Disclaimer: i do not own Harry Potter
Chapter One
This Time?
Harry watched as the Auror's got into position. They had to hope that Brisha had been right in her information, or they would all be in trouble. Magical Law Enforcement had several groups here, to help bring in Zann. This wasn't one of his usual hidey-holes. This was a large base of operations, containing several Consortium members. If they could wipe out this base, it would be a major victory. Hermione came up beside him.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yep. Just say the word."
Harry decided to give it a shot. The worse that could happen was that Zann would escape. Again.
"Go."
They moved, rushing down to the base, stunners being fired at the guards on the perimeter. Harry Disapparated down, and he and Hermione blew open the door. That did catch Zann by surprise.
"Potter. You've found one of my main bases. How unfortunate."
"For you." Hermione snarled.
"No. For you."
His guards rushed in and started attacking the two, while Zann slowly made his way to the exits. Arrogant swine. The wall beside him was suddenly blown apart, revealing Ron and Ginny.
"Going somewhere?" Ron demanded.
"Don't you people ever get bored?"
"Actually yes, so just surrender so we can all go home." Ginny said.
Zann smiled. Then his grey skinned bodyguard Silri leapt out of the shadows, her whip swinging around to try and cleave off Ginny's head. Ron stood in front of his sister, his arm outstretched. The whip wrapped around the gauntlet on his arm, defeating Silri's whip. She hissed and leapt at him, aiming to kick him in the throat. Meanwhile, Zann ran towards the door. Seamus and Parvati appeared in front of him, wands in hand. Zann snarled as his bird like guardian Uri sprang out of the shadows and began to attack. Zann smiled as he made his escape. Blasted Aurors. He emerged outside to be faced with Sirius and the rest of the Aurors, along with the Magical Law Enforcement bunch.
"Leaving so soon?" Sirius asked as he attacked.
Zann blocked the attack, and had to immediately duck as Harry and Hermione fired spells. They had finally got through the guards.
Zann blocked another spell from Harry, turning and firing one at Hermione before leaping out of the way of Sirius and Daraala's combined attack. He Disapparated out of the way, but was immediately knocked down by the charms they had placed around the building.
"Avada Kedavra!"
One man went down, as Zann leapt for his motorbike. He gunned the engine and sped towards the group of Aurors.
"He's headed right for us!" Susan said in incomprehension.
"The charm will block him!" Sirius yelled.
"Not if he can fly!" Ernie yelled.
The motorbike shot into the air, Zann laughing.
"Goodbye suckers!"
The bike shot through the air, turned, and then headed straight for the building.
"No!" Harry shouted as they all ran back in.
Silri flicked her whip, trying to take down Ron and Ginny, who, now that she knew where the gauntlets were, were determined to try and kill them.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Ginny transformed into an owl, fluttering out of the way. Silri's whip changed to red, and blasted her out of the air.
"Ginny!" Ron yelled in concern.
Seamus and Parvati, who had now been dating for two years, were doing a good double team against Uri, who had large, scythe like blades attached to his arms, which he used as his wands.
"Diffindo!" he croaked.
The blades turned purple as he tried to slice them apart.
"Not today Uri." Parvati said, blocking the attack.
"Really?"
A blade then moved out of her reach and sliced her in the side, sending her to the floor.
"No!"
Seamus' spell crashed into Uri, knocking him spinning. The bird man quickly regained his balance and leapt at Seamus, determined to slice him apart.
"Expelliarmus!" two voices yelled.
Uri was knocked out of the air and sent crashing into the wall opposite. Seamus turned to see Clara Greenbanks and Padma Patil rushing in, followed by the others.
Verity, the old assistant from Fred and George's shop, yelled at them.
"Get away from the centre!"
Harry and Hermione rushed in to see Ginny skid to the ground in her human form, and Silri, taking advantage of Ron's fear and shock, kick Ron to the ground.
"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled.
