(A/N: Here's the longest chapter of the story. :-)
Chapter 7
Early the next morning, Harry snuck out of the house again and went to Hermione's. "Kreacher?" he called softly. The elf popped in with the arm from his suit and then left. Harry knocked quietly on the back door and Hermione appeared in the kitchen and hurried over to let him in.
"What happened?" she asked as she looked him over. "Are you all right? Why do you have part of your suit like this?"
He smiled at her and her rapid-fire questions. "I'm fine, but can we sit? I'm still pretty tired from last night."
Hermione guided him to the little table in the kitchen before she started tea for them. "If you're not hurt, why do you have that arm with you?"
"Last night I went to the Hogshead Pub." She scowled at him but didn't say anything, so he continued. "There, I found Dolohov and a couple of friends."
Her head whipped around and looked at him intently, a bit of a scared look on her face.
"I had my cloak on so they couldn't see me. When they went outside, I followed. When they pulled out a Portkey I grabbed on too."
"Harry James Potter!" she hissed loudly. "Do you know how dangerous that is? They could have taken you anywhere."
"It was actually a good thing though because they were going to kill Amelia Bones."
Hermione gasped. "She's the leading candidate to replace Fudge."
"Yeah, and I mostly trust her too. So I took out Dolohov and his friends as well as some others. Just as I did that, Voldemort and three more Death Eaters arrived."
Hermione slapped her hand over her mouth and she looked scared again.
"I summoned Bella to me," Harry paused as Hermione gasped again, "and hit her hard enough in the head that I had to clean my glove and she didn't move when she went down. Then I flew at Voldemort and almost hit him straight on, but he moved at the last second. I did catch his arm between my arm and a large tree as I flew into him. Unfortunately, he left and the last two grabbed Bella and left also, so I didn't get any more of them. When I got back home, I found my left arm wouldn't fully flex at the elbow anymore and I was hoping you could fix it."
The whistle for the kettle went off, so Hermione turned to take care of that and made tea for both of them. She sat at the table with the tea, placing Harry's in front of him; she didn't look like she knew what to say, which was highly unusual for her.
"I'm a little upset with myself for missing him, but I think I've avenged Sirius."
After a moment, Hermione put her hand on his and squeezed it hard. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt."
"Thanks to you," he told her with a caring smile. "The suit worked like you said it would. You're really brilliant."
She looked down for a moment and sipped her tea. "I'll take a look at it and see what I can do." She squeezed his hand again. "Harry, are you sure you want to keep doing this? I really don't want you to get hurt."
He realized she was having second thoughts as it all became more real, but he knew he had to do this. "Hey, I'll be all right because of your great idea and hard work." He squeezed her hand. "I've got one more bit of good news. I talked with Bones after the fight and while she told me what I was doing was against the law, she condoned my action and told the Aurors there to leave me alone. That makes me feel better about doing this."
Both of her eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's … really unexpected, but good to hear."
"I better go before I'm missed. I'll try to come back tonight around eleven or so." He drank about half of his tea to hold him until breakfast.
Hermione stood with him and hugged him tightly. "Try and take a nap, Harry." She kissed him thoroughly before letting him go.
Harry left with a grin on his face from her good-bye. He Apparated back to the paddock and walked up to the house.
Inside, he found Mrs Weasley in the kitchen making breakfast. He didn't see Mr Weasley, so he looked at the clock and saw his hand pointing at work. He was glad they didn't have a hand on the clock for him right now.
"Oh, Harry, you surprised me. Did you just come down?" She grabbed a plate and handed it to him not waiting for an answer. "Grab whatever you want as Ron and Ginny won't be down for a bit I'd think."
"Thanks," he told her as he dished out some eggs onto his plate before grabbing some bacon. The beans and toast looked good too; he was really hungry from his night's work.
"You are up early," she prompted, apparently not forgetting her question from a moment ago.
"Had trouble sleeping so I got up and tried to stay quiet," he told her. "I might go lie back down after eating, or maybe I'll take a kip later."
"I'm sorry, dear. Is there anything I could do to help?" she asked.
Harry couldn't help himself. "Let me put a silencing charm on Ron tonight so I don't have to listen to him snore?"
She chuckled and waved her hand at him to dismiss his joke. "Oh you. Yes, he can do that sometimes. If he gets too bad, you're welcome to come down and sleep on the couch. It's actually pretty comfortable, or so Arthur has told me a time or two."
He almost dropped his fork. "You make him sleep on the couch sometimes?" He was surprised at her mischievous look.
"Once or twice in 35 years. There's more food if you want it." She returned to the kitchen, leaving Harry to shake his head.
After he put his dishes in the sink, he did return to Ron's room and lay back down. He slept for nearly an hour and a half and it helped a lot.
— — —
That evening after dinner, they had to leave the living room because an Order meeting was going to be held there. After her mother had shooed them all upstairs and charmed the stairs to make a noise if they tried to come down, Ginny pulled them into her room.
"What are we in here for?" Ron asked.
"Close the door Harry," she told him. "We're in here to listen to the meeting, if you can keep quiet about it." Both Ron and Harry grinned.
"How do we do that?" her brother asked.
"It seems like you've forgotten," she said disparagingly as she dug in a dresser drawer, "that the living room is right under my room. So with an Extendable Ear, it's very easy to listen in as no one expects a listener to be eavesdropping from above. Still, they could hear us if we make a noise because there is a small hole in the ceiling, so no more talking until I tell you."
