Chapter 4:

The Rendevouz:

Since Ron had neither mentioned a time nor a date, Harry and Hermione had decided to take off work for a few days and explore Diagon Alley every day. Hermione had moved in to Grimmauld place for the time being, and together they travelled every morning to Diagon Alley.

They spent time in each and every one of their haunts of years ago - Flourish and Botts, Quality Qudditch Supplies, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Madam Malkins Dress Robes and even Borgin and Burkes which was now being monitored by a number of Ministry Wizards. Hermione was beginning to see Ron somewhere all the time and glowered so furiously at Harry when he disagreed with her opinions, that he gave up and allowed her to track down Ron on her own, whenever and wherever she saw him. They avoided both Gringotts and WWW for the fear of bumping into George or Bill though Harry felt really odd when he was pushed by Hermione just as they saw George around Flourish and Botts one day.

They had lunch almost everyday at the Leaky Cauldron - which now had a new cook- Patsy Parisdale who cooked, according to Harry, the best Steak and Kidney Pie next to Molly Weasley. They usually always bumped into a number of old friends - Seamus Finnigan, who was working now for the 'Muggle Liason Office' at the Ministry of Magic but was not seen for a day or two, Ernie Macmillan who was training to be a healer but was used often to buy supplies for the others at St Mungos, Roger Davies who was working with Gringotts and Hannah Abbott who was an Assistant at Flourish and Botts. They knew Bill and George never lunched at the Cauldron. Bill went home to eat Fleurs Bouillabaise and George to the Burrow. After lunch they would once again travel the length of the alley ocassionally straying into Knockturn alley as well - just in case - but there was no sign of Ron anywhere.

After Harry had received an owl from a furious William Proudfoot, Head of the Aurors over his absences and Hermione had been reprimanded for her carelessness, they decided to go back to work and to travel everyday after work to Diagon Alley. During this period Harry had received disturbing news of Dementor attacks. The Ministry was concerned.
At a meeting, Minister Shacklebolt had summoned Proudfoot and informed him of the attacks. Since the War of Hogwarts, Dementors everywhere had been captured and confined to an unplottable area just outside Cornwall. The Ministry had created a special Division in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures called the Dementor Defense Unit(DDU) consisting of Wizards who guarded the sanctuary in shifts with at least twenty patronuses patrolling the outer boundary. The DDU had claimed there had been an attack and at least a few dementors might have escaped. Muggles had been attacked and the Dementors were to be captured before causing more damage. Also there remained the question of who had ordered the attack and how the attack had been caused.

Proudfoot assembled his group of twelve Aurors and split them into four groups of three each. Merlyn, Charlie, Barnsworth - Group 1, were to travel to outer cornwall to investigate the escape and to assist the Enforcement Squad to determine whether any of the Ministry Wizards were involved either accidentally or intentionally(A Groan from the members indicated that this was the most boring task). Audrey, Pennilbottom, and Horay - Group 2, were to assist the Muggle Liason Office. They were to travel in muggle disguises and go to the place where the last attack was made, and there to stay on guard and try to protect the area. Maximus, Cowther and Lambkins - Group 3, were to track down the Dementors from the place where the last attack was made and to capture the Dementors(Group 2 could only defend not capture the Dementors). Potter, Proudfoot himself and Groundling were to protect Gringotts and Diagon Alley from any Dementors and to assist Hit Wizards - Auberson, Mulberry, Pranson and Dagworthy. Harry would ordinarily have protested - and would have insisted on joining Group 2- but this was favourable for him as he would get a chance to be in Diagon Alley.

Hermione was now busy - her boss requesting her for an extensive report on Dementor Damage to be presented to the Minister. The Prophet was surmising many theories on the escape including the escape being Minister Shacklebolt's own idea to gather power(This had been voiced by Rita Skeeter who was now out of Hermione's control about what she wrote) and results were expected fast.

Harry, Proudfoot and Groundling were now on duty almost continously near gringotts. Each trying to appear inconspicous but failing to do so ecspecially Harry whose scar was too famous to ignore now. For four days now there had been a lull, Group 1 had reported that four DDU wizards had been confunded and had recalled their patronuses. Group 2 had not yet seen any Dementor in the muggle area so far and Group 3 had had little success in finding any signs of Dementors. The Aurors and the hit wizards indulged in a gobstones game now and then and Harry not being very good at the game had lost over twenty galleons to Pranson. Proudfoot surmised that the Dementors had never escaped and that the attackers had just planted false memories and were performing dementor attacks themselves, and every one else was relieved all the same.

