Chapter 4: Another long night

Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J. K. Rowling and the various publishers. This story is written with no commercial aims. I do not make any money from it.

AN: This chapter is not proofread. I'll repost it when my beta reader is able to check it up.

Part One: A nightmare of a future past

15 March 2006, Outskirts of Dublin

Harry's first clue about how bad it was going to be was the silence. That and the strained faces of the veteran infantrymen and women securing the city block where he had apparated. Those were troopers of 11th Panzer-Grenadier division which was recuperating in a new base near Dublin after a month of heavy fighting. The troopers had spent almost five weeks on the frontlines, those were not soldiers who were easily shaken. Yet they were glancing with concern at one of the building on the street. A man in his mid twenties, who had a first lieutenant bars on the shoulders of his dark blue combat fatigues approached Harry. The officer saw the emblem of crossed wand and sword, which was on the newcomers uniform and stood at attention. He gave a textbook salute.

"Commander Potter, sir. I am glad you came so fast."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and looked behind the Lt. Two APC's were blocking a part of the street and had their turrets pointed at a two story building. He could feel the magical signatures of enhanced drones which were buzzing overhead.

"I was told it was urgent. What is the sitrep?"

The lieutenant waved at the building at which most of the visible soldier were glancing uneasily.

"A squad of Leopard Company, 3rd Battalion, was patrolling this neighborhood. Their attached combat witch sensed unfamiliar magic from this house. They called for backup and went in to investigate. Considering that they broke procedure and did not wait for reinforcements to arrive it is likely that they hit a compulsion ward. "

Harry nodded. It had become a SOP for Voldemort's forces to attach compulsion charms or even wards when they were planning to ambush allied forces.

"I wouldn't have been called for a simple ambush. However regrettable it may be it is happening all too often." The commander reasonably said.

" All too true, sir. Unfortunately the situation is far from ordinary. You need to see the scene for yourself, sir."

"Lead the way."

"Please follow me, sir."

The lieutenant turned around with a mechanical precision and marched towards the darkened house. They passed between a pair of troopers armed with automatic shotguns and entered the building. Inside they found a team of army CID ( Criminal Investigative Service), who were examining the scene. Harry saw one of the agents photographing something on the floor and looked that way. A severed arm, still gripping a combat knife with black blade was partially hidden by a cupboard. The appendage had jagged edges of muscle which indicated that it was torn off and not cut. And there was not a drop of blood in the corridor. Vampire, was the first thought that came to Harry. It fit with the lack of blood but it was not something that would call for his attention either. A lot of bloodsuckers were working for Riddle. How little did he knew. That this was a harbinger of things to come. It was a sign announcing how the war was entering its last and bloodiest phase.

"The rest of the body as well as the remains of the other patrol members are upstairs."

Harry looked up at the staircase in the end of the corridor. He did not wan to go up. He somehow knew what was laying there. The handiwork of Riddle's latest nightmare. A low grow from the left froze Harry. He could only watch as a big, gray hand clasped the shoulder of a brown-haired CID woman. It squeezed and he could hear the sickening sound of snapping bones. The female couldn't even scream. Only a stiffened gurgle came from her throat which was held by another hand. Harry heard a wet, ripping sound and the woman's head and body sailed away in two different directions, while a fountain of blood painted the walls crimson. A man's agonized scream came from the right, only to be abruptly ended. From outside roars of triumph and gunfire erupted. That knocked Harry back to his senses. A wand appeared in his left hand and a sword in his right. With a flick of his wrist, the commander sent a blasting curse at the figure that decapitated the female agent. The effect of his attack was underwhelming. The curse was harmlessly absorbed by a white shield. Harry was about to send another spell at the murderer when he felt something from behind and knelt under a powerful swing which ruffed his hair. His right arm was in a motion and he struck the blade of his weapon behind, under his left arm. Harry could feel the sword piercing flesh. His assailant grunted and grabbed Harry's sword arm. The wizard tried a backwards kick which connected with a leg that felt like it was made of steel. The strike had no apparent effect. Harry pointed his wand at the being that was holding him. The next spell died on his lips when a monstrous hand with needle sharp claws closed around his face. The only thing he saw from the being behind him was a broad, heavily muscled torso. The hand which had caught his face closed with the power of a hundred ton press. Harry could feel his bones cracking under the pressure. Then there was only darkness.

