Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 10
"Alice and Frank …" Lily began.
"I'm sure they're all right…" Severus started to say when there was another commotion as Potter and Black rushed out, wands drawn. 'No doubt bent on glory," Severus thought. Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon rushed out after them. "Frank's in his last year of the Auror Academy and he's been training with Ned Crockford."
"Maybe, we should go and see if we can help," Lily suggested.
"Well, they most likely don't want my help and you're not going to be much help dressed as you are. Why don't we go back to your house and you can send Artemis to Alice with a note."
"You're right and I'd probably just be in the way."
They quickly flooed back to Lily's home. Richard and Iris looked up as they stepped out of the fireplace. "Why are you home so early? It's not even 11:00," Richard said.
"There was a Death Eater attack on Godric's Hollow and the news kind of wrecked the party," Severus answered.
"Was that the only place they attacked? They didn't attack where the Weasley's live did they?" Iris asked anxiously.
"Not that we've heard, Mum," Lily answered. She went upstairs, wrote a note, and sent it off with her owl.
Severus sat down in the chair opposite Richard's.
"I don't understand, Sev, why would these people attack a wizarding community?" Iris asked.
"Because many of the prominent so-called 'Light' families live there. I don't think You-Know-Who intends anybody to be injured or killed. I think he was making a point to the Ministry and possibly Dumbledore that he can attack anywhere and nobody's safe no matter where they live."
Lily came back downstairs and sat down next to her mum on the couch. "It will probably be awhile before Alice is able to owl me back."
Iris got up. "Why don't I fix us some tea and snacks while we wait?"
"I'll help you, Mum," Lily said and then asked, "Where's Tuney tonight?"
"Vernon's parents took them out to dinner with Vernon's sister, Marge. I believe she's going to stay there and ring in the New Year. I really like Vernon, but his sister leaves a lot to be desired."
Lily giggled. "Is she the one dad said looks and sounds like a Royal Marine Drill Sergeant?"
"Yes, complete with a mustache. I do hope Petunia can smarten her up a bit for the wedding."
They bought the tea and small cakes into the living room where Severus was talking quietly to Richard.
"I'm sure Alice is all right, Lily. I've always thought she was very spunky," Iris remarked handing the cups around.
It was after midnight before Boadicea returned. Lily grabbed the note she carried, opened it and quickly read it and then smiled in relief. "Alice is okay and so is Frank. She says the Aurors have everything under control now. She said some of the Order rushed in, but were told to stay out of the way by Moody; that they had enough trouble without having to rescue a bunch of fools," Lily giggled. "Alice said Potter Manor was damaged by the retreating Death Eaters. I'll bet Mrs. Potter is fit to be tied!"
Severus chuckled. "I can just see her sitting down and writing You-Know-Who a letter. Dear Mr. Voldemort, While visiting Godric's Hollow on New Year's Eve your minions behaved in a very rowdy fashion and damaged Potter Manor and I expect the sum of five hundred Galleons from you for the cost of the repairs. If I don't receive it forthwith, you'll be receiving a visit from my lawyer!"
Lily giggled too. "I can really see her doing something like that. She's unbelievably snobby and thinks just because she has a lot of money it makes her a saint of some sort. I also like that Moody told the Order members to get lost!"
Petunia came in the door just then and looked at everybody laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Godric's Hollow was attacked, but nobody fortunately was hurt however Potter Manor was damaged during the attack. We were just laughing over the fact that Mrs. Potter is probably so angry that they would dare damage her manor that she'll send off a note to You-Know-Who with charges for the repair."
"I can definitely see her doing that," Petunia agreed. "Her nose is so high in the air it's a wonder a jetliner doesn't clip it!"
"Thanks for going to the Ball with me, Lily. I appreciate it," Severus said getting up. "I might see you tomorrow, but if not then at school." He bade Richard, Iris, and Petunia goodnight and flooed home.