Harry realized how sneaky and like the twins she was as he nodded along with Ron.
Ginny lifted a floorboard and dropped an Ear down and placed it where she wanted. Then she handed an Extendable Ear to each. She put the small end of the one in her hand in her ear while she put the ear part next to the small end of the Ear that went down. The boys did the same so there were three ears listening to one that went below, like an extender.
They made themselves comfortable and eventually the Order meeting started. Harry thought the first part was boring as they received reports from some of the members, most saying they knew nothing of importance but taking a long time to say that. However, Kingsley Shacklebolt changed that.
"Kingsley?" Dumbledore called out.
"There seems to be a new player in the war," the Auror said, causing everyone to go instantly quiet. "The Ministry is keeping it quiet, but two nights ago someone put the bodies of three Death Eaters and an unconscious man near the Apparition point in Diagon Alley. We think it was done at about midnight." There were many gasps below while the three teen looked at each other with wide eyes, though Harry's was faked.
"They were killed?" Molly Weasley asked, sounding horrified.
"So two Death Eaters and one that wasn't?" Dumbledore asked. "Then it wasn't for revenge," he said thoughtfully.
"At first," Kingsley continued, "we thought it was simple robbery as the two corpses with the Dark Mark didn't have their money bags nor wands. However, the one that was merely unconscious and did not have a Dark Mark still had his money bag and his wand. He also had no memory of being attacked."
"His memory was modified?" Dumbledore asked.
"Possibly, but I suspect that he was stunned from behind and just never saw anything. Later the next day, we also found a fourth corpse with a Dark Mark, or what was left of it, in Knockturn Alley. Again, no money or wand."
"Why was it different?" someone asked.
Kingsley cleared his throat and hesitated a little more. "Because a hag got to it, it was pretty obvious based on the condition of the body."
"She … she harvested it?" some female asked in an aghast tone.
Harry felt a little sick and he didn't have to feign that. He noticed the other two looked a little pale too. He'd heard that hags took parts of corpses for dark purposes, but he'd hoped those stories weren't true. Since they were true after all, he'd stun the hag next time he ran into her.
"Yes. And there's more." Kingsley went silent again.
"What is it?" Dumbledore prompted.
"Last night, You-Know-Who tried to kill Amelia Bones…"
"I'm glad she escaped," said the voice of Arthur Weasley.
"Actually, she didn't escape; she was rescued by someone who calls himself the White Knight. He appeared when the Death Eaters did and fought them. He also fought You-Know-Who when he appeared and drove him away. The Aurors recovered ten Death Eater bodies from her front garden. He also claimed that he did the work in Diagon Alley."
"A vendetta then," Dumbledore said wearily. "I do not agree with what he's doing."
That simple statement prompted loud discussion for several minutes with a few very vocal people agreeing with the Knight's actions while a few also very vocal argued it was wrong; the others stayed silent. Eventually, someone did something non-verbal, like shoot a lot of sparks off, and the arguing died off.
"Why didn't the Aurors catch him?" someone asked into the new silence.
"If you can believe it, I'm told he was in a knight's armor and he literally flew away - straight up," Shacklebolt explained.
Harry looked at the other two and gave them an expression of admiration while they give him a look of surprise.
"There's rumor that the Director gave him her support," the voice of Tonks added, "or so I've heard".
"Why would she?" yet another person asked.
"To give him some support so the Aurors will leave him alone and he can continue what he's doing. I like it," Moody said.
"Alastor, he's killing people," Dumbledore said, sounding disappointed.
"People who are supposed to be in Azkaban," Kingsley said quickly. "Dolohov was one of those found and when Azkaban was checked, the others captured in June were also gone. Bones is very pissed off about it and those in charge of the prisoners are feeling her wrath."
"Unfortunate yet very interesting," Dumbledore commented.
"I can add to it," they heard Snape say. "I was called to Him late last night. This knight as you call him apparently killed Bellatrix Lastrange-"
"Good for him," they heard Remus Lupin interrupt and guessed he probably received a glare from Snape before the man continued.
"As I was saying, Bellatrix was dead from a blow to the head and the Dark Lord had a crushed arm plus an injured shoulder and ribs. I had to spend several hours healing him, including having to vanish all the bones in his wand arm and regrow them. In addition, he lost his wand. He is most upset," Snape finished.
"Good," someone said.
"You do not understand then," Snape replied with a hint of heat in his voice and also enunciating all of his words very clearly. "That means he will want revenge and he will take it out on others, most of them innocent. I would advise increasing all protections.
"I was questioned about this person, if he was from this group, but I had nothing to tell.
"When he was healed, he called all of his followers and besides those lost last night, more did not show up, courtesy of this knight it was presumed. That set him off in another fit of anger. I believe this has surprised him to such an extent he's not sure what to do.
"Also, a few were sent to find Ollivander and his shop was closed with a sign that said he was away and could be found at the Ministry the last week of August. The Dark Lord was upset with this as well as he had to borrow a wand," Snape told them.
"Some excellent work by the Knight then," Moody said warmly just barely loud enough for the extendable ear to pick up.
"Thank you, Severus. Are there any other reports?" Dumbledore asked.
"I can confirm that Ollivander's shop is closed," Bill Weasley said.
