was our sanctuary, if we could just get there. As you can see, we have."

This was where Cole started to smile. "Here, we have done more than survive. We have thrived. We have put aside past titles and grievances, united against a common enemy, and made covenant with each other. Be us predator or prey, prince or pauper, beauty or beast, we are a single community, allied in our undying memory of the homelands, and the unshakable hope that someday, somehow, we will be able to get our homes back from the one who drove us out of them."

He then held up a glass of clear wine as if to toast something. "So ladies and gentlemen, lift your glasses and join me in this toast." Others did just that. "To the Homelands."

"To the Homelands." Everyone in the room said, including Dumbledore.

'A magical community that doesn't divide itself based on heredity. Their lifestyle might be vastly different than ours, but my home could learn a lot from these people.' He thought.

Cole set down his glass. "Thank you everyone, now, let's get to what you all really came here for. To celebrate." He left the podium and the band resumed playing, with some couples starting to dance.

"Let's talk business later." Dumbledore said to Kadabra, who nodded and walked off. Dumbledore went off as well and saw Harry approaching a boy who was sitting on a velvet bench and sulking. "Hello Harry, good to see you. And who is your friend?"

"Hello Mr. Dumbledore. I didn't know you were already here. Hope you're enjoying yourself. And this is Pinocchio. You've heard of him right?"

"I believe I'm familiar with the story." The old wizard said, looking at the child. "You look unhappy my boy. Are you not enjoying yourself?"

"No, I'm not. I never have fun at these things." Pinocchio sulked. "I'm only here because sooner or later, that blue fairy will show her mug. Then I'll kick her ass."

"Language my boy."

Pinocchio looked at the senior wizard. "I've over a thousand years old gramps."

Dumbledore blinked. "You're older than me?" 'Wow, even Nicholas Flamel doesn't look this young for his age.'

"We Fables age very gracefully." Harry told the old man.

Pinocchio huffed. "Some of us don't age at all. I said I wanted to be a real boy, I never said I wanted to stay a boy. I'm over ten centuries old and I still haven't gone through puberty. I want to look old enough that I can drive, go to bars, and hook up with a girl. So excuse me for cussing."

"Boy, you sure are different than that Disney movie." Dumbledore remarked. Though he felt he had said something he shouldn't when the former puppet gave him a rather offended look.

"Ex-nay on the D word sir." Harry warned. "Some people here do not appreciate being compared to those movies."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Snow was still alone looking around, keeping her eye on Harry most of the time but also looking for Bigby. Until she saw someone approach her.

"Excuse me, are you Deputy-Mayor White?" He asked.

"I am. You are?" She replied, not recognizing him at all.

"My name is Rufus Range, and I work for the Ilvermorny School of Magic."

Snow perked and gave him a hand shake. "Oh hello, we've been expecting you. Odd that you came today of all days."

"Business got in the way, it happens as I'm sure you're aware of. Sadly that means today may be my only chance for… Harry Wolf was it?" He asked, and Snow nodded. "Right, thanks to the delay I can't really put off my recruitment pitch anymore. Not without cutting into his time to prepare for the school if he accepts."

Snow looked into the ballroom, seeing Harry chatting with a few others oblivious to her. "Not the best time, but if you're short on time I'm sure he'll spare some for you."

Rufus smiled. "Thank you. Would you mind sending him out here? It's a little too loud and crowded in there for me to do my job properly. And I'd rather not have to answer anyone else's questions. His are the only important ones in this situation."

Snow nodded. "That's understandable. I'll go get him for you. Make yourself comfortable." She started to turn away but stopped and looked back to him. "Oh, while we're on the matter, the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Magic is here too to offer Harry a chance to attend. Would you like to discuss anything with him?"

Rufus froze and looked like he was both surprised and scared to be told this. "Uhh… no, that will be unnecessary. Just Harry will do."

"Okay." Snow replied, sounding uncertain, then she went into the ballroom. A quick glance behind her let her see Rufus go outside, staying by the entry door to the Woodland but she couldn't get a good look anymore.

"Sorry to make you wait." Bigby said as he came up to her. Like Harry he was wearing a suit, in fact it almost looked like the two had shopped together. Given how Snow had arranged for both to get their suits that wasn't exactly inaccurate.

"There you are." She said when she saw him. "I was starting to think I'd been stood up."

"Would it matter? You always go to this thing stag anyway."

Snow looked annoyed but she still smiled. "Yeah but you have to set a good example for Harry, who by the way is much more of a gentlemen than you are." She motioned to the boy who was having a slow dance with Coraline at the moment.

"Hey, I'm the Big Bad Wolf, not the Socially Acceptable Wolf." He joked, then took the lovely woman into a dance.

"Well Mr. Wolf, I need you to look into something. There's a man here claiming to be from Ilvermorny wanting to speak to Harry. But which I mentioned that Dumbledore was here he looked like I held a gun to his face."

Bigby raised an eyebrow. "That's an unusual reaction. Think they have history?"

