章 353: HPF251-260
Chapter 251
As soon as his body stopped contorting,
Crouch snatched the straps holding the now
useless magical eye in place away and
reached for his wand while trying to stand
and failing. His hand had barely reached it
before matching stunners from Snape and
Flitwick hit him from either side causing the
man to collapse before he toppled from his
chair to the floor behind the table.
"Barty Crouch Junior," exclaimed a clearly
surprised Snape, as the Hall burst into
surprised chatter.
Harry walked forward as the staff appeared
to stand around, not knowing what to do.
"Well?" he prompted them. "I may only be a
student but, even to someone like me, I
would think the next thing to do would be to
call the aurors; yes?"
That got them moving.
"Mister Potter, perhaps you should..." began
Dumbledore before Harry rode over him in a
louder and clear voice.
"..Wonder how it is that someone you called
a friend for the past fifty years could be
impersonated by a Death Eater and you had
no idea? Well, I do!" With a snort he said,
"Polyjuice requires the person who you're
impersonating be somewhat handy for the
final ingredient for, and when, you need it.
Maybe you should think about sending
someone to the Dah-Dah offices and see if
the real Moody's there, somewhere, under
enchantments of some sort. That is, if you're
not too busy calling for the aurors."
Dumbledore scowled back and quickly left
the Hall, while Professors McGonagall and
Flitwick hurried off to, apparently, the DADA
offices.
Harry turned back to his smirking godfather
and father-in-law. He sighed and said in a
clear voice, "Is it just me, or is the staff here
utterly incapable of figuring things out
without being led by the hand to the
answer?"
Turning to the rest of the Hall, he called, "Oh,
I think it's now apparent to even a... bunch of
dunderheads... how it is my name came to
be ejected by the Goblet of Fire; aye?"
That had a few students look away in shame
while most others looked back in dawning
comprehension.
The real Alastor Moody was found locked
within his own trunk in the DADA Professor's
private quarters by Professors McGonagall
and Flitwick. He was taken to the Infirmary
where he was resting.
The aurors finally arrived after half an hour
and took away the stunned and bound Barty
Crouch Junior. Harry learned later that
another pair of aurors was sent to Saint
Mungo's, where they were tasked with
putting Crouch Senior in null-magic cuffs and
cuffing him to his own bed. He would be
taken into custody once he was well enough
to travel.
For everyone else, they spent the afternoon
talking back and forth about the task and the
'unveiling' of the so-called Professor Moody
as actually being a Death Eater long thought
dead.
About an hour before the start of the early
evening meal, Harry retired to their bedroom
and changed into the mixed muggle and
magical attire he'd be wearing for the task.
He'd be wearing a comfortable pair of firmly
laced, ankle protecting, high-top muggle
trainers in black; lightweight black combat
pants; a black long-sleeved t-shirt; and a
black over robe similar to auror robes that
allowed full freedom of movement. And,
finally, his invisibility cloak went in the left
back pocket of his pants in easy reach
through slits in the robes to allow such
access.
Because he'd need the absence of colour to
help him hide from the Death Eaters after
getting away from Riddle, matt black was the
only way to go.
"All looks good," muttered Hermione. "Now
try the skin tone colour charm."
He quickly used the temporary charm to
darken his skin to a dark brown, "Obscurant
cutem," before reversing it again with its
counter, "Redire cutem."
"Now the disillusionment charm," said
Daphne.
He gave the top of his head a tap with the tip
of his wand as he muttered the incantation,
"Lateo"; and felt the broken egg and water
drenching sensation that said he'd
successfully applied it before removing it
once more with the counter, "Appareo".
"And the cloak?" asked Hermione.
Harry checked. "In my back pocket and easy
to hand," he replied, tapping his back left
pocket.
"Good, that's three ways to disappear," said
Daphne. "Now for the portkeys."
Pointing to them, or otherwise indicating
them, he said, "My House ring is a
permanent portkey and portkeys me to
Potter Retreat. My wedding band is a portkey
to the entry hall of Greengrass Farm. My
'new' necklace is a portkey to the front gates
of Hogwarts. And the coins I have in my
pockets, one in each so they don't 'chink' as I
move, are each portkeys to the front gate.
And, I can always apparate out. "
"Apparate only as a last-ditch emergency
effort," said Daphne. "Your focus won't be
the best and you may splinch yourself."
Harry just gave a short nod in response.
"Broom?" asked Hermione.
"Shrunken already; and in my left thigh
pocket," he replied, tapping the pocket on
the combat pants.
"That's everything," said Hermione.
"Then let us rejoin our family," said Daphne.
On his left inner forearm under a heavy
glamour he had his wand holster for his
'secondary' custom wand; a wand he'd been
training to cast with, with his left hand. Also
strapped to his left forearm, but on the back
of the arm, was his knife in its holster with
the handle down, also disillusioned. There, it
would be in easy reach of his right hand to
pull if he needed it.
On his right forearm he had the holster for
the 'primary', ministry-sanctioned wand that
he'd been using almost exclusively; the
Ollivander holly and phoenix feather wand
that was the brother wand to Riddle's. Also
strapped to his right arm was the pig skin
blood pouch. It went from just under the
wand holster, all the way up to about the
middle of his bicep under the sleeve of his
t-shirt. It was also firmly attached to his arm
by elastic straps and sticking charm. And
Harry had been practicing casting while
wearing it for the past couple of days; since
the morning after they'd taken the blood
from Nott. Harry quickly found that the
blood pouch did not affect his casting any
noticeable difference.
Once the girls checked him over to make sure
everything that needed to be hidden -
whether under glamour or just within
clothing - was, they returned to the living
room to join the family.
"It's time," he sighed. "Shall we head down
to dinner?"
Chapter 252
Finally, the three and their families sat for
the final meal before the third task. Harry ate
very little. His godfather noticed.
"Harry," said Sirius. "You need to eat!"
"Sorry, Sirius," sighed Harry. "I've just got
this real bad feeling about tonight.
Something's wrong, and I can feel it in my
bones!"
"Your bones hurt?" asked a confused
godfather.
"No," said Harry shaking his head. "It's a
muggle expression. It implies you know
something for a fact when there is no
evidence to support it. Think of it as a very
strong gut feeling."
"And your guts are telling you something's
going to go wrong," said Sirius, now
understanding.
"Yeah, that's the crux of it," replied Harry,
grumbling.
Listening, Matthias said, "Madam Bones will
have her aurors all over the place, tonight. If
something happens, they'll be right there."
With a glance and a long look at his two
wives, Harry decided to eat a little rice with a
light stew. It wouldn't sit too heavily in his
stomach.
As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to
fade from blue to a dusky purple,
Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table,
and silence fell.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time,
I will be asking you to make your way down
to the Quidditch pitch and stands for the
third and final task of the Tri-wizard
Tournament. Will the champions... and
Mister Potter... please follow Mister Bagman
down to the stadium now."
Harry rose in place, quickly followed by his
family. They all wished him good luck while
he also received chaste kisses from his wives.
And he headed off out of the Great Hall with
Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.
"Feeling all right, Harry?" asked Bagman, as
they went down the stone steps onto the
grounds. "Confident?"
"I'm fine, Useless. Given the Weasley twins
their money, yet?" said Harry. It was sort of
true; he was nervous, but he kept running
over everything he needed to do before the
night was over.