"Good to know. Is there anything else?" Dumbledore paused. "Then have a good evening and we shall meet next week. Be sure to let me know if you see anyone that you believe is under the Imperious Curse."
Harry sat back and pulled the magical device from his ear; he was thinking about the little bit that he'd learned. He also knew he'd have to continue faking some surprise.
"We can talk now," Ginny said with a solid floor again and held out her hand to collect the Extendable Ears.
"Can you believe it?" Ron exclaimed. "Someone is going after the Death Eaters."
"Successfully too, I'm impressed," Harry added.
"I'm happy," Ginny said with a smile. "I'm only sorry Tom didn't get hurt worse."
Harry snorted, "Yeah, so am I." He smiled brightly. "Bella is gone so that means Sirius was avenged." The other two agreed and were happy for him.
They talked for a while longer until there was a knock on the door. Ginny opened it and they were surprised to see her mother. Harry was even more surprised when the woman said, "Harry? Professor McGonagall would like to talk to you for a moment about the upcoming school year."
"Err, sure," he said and stood. He strongly hoped his secret wasn't about to be ousted because he thought the Professor knew enough to know it was him doing this.
Most of the adults were gone, including Dumbledore, but McGonagall was standing by the door waiting patiently. "You asked to see me, Professor?"
"Yes, Potter. Let's walk outside for a moment." She held the door open for him and then walked slowly beside him through the back garden towards the paddock.
"Miss Bell has told me that she'd prefer not to be the Quidditch captain this year. Would you like the position?" McGonagall was looking very neutral. "If you weren't aware, it's much like a Prefect as it holds the same privileges as far as curfew times not applying and you can use the Prefect bathroom."
"Uh, sure, Professor, that'd be great." His relief was short lived.
"Very good." She stopped walking and looked around before looking him directly in the face. In a quiet voice she asked, "Do you believe that your extra activities are truly advised? You were lucky but you're playing a very dangerous game."
"I understand that, Professor. If you think back to my adventure this last June, you'll know I have to." He wondered if she would tell Dumbledore or not; it was obvious that had not happened yet.
McGonagall sighed. "I do not wish to lose you as I did your parents. You are turning into a fine young wizard."
"I don't plan on anything happening to me." What else could he say? "Thank you for your concern and discretion. I'll be as careful as possible."
After a long look, she finally nodded. "You have had amazing sheer dumb luck since your first year, at least when it really counted; I hope it continues to hold. I'll send your badge to you; I do hope you get to use it." With that, she turned slightly and walked to the edge of the Wards before Apparating away.
Walking back inside, Ron accosted him while Ginny stood nearby. "What did she want?"
"I'm to be the new Quidditch captain," he announced and saw his two friends light up.
— — —
It was nearing half-eleven before Harry felt he could leave. Ron didn't seem to want to sleep but talk about Harry being the Quidditch captain. Harry left the same way as he did last night.
He found Hermione on a blanket in her back garden again, along with the armor he'd left with her and a box. "Hey," he told her before he kissed her soundly.
"I missed you too," she told him with a grin. "What has you in such a good mood?"
"Two things," he replied. "First, I found out tonight that I'm to be the Quidditch captain."
Hermione dropped her head. "Oh Merlin, I may never see you again."
"Ha-ha," he said slowly and sarcastically. He also saw her look up with a bright smile. "Oh I see, having me on, aren't you?"
"A little," she smirked. "What's your other news?"
"I got lucky. Bella didn't survive, or so Snape said at the Order meeting."
"And you're all right about that?" she asked, sounding unsure.
"I'm fine with that. She killed Sirius and she's hurt a lot of other people, including Neville's parents," he reminded her. "She won't be able to hurt anyone ever again."
"True," she agreed. "Still, let's talk about something else." Hermione reached around to her other side and pulled the armor so it was in front of both of them. "I made an adjustment that helps a little, but to truly fix it I'd have to take most of the runes off, adjust it, and then put them back on. I'm surprised, but you actually bent the metal. Mr Burns helped me figure it out today."
"If I left it with you for one more day, could you fix it?" he wondered. "I think I'm going to skip tonight since I'll be starting full time tomorrow night."
Hermione worried her lower lip for a moment as she thought it through. "Probably, I can try. If I start tonight then I definitely can. That brings me to the other thing I have for you."
She pulled the box around so it was next to the armor. Opening it, she dug around in it and pulled out a phial. "If I'm to be up all night, I'll keep this Pepperup Potion; there's two more in there. I got all of the healing ones I could; there's even a small single dose of Skel-grow. I also added a surprise that could help you, but I didn't have time to do anything with it."
He looked in the good sized box to see dozens of potions, each with a label. "Thanks, Hermione. Hopefully I won't need any of these; but it's good to have them anyway."
"Since you're not going patrolling, perhaps we could have a little boyfriend/girlfriend time?" she asked coyly, grabbing his shirt when he nodded and pulling him over so they lay next to each other. Then she proceeded to kiss him for some time.
Eventually, they heard a window open from above and a throat clearing. "Hermione Jane?" her mother called from above, causing the two teens to spring apart. "I think it's time to tell him good-night."
"Yes, Mum," Hermione answered dutifully before the window closed.
Harry chuckled. "It's kind of funny if you think about it."
"I really don't see that," she told him a little crossly as she sat up.
"It's what we should be getting in trouble for as teens, not for doing our extra activities, as McGonagall called them," he said.
