The New Marauders pt.3
Battle for America
Chapter 11
A group of seven people walked briskly through the airport. Three girls and three boys followed the middle aged balding, heavyset man as he led them through to the outside. To anyone watching them, they appeared as nothing more than a group of kids following a man who was leading them out and home. If someone looked closely, they would not see anything different, or suspicious. The closest thing to being suspicious was when the balding man turned back and looked briefly at the crowd, then continued onto his destination. No one took note of this group, because if they did, they would see something impossible. As soon as this group walked through the double doors to the outside, they vanished. It was as if they walked through the inner door and into another world. In actuality, that was just what they did.
As soon as the group stepped through the inner exit doors, the balding guy suddenly shifted left, walking through the wall, which would be what muggles would see there, a wall. In actuality, the wall hid a secret doorway that only wizards and witches could see. This doorway led to an underground passage, in which the group began traveling. While traveling, the balding man began changing, his features looking totally different. Instead of a white, short, balding heavyset man, he became a tall, well built black man with long braids. The others changed also. Instead of a troupe of kids, they became six almost-adults. One male wore spectacles, and had brilliant green eyes and his head was framed by black hair which stuck up in the back. Another male had ginger hair, with pale skin and blue eyes. The third male was as tall as the black man, with a slightly round face and brown hair which was slightly less than bottom of the neck length. One female had long bushy brown hair framing her calculating brown eyes. One female had waist length blond hair and blue eyes, with a somewhat dreamy expression on her face. The last one had long red hair and brown eyes, and anyone can tell that she was the sister of the red haired male. What America did not realize yet, but the country was now host to the most famous living wizard from England, and maybe the world.
Harry Potter has come to America.
"So this is America." Ron commented, looking around the outside the corridor windows. He saw a level street, with buildings towering over the Street. A flotilla of yellow Taxis were parked on the side of the street, where they awaited passengers.
"You only see part of the largest city here." Hermione commented. "This is the city of New York, which size alone is almost the size of England."
"Bloody Hell." Ron said in wonder. " This airport could fit the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and The Quidditch World cup!"
Harry was watching Troy as he followed. He noticed the American Wizard's shoulders were sagging. As he looked around, he saw that Troy had deep red eyes and large bags. It was a small wonder, Harry thought, as he remembered the ride here…
Harry never been in a Wizard transportation ship before, and was stunned at the simple design. The ship, maybe 20 feet across, had a small row of seats . In fact, Harry thought the outside of this ship looked like two giant saucers stuck together, one upside down and on top of the other. Hermione was very intrigued, and guessed that all (Mental, as Ron thought) the stories of UFOs and Flying saucers were actually sightings of Wizard transports. Troy was not able to answer her; he was too busy concentrating on flying the ship to the secret landing strip in America. The flight, Harry realized in shock, took less than an hour, 45 minutes to be exact, and it was still late night in America. Then Harry realized why Troy was so exhausted. He had to magically control the ship, keep it under a disillusionment charm, and land it safely without anyone in America noticing. To Harry, just flying the ship required a great deal of skill and magic…To do all three, was almost impossible, and Troy did it all by himself. It was here that Harry realized that Troy was, indeed, a very powerful wizard.
Now, reflected Harry, Troy looked about ready to fall flat on his face. He had to force the dose of Polyjuice potion down his throat, and stimulate him enough to swallow. Now that the trip was over, and they were heading to what Troy called a safe house, Harry predicted that Troy would need some time to rest before their excursion into America started.
"Are you OK?" asked Ginny. Harry noted that she too noticed Troy's exhausted look. The others were busy looking at this foreign new world from the windows. When Ginny asked, however, everyone looked at him in concern, noticing this for the first time.
"Yea, I will be." Troy answered tiredly. Seeing all their looks, Troy smiled. "I told you this trip would take a toll on me, but I got us here safely, and as soon as we clear this passage, we will be at the safe house, and there I can rest."
With that, Troy continued walking . The New Marauders followed silently.
Bellatrix looked at Selwyn and Travers with an air of interest. The fact that she was sitting in front of both of them instead of inside a tomb was something to contemplate. The simple fact was, Bellatrix learned of the Dark Lord's secret to immortality, and before she left for Azkaban, Bellatrix was able to procure the Horcrux spell. She placed the object in a hidden room in Grimmauld place, but could not get it back until Yaxley was able to break the Fidelius Charm. Once she was able to get her precious anchor to immortality, Bellatrix went on a special trip to Saint Mungo's hospital, where she hid the Horcrux inside the room of the one person she knew could be her vessel to returning, Barty Crouch Jr. His soul less and practically useless body was the perfect vessel to return back to life, since it knew magic. The day she was killed by Molly Weasley, Bellatrix was able to use her force of will to possess Barty, and was able to get him to leave St. Mungos. In time, she was able to use her power of the Horcrux to take over the body of the sacrificed woman, and now Bellatrix, in full possesion of her wand and a body, was able to return.