2 November 1995, London

Harry started awake and gasped for air. For a wild moment he didn't know where he was. Then he felt soft, warm weight on his chest which gave him a sound of discontent. He stared at the red-headed girl who was obviously asleep, using his chest as a pillow and the memories of the last day came back. He had dozed off on the coach in the living room of the Potter's London apartment. With his sister using him as a teddy bear. He gazed at her face which was so calm. She looked like an angel. For a long time, Harry stared at Rose's sleeping form, glad that she had no nightmares. Eventually he cast a levitation charm on her and tenderly brought his sister to her room and placed her under her bed's blankets. He moved back quietly and carefully closed the door before heading for the kitchen. There he found Blaise, who was taking a midnight snack. Harry greeted his black-skinned friend and headed to the fridge. He could use a bite or two and besides it was unlikely that he would fall asleep again any time soon.

Blaise finished chewing on a bite of lasagna and swallowed. He looked at his friend with a mild concern.

"Another nightmare?" He inquired.

"Yup. The god damned Titan's and their debut in Dublin. "

"Ah. That was ugly. I hate those things."

"You and everyone that saw their handiwork."

"Those that had to face them head one hated the bloody monstrosities even more. So, Harry..." Blaise pointed at his friend with the fork in his right hand, "... did you get the memories from the Dursey's arrest?"

"They are right here." Potter patted an invisible pocket in the chest piece of his robe. "I've got the ones from my meeting with our esteemed minister too."

"That will be interesting to see."

"On a brighter note, I believe I know how to help Lis."

"Really?" That got Blaise's undivided attention.

"Yes. It looks like an early variant of the Mind rend that the Russian DE's were using when they tried to open a second front in Eastern Europe. If I am right, it will take a week of brewing and some exotic ingredients. Hopefully the corpse of the basilisk Rose dealt with is still in the chamber. I'll need a vial of its blood for the potion."

"Either that or I'll be going snake hunting."

"There is that. Where was that breeding ground again? Still in Tibet or was it moved into southern China by now?"

"Not sure. When we needed basilisk reagents for the Crimson plague cure it I found it was all the way in South Vietnam."

"Huh. I missed that."

"You was lucky to be in the US training a bunch of newbie combat wizards before their deployment if I recall correctly."

"Yeah, I needed the down time after the third battle for Hogwarts."

The two old friends continued making small talk while finishing their midnight snack. Then they retired to the living room, where Harry retrieved a small pensieve, engraved with the Potter's crest. It was time for the veterans to compare notes.

Part 2 After Action Reports

1 November 1995, Ministry of Magic

Amelia Bones appeared in her office in the heart of DMLE in a flash of green flames. Her posture was stiff with a barely restrained fury. She marched to the door, opened it and shouted:

"Shacklebolt, Scrimgeour! My office! Now!"

Hearing the tone of the voice of their boss, the two aurors hurried to report. Minute later, when both of them were standing at attention in front of Amelia's desk, the two experienced magical policemen had hard time staying cool. Neither of them had seen her in such state since the last war. They saw how a bunch of auto-quills were taking copies of a thick stack of parchment. Madam Bones looked at her aurors with a eyes in which was simmering a cold, controlled rage. She pointed at her Scrimgeour.

"I want you to gather two teams of reliable aurors. Make sure that they know to keep their mouths shut. Go!" Scrimgeour hurried to obey.

Then Amelia's gaze bored into her other subordinate.

"And you!" Shacklebolt winced, wondering what he had done to piss of his boss that much, when he found himself staring down the length of her wand. "I want an unbreakable vow from you that you'll not report anything to Dumbledore and his Order without my explicit permission.

The large, black man paled. That was not good at all. What had Albus done to piss off royally Amelia Bones?!

"Madam Bones..."

"The VOW! NOW! " She cut him off.

He stared at her furious eyes and gulped. Albus Dumbledore, great man or not, wasn't here. Amelia however was right here, out for someone's blood and Shacklebolt decided that it won't be his. Besides, the headmaster had other agents in the DMLE. So, he carefully retrieved his wand from its holster and gave the required vow. As it turned out, it was not something that he would regret later.