"McGonagall?" she asked with a little fear. "What did she say?"
"Sorry, I forgot," he said and sounded sorry. "She pulled me outside for a private conversation after their meeting. After asking me about Quidditch, she asked if I was sure I wanted to do this as it was dangerous. I pointed out that our adventure last June said I did need to do this. I thanked her for her discretion and she agreed, so we're good for now." He stood up as Hermione did.
"Be careful with the Order, Harry. And be careful in general. I'll have this ready for you tomorrow evening. Be here around five if you can. We're leaving at eight so you have to be here before then," she told him pointedly, her stare demanding a promise.
"Right, I'll be here, and you're still pretty in the moonlight." He kissed her quickly before grabbing his box and Apparating to #12. He gave the box to Kreacher to put in his bedroom before he returned to the Weasleys for the night.
~~~IronWizard~~~
The next morning Harry saw the attack on Amelia Bones was in the Daily Prophet. Her survival was attributed to "an unnamed rescuer". The three teens shared knowing looks about that but said nothing as they were afraid Mrs Weasley might hear.
He also received an owl from McGonagall that contained his Quidditch captain's badge. Ron still seemed more excited about it than Harry felt.
That afternoon as it neared five, Harry was having a difficult time getting away to meet Hermione. It seemed either Ron or Ginny was always around him. Getting desperate, he hurried away from Ron by running up the stairs and snagged his Invisibility Cloak; he wound it as flat as he could around his stomach and then pulled his shirt down just before Ron came into the room. Trying to think fast, he grabbed a small book he'd left next to his bed.
"What's up, mate? Why did you run away?"
"Wanted to get the book I've been reading. I need some quiet time so I think I'll go out by the pond to read until it's time for dinner," Harry told him as he walked back out of the room.
"Let me get my Quidditch magazine and I'll join you," Ron told him.
There was so little privacy here, Harry determined, especially when he desperately needed some. He hurried down the stairs and ran passed Ginny, who was in the kitchen talking to her mother, and out the back door. Racing around the house to be out of sight from the kitchen windows, he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on as he continued to the paddock. He thought he might have heard Ron calling for him just as he reached the edge of the wards and Apparated away. He was sure he'd pay for that later.
"Harry?" Hermione called pulling her wand out and looking around.
He dropped the hood of his cloak. "Yeah, it's me." He continued taking the cloak off. "I'm sorry, but I don't have long. I couldn't get a moment's privacy there and Fred and George are about to come over too, ensuring I'd never get away."
Hermione smirked and then chuckled. "Poor Harry."
"So, besides my telling you good-bye for a few weeks, what's up?" He looked at her more closely and thought he saw bags under her eyes. "Are you all right?" He laid his book on the table next to the arm so he wouldn't forget it later.
She waved him over and they sat on the bench she'd been on. "Nothing special, I'm just really tired. I'll sleep well tonight." At his intent look, she added, "I was up all night and most of the day working on your suit's arm. It was hard, but I managed to remove the hardening rune on the four pieces that needed adjusting, then I took it to Mr Burns for him to work on for a few minutes. He says it's almost like it should be, but he can't make the arm 100 percent right without redoing the pieces or a lot of careful work he didn't have time to do today."
"Err, why not?" He was confused. "Can't it just be bent back?"
"No," she shook her head too. "He said that once metal is bent you can't ever just simply bend it back into its original shape. You can get close but there are always little creases or bends at best. Still, he managed to remove most of the damage and I put the runes back on. You need to be careful with that arm now and don't do something that violent again … with either arm." She glared at him a little.
He nodded, "I understand and I'll be careful with it … I promise."
She looked at him for a moment as if weighing what he said and then nodded. "You need to come inside to tell my parents good-bye and then I need to tell you one more thing before you go."
"All right." He followed her into the house to spend a few minutes with her parents.
"You'll be very careful?" Emma asked as she surprised him by giving him a hug.
"I will, I promise," he told her solemnly. "I hope you have a good time."
Dan just shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder. "I understand doing something because you feel it's the right thing to do, but I'll also ask you to be careful. I've enjoyed having you around."
"Thank you and I will." Harry pulled a sealed envelope out of his pocket and handed it to the man. "I'd appreciate it if you'd hold onto this for me. You shouldn't need it, but just in case."
Dan took it but didn't ask what it was, yet he seemed to understand it was Harry's last Will. Emma looked a little upset as did Hermione.
Hermione grabbed his hand and led him out into the back garden to a tree almost as large as the one he smashed Voldemort into. She pulled him to the back side and then leaned against it; they were completely hidden from the house.
As Harry stepped forward a half-step anticipating a kiss, she grabbed his wrists in her hands and pulled them up. Even more surprising, she placed his hands right on her breasts, which he couldn't help but notice fit his hands perfectly.
Staring right into his eyes and holding his gaze, she asked in her most serious voice yet. "Harry, do you like this? Do you want to do this again?"
Almost afraid this was a trick question yet desperately wanting to say yes, he nodded slowly.
"Then you have to keep yourself safe and survive." Her eyes narrowed. "No stupid risks, Harry. If you have any doubt about a situation, let it pass. I want you to be able to do this and more but we can't if you get yourself killed. Do you understand me?"
He nodded again, unable to look away from her intense eyes, yet also trying to concentrate on what his hands felt.
