The Savage Life Keeperoliver Chapter 10

A/N: The start of this Chapter is due to the brilliance of Dukebryman. He suggested it, and I hope I do it justice. I also wish to thank all of you who have Reviewed, Favored and Alerted this story.

TSL-}

Minerva was still upset over what Albus had done to her. She needed a way to get back at him. She was a known prankster in her youth, but that was many decades ago. She had lost much of her pranking imagination, over the years. She needed a fresh new idea. She needed help. She needed Sirius Black.

Sirius was enjoying his breakfast with the rest of the adults, when the floo flared up, and Minerva stepped through. Sirius was never one for holding back, "Minnie, how good to see you, would you care for some tea and crumpets?"

"Yes, I would. I also need some help."

Sirius looked up at the professor, who was always his favorite. He smiled at her, and poured her a cup, and handed it to her. "Now, Minnie, what is it I can help you with."

The rest of the adults were also interested in the answer, as they pulled in closer to hear what she had to say. Minerva looked around at the others. This is not going to be easy, "Black, I would like some help, paying Professor back for what he did to me yesterday."

Sirius leaned back in his chair. He didn't think his favorite Professor was capable of revenge. "What is it he did to you, Minnie?"

"Would you please quit calling me that. It makes me feel like your talking to a cartoon character. One that would normally be dinner for my animagus form. Now, Professor Dumbledore felt it necessary to put me in a full body bind, and place a silencing charm on me. Completely uncalled for. I wish to return his act with one of my own. However, it has been many years since I have done any pranking. I figured, i would talk to the best prankster Hogwarts has had in years."

"Well, thank you for the compliment Min-erva. Do you know how you want to pay him back. Private, Public, or hidden?"

"Hidden?"

"His never even knowing he was pranked."

"What good is that? You want the person to know he or she was pranked, in order for it to be effective."

"Not if every one else knows it. Suppose he or she walks around like he or she doesn't now anything happened to him, but, every one else sees it. It could go on for days, before he or she begins to suspect any foul play."

Minerva's lips started to curl. "Oh, I was right in coming to you for this. I like that. Do you know what you want to do, and how you want to do it?"

"Do you mind if a get some help?"

"As long as Albus doesn't find out, I don't mind."

"Does he still keep his stash of Lemon Drops, on his desk?"

"He is never with out them."

"Thank you Minnie, I think that is all I need to know. I will get to you at lunch. Monk, can I speak to you for a minute?"

Monk grinned, knowing he was going to love what Pads had planned.

At lunch, Sirius stopped Minerva before she entered the Great Hall. and gave her a bag, telling her what they were, but, not what they would do. Minerva then went to the staff table, and seeing Albus had not arrived yet, Switched the candy bowls, giving Albus the material Sirius handed her.

Not twi minutes later, Albus walked in, and took his seat, Greeting every one at the table, including the new personnel. The first thing he was to wave his hand over his eating area, looking for any suspicious enchantments. Finding none, he reached for a lemon drop, out of habit. He popped it in his mouth, and started to suck on it. His face contorted into a tight circle. His mouth closing so tight, he felt his jaws pop. His eyes started to tear. His ears started to hurt. His mouth was closed so tight, there was no way for him to get this extremely sour treat out of his mouth. He had to swallow it. He did this, and looked at Minerva as if questioning her. She just kept eating, all the time thinking, excellent. That old coot's face looked like dried up fruit. She thought that was the end of the Prank. She didn't know Sirius very well.

Albus was still trying to get that bitter taste out of his mouth. Monk had used Alum, to get that effect. They were all waiting patiently for the next phase to happen.

Doc sat there, shaking his head. It has been many years since his friend had this much fun. He saw the glimmer in his eyes. Even Ham was feeling the joy of anticipation. It was as if they had found a fountain of youth here at Hogwarts. Doc looked at his friend, Albus. Not feeling sorry for him, as he knew there would be no harm done. No he was looking to see the effect the potion would have on him. He didn't have to wait long.

Albus had a mouthful of Asparagus, when his hair, and beard turned a sort of green with hints of brown in it. His hair started to take a scalloped look. In short, his head looked like an Asparagus spear, with eyes. He then took a bite of his honey glazed ham, and sweet potatoes. His hair became the color orange, with a sticky sheen to it. Through all of this, the students and Professors watched the Headmaster kept running through the color changes as he continued to eat. Albus heard the snickering, and looked around, to see what was causing this. He looked down to see if he had dropped food on his clothes, but, saw nothing. Then he looked at the lemon drops, back up to Minerva, and then back to the students. Something was going on, but, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

He took the lemon drops in the candy dish, and left for his office. He was going to have Severus check these out, to see what was in them. He flooed the Potion master, as soon as he got to the Office. Severus walked through the floo. "Severus, I am sure, Minerva did something to these Drops, I was wondering if you could check them out for me."