Amelia gave him a curt nod and a copy of the stack of parchments in his arms. Then the director sent him to place it with the other secure records. Ten minutes later, Amelia, Shacklebolt, Scimgeour and six of the most trustworthy aurors were gathered in a small conference room. After casting a myriad of privacy charms on top of those normally present within the offices of the DMLE, Amelia was ready to brief her aurors.

"What we are dealing with is a case of systematic child abuse which has lasted for nearly fourteen years. Both physical and mental. The kid has also been starved."

The assembled aurors muttered angrily. All of them despised child abusers.

"I have deposition from a healer who examined the child as well as statement from the victim describing the way she was treated as well as confirmation of the identity of the perpetrators. Their names are Vernon and Petunia Dursley as well as one Marjoline Dursley, sister to the husband. "

A young woman, whose hair had turned crimson when she heard the kind of criminals they were about to deal with asked:

"What is the name of the victim and how in Merlin's name it was not noticed sooner?!"

Amelia looked at the young metamorph, who incidentally was the daughter of her friend Andy, and answered quietly.

"The victim is Rose Lilian Potter."

Those three words went out like a flash-bang, stunning the assembled aurors. They were looking at Amelia uncomprehending. The Girl-who-lived couldn't have been abused, right? It had to be a mistake...

The conference room was plunged into a deafening silence. Shackelbolt looked at his boss with wide eyes. Now he understood why Madam Bones wanted that oath. There simply was no way for the last of the Potters to be abused when she was under the Dumbledore's care without the old man knowing. The auror simply could not believe that the old man could fuck up in such a way...

The silence was ended when the director gave her next order:

"Considering the sensitivity of the situation you are to keep it quiet at least until we have the perpetrators into custody and have policed the crime scene. The last thing we need is for the damned reporters to find our before we have things under control. The plan is..."

1 November 1995, Little Whinging

Eight, disillusioned witches and wizards apparated in front of one of scores of identical houses in the small village. Six of those people were clad in the crimson robes the aurors were famous for. Immediately, two men cast Notce-me-not and muggle repellent charms around the house and afterwards they went one each at the sides of the two story house. Scrimgeour with another pair of the uniformed magical law enforcement officers headed to the back of the building, in order to prevent escape from that way. As ordered they were doing things by the book that day. That left the front door to Amelia with Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. The director went to the entrance and pressed the doorbell. Soon enough a horse faced woman in her late forties opened the door and stared at the visitors. Her face became pale and she screeched:

"You are one of those people! What are you doing here!?"

The elder witch smiled coldly at the woman, in a way that sent chills down the spine of Rose's aunt.

"I am Amelia Bones from DMLE. Petunia Dursley, I assume?"

The housewife took a step backwards as if physically hit by the fury lidded tone with which her name was pronounced and nodded dumbly.

"You are under arrest for multiple counts of child abuse, endangerment of a minor, attempt to end the line of a Most Noble and Ancient house and whatever else we can pin on you. Tonks, get her into a solitary confinement. "

"You! You don't have the right! We are normal people here! I won't have your unnaturalness..." A stunner ended the tirade and Petunia hit the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Thank you Tonks. Now get that thing out of my sight." Amelia pointed at the unconscious woman. While the younger witch was doing as ordered, the director looked around. The left wall of the corridor was covered with family photos but Rose was not on any of them. The eyes of Madam Bones sopped at a small cupboard situated under the stairs. She looked at it for a long moment wondering how those people could have left a little girl spent ten years there. She pointed it to the black auror who was standing behind her.

"Shacklebolt, inspect it!"

He nodded grimly and went to the small door. The auror noticed the lock on it and frowned. A quick unlocking charm later and he was looking inside. It was filled with brooms and cleaning supplies. There was nothing out of the ordinary until he saw the back of the opened door when he was about to turn to face his boss. On it was engraved "Rose's room" . Shacklebolt stayed that way – kneeling on the floor and looking at the two simple words. By themselves they were not enough to shatter his world, that would come few minutes later when he would cast a series of spells designed to reveal what had happened at a certain place (unless someone who really knew what he was doing used the correct magics to cover his tracks). Standard investigative stuff as far as any auror was concerned. However those words were more than enough to cement the rising doubt into his mind. A doubt that would soon blossom and be confirmed as his near reverence for someone he believed to be a great man died.