While she was possessing Crouch's body, Bellatrix read about the American Dark Wizards, and how much of a laughing stock these wizards and witches were. Bellatrix learned that the American dark wizards were very superstitious; they believed that a Goddess, a very powerful one, would one day lead them to take over the American wizarding community. Bellatrix laughed at this, but she also knew these misguided and clumsy wizards had their uses; Their zealotry of the belief in their Goddess of the Stars had made them manipulative and coorperative, and also very protective of their Goddess.
"So you are sure this Stardancer was in England?" Bellatrix asked Selwyn.
"Quite sure. I found this article written by Rita Skeeter. Apparently a famous wizard was spotted in the Ministry of Magic. Now she thinks it is Otis Jones, some Quidditch player here, but I had some Dark Wizards who knew him look around where Johnson usually is, and they confirmed that he was still here in America when the story broke, and he never left the country." He checked his notes. "Also the MacDonald Wizard; well, he is dead now. A dark wizard cursed him the day before."
"What idiot did that!" Travers exclaimed.
"He was dealt with." Selwyn answered, meaning that the wizard who killed MacDonald was also killed.
"But this Stardancer, how great of a threat is he?" Travers asked.
"It shouldn't matter." Bellatrix answered airily. "No American trained wizard could handle us."
"But you don't see this, my lady." Selwyn said. "I heard of this Stardancer. His family sent him to Britain to study at Hogwarts. He was sorted into Ravenclaw, and was such a powerful student and wizard that he was a Head Boy, got a special services award, and was a student known to get nearly perfect on his O.W.L and N.E.W.T. "
Travers winced at that. Only Dumbledore and Tom Riddle had ever been known in modern times to get perfect OWL and NEWT rank.
Bellatrix scowled at several American Dark Wizards and watched with dark amusement as those wizards suddenly looked away and began looking busy doing other things. Bellatrix's reputation as being a powerful and remorseless witch had gotten them both loyalty and obedience, and her displeasure had gotten the American Dark Wizards to fear her above even the Wizards opposing them.
"We must find a way to neutralize him." Travers said.
"We are working on that." Selwyn responded. "The high level Death eaters we got in the government have already put what they called an all points bulletin on him. We also have Americans place what they call a BOLO on him. That is called 'Be on the lookout for.' We have someone in their department with enough pull to convince the Muggle law enforcement agency here…..Called Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI for short, to place this BOLO on him."
Bellatrix nodded. If the American Wizard Government, already well infiltrated, was able to convince the muggle government that this person was dangerous and needed to be apprehended, then that would allow her to release some of her resources to other missions. But a thought occurred to her…
"Selwyn, does this Stardancer have a family? If he does, we maybe be able to…"
"Already on that, my Lady. We have imperuised a person close to him. She knows the family. Troy Stardancer is married to Krystal.." he checked his notes, "…Mageri. They have twin daughters, aged 3. She has gone into hiding after the BOLO and bulletin had been placed on her husband, but the source we have imperiused is an old friend of hers, and she would know where Krystal is hiding, and we could capture them if needed."
"Yes." Bellatrix said in satisfaction. "Capture them all, then we can ransom them for this Stardancer, and convince him to not oppose us, or give himself up. Then we will have them. Afterwards, we will show the American Wizards that it would be unwise to interfere with our objectives."
Whatever they are, Travers thought to himself.
Her name was Regina Hendricks. She was a witch. She was so short that many believed that she was a child. Barely as tall as an twelve year old, Regina was none the less a fully adult witch. In fact, it would be a double, or even a triple, take before people will realize that she is fully proportioned; she doesn't suffer from dwarfism; she isn't a midget. Regina was just short, and that fact she used for her advantage. Because she looked like a child, many people overlook her. If you look at her eyes, though, you can tell she was much older than she looked. Wearing her long black hair in a braid, Regina made herself look even younger, and because of that, she was perfect as an infiltrator. People tend to say things around children, things that they should not say aloud, thinking that children would not understand. Being a full fledged auror, and a loyal member of the Department of Arcane Affairs, Regina was able to easily infiltrate the dark wizard's stronghold, pretending to be a little girl bored or looking for a chance to play. This was perfect for her to be in the meeting Bellatrix, Selwyn and Travers was having with the other dark wizards and witches in America. She heard everything, a fact that nobody knew, and she had realized the importance of contacting the department. Sneaking out (by pretending she rolled a ball outside), Regina stepped outside and walked briskly away, heading for her safe house, where she can report in detail everything.