Silri snarled as she turned, her whip catching the attack. Harry rushed to his friend and his wife, while Hermione went head to head with Silri. Terry Boot, a fellow Auror and member of the DA, then leapt into Hermione, knocking her to the floor. The roof was suddenly blown apart, dismantling the Anti-disapparation Charm in place and allowing Zann's remaining men to escape. Rubble thudded down, nearly killing several of the Ministry fighters.
"Shield charms!" Daraala yelled.
"Protego!"
Susan, Ernie, Justin, Terry, Brianna, Verity and Clara all fired their charms, while the others, along with the Law Enforcement Squads, fired parting shots at the disapparating guards of Tyber Zann. Silri, who's whip had shielded her as it had created a bubble around her, smiled and flicked her whip up, grabbing onto the bike with her weapon. Smiling, Zann sped over the heads of the combatants and Silri pulled herself onto the seat behind him. She then flicked it at Uri, who grabbed hold and was heaved up. Sirius, Seamus, Padma, Daraala and Hermione all fired shots at Zann as he fled, but to no avail. He was soon out of reach, and then out of sight.
He had escaped again.
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"Are you alright?" Harry asked, pulling Ginny to her feet.
"Yeah. Takes more than that to get rid of me."
Harry smiled at her as she looked around.
"Let me guess. He escaped?" Ron asked grumpily.
"How did you guess?" Daraala asked as she surveyed the injuries.
Ron sat down on the floor.
"Right, I give up. I'm not doing it anymore. I'm fed up of chasing Zann and him always getting away from us. I quit!"
To everyone's great surprise, Hermione sat down too.
"It's a nightmare. And all that happens is people die every time we try to go after him. I'm fed up of it."
Harry turned to Sirius. Since their fight, and Harry's near death the year before, their relationship was back to normal.
"Why do we have to go after Zann first? Surely we'd be better going after Black Sun or the Syndicat."
Sirius sighed and conjured a chair.
"If I sit down there, I wont be able to get back up." Sirius said grumpily as he sat down.
Brisha and Mr Weasley suddenly appeared, looked at the mess and sighed.
"Escape again?" Brisha asked.
"Fraid so." Harry answered, sitting down and letting Ginny rest her head on his shoulder.
"This is getting ridiculous." Mr Weasley complained.
Behind them, people were starting to cart the few prisoners away and clean up the mess. Brisha and Mr Weasley conjured chairs too.
"Study break I take it?" Brisha asked.
"We're on strike." Daraala said, sitting beside Sirius.
"Really?" Mr Weasley asked patronisingly.
"Yep. Until we find out why we're chasing the Consortium's leaders when the Syndicat's and Black Sun's leaders, who are more powerful, are still on the run." Ron said.
Mr Weasley sighed.
"We're after Zann because he's the biggest threat. He isn't like the others. They rely on their goons and their plans. Zann's different. He doesn't just annoy us, and keep up the Dark Arts. He spreads them, he's like a plague. He isn't just an ordinary enemy. We can deal with them. But Zann spreads the Dark Arts, infiltrates them everywhere. They're getting stronger, and he's the reason. His darkness is ensuring the continuation of the Dark Arts. He doesn't just contain himself to racketeering, murder or bribery, he expands, into slavery, raids, piracy and all sorts of crimes. He has injected the Dark Arts into the Ministry, into towns, where he should never have got a hold. He's a carrier of the Dark Arts plague, and that's why we need to stop him."
"Happy now?" Brisha asked.
"Not really. He escaped again." Harry complained.
Hermione snarled as she looked up.
"The press have arrived. And Thornside's leading them."
The woman really was becoming a thorn in the side. She kept printing her own version on the truth, but the public, who were annoyed at the lack of control the Ministry had over the Dark Arts groups, were believing her, which was eroding the people's faith in their leaders.
"Oh blast. I do hate that woman." Mr Weasley moaned.