On the fifth day - Proudfoot conducted a meeting informing his Aurors that they would relieved the following day and would be replacing Group 1. He seemed upset. Kingsley Shacklebolt had refused to accept Proudfoot's theory and had insisted on the search for Dementors to be continued. Finishing the meeting the group sat again to join their hit wizard mates for a friendly game of gobstones. "Harry!", Harry turned and saw Hermione running upto him - frantic and worried. He ignored Proudfoot's remonstrances and rushed to Hermione, who had a letter in her hand. The letter was addressed to Hermione:

Dear Hermione

I am sorry but the last few days have been very tough. Please ask Harry not to go anywhere near Diagon Alley for a day or two and stay away yourself. There is danger lurking. I will write to you soon to explain myself.

Ron

Harry barely had time to comprehend the contents of the letter when he heard a high pitched scream issuing from one of the women shoppers who was looking at the sky. In a split instant Harry, Proudfoot, Groundling, and Mulberry immediately formed a semi circle around the crowd while Pranson and Auberson began to pacify the alarmed crowd and escorting them into Flourish and Botts and requestig them to keep calm. Dagworthy was bundling Hermione towards Gringotts ignoring her protests. The Skyline was now streaked with hooded figures - Dementors descending down on Diagon Alley. The Semi Circle now shot silver streaks towards the air and a stag, a lioness, a rat and a bulldog descended into the air and for a brief moment appeared to have driven away the dementors when suddenly alongside the dementors, a group of hooded wizards appeared. They resembled the death eaters except they had blue robes and similar looking broomsticks which had been disillusioned to make it appear as though they were flying.

The wizard in the centre, the tallest of the group waved his hands and out of the wand tip soared a red light which shattered the patronesses into wisp. The Dementors continued to glide down to the people whose screams rent the air with terror. Harry felt the cold creeping up inside him as he desperately attempted to create a patronus. He saw out of the corner of his eye Groundling and Mulberry crashing to the ground, Proudfoot managed a patronus his lioness keeping the Dementors away briefly before being blown away into bits. The hooded wizards had done nothing so far and calmly seemed to enjoy the panic below. Harry knew they were literally feeding Dementors. Proudfoot seemed to rush out and fall hard on the ground and Harry knew it was his turn. Pranson, Auberson, Dagworthy and Hermione joined him and together they tried to attack the hooded wizards, especially the tall one. Pranson and Dagworthy waved their wands in unision in the direction of the tallest wizard. None of the other wizards reacted. The tallest wizard merely glanced in their direction, easily avoided their curses and instead flicked his wand towards them and Pranson and Dagworthy were blown back and lay inert in a crumpled heap. He then raised his wand and created a patronus except that it looked red instead of silver. It was a shark as Harry could see which rushed towards the Dementors supposedly to drive them away but as Harry could see push them towards the people assembled.

Harry could see Auberson and Hermione swooning and felt himself going cold. As horrible thoughts invaded his being... he felt as though he would never be happy again. Suddenly Harry felt warmer and saw that the Tallest Wizard had stopped the Dementors. He was beckoning to Harry. The other wizards watched on their seemingly invisible brooms as they watched their master or leader throwing off his robe. He was an ugly bloke and seemed foreign except for the green eyes of his which glared intensely. Harry raised his wand but before he could do a thing, felt himself being whipped into the air and thrown on the side. He rose again and saw the Tall wizard on same ground as him now waving his wand causing Harry to be trapped by a fiery chasm. Hermione had risen her wand but the wizard was too quick causing Hermione and every other wizard and witch to be trapped in a dome bubble which Harry could see resisted every spell.

"So Potter!". He growled, "Ready to die?!", the wizard neared Harry who could do nothing to get out of the chasm and prepared to die when there was a slight scream from a wizard on the broom who was screaming "Honos..."