She pulled his hands down to her waist and put her arms around him and kissed him soundly for several minutes. When they pulled apart finally, she leaned her forehead on his shoulder.
"You can't write me while I'm gone," she told him. "I'll watch the newspapers for news about you, but I can't write you either unfortunately."
"I know. I don't like it either, but I do need you safe with no one able to find you," he told her.
"Harry," she looked back up at him, "you stay safe and I'll let you hold them again. If you make good grades too, I'll do something else as a reward; I'm not sure what, but I'll think of something."
"Maybe we could do our homework together in the Room of Requirement with you in a T-shirt like now but no bra?" he asked hopefully.
She smiled at him. "I think that could be arranged for some Outstanding work."
He kissed her again, not really able to help it and she very willingly returned it. "I don't want to go, but I need to."
"Be careful, Harry," she paused for a moment. "I love you. Be safe!" She kissed him quickly and then pushed him slightly to disengage before she ran for the house, the door slamming behind her.
Harry took a few deep breaths to collect himself. He walked to the table on the back porch and picked up his armored arm and his book. He looked at the house for a moment and wondered if what he felt for her was love or not. He thought it might be but wasn't sure yet.
He Apparated to #12 and left the armor. Donning his cloak, he Apparated to the other side of the house he'd left from. Seeing no one, he pulled his cloak off and wrapped it around his stomach under his shirt again.
Carefully, he made his way back to the house. He saw Ron in the air on his broom searching. Slipping inside, he managed to make it up to Ron's room and put his cloak away. The risky part done, he walked back down and Ginny caught him on the stairs.
"Thought I heard someone coming up. Ron's looking for you." She grinned, "He says you ditched him."
"Kind of did," Harry admitted, surprising her based on her expression. "I needed a few minutes alone and he wouldn't leave me."
Ginny giggled. "I used to do that to him and he hated it." She shrugged and walked back into her room.
Harry took a seat in the living room and opened the book he'd been carrying; it was on Defense and mildly interesting. Well, as of tomorrow he'd have the entire Black library to look through and find something really interesting to read.
"Mum! I can't find Harry!" Ron shouted as he came in the back door and headed for the kitchen, not even looking in the living room.
"He probably just wanted a little time alone," his mother told him, causing Harry to smile. "It's not like he can go anywhere." Harry almost laughed at that but managed to keep it to a smile.
"Why?" Ron sounded genuinely confused.
"Did you ever want time away from Ginny when she followed you everywhere?"
"Well, yeah, but that was different," Ron protested.
Harry heard no reply and assumed she gave her son some sort of mothering look because he came back out and headed for outside, but he saw Harry at the last moment. "There you are. Where did you go?"
"I just needed some quiet time without talking or having to listen to anyone, Ron; it's easier to think that way." Harry saw his friend was still confused and suspected it was a difference between growing up in a large family and growing up mostly like an only child, or that's how he felt about his childhood.
In the end, he got away with his trip without too much hassle. The twins arrived a few minutes later and it was all forgotten.
— — —
Ron was snoring, so Harry arose and got dressed before he quietly gathered the few things he'd pulled out and put them back in his trunk. Searching for and finding a quill and parchment, he left a short note on his bed. Shrinking his trunk made carrying it much easier as he mounted his broom and squeezed out of the window again.
Harry took a few minutes to fly in the paddock one last time. He wouldn't get to do this again until he returned to school. Knowing he'd taken enough time and needed to get to his task, he set down and Apparated to #12.
"Kreacher!" he called and the elf popped in. "I need a small meal in about ten minutes. I'll also need something like dinner a little before the time the sun rises."
"Yes, Master."
Harry put his trunk in the master bedroom and put his armor on, except for the helmet and two gloves, and went downstairs.
After eating, he put the rest of his suit on and went to Hogsmeade and waited around the pub again. When that didn't pan out, he went to Diagon Alley, which turned up empty. As the sun rose, he went home to have dinner and head to bed. He supposed he wouldn't get Death Eaters every night. He'd continue to patrol at nights for a while and sleep during the day.
A small part of him would have loved to be at the Weasley's when his note was found to watch the spectacle. He was sure Dumbledore wouldn't be pleased and thought it would be a fun joke on the man for what he'd put Harry through. That reminded him about the joke he'd pulled with Slughorn, which caused him to smile and almost chuckle out loud.
~~~IronWizard~~~
Ginny walked into the kitchen a little blurry-eyed, grabbed a glass of juice, and drank it to try to wake up a little.
"Ginny, dear, please go wake your brother and Harry; neither have come down yet," her mother told her.
"Yes, Mum," she said sleepily before finishing her juice and setting the glass at her normal place at the table.
Trudging upstairs, she saw Ron's door was open slightly so she banged on it with her fist as she poked her head in. "Ron, Harry, Mum says get up."
Ron groaned. Figuring that was good enough for him, she opened the door a little wider so she could see Harry's cot since she hadn't heard a noise from him. She gasped when she saw his bed was empty and made as well as his trunk was gone. "Ron! Where is Harry?!" she shouted, causing Ron to jerk awake and fall out of bed as he flailed around.
Her sleepy eyes spied the note finally so she hurried over.
"Wha' ya do tha' for?" Ron slurred sleepily.
"Harry left!" she waved the note before hurrying out of the room. "Mum!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs by twos.
"Ginny! Behave," her mother admonished her. "This old house doesn't need you jumping down the stairs."