"What makes you think that Headmaster?"

"When I had one this morning, it was like every thing that was sour in the world, was put in that little drop. my mouth closed so tight, I couldn't spit it out, so, I swallowed it. Then all during lunch, I kept hearing the students, and the Professors, snickering. Now, Severus, I like a good prank, but, I also like to know what the prank is, and who it is on. In this case, I believe it is on me, but I'll be darned if I can figure out what it is."

"Other than the sour taste, you didn't notice any changes? No weird odors? No sense of feeling out of sort?"

"None."

"I will check it out, and let you know later on today, what I find."

TSL-}

Severus couldn't believe what has been asked of him in the past twenty four hours. Lily asking to become a part of her family, as the brother she never had. James asking him to talk to Lucius, and try to set up a meeting so that Doc could talk to him. Then this afternoon, Albus wanting him to check out his candy, for a prank. The candy part was simple. It seemed that some one had used a muggle ingredient called alum, which when ingesting, causes your jaw muscles to tighten.

He found traces of something he was not familiar with. There was not enough of this substance to really do any harm, so he just took it as being an after effect of the Alum, or a residual from it.

He briefed the Headmaster what he found, and then tried once again to contact Lucius. It was like he was avoiding him. He received no return messages from his owl post. They never answered their floo calls, and No one has seen or heard from them in two or three days.

Severus for once, was worried about someone. He and the Malfoys had become good friends, with them making him Draco's godfather. He had to tell Doc what he felt.

Doc agreed with the assessment from Severus. He thought it might be a good idea for his young team to put their skills to the test. "James, would you please call the Kids here please, including Draco."

"Sure Doc."

James returned with the thirteen young adults.

"Harry, how do you feel about taking on a mission?"

"Great."

"How would you feel about taking on a mission with Draco?"

"Doc, if Draco had more training, I wouldn't mind going on a mission with him, but, to try it now, could get him hurt or killed."

"Unfortunately, Draco is the key to the success of this mission, as he is the only one who knows the area."

Draco looked up at this, "Malfoy Manner?"

Doc nodded his head. "There has been no word from either of your parents for over two days. I fell it needs to be investigated, to ensure there is no one hurt. Harry you can go, or you can have another team go. It's your choice."

Harry looked to his friends. "Fred, George, Ron Miranda, and Mariah. Do you want to try this?"

The twins, both sets, just grinned. Ron rubbed his hands together. Draco looked concerned. If Doc was this anxious to get this done, then he felt he had a right to be concerned. Why Doc didn't do it on his own, was a bit upsetting. To trust children to accomplish this was ludicrous. However, he knew better than to challenge Doc's wisdom. Besides he had already been saved twice by the Brigade.

"Alright, then that's settled. Harry was hit in the arm by the red headed fury. "Why couldn't we go? Hermione Luna and I."

"I don't think it would be a good idea to send all our eggs in one basket. If they should fail, or be captured, we need back up. If that should happen, we will be that back up. Please Ginny, I know you want to get into some action, but, so does every one else. You will be in on the next mission, I promise. Right now though, Ron needs to be there for strategy, and the two sets of twins for their mind link. Draco has to be there for any wards they may encounter, and the lay out of the house."

"Fine, but, you know they won't fail. It's just not fair. We can do what ever the twins can do."

"Can you communicate without speaking?"

Ginny looked at Hermione, and raised her eyebrows. Hermione looked at Luna and turned her head. Before they knew, the Weasley twins were caught in an invisible net, with Klinger poised to strike, if they tried to retaliate. Although impressed, Harry stood by his decision. However, he would keep in consideration the girls actions. It was very impressive.

Doc listened as Draco went over the Manor's floor plan, and the wards he knew were in place.

They were then taken to Hogsmeade and from there, Apparated outside of the wards of Malfoy Manor.

Fred and Mariah checked the wards, and found no change in what Draco said. They were easy to take down, without triggering an alarm, and proceeded on to the Manor. Draco led them through a secret passage that ran beneath the Manor, and into a sort of office, that was vacant. Draco cracked the door open to see if there were any Death Eaters, or his parents walking the halls. It was clear, and the group started their search. They found traces of magic, but, that could be from the Malfoys, plus it was days old. There was no sign of any one on the two top levels, so they proceeded to the basement. Ron stopped them. "Draco, is this the only way into the basement?"