"I don't know how, but you don't act like that if you don't have a reason for it. Check the guy out, if he's clear then we can have him talk to Harry."

Bigby nodded. "Will do." He walked away and sure enough found the man at the door, looking a little fidgety. As a predator, Bigby compared him to a rabbit that knew a fox was nearby but wasn't sure where, wanting to bolt but not knowing where to bolt to. "Are you here for Harry Wolf?"

The man saw him and composed himself. "Yes, I'm Rufus Range from Ilvermorny. And you are?"

"Bigby Wolf, sheriff of Fabletown and legal guardian of Harry. He's occupied, as kids are at these things, but while you wait I'd like to ask you a few things."

Rufus nodded. "I understand. What would you like to know?"

"How was your own time as a student there?" Bigby asked, leading them away from the door more into the open. Rufus didn't mind, especially as a woman accompanied by a child were trying to enter the Woodland. They were going in a hurry, probably because they were clearly late to the party. Neither Bigby nor Rufus noticed that the child walking past them stared at them for a good chunk of time.

"Ah, you see I didn't attend Ilvermorny as a student. I was schooled elsewhere and came here for work."

"Oh, and what exactly do you do?" Bigby asked.

"I work as a cultural educator and adviser. It's my job to know about what other magical communities are like and inform the students about them. Their strengths, their differences, that sort of thing."

"Ah, so you must know about the Hogwarts school." Bigby noted.

Rufus nodded. "Yes, virtually everyone who works in magical education knows of Hogwarts. What about it?"

"Does it live up to it's reputation?"

"Well, as an educator, I believe it does a good job regarding teaching magic, but some subjects are virtually unnecessary for the real world. I do have my reservations about the headmaster and his choices over his career if I may be honest."

Bigby looked intrigued. "Do tell. We have some reservations about the headmaster as well."

Rufus relaxed more to hear that. "Well, am I correct in assuming you are aware of the scandal involving a dark lord back in Britain?"

"You mean with that Voldemort guy and the Death Eater terrorists?"

Rufus nodded. "What you may not know is that Mr. Dumbledore, despite his vocal stance against it all, in a way is responsible for the entire situation."

Bigby looked confused but interested. "Explain."

"As I understand it, Dumbledore years ago had been trying to force some changes onto the magical community of Britain. Changes they were not in favor of. Changes they were not ready to cope with. But Dumbledore tried to force them onto the people, tried to change so many aspects of their lifestyle virtually overnight. The Dark Lord in question was, in my opinion, the natural response of the people telling him to back off."

Bigby frowned. "You think someone starting genocidal extremism is a 'natural response'?"

Rufus nodded. "It is when you push for too much too soon onto people who essentially have everything to lose in the process. Tell me Fable, if MACUSA tried to take away everything that makes Fabletown be Fabletown and told you that all your privileges and freedoms were going to go to someone else, don't you think at least one Fable would have an extreme reaction?"

"I see. But still, Voldemort chose to do it. While Dumbledore should have known he'd be met with opposition, he is not responsible for how others express it."

"Did he tell you he tried fighting against the Death Eaters?" Rufus continued, and Bigby nodded. "He probably wants you to think that he led his own army and was active in the fight. Truth is, he and his followers barely did anything. Records show that the Death Eaters killed a lot of people, both magical and non-magical, but few were ever caught or killed in the crossfires. Not during the war itself. Dumbledore virtually never led anyone into actual battle, and from what I've been told, they acted purely defensively. Almost like they were trying to win without actually hurting the enemy."

"Considering what Snow told me, I find that plausible." Bigby admitted.

"So not only did Dumbledore provoke the Dark Lord into starting a war, he didn't do much to actually end it." Rufus added. "A one year old child did more to end the war than he did. Frankly if I were you, I wouldn't want to send anyone to Hogwarts as long as he's in charge."

"You make a good argument, but I would not be doing my job if I didn't check into the details. I'll keep this in mind, but for now I'll go get my grandson."

"Thank you sir." Rufus replied.

"Harry!"

At the moment the aforementioned boy was by himself, trying to remember where the nearest bathroom in the building was without having to go back up to his apartment. Hearing his name made him turn around, seeing another boy coming towards him. "Ah there you are Percy. Where have you been?"

"Harry, he's here."

Harry looked confused. "Who's here?"

"That man. The one that attacked us in the empty apartment. I just saw him. He's here."

Harry's eyes widened. "Where?"

"Outside talking to your grandpa, I saw him on my way in. I'm just lucky he didn't see me."

"You positive?" Harry asked.

Percy nodded. "I know it's him. What's he doing coming back here tonight of all nights? He couldn't possibly think he can attack you with so many witnesses around can he?"

"I can't imagine he'd be here for anything other than finishing the job, but for the life of me I'm not sure how he can. What should we do?" Harry replied.

"You get somewhere safe. Somewhere he can't find you. I'll find the others and alert the adults." Percy said in a not-quite commanding tone.

Harry nodded. "Thanks Perce, I owe you one." The two parted, with Harry heading towards the elevators and Percy into the ballroom.