"Harry's gone!" Ginny thrust the note forward.
Molly took it and read out loud softly.
All,
Sorry to leave like this, but Dumbledore bringing me over was a surprise. I had planned to come over at the end of the summer as usual though. In the meantime, I've arranged some lessons that I need to attend. If you want to know what the lessons are for, ask Dumbledore; he's known about this need for the last 15 years, though he kept it secret from me until this last June. Don't worry about me, I'll be safe and well cared for by my teacher. I'll see you on the 31st or on the train, whichever works out better.
Regards,
Harry
"Oh my word, I better find Albus!" Molly hurried to the fireplace to make a Floo call. Albus wasn't in but she found his deputy.
"Minerva," Molly thrust the note at the professor as soon as she arrived after a cry of "Emergency" to get her to come.
McGonagall sighed as she finished reading the note. "I'll track down Albus, but I suspect there's not much we can do until Harry returns."
"What do you mean? We have to search for him," Molly insisted.
"I doubt you'll find him," McGonagall replied while looking thoughtful. "I wouldn't know where to begin looking."
"Professor?" Ginny spoke up. "What did it mean about the secret? Is that about the prophecy?" She ignored her mother's glare.
"I believe so," the professor replied. "I'm only aware of it generally, but I suspect Mr Potter is trying to train to take on Voldemort, although I'm not sure who is teacher would be."
"He can't do that, he's far too young," Molly protested.
"That may be, but prophecies don't care about age like you do," McGonagall commented. "If you don't mind, I'll take the note to show Albus when he returns in a few hours."
When Minerva was by herself at the school, she put a note on Albus's desk asking him to come see her as soon as he returned. "Potter, I really do hope you know what you're doing," she said to no one in particular.
— — —
Albus sat down heavily at his desk after his investigations. Neither Ronald nor Ginevra had any idea that Harry would be doing this. Miss Granger wasn't home and it appeared she and her family would be gone for some time if he read the little clues correctly. He still had no access to Sirius's house. He'd also tried an owl but the bird wouldn't take the note, indicating it couldn't find Harry.
He wasn't sure if he should take the teacher part seriously or if that was misdirection and Harry had simply left to live in Sirius's house. Either way, he was quite upset with the boy.
Suddenly, he had an idea and sent a message to an old friend.
Several hours later he had a visitor, "Alastor."
"Dumbledore," Mad-Eye Moody returned. "I'd have to watch for a longer period of time, but I think he's there. I Disillusioned myself and flew my broom up to look in the windows. The wards affect my eye so my vision wasn't as clear as usual, but it looks like there's a body on the bed. Of course, there also looks to be a body standing in the corner, but that's probably a mannequin that old Walburga used for her dress robes.
"So, why did he run away?" asked Moody.
"He said to train," Dumbledore sighed. "This is one of the reasons I didn't tell him about the prophecy sooner."
"Or maybe," Moody suggested, "you should have told him when he was too young to run away and then spent time training him yourself so he'd think of you like a mentor instead of a meddling old man." At Dumbledore's surprised look, he add, "Oh, I've heard the rumors about what he put up with at those relatives of his and about what's happened here at the school. You didn't do yourself any favors, you know."
"It seemed like the best course at the time." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, wondering what he could do.
"Leave him be," Moody answered the unasked question as he rose. "If he wants to brood over his godfather in that old house, let him. Eventually, he'll get lonely or else school will start. Have someone there at the end of the month.
"Oh, and don't try to use your bird to get to him. I did look at the wards on the house; they've changed and I don't think you'd like that trip. I know I wouldn't try it."
"I was afraid of that. Thank you for your help, Alastor." Albus watched his friend leave. "I need to know he's safe, but how?"
~~~IronWizard~~~
Diagon Alley had not provided any Death Eaters tonight, so Harry went the Hogshead pub in Hogsmeade. Careful search showed one man with a Dark Mark talking to an unmarked friend. He waited outside near the door under his Invisibility Cloak with a predatory grin.
While he waited, he considered the question of just how many Death Eaters there might be. Well, Voldemort pandered to the Purebloods, generally, so that should limit the number of people somewhat. He was sure there wouldn't be any Muggle-borns and he thought the number of Half-bloods would be very small. Hmm, every Pureblood family could probably only contribute two members per generation at the most, so the real question was how many Pureblood families were there? No, the question was how many "dark" families there were because not all Pureblood families would support Voldemort, some were good and some were neutral. There couldn't be all that many, could there?
A couple of men walked out but they weren't the ones he was waiting for.
He supposed Voldemort might hire people, mercenaries he thought they were called. Would he do that? Or maybe he could try to attract new recruits from other countries, he considered as he remembered Igor Karkaroff - who wasn't British. But he was the only one he could remember, so perhaps he was an exception like the Half-bloods were. Still, there might be a few of those.
Maybe there weren't that many Death Eaters then, at least as long as the "old rules" were still being used?
Another two men walked out and the one he wanted was there. Harry walked up behind them with quick but short steps to avoid tripping on his cloak. The men weren't touching nor were they talking, so Harry just grabbed the Death Eater's arm and Apparated away to the cave Sirius had stayed in a few years ago. The second he landed he pulsed a Stunning spell from both hands and the man went limp.