Draco answered, "No, there is an exit to the grounds, on the south side of the Manor."

Ron sent Fred, and Mariah to the back entry. Then they continued down the stair way. They stopped when they heard a conversation taking place. It was no one that Draco knew.

They all used Disillusion charms, George helping Draco with his, and entered the basement. There were two men sitting at a table playing some sort of a card game. They seemed to be guarding a door, that was bolted. George and Miranda got behind the two guards, and together, they stupified them. They then used body binds to keep them secure. Draco unbolted the door, to find his mother and father chained to a wall. He didn't know any unlocking charms, so Miranda used Alohamora, and the chains fell to the wall. Draco caught his mother, and Fred caught Lucius. The enervate seemed to perk them up enough to get them upstairs. They went to the back of the house to find Fred and Mariah in a heated battle with four Death Eaters. George and Miranda slipped behind the four, and soon had them in a cross fire. It was over soon, and Grabbing two of the DE's, Apparated back to Hogsmeade, and went into the castle via the secret passage.

The Adults were impressed with the four youths, as they had not only found the Malfoys, they managed to bring back two DE's for questioning. Ginny just rolled her eyes, "I told you they were more than capable of taking care of this."

Draco listened to this light banter. He had just seen five kids go in and kick six grown Death Eaters butts, Saved his mother and father, and bring back two of the Death Eaters for questioning, and Red was acting like it was a walk in the park. The more he saw of the Brigade, the more he wanted to be a part of this amazing team. They took every thing with an amusing side note. Yet they were the finest fighting team he has ever seen, and they were just kids. He was afraid to see the adults in action.

Tracy and Daphne were thinking along the same lines as Draco. Daphne was taking it a step further. What if the whole school were trained this way. Voldemort, and his Death Eaters would not stand a chance. She would have to think on this. She knew Slytherin for the most part, would refuse to train with the Brigade, and quite possibly report this training to their families, who were Death Eaters. No, there had to be some careful planning made.

Lily had flooed Severus, and asked him to bring some veritaserum. He joined them within 5 minutes. He saw Lucius and Narcissa, and went and sat with them. When he learned that only five kids went in and took care ogf the problem, he vowed on his life, to help these people in any way he could. Death Eaters had nbeen terrorizing the wizarding communities for years, with no retaliation. And here, five youths walk in, kick butts, and managed to capture two top death eaters, Dolohov, and Yawlish. Lucius told Severus that they had been betrayed by Bellatrix, two days ago, and chained to the wall. They hadn't eaten in all that time. Severus called for a house elf, and had him bring some food for the two. Lucius thought a minute, and Called for his house elf Dobby. He was there immediately. He had Dobby grab some clothes, and bring them back here. Dobby was back in a flash. He was then asked to help out in the Hogwarts kitchen. He was about to leave, when Harry asked to stay for a minute. "Mr. Malfoy, would it be possible for Dobby to answer to our call, if we needed him?"

"Well, yes I suppose, although I hardly think you will ever need him."

"You never know, sir. It is also a possibility that he could come in handy if we needed to get in somewhere, that is highly warded. It seems he can get through them with no problems. Dobby, are there any wards you can't bypass?"

"Dobby doesn't know sir. He has been able to go where ever Master asked him to so far."

Harry looked at Doc with high hopes. "Doc, I believe we have the start of an Army, if you are willing to go along with my idea."

Doc knew what Harry was getting at, and liked what he was getting at. "You wish to train an army of elves for combat?"

"Partly, I think they should train with wizards, and become teams. Depending on how many elves we can get to join. Dobby, do you know any other elves who would join our group?"

"Dobby thinks he might know a few. How many is sir asking for?"

"Do you think you could find twenty five to start with? That would be one for every one here. They will train with their partner wizard, and become a member of the Brigade. With this, we can expand to greater numbers, as the need arises. Do you think you can find that many Dobby?"

"Dobby can try, sir. He will be back in a bit." And Dobby was gone.

Harry had every one sit, as he explained his idea. Severus and Lucius became very excited at the idea. Lucius had been hoping to find a reason to leave the Death Eaters, and Join the light. This astounding young group of warriors was just that reason. He now had hopes to end this reign of tyranny called Voldemort.

Draco had never seen his father this excited before. He looked like he was ready to fight the Dark Lord himself. Draco looked once more to Harry, and felt once more, like he wanted to be just like him. He walked over to Harry and asked to speak to him alone for a minute.