"At least she doesn't make you out to be a mad mass murderer." Ginny snarled.
The injustice of that still rankled. However, it had been Ron who had been the most recent target. After another botched attempt to catch Zann, she had printed a story saying that Ron was an incompetent Auror, and was unable to stop Zann. The story had worked, and people had started to doubt Ron's ability, and he was starting to doubt it himself. He felt that every time he went to try to capture Zann, all that happened was that someone got blasted, and he was starting to lose faith in himself, despite the fact that Hermione, Harry and Ginny had tried to assure him otherwise. Thornside was rapidly becoming as large a pain as Umbridge had been.
They all got up and headed to face the press. Ginny was looking musingly into space.
"What's up?" Harry asked.
"I want a new transformation."
Harry looked at her in surprise.
"Why? What's wrong with being an owl?"
Ginny looked sad.
"Being an owl was alright during the war. We needed a small animal to get messages across and distract the Death Eaters. We don't need them anymore. I want to change form."
"What to?"
"I don't know. Something big and intimidating."
"Your mother?"
Ginny hit him on the arm and he smiled.
"Be serious."
An idea came to him, and he whispered it into her ear. She grinned.
"I like that idea."
"Thought you might."
They all stepped outside the ruined building, where Thornside was waiting with a big grin on her face, looking excited. She must have sensed that someone was about to look very foolish.
"So, Tyber Zann has escaped once again. People are beginning to question your desire to defeat him. Might his continuing antics be nothing more than a ploy for you to keep passing laws with your Stabilisation Powers?" Thornside asked.
Mr Weasley hissed, just audibly.
"No, it isn't. Zann continues to evade us through sheer good luck on his part."
"Good luck? You mean the good luck that he has someone as useless as your son chasing after him?" Thornside asked.
Harry winced. His friend looked hurt by the accusation, and he faded back into the shadows. Harry felt an upsurge of anger for Ron and swore under his breath.
"My son is not useless." Mr Weasley growled coldly.
"Or did you mean Zann's good luck that your daughter, who is well known for killing people who oppose her or her husband, has not yet killed him?" Thornside asked callously.
Ginny growled in anger, and Harry stepped forward.
"You leave my wife and friend out of this." He demanded, glaring at Thornside.
Thornside just grinned at him. Blasted woman.
"Zann has escaped. That is fact. And we will be continuing actions to capture him as soon as possible."
"But once again, your family's involvement have led to deaths, but rather than on the opposing side, on your own. What do you have to say to that?"
"Those deaths are a regrettable incident, and I will be contacting their families in due course. However, Zann is a very powerful wizard, and people who fight him know what they're getting in to and know the possibility that they might die."
"But why doesn't the Ministry take better measures to protect it's staff, or is this another sacrifice in the name of stabilisation?"
It was clear that Mr Weasley would be here for ages answering Thornside's questions. Sirius and Daraala discreetly escaped back to the Ministry, while Harry and the others headed for the courtroom. There was a dispute going on there that was very important.
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"Dismissed." The judge said.
The court went filing out, and they met Zacharias Smith.
"Well?" Harry asked.
"About what you expect. Thornside's crony was there taking down every word. Dawlish Laboratories want all the damages paid, and compensation for the dead. They also want no more interference from the Ministry into their affairs. They also want a load of free medical stuff so they can rebuild to what they were before they attacked."
Hermione sighed.
"About what we expected. What about you?"
"The judge said I was free to go. I didn't kill them on purpose. He said I was just a bit over-zealous and to take more care next time."
Ron grinned feebly.
"Bet Dawlish loved that."
Smith smiled.
"Yep. Didn't like it at all, and made this big speech about ill treatment and the coming disease of the wizarding race if we don't act quickly."
Smith was still a wart, but after he had done so much to help save Harry the year previous, the four had warmed up a little, and he wasn't as much of a jerk as before. They supposed Brisha had something to do with it.