Harry put the man down and searched him. A money bag and wand were all that he found to keep. Pulling out his own wand, Harry bound him tightly and revived him. Wishing he didn't have to do this but feeling he had no choice, he cast "Imperio" as the man blinked awake. The fight for dominance wasn't even all that hard, creating more guilty thoughts which he did his best to ignore. "Where is your Dark Lord staying?"
"Malfoy Manor."
Crap, that's going to be hard to get into, Harry thought. "What is the largest number of Death Eaters you've ever seen in one place?"
"About fifty."
That's about the upper end of what I was expecting, Harry thought. "Where are places the Death Eaters like to hang out together?"
"Our houses, Hogshead pub, Poison Quill pub."
"The Poison Quill pub is the one in Knockturn Alley?" asked Harry.
"Yes."
Not sure what else to ask that would actually help him, he placed his hand on the man's neck and cast a Cutting curse.
As he waited for him to bleed out and did his best not to think about it, Harry considered his options. While he had told Hermione he could go after them by going to their houses, he knew that would be both hard and dangerous; so realistically, that was probably out. He'd have to monitor the pubs for now.
He supposed he could monitor the two areas, and even the Ministry, during the day; but if he found a Death Eater, how would he take care of him and get away? He'd have to ignore that idea unless he got desperate or came up with a great idea.
With the man dead, Harry vanished the ropes, grabbed his arm and Apparated to Diagon Alley. He dropped the "trash" at the edge of the Apparation area and left, not believing there was much else to do this evening as it was after two in the morning.
As he stripped off his suit, he looked at his newest wand and dropped it in the box of his conquests. He counted 14, which didn't include Riddle's. So there were about 35 more unless more were recruited in the future. That took him back to the question of how many dark families there were. How could he know?
"Kreacher!"
The elf popped in. "Master," said the elf, not sounding pleased to be there.
"Kreacher, how many dark families do you think there are? Families that would support the Dark Lord?" Harry watched the elf become surprised and then thoughtful as if counting.
"About twenty," the elf finally replied. "The Blacks used to be one. Even my best master used to be."
"Twenty isn't that many." Harry looked at the elf thinking this through. "Kreacher, when you say twenty, do you mean twenty households of parents and children, or twenty houses like Black and Malfoy and so forth?"
"Twenty houses."
"Kreacher, do you know about how many Death Eaters there are now?"
"No, Master."
"Do you know how many there were when your Master Regulas was one?" Harry held his breath and hoped, while also wondering why he'd never asked this before.
"There were around thirty when Master was killed."
"Thank you, Kreacher. I'll have dinner at six; you may go until then." Harry dropped into a chair to think.
If there were only about thirty then but around fifty this time around, there had been some recruiting, but not really all that much in terms of raw numbers, and he had killed the equivalent of the new ones, or almost. So if there were only about thirty or so more to go, this was doable. He could also hope that with Death Eaters disappearing, it might influence some not to join.
Well, he had about three weeks to work on that.
Thinking some more, he considered that their real power was in their secrecy, else how could such a small number of people terrorize an entire country. They were mostly normal in everyday life, but terrorized people secretly behind their masks. He smiled as he stood to go take off his suit before relaxing. He would play the game of secret attacks too.
— — —
As Harry ate dinner at six in the morning, since his days and nights were reversed, he opened the newly delivered Daily Prophet, courtesy of Kreacher going to buy one, since Hedwig was the only owl that could find him now.
He chuckled as he saw the front page. He'd wondered how long it would take, but the newspaper was finally acknowledging that people and especially heads of a few families were turning up dead. It had been five days since he'd saved Amelia Bones and he'd speculated he'd have heard about someone asking this question several days ago.
He even read an eye witness account from a man who had been in Diagon Alley and was stunned, only to wake up later and find his friend dead. If that hadn't been surprise enough, he also found out that his friend had been a Death Eater and he had never even suspected.
That there was no mention of Dolohov or any others having escaped was not much of a surprise. He could understand them not wanting to panic people. On the other hand, didn't people need to know to watch out for escapees and report them? He figured that was Fudge's doing and - assuming Bones became Minister in a few days - that would change.
Now the pressure was on, will the others join the Death Eaters or not, he wondered. He also speculated that his job was going to be harder as they'd be more ready for him.
Finished with dinner and not quite sleepy yet, he headed upstairs to the library. He had one more task he wanted to accomplish, though it didn't have to be finished tonight. Looking around, he pulled a few Potions books off the shelf and sat down to research.
He really wished Hermione was here as she was so much better than he was, but he would have to make do. She had done the hard part he supposed in finding him a small phial of Erumpet Fluid, which was her surprise in the box of potions. Her note had been very clear it was not for healing and she'd suggest that he might find a way to make it into a weapon if he looked in this library … so here he was.
By the time he was ready to go to bed, he was still unsuccessful, but he had more books to look through and more time.
~~~IronWizard~~~
It was mid-week and he'd come up dry for the last few days, which he found frustrating. That caused him to take a slightly risky attempt. He walked down Knockturn Alley carefully since no Death Eaters had walked by him. Stopping in front of the one window for the Poison Quill pub, he looked in through the dingy glass. Not seeing a Dark Mark on the few arms he could see, he waited by the door. A few minutes later someone left and Harry entered the pub.
He slowly walked around to check out arms while having to dodge a barmaid and various elbows in the packed building. Towards the back, he finally found what he wanted, a table of four men all of whom where Death Eaters.
