Apparently he was in a hotel in a foreign country and there was some naked, invisible girl hiding in his room somewhere who had blindsided him with a rogue bludger. But that didn’t make any sense at all! What on earth was going on? He needed to find out. But how?

~Trust me.~ Harry disappeared into the background of the wall. Hermione continued walking, while Harry waited for their stalker. The man was fast and very good, little more than a shadow.

Harry stepped closer and looked in admiration at the sword resting on the table and passed his hand slowly over the sword. “Drughaig Bior de Argid.” “Harry. If you know the true name of the sword, then you know you cannot simply take it up—if you wish to wield it again, you are now old enough to accept the burden that its bearers have always shouldered."

"Anyways, the Yonnua are the perfect assassins. They’re shapeshifters. They’re much more lethal than boggarts, or even dopplegangers. They can assume the shape of anything they kill, not just a human form like a doppleganger. But in addition, they can absorb the memories and behaviors of the victims, making them impossible to detect. You might be able to trip up a doppelganger, catch it in an inappropriate behavior. But not a Yonnua." “So why was Voldemort trying to recruit them?” asked Harry. Looking steadily at Harry, Samuel replied evenly. “I’m not sure. Maybe Voldemort simply wanted

“Blimey, Hermione! What happened to you? And where’s Harry?” Hermione roared back, “I don’t ever want to hear that name again!!!” and swung the broom with all of her strength right at Ron’s head. Samuel’s hand on the handle prevented her from decapitating an entire generation of Weasleys, and with a quick twist he pulled it from her hands. “I left that bloody idiot in his new house. And he can rot in it for all I care!!!” She then turned and ran up the stairs. Fred looked at George and commented, “Blimey! I wonder how many pieces she left him in.”

“Potter! Quit chewing the fat with him and put a sword in him where it hurts!” screamed Samuel as he regained his feet. Potter swung both blades from low to high, his left leading his right, leaving parallel smoking scratches on Aardus’s chest. As Harry launched his next attack, Aardus stepped backwards, closer to Samuel, who nearly decapitated Aardus with a fierce swing of his own glowing blade.

"I have a feeling these guys are out for blood. If Fudge is willing to bend so many rules and regulations to bring you here for this mockery of a hearing, it’s only because he figures he can nail you for good. He’s risking everything by treating you this way after you’ve saved the world again from Voldemort. If the press ever got wind of this, his career would be over. He’s a politician, Harry, not a dark wizard. But this is just as serious. And Harry, you need to control your temper.”

“Albus, the people have a right to know. The boy has become a mass murderer. And we can’t really afford him to be running around with a wand—he’s much too dangerous. I really don’t know what you expected to happen after he defeated You-Know-Who. Apparently the boy fell in love with the taste of power. Or the power of revenge. Either way, he will be punished for his crimes.” “He has not been convicted yet, Minister Fudge.

“Ahh, Cornelius. You valued too greatly the glory of your office. Only a desperate fool would ally himself with Lucius Malfoy.”

Fudge blinked, and then his eyes went wide with fear for a moment before he regained control. “Guards! Seize him! Stun him!” “Accio wand!” thundered Harry. Sparks of light burst from the manacles binding his hands together. The metal bands burst apart and they rattled to the floor loudly. He reached out his right hand and deftly snatched his wand from the air as it streaked towards him from a pouch in Dumbledore’s cloak. Right foot forward, in perfect balance, Harry pointed it straight at Fudge’s chest.

“The Weasel? Shut up Potter. Next you’ll be telling me that he’s actually better than you.” “Oh, but he is. He could beat either one of us in his sleep.” “Just shut up right now Potter. I will not have your delusional fantasies messing up the order of my universe right now.” They played in silence for a few more minutes.

“Arthur Finnigan Weasley, do you give your oath as a wizard to do all within your power to protect the wizards and witches of Great Britain as the Minister of Magic, to defend their rights, to always act in their best interests, and to preserve and promote the mystery of magic?” “I do.”

So this was the glorious life of an Auror? This is what I’ve spent years hoping I would do someday—lying in an alley full of trash pretending I’m a drunk bum in the pouring rain waiting for some scumbag wizards to show up. Funny, I don’t remember reading about this part of the job in those pamphlets McGonagall gave me.

“Harry, where did you learn to dance so well? I could have sworn you had two left feet three years ago at the Yule Ball.” “You were watching, huh? I thought you had a date for that one,” teased Harry. “He couldn’t pronounce my name, Harry. So who taught you to dance?” “Um, Ginny,” coughed Harry in a low voice. “So you’ve been sneaking off with Weasley behind my back, have you? I see it wasn’t Gabrielle I had to worry about all along—it was that scheming little redhead!”

“That is what we experienced in Great Britain last spring. Voldemort was a terror that had to be stopped. Part of the reason it was so horrible was because the Ministry of Magic refused to accept the reality of Voldemort’s return. They preferred to believe he remained dead and defeated. By ignoring the threat, Voldemort nearly gained enough power to defeat us that day. And if he had won that day, he wouldn’t have stopped with conquering Great Britain. If you still believe that you can reason or negotiate with evil like Voldemort or Dark Wizards like him, then I can't help.

“Mum!” shouted Luna, but the woman continued stirring, oblivious to her cry. “She can’t hear us, this is your memory,” whispered Hermione. “Do you recognize it?” “Yes,” sighed Luna sadly. “This is my memory of her death.”

“Greetings Scholar, Paladin. I am Rachathutr, the Guardian of the Great Library. What knowledge do you seek and for what purpose? That odd feeling you feel is your lack of magic. All who wish to learn in the Great Library must pass through me. But none can pass using magic or physical force. I alone decide who will enter, and who will not. Magic does not function properly here within this ancient hall, nor can I be defeated physically, since the owl statue sends only a single scholar at a time.”

Harry spoke in a very low, raw voice that shook slightly, as if he were barely in control. “I will find her. I don’t care how far they’ve taken her or where they’ve hidden her. If I have to take apart every castle and catacomb from here to Beijing stone by stone, I will find her.”