Bagman turned away with a scowl and led
them outside. As soon as they stepped out
the doors they were flanked by four aurors,
who followed them down to the pitch.
They walked onto the Quidditch pitch, which
was now completely unrecognizable. A
twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way
around just inside the edge of it. There was a
gap right in front of them: the entrance to
the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked
dark and creepy.
Looking around, Harry spotted no less than a
half dozen aurors spaced out across their
side of the maze. He suspected there were a
great many more where he couldn't see
them.
Five minutes later, the stands had begun to
fill. The air was full of excited voices and the
rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students,
family members and other guests filed into
their seats. The sky was a deep, clear indigo
now, and the first stars were starting to
appear. Hagrid, Professor McGonagall,
Professor Sinistra and Professor Flitwick
came walking into the stadium and
approached Bagman and the champions.
They were wearing large, red, luminous stars
on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his
on the back of his moleskin vest.
"We are going to be patrolling the outside of
the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the
four competitors. "If you get into difficulty,
and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into
the air, and one of us or one of the aurors
will come and get you, do you understand?"
The four nodded.
"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to
the four staff patrollers. The aurors were
already in place.
"Good luck, 'Arry," whispered Hagrid, as the
four of them walked away in different
directions, to station themselves around the
maze.
Bagman, pointing his wand at his throat,
muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically
magnified voice echoed into the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final
task of the Tri-wizard Tournament is about
to begin!"
As the cheers of the audience died down
again, he continued, "Let me remind you
how the points currently stand! In first place,
with eighty-eight points, is Mister Harry
Potter of Hogwarts!" The cheers and
applause sent birds from the Forbidden
Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In
second place, with eighty points, is Mister
Viktor Krum of Durmstrang!" More applause.
"And tied in third place, with seventy-eight
points each is Mister Cedric Diggory of
Hogwarts! And, Miss Fleur Delacour of
Beauxbatons!" More, but louder applause
than for Victor.
Harry could just make out his family halfway
up the stands. He waved up at them, and
they waved back, beaming at him; though,
both wives were justifiably nervous.
"So... on my whistle, Harry!" said Bagman.
"Three... two... one!" He gave a short blast
on his whistle, and Harry ran into the maze.
Knowing what to expect and when, plus with
using a 'Point Me' charm on his 'known'
wand, Harry made it to the Cup a lot quicker
than he did in the previous timeline. He
hoped it was also so fast that Pettigrew
wouldn't be ready for him.
With his wand in his hand as he blasted an
acromantula away into soggy pieces, Harry
looked about and took a couple of deep,
calming breaths.
"Alright," he muttered. "Here we go!" With
his holly wand in his right hand he grabbed
the Cup handle with his left.
Harry felt his feet slam into the ground and
he immediately fell forward, letting go of the
Cup in the process. He quickly raised his head
and looked around. 'Yup, the cemetery,' he
thought. 'Now I have to allow myself to be
captured by the rat.'
Squinting tensely through the darkness, he
watched the rat draw nearer, walking
steadily toward him between the graves.
Pettigrew was wearing his cowled cloak and
had 'Voldebaby' in his arms.
As with last time, Pettigrew stopped beside a
towering marble headstone, only six feet
from him, for a moment. Then Pettigrew
placed Voldebaby on the ground between his
feet before he suddenly launched a stunner
at Harry. Harry made as if to block it and dive
out of the way, but allowed it to hit him.
When he came to, he was bound to the
Riddle Senior headstone, and Pettigrew was
in his face.
"You!" gasped Harry.
But Pettigrew, who had finished conjuring
ropes to bind him in place, did not reply; he
was busy checking the tightness of the cords,
his fingers trembling uncontrollably,
rumbling over the knots.
As with the previous timeline, once sure
Harry was bound so tightly to the headstone
he couldn't move an inch, Pettigrew drew a
length of some black material from the inside
of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's
mouth. Then, without a word, he turned
from Harry and hurried away.
Chapter 253
Harry couldn't make more than a muffled
sound, nor could he see where Pettigrew had
gone. He couldn't turn his head to see
beyond the headstone; he could see only
what was right in front of him. His holly
wand was on the ground near the Cup. And
the bundle of robes that Harry knew was
Voldebaby was close by, at the foot of the
grave. Voldebaby seemed to be stirring as
fretful as the previous timeline.
Hearing noises at his feet, he looked down
and saw Nagini slithering through the grass,
circling the headstone where he was tied.
'Don't go away, little snaky,' he thought.
Pettigrew's fast, wheezy breathing was
growing louder again. He was now pushing
the stone cauldron to the foot of the grave,
already full of what seemed to be water, but
was actually a very difficult to brew potion.
With his wand - or possibly Riddle's - he lit a
fire under the cauldron as Nagini slithered
away into the darkness.
With magic, the liquid in the cauldron heated
very fast. The surface began not only to
bubble, but to send out fiery sparks. Steam
was thickening, blurring the outline of
Pettigrew tending the fire and cauldron.
Harry quickly glanced at the pile of robes
that was Voldebaby and saw the mini
homonculus, or whatever it was, couldn't see
him. Using the steam that was blocking
Pettigrew's vision, Harry quickly checked
himself over by slightly moving his arms to
see if the rest of his things were still with him.
As far as he could tell, they were.
The movements beneath the robes became
more agitated. And Harry heard the high,
cold voice again. "Hurry!"
Taking another look at the potion within the
cauldron, Pettigrew called, "It is ready,
Master."
"Now..." said the cold voice.
Walking over, Pettigrew pulled open the
robes on the ground, revealing Voldebaby in
all his horrid glory.
Voldebaby had the shape of a crouched
human child, except that Harry had never
seen anything less like a child, either this
time or last. It was hairless and scaly-looking;
a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs
were thin and feeble, and its face was flat
and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.
Voldebaby raised his thin arms, put them
around Pettigrew's neck, and allowed
Pettigrew to lift him. Harry saw the look of
revulsion on Pettigrew's weak, pale face in
the firelight as he carried the creature to the
rim of the cauldron. For one moment, Harry
saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the
sparks dancing on the surface of the potion
before Pettigrew lowered the creature in;
there was a hiss, and it vanished below the
surface.
Last time, Harry thought he'd heard a thud as
the small body hit the bottom of the
cauldron. But, he now realised there was no
such sound.
Pettigrew began his ritual chant. His voice
shook, frightened beyond his wits. He raised
his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke. "Bone
of the father, unknowingly given, you will
renew your son!"
The surface of the grave at Harry's feet
cracked. Trying to hide his smirk, Harry
watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the
air at Pettigrew's command and fell softly
into the cauldron. The diamond surface of
the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in
all directions and turned a vivid, aqua blue.
The colour was different than the first time
they went through this.
'Yes!' thought Harry. 'This is going to work!'
And now Pettigrew was whimpering. He
pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from
inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified
sobs. He did not know that the colour of the
potion was wrong.
"Flesh... of the servant... w-willingly given...
you will... revive... your master." He
stretched his right hand out in front of him -
the hand with the missing finger.
Knowing what was coming, Harry shut his
eyes for the next few moments. But he could
not block the scream that pierced the night.
He heard Pettigrew's hand land with a soft
thud on the ground, and heard the rat's
anguished panting; then the sickening splash,
as it was picked up and dropped into the
cauldron.
Opening his eyes again, Harry looked to the
potion. Instead of the burning red, this time,
the potion was more a fiery orange.