Harry had enjoyed the time in New York, While Troy rested in the Safe house, He and the New Marauders were led through the city by one of Troy's friends, a wizard named Mark Battles. Mark was even taller than Troy, but skinnier. He had a bald head, and a goatee that was graying, but Harry could tell he was once black haired. Mark greeted Troy as if he was his best friend, and filled them all in on what was happening. One of the news that the New Marauders learned was that a strange image appeared in the clouds a couple nights ago in Salem. When Mark described the image, Harry and the others explained what it was.. The dark mark, the mark of Voldemort. This was the confirmation that Harry needed that at least the Death Eaters were here, Selwyn and Travers most likely. They were the only Death Eaters unaccounted for. In the meantime, Mark was able to take them through the city of New York, hitting spots of interest, and places where there were wizards and witches. When they arrived back to the safe house, loaded with items from America, they arrived to see someone talking to Troy. At first glance, Harry thought Troy was talking to a little girl. But as they approached, Harry realized he was talking to a very short witch, one which looked to be as tall as a first year in Hogwarts.
Troy was talking intently to her, and Hermione said to Harry "Wow, she is short."
"But she is an adult." Harry said. Harry could tell she was; she wore adult clothing, ,a light blue thin strapped shirt and blue jeans that were form fitting, showing that she had an adult proportioned body.
"That is Regina." Mark said to them. "She is older than you guys, about 22. She is Brazilian, and works for the Aurors. She is about the best information gatherer you will ever see."
"But she looks like a kid." said Ron.
"Yea, and your point?" Mark countered.
Ron frowned, but Ginny picked it up instantly. "People tend to ignore kids. They sometimes say things that they believe children don't understand. Something they should not reveal."
"Precisely." Mark said. Mark frowned when he saw Troy's grim face. "Something's up. Lets find out what it is. " Mark led the Marauders to Troy, who turned and looked at them.
"Trouble?" Mark said when he saw Troy's face.
"I have a big problem." he answered. "Several things have happened. Thanks to our excellent intelligence source.,," he shot a meaningful glance at Regina. "..we have learned a lot. The Dept. of Arcane Affairs have been fully infiltrated, and they convinced the FBI to place a BOLO on me. Kevin may have been imperiused, for he isn't blocking the decrees happening in the Dept. Waverly is the next target, from what I gathered.. The dark wizards are planning on taking it over to capture the children , thus to get the cooperation from those opposed to the dark wizards. "
"There's one more thing." Regina said to Troy. When she related what she heard, Troy's eyes suddenly flamed up. He pulled out his wand and stood, but Mark stopped him.
"Troy don't!." Mark said urgently. He had some difficulty holding him.
"Mark that is my family in danger! You don't expect me to sit by and watch them get caught!" Harry and the others stood by the door when Troy broke free. Seeing them holding their ground, Troy said in an ominous voice "Get out of my way."
"Not good." Mark said to Troy, keeping his distance and walked towards Harry and the others. He noted that none of the six even moved to lift their wands. "Think Troy! You're about to blast six people who you asked to help you, all because of the news about your family. Now Wait.." Mark said as Troy was about to respond. "Take a look at all of them, and tell me if any of them has NOT lost someone important in their struggles. Harry has lost his mother, father, and Godfather. Ron and Ginny lost a brother. Neville has parents who were tortured into insanity. Let's not forget their friends and companions either. Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, even Dumbledore. And Besides…" Mark said logically, "The Dark Wizards don't know what we do about the imperiused spy. We can save Krystal and your children, and also trick them."
Troy stared at his best friend, his face tortured. He then looked at Harry. Harry felt relieved when Troy lowered his wand. The anguish on his face was still evident, but Troy now saw logic in what Mark was saying. He looked at Harry, and apologized profusely.
Regina, who had been silently watching, suddenly spoke. "now that hat is settled, I think I can assure you all of total success for whatever you all are going to do today."
"How?" Harry asked.
She didn't answer verbally. She just grinned and opened her purse. She reached into it almost to her elbow, and then pulled out a small carrying tray. In the tray was eight small flasks, about the size of small test tubes. Each tube was filled with a golden liquid that Harry and the others knew very well. The golden liquid seemed to froth and bubble in each container.
Harry looked at Troy, who seemed confused. "You never saw that potion?"
"No, I don't think I studied it in my NEWTs."
"Me either." Mark said, his face also baffled.
"It's called Felix Felictus." said Neville sagely. "and that means-"
"-liquid luck." Troy answered. "I studied Latin intensively while Auror Training. So you can actually make Liquid luck?" he seemed awed at it.
"Well, it is devilishly hard to do." Hermione said. "You have to do everything perfect for six months, and that is just to stew it. And if any of it goes wrong. That potion could be dangerous."
"Awesome." Mark commented. "So why don't people make batches of it?"
"Because dependency on it is also dangerous." Neville said sagely. "Continuously taking Felix Felitcus will make you foolhardy and extremely dangerous to your self and your friends. It is recommended that you only take a swallow or a teaspoon when you do take it. That would last about 8 hours."