Amelia noticed at what her auror was looking and sadly shook her head. She left him to his silent contemplation and headed upstairs, where she saw confirmation of Rose's words. Three bedrooms and a guest room! And yet the girl was left for a decade in that damned place! To make matters worse, when she reached the smallest bedroom, the director saw eleven locks on its door. The bloody thing was secured better than a cell in Azkaban! She drew her wand and unlocked the door. Inside the small room she found a bed, covered by a thing mattress which looked like a board of wood, a small, very old desk in a desperate need of repair and a single uncomfortable looking chair. Not to mention the iron bars on the single window. This was not a child's room but a bloody prison cell!

While the aurors were tearing apart Privet Drive number four, Dudley Dursley had a great day. First he had eaten a breakfast with second and even a third helping, then he had spent the time until noon playing on his Playstation after convincing his mother that he was too sick to go to school. Then a big nice lunch followed and some more gaming, after which he left to meet two of his mates. They had decided to have some fun and were looking for a substitute punching back until Dudley's cousin the Freak girl was back. Unknown to him, that was a very bad day to be a Durlsey and he and his crones were about to make it even worse. Their eyes were roaming for targets and finally stopped on a girl with long brown hair who was walking down the street carrying a load of books. Dudley and his friends grinned like jackals and advanced towards their newest victim.

Ten years old Stella Storm, was walking home. She had passed through the local library on her way back from school and was loaded with a handful of books. She didn't like that her parents had decided to move to this village, after her mother had received a lucrative job offer in a nearby town. That resulted in a series of events which culminated with her parents dragging her away from all her friends in Leeds. To make things even worse for her, as far as she knew there was no one magical at this school, where she was stuck for one more year untill she could go to Hogwarts. She had been so excited after that accident when she had turned her mum's hair purple and her dad had explained to her that she was a witch. But he had soon dampened her emotions when he explained that she won't be able to really use magic until she was eleven! That was just not fair! And now this – there was no one here with who she could even speak about magic, not like in her last school, where two of her friends were witches too!

Stella was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not notice the three older boys before it was almost too late. The biggest of them, who looked like a big fat ball with arms and legs attached reminded it of a horror story she heard at school about someone called Dudley or something who had terrorizes everyone for years. She didn't like the way they were looking at her or how they were cracking their knuckles. With a strangled "Eep!" she bolted down an alley between two identical houses and the boys ran after her in hot pursuit. Stella was sprinting half-hidden in shadows cast by dark, heavy rain clouds. She was meters away from the end of the alley and was heading to the street on the left when she slipped in a puddle of water left from a rain earlier that day. Her books spilled from her grasp and flew forward as she fell. She crashed on the ground with a frightened cry and scrapped her hands and knees on the rough cement. Behind her the thundering steps of her pursuers were closing in. She scrambled frantically trying to get away from the nearing noise. Her small heart was fluttering like a terrified little bird, when Stella knew that the boys were too close and that she was not fast enough to get away. She barely managed to stand up, dragging herself up to the wall at the end of the alley when the fastest of her pursuers was upon her.

"Running, are we?" He grunted. The boy was trying to catch his breath when he reached her.

Stella was trying to squeeze herself through the wall which was at her back, when she saw a fist flying at her face and screamed. She just wanted to be safe with her father!

The strike never connected. In a flash of light she dissaperated in a wild release of accidental magic, leaving the three boys behind.

At the same time Amelia Bones was up in Rose's room and was looking through the barred window. She was surprised to see two, almost simultaneous flashes of light. One was about half kilometer to the right and the other was on the ground below the window.

"Stella!"

Amelia heard a frantic shout from one of her men and looked down. Auror Storm was crouching over a young girl who was laying on the ground. From her vantage point, the director had excellent view of the face of the crying child and her disheveled appearance. It looked familiar. Amelia could see the kid's left hand which was bleeding.