The leader whipped around to see a hooded man flying in the air. Harry was sure there was no disillusionment charm this time around. He roared like a bull and bounded to what Harry assumed was his broom. Harry noticed that all the witches and wizards who had been with the leader were now in Domes similar to the ones Hermione and the others were trapped in. Harry could conclude that the Domes had been conjured by the wizard who was apparently called Honos. Honos circled the Leader wand in hand slowly descending to the ground. The leader flashed his wand and a red shark swarmed towards the Dementors who had been held off as Harry observed by a silver grizzly bear. The bear and the shark clashed but this time the bear fought off the shark. Honos turned to his adversary who had shot at honos bolts of green light, Honos disapparated and reappeared behind the leader hitting the leader with a yellow bolt of light that turned into hundreds of mice and covered the leader completely. The leader broke away and waved his wand - this time a red bull rushed to Honos who calmly ducked and created a golden sphere which sucked in the bull and burst into thousands of silver orbs. The leader sprinted towards where his broom was but Honos was too quick waving his wand to create a cage in which the Leader was trapped but the leader destroyed the cage though was severely wounded in the process, he screamed a curse(using a verbal spell for the first time) and a flash of talons raced towards Honos who looked surprised but ducked relatively fast though the talons ripped through his hand and blood gushed out. Honos instantly dove into his robes and put something into his mouth and now pointed his wand over the leader. The leader was now thrown up in the air and nothing he could do as he went screaming higher and higher. Harry heard the high pitched scream first and then saw the leader zooming to the ground and falling with a sickening thud and a crunch.

Honos waved his wand and the grizzly turned into a enormous number of grizzlies surrounding the dementors from all sides. He burst the domes to release Hermione and the others before flicking his wand to allow the domes containing the hooded wizards to turn yellow."If you use a single curse now, you will be crushed and shall be burnt to cinder" - he announced in a magically magnified voice. He descended down until he was face to face with Harry, and slowly lowered his hood. The face was unmistakably that of Ronald Weasley.

Ron turned to Proudfoot who was rising slowly. "I trust you can handle this now" - there was a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice. The rest of the group nodded, and the public had rushed out all of them casting furitive glances at Ron, whom they were calling Honos. Ron rushed to Hermione who was sitting in a thunderstruck position still unable to believe what had happened or that Ron was here. As Harry moved towards them he could hear Ron saying, "I warned you didn't!". He turned to Harry with a grin, ignoring the gesticulations of the crowd in his direction.

"Harry...", Ron began but Harry had his wand raised high. "Identify yourself!!", Harry shouted but in a flash two steely handcuffs drew out of Ron's silver wand and wound themselves on Harrys hands, binding them together and in an unlockable position. "Harry..", Ron said sounding amused. "Sorry... instant reaction to raised wands" he waved his wands to unwind Harry. "Fair enough..". "Ron Weasley, met you in your first year, saved Hermione from a Troll, Rescued the Philosophers stone...", Harry who had been unable to react for a few minutes after the cuffs began again, "No! What was the first spell you used and on what after we had met...". Ron's eyes widened and he laughed "Scrabbers or Wormtail, Sunshine Daisy Bottom...Something to turn him yellow". The wand was lowered. Ron's patronus was changed from a Terrier to Grizzlies who were slowly dissolving - all of them to be replaced by Lionesses, Rats, Bulldogs and Otters.

Ron was wearing Black Robes and Dragon Hide Boots, He was handsomer than ever and taller than Harry had remembered. Hermione was looking at him dazingly. Suddenly from the Sky Harry saw two other wizards descending. "Sorry Honos!" - He was barely eighteen but as tall as Ron and dressed similarly. "Delayed by a small conflict with a death pack on the way. Had to kill two". "Honos!" - It was a woman - Hermione curled up but from Ron's look it was clear he had no feelings for her - "Was it...?" - "No!" Ron said. "It was a larger death pack but we managed fine". Ron winked to Harry and suddenly for no reason apparently Harry felt a surge of anger at Ron - Harry was aware that he would have died and Ron had single handedly captured this 'death pack' or whatever they were calling it, but Ron was clearly - Harry felt- patronizing him.

"Ron!"- Harry began but Ron waved to the others who walked back respectfully to assist Pranson and Dagworthy to transfer the domes magically. "In a moment Harry - you will know everything but first..a bite to eat...m'starving". He put his arm around Hermione and began walking towards the Leaky Cauldron.