'Now comes the important part,' thought
Harry. 'Does he realise he's been tricked by
seeing the blood pouch for what it really is?'
Pettigrew was gasping and moaning with
agony as he walked to Harry. "B-blood of the
enemy... forcibly taken... you will... resurrect
your foe."
Harry could do nothing to prevent it, but
didn't want to, anyway. He saw the shining
silver dagger shaking in Pettigrew's
remaining hand, felt its point penetrate the
blood pouch in the crook of his right arm,
and watched the blood seeping down the
sleeve of his torn robes. Pettigrew, still
panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for
a glass vial and held it to what he thought
was Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell
into it.
He staggered back to the cauldron with the
blood and poured it inside. The liquid within
turned, instantly, a cloudy, murky grey. It was
not the brilliant white of before, the previous
timeline.
Pettigrew, his job done, dropped to his knees
beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways
and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding
stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.
Harry was suddenly shocked to feel someone
come up behind him and remove the
invisibility cloak from his backpocket.
'Who was this?' he thought. 'This
shouldn't...' But then her scent reached his
nostrils. 'Hermione!' he nearly gasped aloud.
And would have done precisely that if not for
the cloth in his mouth. That was ripped away
a moment later.
With it gone he sucked in a lungful of air.
"Get out of here!" he furiously whispered.
"Nagini's around here!"
"Nagini's being hunted by Daphne,"
whispered Hermione. "Now hold on while I
cut the bottom of the ropes. You'll still
appear tied, but you won't be."
Suddenly, a surge of grey steam billowed
thickly from the cauldron, obliterating
everything in front of Harry, so that he
couldn't see anything but vapour hanging in
the air.
Harry felt the ropes around his torso be cut
free. Then the underside of the ropes on his
arms were each cut, one after the other in
quick succession.
Through the mist in front of him, he saw the
dark outline of a weak looking man, tall and
skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the
cauldron, before he took a staggering step
over the rim, almost tripping over Pettigrew.
"We've gotta go," whispered Hermione.
"Nagini's been dealt with."
Chapter 254
"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from
behind the steam. And Pettigrew, sobbing
and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm,
scrambled on his knees to pick up the black
robes from the ground. He got to his feet,
reached up, and pulled them one-handed
over his master's head.
The thin man stepped away from the
cauldron, before turning to stare at Harry.
And Harry stared back into the
wide, dulled scarlet eyes and flat nose of Tom
Marvolo Riddle, self-styled Dark Lord
Voldemort.
'Alright,' thought Harry. 'Now I've just got to
smack Riddle about a bit and get out of
here.'
Riddle looked away from Harry and began
examining his own body. His hands were long
and thin, his fingers gnarled. He caressed his
own chest, his arms, and his face. The red
eyes, whose pupils were not quite the slits of
the previous timeline, appeared dull. He held
up his hands and flexed the fingers, his
expression confused and worried.
He took not the slightest notice of Pettigrew,
who laid twitching and bleeding on the
ground, or of his now missing snake. Riddle
slipped one of those unnaturally
long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and
drew out a wand. He caressed it gently, and
then he raised it, pointing it at Pettigrew.
Riddle frowned and appeared to struggle as
he levitated the rat off the ground and flung
him at the side of the tombstone to which
Harry was supposedly tied. He turned his
worried scarlet eyes upon Harry, before
laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.
Pettigrew's robes were shining with blood
now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm
in them.
"My Lord..." he choked, "My Lord... you
promised... you did promise..."
"Hold out your arm," said Riddle lazily.
"Oh Master... thank you, Master..." He
extended the bleeding stump, but Riddle
laughed again.
"The other arm, Wormtail."
"Master, please... please..."
Riddle bent down and pulled out Pettigrew's
left arm; he forced the sleeve of the rat's
robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw the
Dark Mark. Riddle examined it carefully,
ignoring Pettigrew's uncontrollable weeping.
"It's back," he said softly, looking down at it.
"They will all have noticed it... and now, we
shall see... now, we shall know..."
He pressed his long white gnarled forefinger
to the brand on Pettigrew's arm. Pettigrew
let out a fresh howl-like scream.
After a long moment Riddle removed his
finger from Pettigrew's mark, and Harry saw
that it had turned jet black.
A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Riddle
straightened up, threw back his head, and
stared around at the dark graveyard. In doing
so, he turned his back on Harry.
"How many will be brave enough to return
when they feel it?" whispered Riddle, his red
eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many
will be foolish enough..."
Harry took the opportunity presented to him.
He didn't want Riddle to know he still
couldn't touch him. At least, not yet.
Popping his second wand into his left hand,
he shook himself free of the remnants of his
bindings and swept his arm forward. With a
barely whispered, "Reducto," he fired a
Reductor curse at Riddle's back, impacting
him between the shoulder blades and
sending the man flying forward across the
ground. He immediately used the wand in his
left hand to summon his holly wand from
near the Cup.
As soon as he snagged his holly wand with
his right hand he used the left to fire a
stunner down at Pettigrew, making sure the
rat stayed out of the fight.
However, he wasn't as fast as he needed to
be. Riddle, though he ended up sprawled
across the ground, was quick to spin about
and fire a killing curse back at Harry. Harry
was able to evade it by stepping out of the
way. The curse shattered the tombstone to
which he was recently bound.
Harry fired a string of Reductor curses back
at Riddle, but only with the intent to get the
man to avoid them while he dropped one of
his emergency portkeys, a coin, onto the
stunned Pettigrew; and hit it with a sticking
charm. He wasn't out to activate it yet. He
actually wanted to take Pettigrew back with
him using the Cup. That way, they'd end up
on the stage for the presentation, in full view
of everyone. But, did he have time?
Apparently not.
The air was suddenly full of swishing cloaks.
Between graves, behind the yew tree, in
every shadowy space, wizards were
apparating in within black smoke. All of them
were hooded and masked. The Death Eaters
had begun to arrive; but, they were still a
short distance off yet.
Harry quickly cast a last few casts as Riddle
tried to climb to his feet. His first was a
Blasting curse to fire stones and rocks into
Riddle from the ground between them
followed by a Banishing charm chased with a
more direct Blasting curse. Harry called out
the activation phrase for the portkey on
Pettigrew, "Out! Out! Out!"
As soon as he saw Pettigrew disappear in a
swirl, Harry went on the attack. He used a
couple of the combat spell chains he and the
girls had developed to keep Riddle hopping
and defending.
When he saw the first masked Death Eater
step closer, raising his own wand as he came,
Harry nailed him with a Reductor curse to
the head. Whoever it was wasn't expecting it,
and shot backwards, head first, to lay
unmoving upon the ground. Harry noticed
the cane that was in the Death Eater's hand
at the last moment. However, the slight
'pause' of Harry's attack on Riddle to attack
the Death Eater, which was probably Malfoy
senior, gave Riddle the opportunity to begin
to attack back, even as he was backing away.
Riddle cast yet another killing curse at Harry,
and practically grunted from the effort. A
quick summon of the cauldron from close
nearby intercepted the curse, making a loud
'gong' sound as the curse struck. And Harry
then immediately banished the cauldron
straight at Riddle before following it up with
a string of piercing, reductor and the two
blasting curses, Deprimo and Confringo.
Riddle was able to banish the cauldron away
but was only fast enough to bat away the
piercing curse and reductor.