"Stella, sweetie, what happened?!" The auror asked. He had drawn his wand and was already casting minor healing charms.

Then the director placed the face of the child. She had seen it on a picture frame on the desk of Jason Storm, who was accidentally the man who was tending to the kid. That was his oldest daughter. With an unexpected burst of speed for her apparent age, Amelia dashed down the stairs. She noticed Nelson, who was a trained medic coming from the back of the house and waved him to follow. Moments later, when she exited the house and turned around the corner to the left, Madam Bones had to halt when she came behind Shacklebolt who was hovering over the Storm's. She sidestepped him and saw the girl who was in the embrace of her father. was trying to calm her down.

"Nelson, check up the kid and see if she needs to go to Saint Mungo."

"Right away, ma'am!" The auror hurried to follow his orders.

"So, without you to put the "little", okay, the whale of a bastard in his place, your so called cousin continued to make a nuisance of himself... "

"Well, that's effectively over. By now Dudders should be stuck in a cell and hope that auror Storm is not let anywhere near him."

"What about the whale?"

"My dear uncle had a very interesting visit at work..."

Vernon Dursley was devouring a bacon sandwich which was brought in by his twenty year old secretary and was admiring her behind as she was leaving his office. He finished it in another bite and grabbed the next treat when he heard a door opening. His eyes widened with surprise when two men in old fashioned suits entered the waiting room in where his secretary's desk was placed. One was about one eighty in height and had what looked like claw marks across his face. He had short black hair and grown eyes which were glaring at Vernon. The other was a head shorter, blond man with arctic cold blue eyes. The secretary went to confront the men but promptly stepped aside when one of them flashed a badge of some kind in front of her.

"Vernon Dursley?" The first man asked.

"Yes. Who are you and what do you think you are doing barging in my office?!"

The blond man smiled viciously.

"We are agents Johnson and Drake from Scotland Yard. And you, mister Dursley are under arrest for child abuse..."

Vernon became redder than a well cooked crab and blustered.

"See there! That is... "

"Oh, shut up you bloody whale! We have you dead to rights. Did you really think that you could treat Rose Potter that way and get away with it!?"

Dursley spluttered.

"YOU! You are one of those freaks!"

The enraged man took a swing at the closest disguised auror. Drake gave Vernon a frosty smile after catching his right hand. The auror moved faster than Dursley's eyes could follow and the man who was resembling an over-sized walrus found himself face to face with the rug on the floor of his office. Vernon screamed sensing a sharp, piercing pain in his right wrist. He was cuffed and paraded in front of all the curious workers in the plant, before being stuck in the back of an unmarked police car and driven away.

"Another team of aurors took the sister of my... uncle, into custody and ended blasting apart that piranha with feet she called a dog in the process, but Amelia was unable to sent me a memory of that. "

"A pity. Though I prefer the way we dealt with that bloody thing."

"Yeah. That memory still puts a smile on my face!"

"So the Dursleys are all awaiting trial. Any word when it is?"

"Amelia hopes to gather an emergency session of the Wizengamot for this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Before Albus gets an idea of what we are up to and has enough time to react. Right now he'll be concentrating on finding more about you, where you've taken Rose and how to get custody back. "

"Well, the trial and the charges he'll face as result will put a pretty big wrench in those plans." Harry grinned.

"So, how exactly did your chat with our dear minister go?"

"Well, you see..."