"Sorry I got you into all this." Harry said.
"Not your fault. I wanted to make up for it, and I saw how angry it made people, and wanted to help. You had nothing to do with it."
"So, are you allowed back to work?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. Brisha's been missing you." Hermione teased.
Smith blushed. He was rather fond of his boss. Laughing, the four Disapparated.
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"So, are they going on with the Cure?" Brisha asked.
"Yep, and every other thing they can think of." Smith said.
Brisha sighed.
"And we have to pay for it. Typical. It's not that I don't approve of what the Order did, but it's really knackered up the public's opinion. We're finding it harder and harder to keep order." Brisha grumbled.
Smith grinned as she moaned.
"So, do I still have a job?" he asked.
She flashed him a smile.
"Of course. I would hardly get rid of my best agent. I expect you here at eight o'clock, Monday morning."
Smith grinned.
"See you then."
With a wink, he vanished. Brisha smiled. He wasn't bad, as far as men went. But his curiosity, all very well for an Intelligence agent, may have repercussions if he wasn't careful. That would be a pity. Sighing, she got to work.
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Kreacher looked up at the crooked old man who was helping him to entice the house elves into rebellion. He was called Crywolk, and he was a stooped old man, with a lumpy head, a strong body that didn't become him and dark, wicked eyes.
"Kreacher my friend, you must tread carefully. The time for armed rebellion is not yet. Soon, but not yet."
Kreacher, his body twisted and mangled, cursed.
"We've tried normal methods. They don't take any notice. We must switch to violent methods."
Crywolk smiled at the elf's eagerness.
"I concur. But if we make the first move, there will be repercussions. The other groups are still trying diplomacy. We must do the same."
Kreacher sulked.
"Waiting is boring."
Crywolk smiled.
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
"But HELF was. And I'm getting fed up of waiting."
Crywolk sighed in futility.
"All right. How about this. We stay with diplomacy until the end of the week. Then it's Christmas. We get together with a few more groups, and see if they agree."
Kreacher growled. His bitterness was used to unite the house elves against the Ministry, in one swift attack on the government. Not all this waiting.
"Fine!"
Crywolk grinned.
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Nolat, the leader of Centaurs for Justice, looked at her two deputies, Equus, a tall, white centaur, and Davira, a small, willowy brown centaur. Nolat herself was a reddish centaur, with a commanding presence.
"This is taking too long. We need to up our campaign. Or we'll never be taken seriously." Equus said harshly.
Nolat smiled.
"I know. Our results have been less than satisfactory recently. We'll try with diplomacy until after Christmas. Then we'll change tactics. We have a meeting with the leaders of HELF in the New Year." Nolat informed them.
"Good. They haven't made much headway either." Davira said sadly.
Nolat looked at her. Nolat wanted to increase the centaur's rights for several reasons. Equus wanted to increase their power to increase his own. But Davira just wanted peace, and was loathe that anything may cause hurt or bloodshed. Nolat would have to be careful. Or everything would be at risk. Everything.
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Zut apparated into her sister's study. Being the Veela Undersecretary, she had a lot of weight, and was the only person allowed to apparate into a French home. The house was near Bordeaux, in a hill range. Zut was a person of great influence in France and in Britain. However, she was in danger of losing that influence, along with her power and her position. She burst into the kitchen, where her sister, Tirer was waiting.
"Sister!" she yelled throatily, hugging Zut.
Zut glared.
"Don't sister me! Your antics last year were fun, creating the GE. But no more! Gender Equality is unneeded! I know of your feminist views, but this is getting out of hand!"
Tirer smiled.
"Sister, I know why you are worried. But we can get better rights for women! People are joining our cause, and doing so quickly. All we need is more time. Artemia Delacour, is related to the Minister for Magic, and has now joined us! We can do this!"
Zut snarled wildly.