Were they here before he started watching tonight or was there another way in? Looking around he didn't see a fireplace big enough to be a Floo connection point.
As the barmaid came by, he had to be quick to dodge her as there was little open area to stand. That made him very thankful he not only had the Invisibility Cloak but that Hermione had made his armor silent as she said she would.
He also pulled out his wand in case he needed to do a spell that needed it.
A few moments later, a man at the next table left. Harry dodged him - barely. His chair went on the floor and no one picked it up. With a grin at his good fortune, he carefully squeezed between two people and went to stand where the chair had sat, putting him out of the way of the barmaid and others. He was also close enough to hear the conversation he wanted now. Sadly, he didn't recognize any of the four Death Eaters.
"I still don't like it," one said.
"Aye, but nothing can be done about it," said a second.
The only blond said, "Malfoy is right, we need to stop coming to the pubs."
That caught Harry's attention and gave the clue they were talking about his work.
"But how are we to recruit?" the first asked.
"Don't know about you," the last spoke finally, "but the bloke I asked yesterday turned me down when I knew he was interested before. I tell you, someone has to get rid of the Shadow Knight."
Shadow Knight? Hmm, not half bad, Harry thought with a grin.
"We'll have to ask them to our homes," the blond said bitterly, "and give them our alcohol."
"I don't like being forced to recruit," the first complained, "especially when it's getting harder."
Harry smiled as it sounded like his plan might be working.
The blond looked at his watch. "I don't think he's coming or he would have been here half an hour ago. Let's go."
The two that had a little left in their glasses downed it and they all rose. Harry followed the four, anxious to see how they traveled. The group went through the door nearby that led to the restrooms, but there was a small corridor that went further and they went down it.
As one, they looked to make sure no one was there before the lead man opened another door. It didn't go to the kitchens but into a small room that had a fireplace big enough for a man to enter.
Harry saw the first grab what must be Floo Powder from a dish on the mantel. Not having time to think, he let his cloak fall open as he shoved his arms out and Banishing the man forward with one hand so his head slammed into the thick mantel, his neck bending at an odd angle. His other hand held his wand and he muttered a cutting curse at the other man on the right. His left hand tracked to his left and cast an area Cutting curse at the last two as they went wide-eyed at his partially visible form before they fell. To ensure they didn't get up, he sent a wide-area Stunning spell with his glove.
It wasn't until they all now lay still and bleeding that he realized how fast his heart was beating. Quickly, in case someone came to see about the noise, he summoned each man's wand and made sure the man was dead. For the one that wasn't he hit him throat with another Cutting curse. Using his wand, Harry turned each corpse to stone and then shrank them.
Putting the last in his pouch a cleaning up the blood on the floor, a young man not much older than him came out of the Floo in a hurry and ran into Harry, who was still had his cloak open in front and now also had the hood back. The young man stood there in shock while Harry looked down to his arm and found the Dark Mark - apparently the one the others had been waiting on.
Harry reached out and grabbed his arm as the young man Apparated away, taking Harry with him. The two landed in what looked like a house based on his quick glance, which also showed a young woman was there. He pulsed a Stunning spell with the hand that held the young man and stunned the woman too with his other hand as she opened her mouth, probably to scream. To be safe, he bound them both with ropes.
"Crap," he said quietly even if he didn't need to. To be sure he was safe, he checked the place and found it to be a small flat and there were no others present. Carefully, he lifted the sleeve of the woman and found the arm to be unblemished. "Crap; this is a fine mess." He pulled out his wand and stunned each of them to make sure they stayed out for a few hours.
He wondered who he could get to help with an Obliviation and came up blank, except perhaps for McGonagall. Yet he didn't want to involve her this far. Killing the woman was not going to happen, so that left him with two choices. He could Imperious her and command her to forget, but that could send him to Azkaban since she might be diagnosed and helped, which would mean she would remember - not good. Or he could try a spell he'd never done before and hoped it worked and that he didn't scramble her brains.
There really was no other good option that he could come up with on short order…wait. He grinned to himself, he had a library with some books with not very nice spells and he had at least a few hours.
He took the man's wand before he grabbed the two of them and Apparated to Sirius's cave. He covered the man's mouth with his glove as he had his first victim and did another Banishing spell to end this one. He turned him into stone and shrank him down. The woman he left there as he didn't expect anyone to find her and he didn't want to take her to #12.
Apparating home, he took his cloak off and hurried to the library as he called out to Kreacher to get him some tea. He set all of his captured wands and little stone Death Eaters on the table and then started searching. It took him nearly an hour, but he grinned when he found a book that described removing a person's memories. He read it several times and practiced while casting on a chair.
Satisfied it'd probably work, he returned to the cave and found the woman was still there and still stunned. Deciding that it might be best to just remove her memories of her entire evening, he cast the spell on her. Not sure what else to do but knowing he didn't want to leave her some place unsafe and unwilling to return to the couple's house, he Apparated to the Ministry and set her down on the floor.
Looking up and hoping he didn't have to hurt the guard. He was relieved he didn't have to hurt him, but also a little upset to find the guard asleep and not doing his job. Harry pulled out his wand and cast a Stinging hex at the man before Apparating away and the before the spell hit.
With those wands he was now at 23 plus Riddle's. He also had an idea for the next time he had a quiet night … or really two ideas.
(A/N: Harry is making some good progress, but can he keep it going? :-)