The Deprimo blew him off his feet and again
launched him backwards; while the second
blasting curse, the Confringo, just missed,
passing over him, as he was launched
backwards.
With Riddle out of the way for a moment,
Harry launched a similar string at another
Death Eater, clearly killing who ever it was,
before hurrying forward. Realising his time
was up, he immediately activated his own
portkey before he'd have to defend again.
"Sayōnara!" he commanded, and was gone in
the swirl of the portkey. He simply did not
have time to summon and grab the Cup, as
planned.
Chapter 255
Harry appeared right alongside where the
first Portkey took Pettigrew, right outside the
gates of Hogwarts.
After a quick check of his surroundings, he
popped his 'unoffricial' wand back into it's
holster before reaching into his pocket and
pulling out his shrunken Nimbus 2000; and
dispelling the Shrinking charm placed on it.
Hopping on he levitated Pettigrew up and
over the broom handle so he was draped
over it and flew in through the open gates,
making a bee-line for the stage.
A few seconds later he swooped in onto the
stage to the shock of everyone, and dumped
Pettigrew off the broom.
The stands went quiet as everyone was
shocked to see him ride in on a broom. The
organisers, who were waiting, expected him
to arrive with the flash of a portkey and
deposit him directly on the stage.
Casting a Sonorus Charm on himself, he
bellowed, "Aurors! I need aurors
here, NOW!"
Just off the stage but quickly mounting it,
was Madam Bones.
"Mister Potter? What's going on?" she asked.
Harry flipped Pettigrew's robes out of the
way and said, "That's Peter Pettigrew! That's
the man who betrayed my parents and is a
Death Eater." The Sonorous Charm was still
active.
He immediately yanked up the sleeve on
Pettigrew's arm and displayed the now very
active Dark Mark he bore to the entire
audience.
"And, Riddle's back! Voldemort's back!" he
cried out. "Pettigrew employed a dark ritual
that has resurrected Tom Riddle! He's back!"
That got people running about crying out and
screaming.
"No!" cried Fudge, coming forward bracketed
by dementors. "It's not true! It can't be!" The
two dementors began to surge forward.
There was no way Harry was going to allow
Pettigrew to be kissed, just yet. He wanted
the man dosed with Veritaserum to prove his
claims.
Harry dropped his holly wand back into his
hand and, with a bellow of "Expecto
Patronum!" launched his patronus stag
directly at both dementors.
Fudge immediately dropped to the ground as
the patronus headed right for him, and the
stag viciously rammed one dementor before
doing the same to the second. Both
immediately took off, flying away for their
very 'un'lives.
Harry stormed over to Fudge and yelled, "You
fucking wanker!" And kicked him in the side
where he was curled up on the floor of the
stage. "How dare you bring those monsters
into a school full of children, who're unable
to defend themselves from them! Are you
fucking insane?!"
He tried for a second kick before an auror
grabbed him and pulled him away.
"What sort of an idiot are you, Fudge?" Harry
continued to yell at the man. "Someone get
this incompetent piece of shit out of here
before I fucking kill him for being so
fucking stupid!"
As the auror stepped between Harry and
Fudge to make sure Harry wasn't going to
attack the man again, Harry turned to the
audience and bellowed. "Through
a foul piece of ritual magic, this man..." he
said pointing his finger at Pettigrew, who was
now being tended by Madam Pomfrey for
the stump of his wrist.
"This traitor... resurrected Tom Riddle, the
one you people called You-Know-Who, at the
graveyard of his father in the cemetery at
Little Hangleton less than twenty minutes
ago!"
Inside, Harry was smirking as he saw Skeeter
and another - at first thought another
journalist, but proving to be her pet
photographer - come charging over. The man
with Skeeter immediately snapped a wide
area photograph before he tried to move in
closer for a second shot.
"Mister Potter!" called Skeeter. "Is it true? Is
V-Vol... Riddle really back?"
'Thank you,' thought Harry. With his wand
still in his hand he brought it across his chest
and, in a loud and clear voice, said, "I, Harry
James Potter, swear on my magic and my life
that I witnessed this very night the successful
resurrection of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the
self-styled Lord Voldemort, in the graveyard
at Little Hangleton! As I say, so I swear!"
In the late night gloom, Harry's flash of the
oath being taken was apparent to everyone.
He then fired off his huge shower of
sparklers.
"Next question, Miss Skeeter?" he called
back.
"Not at this time," she said, her face clearly
displaying her fright. "I expect an interview
over the coming days, though."
"And you shall have it!" replied Harry.
Skeeter then grabbed the robes of her
photographer - Bozo or something, Harry still
hadn't found out - and ran for the gates. She
had a front page story to write and get
published by the next morning.
"And there you have it, Madam Director
Bones," said Harry. "I was able to hurt him,
tonight. But, when the Death Eaters began
showing up, I had to get the Hell out of there.
I was able to snag Pettigrew but I activated
one of my emergency portkeys to take me to
the front gates here before I was overcome."
Harry was sitting with his two wives in the
Great Hall at the Hufflepuff table. Besides
Dumbledore and Madam Bones, they were
joined by Sirius, the Greengrasses, Remus,
Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape,
Headmistress Maxime, and a small group of
aurors. It had already been reported by a
Professor from off the Durmstrang ship that
Karkaroff had disappeared. It was believed
he had fled.
"Oh, and the Cup will probably be at the
graveyard, still," he continued. "I have a
feeling, though, that whoever placed the
auto-portkey on it, probably layered it over
the top of the Headmaster's existing one.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked through
the wards of the school.
"That is correct, Mister Potter," said the
Headmaster. "Well deduced. The portkey was
supposed to take whoever reached the Cup
first directly to the presentation stage. Either
someone was able to redirect the settings I
had placed upon it, or placed a second one
atop the one I placed there a couple of days
ago.
"Who placed the Cup within the maze?"
asked Bones.
"That would be Bartemius Crouch Junior,"
replied Dumbledore. "But, to be fair, I did not
know it was he at the time. I had asked who I
thought was Alastor Moody to place the Cup
within the maze. And young Bartemius was
not unmasked until during lunch, today."
Immediately after his big scene on the stage,
Madam Bones directed her aurors to take
Pettigrew up to the Infirmary with Madam
Pomfrey. Of course, the first thing they did
was search him; and ended up taking off him
his wand and two portkeys. Harry, quickly
joined by his wives and family, was then
firmly asked to accompany them. The
Minister was also firmly told through
a suggestion, that he also accompany them.
The two aurors that took the place of the
dementors made it obvious to the man not
to disagree.
Chapter 256
Using his wives and family as shields Harry
managed to dump the blood pouch in the
dark and vanished it. Then he used his own
knife to make a small incision in his elbow
before applying a poorly cast healing spell.
He also asked and received affirmatives if
both ladies were invisible during their whole
time in the graveyard. They were.
Once in the Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey
sealed Pettigrew's stump and, on waking him,
gave him a couple of blood replenisher
potions. Once it was apparent Pettigrew was
no longer in any danger, Madam Bones
accepted a vial of Veritaserum off Professor
Snape and administered the regulated three
drops to the man's tongue.
By the time the questioning finished, even
the Minister could no longer doubt that
Riddle had been resurrected that night. Or, as
it was now morning, the previous night. The
soon-to-be ex-Minister was white, sweating
and shivering in fear.
He also kept muttering to himself that it was
simply not possible; that 'Lord Thingy', as he
called him, could be back.