"You know, you could have taken it during the Battle of Hogwarts." Mark commented.
"Bloody Hell." Ron exclaimed. "Why didn't we think of that?"
"Well if the Dark Lord ever returns, we will make it a note to take it next time we see him." Luna said sarcastically. This caused everyone to laugh, even Ron.
Her name was Cerina Leham. She was a good friend of Troy's and Krystal's. Being such a good friend, she had access to them easily. Cerina was sorted into the Zotar House in Waverly, and she was very brave and loyal to her friends. Cerina, when in control of herself, was force to be reckoned with: highly skilled in magic, especially charms, fearless, and a registered animagus, which she can turn into a raccoon. Contrary to her house mascot (the bald eagle), Cerina chose to become a raccoon, which to her fit her personality more. There was one problem right now for the beautiful lady with long brownish hair and tea colored eyes….she was not in control of herself.
Cerina was imperiused. Although she was good at Occumency and Legilimency, Cerina could have protected herself by reading the thoughts of someone who may do her harm. She did not expect Selywn to be the one who imperiused her. Selwyn, on a tip from a couple of dark wizards who knew the close friendship between the Stardancers and Cerina, used it to his advantage to ambush and control Cerina. Cerina was now in an ideal place for the Death Eater; she was in the same safe house as Krystal Stardancer, Troy's wife.
Cerina's job was simple; keep an eye on Krystal and report if she contacts Troy or prepares to move to another safe house. This was the reason Cerina spent more time eavesdropping on her, staying in the background and acting inconspicuous. Selwyn reasoned that Troy would contact Krystal and tell her some things that he and the others should know. When last imperiused, Cerina was also ordered to immediately summon other wizards when Krystal was ready to run. That would fulfill Bellatrix's order to capture her.
A strange sound caught Cerina's attention. Frowning, she eased behind the outer door and pressed her ear against it, so she could hear what was going on. The instant she did that, she knew her plans were to come ahead. Apparently, Krystal was using the mirror to communicate with Troy, and she was listening to the conversation.
"Troy! Thank Zotar! I was worried." Krystal said, her voice betraying concern and relief.
"No need to be, Things are going great here in London." Troy's voice.
There was a near minute pause, which Cerina thought that the mirror must have had some interference.
"So when are you coming back?"
"Next Thursday. That would give me one more day to do the Waverly lecture."
"So you want me to stay here until then?"
"No, Tomorrow I want you to take the kids and" a throat clearing "let your guards know you will be heading to the Cleveland Safehouse."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"The cash is on the train, the bank in Leham is too happy, and I will be finished here next Thursday. Be careful."
"Always."
Cerina eased away from the door and then headed out to another room. Once she was sure she was alone, she aparated back to where Selwyn was.
Harry watched as Troy communicated with his wife. He also noted that Troy appeared more confident once he finished communicating with Krystal.
"You think it worked?" He asked Troy.
Troy turned and smiled at Harry, a rarity these last couple days. "Rather it did or not, I have warned Krystal that she and the children are in danger. I even told her it was from Cerina."
"How in the world did you do that?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Simple, using key phrases that me and Krystal worked out. You heard me say things are great here in London. First off, she knew I am not in London, plus when I said "things are going was great," it meant that what I was saying wasn't true. In case a Death Eater or Dark Wizard was eavesdropping, I figured I would at least warn her. I also said next Thursday I was coming back, meaning that there was someone inside the safe house who she should not trust. She knew I would not openly say I was coming back, and that was for the benefit of an eavesdropper. The Waverly lecture statement meant that they know she was there, and Gem and the children are in trouble."
"Gem?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Krystal's nickname. When you meet her later tomorrow, you will see why."
"So we are going to Cleveland?" Ron asked.
"No, that is another code phrase. I would not openly tell her to move to the next safe house. My guess is that the Death Eaters would try and ambush her there, since Cerina knows where the Cleveland safe house is. What we are planning to do is give them a nasty surprise."
"So how did you warn her that Cerina was the infiltrator?" Neville asked.
"The last statement." Troy answered. "I told her the cash was on the Train, and the bank was too happy."
"Which meant that Cerina was there, and she was working for the Dark wizards." Luna said suddenly. "how clever."
"How in the world did you figure that out?" Troy asked, confused.
"Because the statement you made did not make any since to me. After you told us the key words, I figured that the subject was cash…meaning that the first letter in the subject was the key to figuring out how to warn of the infiltrator. C. Then you said the bank in Leham, meaning that the place is actually the surname of the infiltrator. You told us Cerina's last name was Leham."
To Ron and Harry, it seemed that Luna was talking nonsense. But they were startled when Troy suddenly laughed and said "Luna, you are truly a fellow Ravenclaw. Wit beyond measure…"
"Is man's greatest Treasure." Luna finished the old Ravenclaw theme.