1 November 1995, London

In the middle of the night, the minister of magic's mansion was covered by a blanket of deep shadows. Overhead the sky was even darker. For Harry, who was inside a futuristic looking armor, all sharp angles of black metal, designed to deflect bullets, spells and blades, it was as bright as at high noon thanks to the enchanted night vision equipment integrated in his helmet. His disillusioned form passed through the outer perimeter of the property as if the defenses were not even there. The notice-me-not and muggle repelling wards had no effect over Potter. Harry stopped at the threshold of an invisible line which marked the area of effect for the true defenses of the mansion. He retrieved a sphere of black marble which was covered with runes from a pouch on his cargo pants. This artifact was one of three he and Blaise had on themselves after they were brought to this world. It was an ingenious little device which was extremely hard to make, with the materials needed alone costing hundreds of thousands galleons. But in Harry's opinion it was worth every penny. What this sphere of marble did was precious. It could confuse the wards over any given property in writing in the person who used it. After its introduction during the war, no place defended only with wards was safe ever again. Luckily, most of the needed materials were very rare in Britain so Voldemort and his idiots were unable to make good use of this discovery. On the other hands, various Alliance black ops groups used these devices to great effect when storming DE's dwellings. With a practiced ease, Harry linked his magic to the sphere and pushed the object through the wards. He felt the protective magics pulsing in confusion. The resistance lasted five seconds after which it stopped. The marble sphere sizzled and crumpled into ash. Harry smiled under his helmet and stepped forwards into the property protected by the mansion's wards. Nothing happened and he proceeded to the front door. A brief diagnostic spell usually used by thieves confirmed what he suspected – the door was not locked with magic. Picking the massive lock turned out to be a child's play. Harry checked the door once again, just in case and he entered the mansion. His armor unfolded leaving him wearing his green, combat robes. He retrieved his wand and cast an area of effect spell centered over his very person. A brief search later, during he left a few surprises in the house, Harry found the minister. To his surprise, Fudge wasn't sleeping. Instead he was sitting behind an antique desk into a lavishly decorated office. The minister was furiously scribing into a thick ledger and at first did not notice the newcomer. Harry stilled cheerfully and walked into the room.

"Minster Fudge! How nice to find you awake at this hour!"

"Wha... Who the hell are you?!" Cornelius was startled by the stranger that walked in like he was owning the place. He wasted no time and activated his emergency portkey but to his horror it didn't work! Fudge was starting to panic when he remembered that his ring of office doubled as both portkey to the ministry and a silent alarm that was supposed to call in a detachment of aurors to his position! He frantically grabbed the ring with his right hand and shouted:

"Omega! Case Omega! Omega damn you!"

Harry looked at the minister's antics with amusement. Fudge was lucky that he had uses for him alive, because if Potter was an assassin it would have been all over - the supposed leader of magical Britain would be long dead by now, without even knowing what hit him.

"Now, Cornelius, I can call you Cornelius, right, my friend? There is no need for that. I am not here to cause you harm after all!" Harry's smile widened a bit.

The ministers sweat covered face turned towards the newcomer and he blinked at him.

"Right! No harm! Of course not!" Fudge babbled.

"As I said I am a friend!" Harry wandlessly cast a minor charm which was aimed at dampening the minister's mistrust.

"A friend?" Fudge parrotted. The young man did look somewhat familiar...

"Its been a long time since my family had an active hand in the politics of our great nation. I'll be changing that minister. Naturally the logical first step is to show my support for the ministry and you, dear Cornelius."

For the minister support usually equaled funds so he perked up despite still being somewhat terrified.

"But let's first introduce myself. I am Lord Harry James Potter. I believe you'll be needing my support for the elections which are in less than two years." Harry presented his ring for Cornelius to inspect.

Fudge looked at the jewel and blanched. It was the real deal. Even he could sense it pulsing with the old magics that were characteristic for the Ancient houses Lord's rings. And Fudge was painfully aware of the seats controlled by the Potter name, that he were frozen until the Girl-who-lived became of age and claimed her lordship (and all those votes fell under the control of Dumbledore unless a miracle happened). All that was a made a moot point by the man standing before him.

"Cornelius, cheer up! With House Potter support you'll have no trouble being reelected despite the opposition from Dumbledore and his friends..."

Harry could literally see the ministers thoughts written all over the man's face. Yes, he was going often to Dumbledore for advice but he had never trusted the old man. Seriously, who would not want the minister's position for himself!? Then there was the fortune for which the Potters were known. Now back in business with a new lord taking the mantle...

Now, granted Lucius was a good friend and an excellent contributor but compared to the Potters, the Malfoy family moderately reach at best. Hmm, what are the odds of getting financial aid for his campaigns by both parties?

"Lord Potter, nice to make you acquaintance!" A somewhat calmed down minister gushed at what he was undoubtedly seeing as his newest paycheck.

Harry beamed at the man. By the gleam in Fudge's eyes, he had the minister almost right where he wanted him.