When Harry finally wound up his tale, he
looked at his watch and noticed it was
already after 3:00am. "Do you folks know
how late it is?" he asked.
"Thank you, Mister Potter, we do," replied
Madam Bones.
"Well, I've just had a pretty trying day, thank
you very much," he snarked from being so
tired. "I've just competed in the third task of
the stupidity known as the Tri-Wizard
Tournament, I was kidnapped and
transported to a graveyard where I was
assaulted and bound to a grave marker, I had
my blood taken via having a knife jabbed into
my elbow for a dark ritual that resurrected
Riddle, fought the man in a one-on-one
duel... during which I managed to tag
Pettigrew with a portkey and, I think, blew
away two of the Death Eaters that showed
up... and then managed to get enough time
to activate my second portkey and bring us
both back to the school.
"You'll forgive me for being tired and irritable,
I'm sure. But, I want to go to bed and cuddle
my wives. If Riddle isn't found and dealt with
very quickly you're about to find yourselves
in part two of the war you had a decade and
a half ago, and you've got
nowhere near enough people on your side to
fight it for you. Now I've, again, got a
murderous dark wizard who's not going to
stop coming after me, personally, until one of
us is dead."
"Thank you, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I
think you should take yourself and your
wives and go to bed. We'll talk more in the
morning."
"In our presence," said Sirius, looking to
protect his godson and his wives.
Not wiling to argue, Dumbledore nodded and
said, "Understood."
"Madam Bones?" asked Harry, ignoring the
Headmaster and looking at the stern Head of
the DMLE. "As this is not the Headmaster's
investigation - but yours - is tomorrow
afternoon after lunch alright with you? I
don't think I'm going to be waking up any
time before lunch, at the earliest."
"I don't blame you, Mister Potter; and I think
I'd like to sleep in as well," said Madam
Bones, a small smile flitting across her face at
how Harry ignored the old man. "I'll see you
after lunch. However, before you leave, may I
have the memory of the encounter?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he sighed. "May I have a
memory phial, please?"
One of the aurors drew one from within his
robes and stepped forward with it. As
Hermione held it open for him, Harry used
his holly wand to draw the memory out and
dropped it within. The memory ran from him
snagging the cup to him portkeying away
from the graveyard. He breathed a sigh of
relief that his wives' presence would not be
picked up by the memory.
The auror took the now capped phial off
Hermione and handed it to Madam Bones,
who immediately tucked it into her little case
she carried on her person for just such phials.
After bidding family and friends goodnight,
the three headed up to their apartment to
get some much needed sleep.
Walking into the apartment, the girls just
hustled Harry directly to the bedroom and
ordered him to bed. Harry didn't have the
energy to complain about being ordered
about like a child.
As soon as they had him stripped off and in
bed, both girls also stripped and climbed in
after him. Tonight, this morning, was just
cuddling. Tomorrow they had to start with
the next stage of ridding the world of Riddle,
for good.
Very late the next morning, the three finally
rose when Dobby popped in to inform them
they had visitors.
"Who is it?" asked Hermione.
"It's Master Harry's doggyfather and Mistress
Daff-knee's parents," replied Dobby.
"Let them in to the apartment and let them
know we'll be out as soon as we shower and
dress," said Daphne.
"They already is," replied the elf.
"Thank you, Dobby," she said. "Make sure
they have drinks and such, would you?"
"Yes, Mistress," replied the elf before
popping away again.
Hermione was already climbing out of bed
and said, "Come on; up!"
With a groan, Harry climbed out of the bed
after her while Daphne rose from the other
side. And the three walked into the
bathroom, together.
Not needing to worry about make-up, or
anything, Harry was first out of the bathroom
and dressed. Not waiting for the girls he
walked out into the living room, closing the
door to the bedroom behind him.
"Good morning, Harry," said a grinning Sirius.
"What time is it?" he asked. He saw that
Dobby had organised a six-seating dining
table and had just loaded it with brunch
foods.
"It's a few minutes before noon," said Deece,
walking over and giving him a hug.
"Ugh!" muttered Harry. "I feel like I only
went to bed about ten minutes ago."
"Well, as you said last night - or earlier this
morning - you had a pretty full day yesterday,
and you were up for about twenty-one hours
straight," said Matthias, walking over and
sitting at the table. "Plus, with everything
you went through, it's not a surprise you feel
you needed to sleep longer."
Taking his own seat at the table, Harry began
to build himself a late breakfast cum early
lunch. It wasn't until he began to smell all the
food laid out that he realised just how
hungry he'd become.
"We haven't seen the memory, ourselves,
yet," said Matthias. "But, did you get the
snake?"
With a snort, Harry replied, "The girls ran
their own plan alongside my own; in
secret and against my wishes. They went to
the graveyard and hid under disillusionment
charms. As soon as Riddle popped up out of
the cauldron, Daphne… I think it was… killed
the snake. And Hermione cut the ropes that
bound me to the grave marker.
"That meant I was free earlier than when
Pettigrew was going to cut me free. It meant
I didn't have to suffer the
two Cruciatus curses from Riddle in the
process. And, it also meant Riddle doesn't
know it wasn't my blood used in the ritual or
that I'm still protected from his touch.
"But, most importantly, Riddle is now mortal
again. No more horcruxes. When he dies,
he's dead for good."
While he was talking, the girls walked in.
"It also means he's not aware of the 'brother
wands' effect, yet. And he's not yet fully
cognizant of just how weak we made him by
switching out the ingredients," said
Hermione as both girls walked to the table to
partake of their own late breakfasts.
"Neither are we," replied Harry. "I know he's
much weaker than he would have otherwise
been. I saw that when he levitated Pettigrew
and threw him into the side of the grave
marker I was tied to. But, we don't yet know
just how weak."
"You two girls went there?" asked Matthias.
The man was clearly a little upset about that.
"We did," said Daphne, staring back at her
father. "We were completely safe and we had
all our emergency portkeys on ourselves.
Both of us were disillusioned and Harry only
knew we were there because Hermione cut
his binding ropes and told him we were
there."
"Still, you placed yourselves in danger," said
Deece.
"With Riddle back, we're all in danger,"
retorted Daphne. "And, this way, we've also
protected some knowledge from him; which
may be very useful later. That Harry is still
protected from him, and he's unaware of the
brother wand effect, are just two of those
little facts he's now oblivious of this time
around."
"They might be only little facts," said
Hermione. "But they may very well prove
very telling before this is all finished."
Chapter 257
The collected family was only grazing
through the brunch dishes while sitting at
the table an hour later when there was a
knock on the door.
Getting up and opening it, Harry met Madam
Bones and two other aurors waiting. "Mister
Potter," she smiled.
"Madam Bones," said Harry. "Please, come
in."
She walked in to see the whole family, less
the Grangers, sitting at table. "I hope I
haven't interrupted your meal?"
"No, Ma'am," he replied. "We'd finished; but,
we just kept talking."
"Dobby," called Daphne.
The little elf popped in. "Mistress?" he asked.
"You can clear the table; thank you, Dobby,"
she instructed him. "But, please reset the tea
service for us. Oh, and add coffee to the
service too, please."
"Yes, Mistress," he replied. With a snap of his
fingers the now messy table was cleared
away and replaced with a new tea service
and a carafe of coffee with mugs.
The others moved away from the table for a
few moments and stretched it to
accommodate three more chairs; adding the
three chairs as they went.