They walked to the side of the room, and Draco started,"Harry, you are an amazing character. Before I started Hogwarts I had no hope for our future. Father felt he had made the wrong decision when he joined the Dark Lord. After He was defeated by you, father was had to spend almost our entire wealth, to keep out of prison. Yes, he has done some bad things, but, he has also saved many lives, by using his position with the Dark Lord. The other Death Eaters were jealous of his rank in his army, and once the Dark Lord was gone, they took advantage of this, and started to attack father, with false claims of dark magic, muggle persecution, wizard torture, and bribery. He has been looking for the right person to join to protect our family. You are that person Harry, and if you will have me, I wish to jon the Brigade. I also know of others who would join right now, to stop the attacks the Death Eaters have been committing. There is a first year Ravenclwa student, who's family has been tortured for their refusal to back the Dark Lord's ideals. His name is Anthony Goldstein, his father is Raymond, mother Elizabeth and a younger sister Erika. Elizabeth was attacked this summer, and was nearly killed. If it wasn't for a large number of wizards showing up, sh probably would have been. This was in Diagon Alley, in the middle of the day, with a hundred people there. They did nothing to help her. There are others as well. Susan Bones' mother and father were killed, leaving her with her Aunt. Hannah Abbott's uncle runs the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah says that people are attacked in there while they are eating. These are just the first years I know. There are probably a dozen stories out there from families that are devastated by loss of family, finances, property, and such."

"Draco, we are just a few right now. We are strong, but, we can't be every where. To train to our level, would take years. We have just started with you, Tracy, and Daphne. Do you know what it would take to train the number you talking about. Talk to this Goldstein, and see if he is willing to train. Then talk to others, and see if they are willing to join us in our run in the morning. Fitness is they key to everything. I will talk to Doc, and see what we can do. I can't promise anything, but what ever we decide, it has to be a full attempt, or they will not be with us long."

"I understands Harry, I will talk to Anthony. Thank you for listening."

They joined the others, and sat back down. They had just settled in for a discussion, when Dobby came back with the twenty four other house elves. Dobby asked to be paired with Draco, and Draco smiled. "I would be honored Dobby, thank you for having faith in me."

"No sir, thank you for accepting me. It is our wish to end this conflict, as well as yours."

The training over the next month was a grueling one for the new recruits, but not a one dropped out. Christmas time would be here soon. Harry had his encounter with Fluffy, and as Luna predicted, Harry and Fluffl became friends. That is after Harry showed him he was not afraid of him. Klinger they had learned was only able to change into animals from his time frame, but, that was more than enough. A twenty foot high dinosaur could be quite frightening. Luna and Klinger had become a favorite among the girls in the school. The games that James brought forward to Albus had been accepted right away. Bowling had become a favorite, with both the students, and the Professors. Severus was no longer lonely. His acceptance by the Brigade had turned his life around. Lucius and Narcissa had become strong allies to the Brigade. All of the adults were now members of the Brigade. They were no longer students. they were an elite fighting force, led by Doc, Sirius, James, Remus, Lucius and Severus. Harry was asked to join the Leaders, but he refused. He was no different than the other students. That, and he was beginning to show an interest in a certain red haired witch, and didn't want to separate him self from her.

They had divided the brigade into teams. James. Lily, Harry, Ginny, Hermine and Neville had become team # 2. Doc, Sirius, Draco, Tracy, Ron and Luna became Team # 1. Remus and Ham, Fred, Mariah, George, and Miranda became Team # 3. Frank, Alice, Severus, Lucius, Narcissa, Patricia, Tonks and Monk had become Team ALPHA with Anthony and Daphne in training. As the rest of the students in training became strong enough, they would be added to a team. The elves had also begun training with the teams, and they were an amazing asset. They were tireless, hard working, extremely strong, and fiercely loyal.

Unfortunately The Death Eaters had also been recruiting. Fenrir Grayback had been able to gain the backing of the werewolves. It was not a huge gain for the Death Eaters, as there were no wizards in there horde, other than Fenrir. However, on a full moon, they could be devastating.

Professor Quirrell had been quite busy. He knew that certain students had been pulled from the classes, but, has not yet been able to find out the reason. He had seen a large number of students running around Black Lake. He had heard talk around the school about something called the Brigade, but has yet to figure out what that was. Wormtail has been keeping tabs on his Death Eaters for him. He was furious about the loss of the Malfoys. He was now down six of his inner circle. The loss of Bellatrix, and Rudolphus, Dolohov and Yaxley was more than he could take. There were no replacements for the experience he lost. He now had four members of his inner circle.

Quirrell found it disturbing, when the weak minded one tried to gain control. He had to keep showing him how futile his attempts were. Lord Voldemort was no man to mess with.