"Don't be stupid. We have a lot more than we had before the war. This Ministry gave us that. They can take it away just as easily, I assure you. Don't provoke them."
Tirer smiled.
"You're worried about losing your power."
"Of course I am. I promise, that when I'm Minister, I'll fix the equality problem, but until then, we must be patient."
Tier snarled.
"You're a coward. Always were. I'll do this my way. You'll see."
Zut spat at her sister.
"Just remember that when you get paid back for all the trouble you're going to cause." Zut warned.
"We have nothing more to say to each other."
Zut hissed in fury and disapparated.
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Zann parked the bike as the other two headed into the shack, dragging their feet tiredly. He followed them in.
"A substantial loss, that base." Uri said slowly as he sat down.
"Of little concern. All we need to do is wait until it calms down a bit, then strike again. What about the information service in the Ministry? Did they know of this?" Zann asked.
"No. didn't have a clue. We're lucky we managed. They nearly got us." Silri said.
"But they didn't. And they wont. Meanwhile, the public's faith is eroding quickly, and the Ministry is losing its power. People don't want us running around, which gives us a chance to launch my next plan."
"You are going ahead with it then?" Uri asked.
"Indeed. Silri, contact the Syndicat and Black Sun. Tell Sykes and Xizor we need to talk. And then, then we will see how good the Aurors are."
Zann began to laugh evilly.
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Harry looked out of the window, looking at the stars. A few days left, and they would be on holiday for Christmas. Sirius was being nice with the holidays this year. Strangely, he didn't care what the Dark Arts got up to when he was on holiday. He was looking forward to a quiet Christmas. They were all going to the Burrow, all the Weasleys. Harry was looking forward to it. But tonight, he had other things on his mind.
Ginny came up beside him and hugged him.
"What's wrong?" she asked in concern.
Harry sighed.
"I don't know Ginny. I can feel something. Something coming closer. It appeared for a while after Idalma and Akryt, but went away. But now, it's back. A feeling that something bad is going to happen. Really bad."
Ginny could see he was worried.
"What is it?"
Harry sighed.
"I don't know. But whatever it is, I don't like it. Not one bit."
Ginny kissed him.
"Forget it. What's coming will come, and we'll meet it when it does. And we'll stop it. After all, we defeated Voldemort. This thing you're feeling cant be much worse can it?"
Harry smiled in spite of himself. She always made him feel better.
"True."
Ginny kissed him.
"Come on back to bed sweetheart. Or if you're staying out here, don't you dare wake me up."
"Yes dear."
She went back inside, chortling. Only she could make the 'Voldemort Vanquisher' show fear. Watching her long hair cascade down her back, he grinned. She was right. It was nearly Christmas, so why was he worrying? It was her who should be worried. He followed her inside.
Hedwig returned from a hunt and heard Ginny shriek in fright and then proceed to yell at Harry. She suddenly became muffled as Harry kissed her and went back into their bedroom. Hopefully they hadn't woken up Ron. Hermione didn't mind, but he was still protective of his little sister. Hedwig ruffled her feathers, cursed about human stupidity, ate her frog, and wondered what would happen when Harry found out what she had done with Pigwidgeon.
So, all these events are happening, which become important later on. Watch out for the group leaders, both Dark Art and Pressure. both groups are getting stronger, which cant be good news. Next chapter, more Thornside (please let me know what you think of her), Theodore Nott, new bad guys and an arguement! Please review!
P.S And i've confused myself with the timeline. Second War starts in the latter half of 1997, and ends in the summer of 1998. Terrorist Threat stars directly afterwards, with Harry and the others on probation, and lasts only a week. Mad Scientist starts in 1999, and lasts only three or four days. This one is in 2000, but at Christmas and will last a couple of weeks. The next one, which I will give you the title of Harry Potter and the Revenge of Darkness, is set two years after this one, and is set in 2001, five years after my first story. Hope that clears that up! (It didnt for me.) Bye!