"Please," gestured Hermione to Madam
Bones. "Join us."
With a sigh, Madam Bones took a seat as the
others all sat down again. However, the two
aurors took up station along the wall either
side of the door instead of sitting down.
After she fixed herself a cup of coffee,
Madam Bones began, "Well, to bring you up
to date with what's been happening since
last night... this morning." She hesitated a
moment and said, "The Minister is like an
ostrich with his head stuck in the sand. He
refuses to believe Riddle is back. Even after I
displayed Mister Potter's memory of the
event, he's still in denial."
"If he doesn't change his tune by tonight, I'll
use the Potter alliance to force the Chief
Warlock to call an emergency session of the
Wizengamot, and toss the fool out on his
ear," said Harry. "There's too much that
needs to be done, quickly, before Riddle is
able to rebuild his forces."
"Agreed," she said, taking a sip from her
coffee. "I demanded of him emergency
funding to boost the auror forces. He denied
me. And my forces are too small to fight a
war."
With a sigh, Harry asked, "Alright. He
self-performs a rectal-cranioectomy or he's
gone. What else has been happening?"
While Madam Bones almost spit the
mouthful of coffee she'd just supped out of
her mouth in shock at Harry's remark, Sirius
barked with laughter while the Greengrasses
and his wives snickered or chuckled.
"There are things I cannot tell you, at the
moment," she replied. "However, I can tell
you I sent my aurors to the Little Hangleton
graveyard, this morning, and they found
evidence of the ritual performed. They also
found the Tri-Wizard Cup, and I've had that
brought in for you. It's yours, seeing as you
were the first to it, last night. You won. Plus,
I've got your one thousand Galleons prize
money."
She reached into her robes and dropped a
Gringotts money pouch on the table in front
of Harry. "I know it's nothing compared to
the Potter fortune, but you did win it. The
Minister was supposed to give it to you, last
night, on the stage. However, when you
launched your patronus at his two dementor
guards, driving them away, and then
screamed and kicked the man, he obviously
forgot about it."
"Huh!" snorted Harry. "He's damned lucky he
curled up the way he did. What I really
wanted to do was kick him hard enough up
between his legs to give him a pair of
testicle-shaped earrings."
That earned him another few snickers while
Hermione just reached out and slapped him
on the arm. That she was blushing so much
was probably the only reason she didn't
berate him for it. Or, it might have been
Daphne's 'lessons' were beginning to sink in.
"The man brought dementors into a school
with defenceless children," growled Harry.
"He deserves far worse than what I did to
him."
"Well, you got a lot of people thinking about
what you said... or, rather, screamed at him,"
smiled Madam Bones. "A lot of people
happen to agree with you. As such, I don't
think you need to worry about whether or
not you need to assemble the Potter alliance
to get rid of him. I think that's now going to
happen, anyway. It's more a matter of 'when',
rather than 'if'."
"Then the man has a choice, doesn't he?"
asked Harry. "Grow a bloody backbone or get
shoved out of the way."
Thinking a bit, he asked, "I know I hit a
couple of arriving Death Eaters, last night,"
he said. "I think I may have also killed at least
one of them; possibly two. Were there any
bodies left behind?"
Taking a sip of her coffee, Madam Bones
shook her head. "No. But they might have
been removed before my aurors arrived."
Hermione glanced at her watch and said,
"We'd better go visit the Headmaster or he's
going to come looking for us. And I, for one,
do not want to allow him access in here
again."
"Oh?" asked Madam Bones. "And why is
that?"
"He placed monitoring charms in here and in
our bedrooms," she replied. "He used a
listening charm affixed to the wall of the
alcove outside to find out what the password
was, and used it while we were away for the
Christmas break to get in here to place
them."
"How did you find out about them? And how
do you know it was him?" asked the Head of
the DMLE, all business.
"Well, he clearly instructed Professor
Whittaker, our door guardian, not to tell
anyone he had come in," explained
Hermione. "However, he did not instruct the
Professor not to tell us who hadn't been in.
Then it was just a matter of excluding the
likely suspects and confirming by asking if
the Headmaster had not been in."
Madam Bones gave a very unladylike snort.
"Once inside, we then scanned the room and
found a number of listening charms," said
Daphne. "Instead of just removing them,
with the help of the Weasley twins we then
set up things to drive the Headmaster to
utter distraction with what he heard."
"Oh?" asked Bones.
"The one in the alcove was overlaid with a
charm to switch everything it heard with
swear words," replied Hermione. "The one in
here on the coffee table was overlaid with a
charm to switch everything it heard with the
appearance that, whoever was in here at the
time, was plotting the murder of various
members of staff."
As various adults began to scoff and snicker,
Hermione continued, "The one in my room
was overlaid with the sound of me singing a
very annoying ditty called 'Hennery the
Eighth'. It's a muggle ditty that goes on and
on and on. And the melody gets into your
head and just won't quit. And, over that was
placed a silencing field so nothing else would
be heard."
Chapter 258
"The one he put in my room was overlaid
with the sound of a buzzing mosquito flying
around your head," said Daphne. "And a
silencing charm placed over that, so all you
heard was the mosquito."
"But the one in my room was the work of
art," grinned Harry. "That was the sound of
wild passionate sex with added sounds of
dogs, goats and bondage equipment being
employed. The Weasley twins also mixed it
with a compulsion charm tied to the listening
charm that would make the one using the
listening charm want to hear more and more,
and also be compulsed not to be able to tell
anyone what they'd heard. And, of course,
over that was placed a silencing field."
The others had already heard the story but
Madam Bones hadn't. She was roaring with
laughter when they'd finished. And the two
aurors along the wall were grinning their
heads off.
"I'll have to remember that little trick," she
finally said. "It makes it quite amusing."
"Well, it seems to have worked," said
Daphne. "There've been no listening charms
since."
After a few more minutes the party trooped
to the Headmaster's office, only to be
delayed by the gargoyle door guardian.
"Anyone know the password?" asked
Matthias.
"No," said Hermione, speaking for the others.
She just stepped up to the gargoyle and said,
"We're here for a prearranged meeting with
the Headmaster. Please, either open up or
inform him we're here."
The gargoyle looked at her for a moment
before it stepped aside.
"Well, that worked," muttered Sirius, as he
strode to the rotating stairs beyond.
Everyone followed along.
Once inside, the Headmaster came from
behind his desk and greeted them with that
overweening false sense of bonhomie he
often exuded.
"Welcome, everyone," he said, as he turned
to conjure up a circle of chairs before his
desk. "Please, take a seat."
As people started taking seats, the
Headmaster returned to his chair behind the
desk.
"Now, I hope everyone is rested after the
events of last night?" he asked by way of
statement.
"Thank you, yes," replied most.
"Now, I believe we were at the point, last
night, where young Harry related to us what
he thinks happened in the graveyard at Little
Hangleton," said the old man, eyes twinkling
away. "Amelia, you took from Harry a
memory of the event. May I have the
opportunity to watch it? I have a pensieve
right here..."
"No, not yet, Albus," she replied. "I have
people going through it with a fine tooth
comb to eke out as much knowledge as we
can from it."
"Ah, I see," he said. "Then perhaps Harry
may be able to satisfy an old man's curiosity
of whether he now remembers more of what
happened last night."
"I'm afraid not, Albus," replied Harry.
"Everything I remembered was told, and was
given in that memory to Madam Bones."