"The honor is mine, minister! Now with the pleasantries out of the way lets discus what I could do for you Cornelius. When I saw the shabby condition of your mansion, decided that a small donation is in order! Our minister of magic must have only the best! Anything less will reflect poorly on Magical Britain!"

Fudge really liked the sound of that. He smiled at his new friend.

A hour and a donation more than enough for a new mansion later, they were about to finish their meeting. The minister was in a great mood! Why, the sound of tens of thousands fresh galleons was incredibly refreshing!

"By the way, Cornelius, if you could do me a tiny favour?" Harry asked sweetly.

"If it is within my not inconsiderable power, Harry!"

"I believe it will be in both our interests if all Dumbledore's ventures where the ministry is concerned are carefully monitored! We can't have our supreme warlock doing something without all the T's crossed and the I's dotted after all! The little increase of red tape Dumbledore deals with is small price to pay for guaranteeing the credibility of the positions he holds!"

"This is splendid idea!" Fudge declared with a large smile. Burying the old man under a mountain of red tape and paperwork... This was pure genius!

"And minister... It may sound a bit forward of me but you simply must increase your security! I just walked in here! Imagine what could have happened if instead of me someone who wished you harm was to come into your home. That would be just tragic..."

Fudge blanched. He might not be a Ravenclaw but the meaning of Harry's words was clear as a sunny day to him. Potter had just walked into his, the ministers home, which was one of the best warded places on the British isles. And the new lord was more than confident that he could do so again. He could see it in Potter's eyes. It was a promise of slow, painful death if he betrayed him. He could sense that this young lord was much more dangerous than Lucius and his friends. Besides Potter had more resources than them. Cornelius thought that this time it may be a good idea to stay bought. Not to mention much healthier...

"Fascinating. It took him less than a minute to become from terrified to ready for bribing. I knew he was a greedy, corrupt bastard but this is ridiculous!" Blaise was laughing his ass off.

"That is Fudge for you. Besides its irrelevant behind what wards he decides to hide if he tries to mess with us. I left couple of surprises on my way in."

Blaise chuckled in response.

"So what is the plan for tomorrow?"

"I'll get Rose out for a shopping trip. It'll help her chill out after all the dirty little secrets that came to light yesterday. Then we'll have to pass through the hospital for Andromeda to check her again, get the prescribed potions and perhaps a visit with a mind healer. After that we'll have to reestablish the alliances with the Longbottoms and the Greengrasses for starters. I'll be writing letters to Lady Longbotom and Lord Orion Greengrass before going to bed."

"I need a presentable wardrobe and after that I'll be visiting some of the more shady contacts of my family. They should help with getting most of what is needed for the potion to heal mother."

"Get few hours of shuteye. I'll write the letters and do so too."

2 November 1995, Grimmauld Place

Sirius Black was awoken from a restless sleep shortly after midnight. His reaction to the unexpected intruder was to jump from the bed and still half asleep to lunge for his wand, which was on the night stand next to him. Only a quick reaction in raising a shield protected Dumbledore from being blasted through a wall. That would have been an even worse ending for his very bad day.

"Albus! What are you doing here?!"

"My boy, calm down!" The headmaster eyes twinkled with faked amusement. That was too close save for comfort. He did not let that stop him from acting with his usual grandfatherly manner.

"What happened? Is Rose all right?"

"Sirius you must stay calm. Rose was taken."

"What! By who!? I'll kill the bastards!" Sirius fumed enraged.

"I told you to remain calm!" Dumbledore spoke sternly.

Black glared at the old man and growled.

"Explain what happened! Now!"

"It seems that Harry did not die as we all were led to believe. I don't know where the poor boy was all this years but he returned this morning before breakfast. He had reclaimed his lordship and took Rose away from the school. He claimed it is for a week but I am unsure. Sirius, I do not know with whoever Harry was to turn him this way, however I am afraid that he no longer follows the light..."

Since the moment Albus mentioned that Harry was alive, Sirius was standing rooted in place and barely paid any attention at what the headmaster was saying. Was this some kind of sick joke? Or did Dubledore finally loose it? And what was this nonsense about his dead godson being evil?

AN: Please review!