"And it is a criminal matter, Albus," added
Madam Bones. "It was a kidnapping. As such
it's for my Department to investigate. I
believe you've already been suitably warned
about interfering with a DMLE investigation."
"Yes, yes; I just hoped to be of assistance,"
said Dumbledore. "For instance... I have
quite the extensive knowledge of arcane
rituals. I was hoping Mister Potter might tell
us what words were used and I could provide
some advice..."
Turning to Harry, he asked, "And what were
those words, Harry?"
Harry looked to Madam Bones to see what
she'd say. When the woman gave him a slight
nod, he turned back to Dumbledore and said,
"The words Pettigrew used for each step was,
'Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you
will renew your son'. The next was, 'Flesh of
the servant, willingly given, you will revive
your master'. The third was, 'Blood of the
enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your
foe'."
"And what ingredients did he use for each
step?" asked Dumbledore. "Though, it is
quite apparent what he used for the second."
"The first was bone, of course," replied Harry.
"He levitated a bone out of the grave at my
feet. And I was tied to the grave of Tom
Riddle. Clearly, that's why the ritual was held
there."
Dumbledore nodded back and gestured for
him to continue.
"The second was his own hand," said Harry.
"And the third was blood taken when he
stabbed me in the elbow with the knife he
held in his hand."
Though he tried not to show it, Harry could
see the man was quite pleased to hear that.
"Your thoughts, Albus?" asked Madam
Bones.
"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I shall have to go
over my notes, and reread a few tomes
before I'll be able to answer that, Amelia..."
"Bullshit," Harry quietly but firmly growled.
"I've told you before, Albus. I can read you
like a book. The expression on your face was
quite clear you know exactly what ritual was
used; and all about it.
"Just like you told me, a few months ago, you
didn't know what I was talking about when I
related to you the dream I had about a ring
and a rundown shack. I knew you were lying
then, just as I know you're lying now."
"Is this true, Albus?" asked Madam Bones,
with her unmonocled eyebrow rising.
"I-I... have my suspicions," he stuttered,
clearly thrown by Harry being able to
apparently 'read' him so accurately. "I just
wish to verify my facts before I say anything
more."
"Then tell us your unverified facts," she
commanded. "I assure you, I'm smart enough
to understand the difference."
With a hard put upon sigh, Dumbledore
made a huge show of slumping in his seat
before he looked up again. "The... ritual
young Harry speaks of I've heard of before.
It's a dark ritual in that it requires at least
two sacrifices. The first being the flesh of the
servant and the second being the taking by
force of blood.
"The ritual is, of course, forbidden to use in
magical Britain... as it is across the world...
because of that. Alas, it is also known to be
successful in resurrecting a body to its
previous state."
"But, what I don't get is how it resurrected
him to the state he was in when he died... Oh,
wait, of course," said Harry.
Chapter 259
"Mister Potter?" asked Madam Bones, as
Dumbledore eagerly leaned in to listen.
Harry thought about his answer for a while
before he replied, "Over Christmas I was
discussing with family and friends..." and
indicated those sitting with him, "... how I
see the relationship between soul and body.
This is yet another example of proving what I
believe.
"The reason why Riddle looks like the state
his body was in when he died, with the
ravages of previous dark rituals clearly
having taken it's toll on his body once he was
resurrected, is because his soul... his spirit...
remembered that shape. That shape was, for
want of a better term, imprinted on the soul
at the time of his physical death in October
1981. I explained that this was why ghosts
always appear as they did at the moment of
their death. For example, Nearly-Headless
Nick's near-headlessness, Moaning Myrtle's
need to wear spectacles, the Bloody Baron's
blood soaked robes, et cetera.
"So, when Riddle was resurrected, his body
shape again matches that at the time of his
original physical death; complete with red
eyes, no nose or hair, and a lipless mouth. His
soul remembered that shape, and forced the
resurrection ritual to shape the body that
was created into that same form.
"It also proves my hypothesis that a witch or
wizard's magic has nothing or little to do
with the physical body. It's the spirit... the
soul... that has the magic. Otherwise, just
resurrecting Riddle would have given him a
body. However, it would not have given him
magic."
"Ah!" said Dumbledore, cutting in. "But,
that's why two of the ingredients used in the
ritual were from living wizards, you and
young Peter. You are magical; therefore, it
passed to Riddle through the ritual."
"And maybe we are both right, Albus," Harry
retorted. "Otherwise, how do you explain his
form? Shouldn't it have taken the shape of
his body without the effects of the ravages of
the rituals he performed in his previous
physical life?"
"Hmmm..." mused Dumbledore, thinking
about it. "Interesting. I'd like to know more
about that."
"But, not now," said Madam Bones. "I still
have an investigation to run. And I need to
get my people ready to fight another war
while they're ill-prepared to do so."
"You have a window, Madam Bones," said
Daphne. "Many of Riddle's Death Eaters
were locked away in Azkaban shortly after
the events surrounding the death of... sorry...
the Potters. Riddle needs to rebuild his forces
before he could even think of prosecuting
such a war. You have until he rebuilds his
forces to destroy him, or his forces, or both."
"And you also know he'll target Azkaban to
get out those who feel they're his most
faithful," added Hermione. "That's however
many of his inner-circle who are waiting to
be freed currently residing in Azkaban.
"If you'll remember, he did the same thing in
the first war. And, as with the previous war,
the dementors will side with him. Having
them at the prison only gives Riddle more
forces to break out his most loyal."
Madam Bones allowed the monocle to fall
from her eye as she raised a hand to pinch
and massage the bridge of her nose. "Just
what I need," she muttered. "I've not enough
aurors as it is. Now I have to send more to
protect Azkaban from an attack that's likely
to occur we know not when."
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," said
Hermione.
"That's alright, dear," said Madam Bones,
dropping her hand away and looking across
at her. "You keep having those ideas and
letting me know. At least, that way I might be
able to do something about them."
"Riddle will gather to himself enough people
that will allow him to attack and take
Azkaban," said Harry. "That will then give
him quite a few more forces to then make a
start on taking either the Ministry or
Hogwarts or Saint Mungo's. Once he has one
of those, he'll then move to attack the others.
With the Ministry, Saint Mungo's and
Hogwarts in his possession, he's effectively
taken everything. He wins."
"In the meantime he'll return to his terror
tactics," said Daphne. "He'll target the
families of those he sees as 'of the Light'. The
attacks will be mainly at night, and on their
homes. They will also employ hit and run
tactics. They will not stand and fight. Instead,
they will apparate or portkey into
somewhere, hit hard and fast, and be gone
before the aurors have a chance to mount a
defence.
"That was their tactics in the first war," said
Sirius.
"And they'll use the same tactics because it's
both what they know and what they know
to work," said Hermione. "And Riddle, from
what I've read, is a man of habit in a lot of
what he does. Hit and run by small groups of
DEs works, so he'll stick with it. He only
brings out larger concentrations of DEs when
the target is much larger, or better
protected."
"Then the aurors need to reconfigure into
teams of ready reaction forces," said Harry.
"There need to be teams ready to go at a
moment's notice. Learning of a site being hit,
forming a team to go, and then going takes
too long. By the time the aurors arrive, the
DEs will have already left again. So, response
times need to be cut right down to under a
minute. But, that takes manpower and
training. Manpower, to have the teams
sitting ready to go, and training in how to
stay in that heightened state of readiness for
long periods of idle time.
"If the Death Eaters usually spend up to five
minutes in one spot, then the ready reaction
teams need to get there in far less time than
that. If the Death Eaters then react back by
shortening their times to, say, three minutes,
then the ready reaction teams need to
shorten their own, again.
"Eventually, you get to a point where Riddle's
forces cannot stay on a target long enough to
inflict the damage they want to cause before
the aurors turn up; so, they're left with no
choice but to face the aurors. And, the first
thing the teams need to establish is
anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards or
jinxes, just as the Death Eaters used.
You cannot give them time to escape or you
get nowhere.
"If I was a Death Eater I'd have portkeys on
myself rigged to auto-portkey me out if I
ended up on the ground or unconscious. So,
just stunning me would only allow me to
escape; even though I was effectively out of
it at that time. At whatever bolthole I'd
portkeyed to, someone would come along
and renervate me sooner or later, and I'm
back to being able to fight again."
When he finally wound down, he saw the
expression on Madam Bones's face. It was
one of horror. "Sorry," he sheepishly said.
After a moment, she blinked and said, "No,
don't be. That's exactly the sort of tactics
they'd use."
"I hope you're not advocating killing people,
Harry," said a worried Dumbledore.
"You're damned right I am!" Harry shot right
back. "In war, people die. To win a war you
want the people on the other side to be the
ones who do the dying, rather than those on
your side. You used stun-only tactics in
the last war, Albus. If it wasn't for a sheer
fluke, you would have lost the last war in a
matter of weeks! By the end of November
Riddle would have taken full control, and you
know it!
"Don't go making the same mistake again,
because Lily Potter is not here to save your
arses this time."
Chapter 260
"But... Harry!" tried Dumbledore. "You can't
just go around killing people because it's the
easiest way to deal..."
"Stop right there, Albus!" snapped Harry. "I
didn't say I'll just go around killing people. If
the Death Eaters engage with lethal force,
then... and only then... do I most firmly
advocate killing them.
"Personally, I believe in sticking to the law.
And, I'm not just talking the law of magical
Britain, here. I'm talking the law of the entire
United Kingdom; magical and muggle. And
that is the law of self defence. If you come at
me with lethal force... if you come at me
with the intent to cause me or mine death... I
reserve the right, under law, to kill you first. I
will consider you have engaged me in a duel
to the death and act accordingly."
"That is the law of magical Britain, Mister
Potter," said Madam Bones. "If someone
attempts to harm you with lethal force, you
are well within your rights to use such force
back. However, you are not permitted to use
any of the three unforgivables in pursuit of
that."
"That is the path to going dark, Amelia,"
Dumbledore almost growled. "I will not have
Mister Potter told such things."
"Oh, give it a rest, Albus," she snapped back.
"It is the law and Mister Potter is allowed to
know the law. The boy sits upon the
Wizengamot, for Merlin's sake!
He needs to know!"
"And I agree," said Harry. "Albus, I have
warned you many times before about
attempting to control me. Stop it!"
"I'd not like to see you going dark, Harry,"
said Dumbledore. "I'm concerned for your..."
"Again, Albus?" asked Harry. "With you, it's
do it your way, or you're going dark." Putting
on his best Dumbledore impression, he
continued, "Do exactly as I tell you,
Harry-my-boy boy-my-Harry; or, I'll be forced
to accuse you of going... dark. By accusing
you of going... dark... I'll manipulate you into
doing what I want because it's... for the
Greater Good... And only I know what that
means, so I can use that excuse whenever I
want. As long as they don't know it was the
motto my boyfriend Gellert Grindelwald
used, no one will ever question me about
using it."
Sirius snorted in amusement.
"I think he's got you well and truly pegged,
Albus," smirked Madam Bones.
"Why are you doing this, Harry?" growled
Dumbledore.
"It's for the Greater Good, Albus-my-boy!"
replied Harry. "I'm sure you understand."
"That's enough," snapped Dumbledore right
back, all sign of his eye twinkle gone.
"Really?" asked Harry, smirking back. "Has it
not occurred to you yet, Albus, that if you
want to see who's going dark all you need to
do is look in a mirror? Go back over all you've
done if you want evidence of it.
"Start with 'For the Greater Good', Albus.
That was Grindelwald's motto. He used it as
a rallying cry for blood bigots right across
Europe, as you well know. And yet, here you
are using it almost daily.
"You were aware there was a prophecy about
Tom and me and what it said; and yet, you
continued to send out members
of your Order... those who trusted you...
knowing they didn't stand a chance against
Riddle. You sent them out to die!
"Then there's your protection of Snape. How
much information has he provided you of
attacks and raids and you did nothing with it,
just so you could protect your precious spy?
Every one of those deaths is also on you!
"And, of course, let's not forget me. You
knew damned well what sort of people the
Dursleys were like. You knew damned
well what my life was going to be like living
under their so-called care. And, yet again,
you sent me there as a defenceless infant,
and kept sending me back there once I got to
Hogwarts. That makes you a child abuser by
proxy, Albus.
"You lie, you manipulate, you betray trust,
and you willingly... I shudder to think
even eagerly... sacrifice the lives of others. In
other words, Albus; you're dark!"
"If you want to point fingers at who is going
dark, do it facing a mirror."
"That's enough, Harry!" said Sirius.
"I quite agree," said Harry, standing up. "I
don't know why we're here, anyway. As
Madam Bones said, this is a criminal
investigation, not a Headmaster's
investigation... if there ever was such a thing
for a criminal matter."
"I, too, quite agree," said Madam Bones,
echoing Harry and also standing up.
Very quickly, everyone else stood, as well;
except Dumbledore. "We've not finished our
discussion," he flatly stated.
"Yes, we have," said Madam Bones.
As everyone filed out of the office, Harry
glanced back at Dumbledore, seeing the old
man sitting there with his forehead in his
hands and his elbows on the desk.
As the door closed behind Sirius, the last out
of the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore
swept his arm across his desk in anger,
scattering and sending flying everything off
his desk to the floor.
"I need time!" he angrily muttered. "Yet,
time is running out." He looked down to his
glove-covered withering hand. The potions
Severus was brewing for him was only
delaying the inevitable.
"I need the boy back under control; I need
the boy to fulfil his destiny." He sighed and
sat back in his chair. "But, how? And how
does the bond, now sealed, affect that
destiny? If I remove the two wives, will that
then lead to Tom winning? Or, would that
just complete the prophecy and leave Tom
vulnerable?"
Taking his wand out of his belt he held it
between his fingers. "The wand already owes
it's allegiance to the boy. He clearly bested
me and won it when I attempted Legilimens
on him. I should have known the risk I took.
I should have been aware of the likelihood of
the soul bond providing them with
protection.
"The boy now has the cloak and is the
rightful wielder of the wand. All that is left is
the stone." He reached his hand down and
slid the drawer open that contained the ring.
The ring that was now split where he'd used
the Sword of Gryffindor to cut it, destroying
the horcrux in the process but leaving the
stone intact. Yes, he knew now what it was.
Just as he had it confirmed for him that the
diary was also one.
Holding the stone in his hand where it was
fused to the ring, he turned it over in his
hand. "Do I give him the stone?" he
wondered. "And the wand?"
"No," he firmly muttered. "As per my Will I
will demand the wand, my wand, be buried
with me. And, there, it will remain out of
reach of any who'll come later. I cannot allow
the Hallows to be united.
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