Severus got up the next morning, ate breakfast, straightened up his house and then decided to spend some of the day working on defensive tactics. He knew his reaction time was slower than normal and he needed to get up to speed there. He emptied the dining room of all its furniture and transfigured practice dummies out of paper bags. He began with the simple disarming spells such as Potter's all-time favorite, Expelliarmus and Stupefy. He practiced for an hour before stopping and returning the dining room back to its former condition. He really needed a room where he could practice without having to temporarily banish the furniture and the only one available was the storeroom next to his bedroom. He decided to clean it out and see what was in there. He sighed as he opened the door. It was jammed with crates, boxes, and old furniture. He was just starting to clear it out when he heard the floo sound and went downstairs to see who it was. "Lily Evans requests entrance," the floo announced.
"Let her come through," Severus replied.
Lily stepped out of the fireplace and used her wand to remove the ashes. "Hi Sev, mum sent me over to invite you over for New Year's dinner. Vernon's coming over too. She's having real maple-glazed ham for dinner."
"That sounds good. Where does she get the real maple?"
"Mum has a cousin that lives in the New England section of the States and she sends her a big canister of syrup every Christmas."
"What time does she want me to come over?"
"She said six."
"Okay. Let her know I'll be there."
"I will. What are you doing today?"
"I'm cleaning out the room next to my bedroom. My parents used it for a storage room and I decided I needed somewhere to practice defense."
"I can help you if you'd like," Lily offered.
"It would probably go faster if I had help," Severus admitted.
"Lead the way."
They went upstairs where Severus already had boxes sitting out in the hallway. "It looks as if they used it to store broken furniture and mostly junk."
Lily tapped her bottom lip with her index finger as she noticed the location of the room right next to what had been his parents' room. "Sev, you don't suppose this was originally your nursery?" From somewhere inside the room she heard Severus snort. "Like they ever gave enough of a crap about me to have an actual nursery."
"Well, they were probably thrilled when your mum got pregnant though."
"Yeah until they found out I was a wizard and Tobias found out his wife had been lying to him all along."
Severus was moving furniture into the hallway and Lily was moving some of the lighter boxes. He set the furniture that could be repaired on one side of the hall and the furniture that to be discarded on the other side. There was a roll top desk with a broken leg and bottom drawer that was hanging loose that Severus wanted for his lab.
One of the things he found in the room was a marble Pensieve. "It must have been mum's."
"What do you think she used it for, Sev?" Lily asked curiously.
He shrugged. "I don't know, but since she didn't have a very nice life here, maybe she used it to relive happier memories."
Seeing how sad finding the Pensieve had made him; Lily went back inside the room. "Sev look at this," Lily called from inside the room. "I was right. This was your nursery."
Severus walked back into the room and saw where Lily was pointing. Wallpaper could now be seen. It had a light blue background with a big moon and a cow jumping over it. A black cat was standing in front playing a fiddle while a dog sat next him laughing and there was a dish running away with a spoon. The ground underneath them was a light brown. The same motif was all over the wallpaper.
"The theme of the wallpaper looks like it was based on the Muggle rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle," Lily said.
As they gradually emptied the room they found a crib, a changing table a rocking chair, and an armoire all made of walnut and clearly a matched set, shoved to one side of the room.
Lily ran her hand over the crib railing. "Sev, this is an expensive set and it's in really good shape."
"Obviously they must have bought them before Tobias started drinking his wages, that is of course, when he had wages," Severus remarked sarcastically. He chuckled. "I guess I must have not been one of those babies who chewed on their cots."
"What are you going to do with them?" Lily asked.
Severus shrugged. "I don't know. I could sell it I suppose. It's in good shape and I could probably get a good price for it, but I'll probably just shrink it and put it in a box in the closet there." He went over the closet in the room and opened it. It was empty thankfully, but dusty. Severus took out his wand and said, "Tergeo," and sucked all the dust out of the closet. There were shelves on one side of the closet. He emptied a box of papers into another box and with Lily's help he shrank the baby furniture and placed it in a box, labeled it, and put it on the shelf in the closet.
"Let's just shrink the rest of these boxes and put them on the shelves in here and I'll go through them when I have more time."
They proceeded to shrink the boxes and stack them on the shelves in the closet. Lily picked up one box to shrink it, but it was torn and fell out of her hands, spilling photographs all over the floor. "I'm so sorry, Sev," Lily said bending down and starting to pick up the photos. She repaired the box with a wave of her wand and began putting the photos back in it.
Severus picked up one and saw it was a picture of six soldiers standing in front of a tent; Tobias being one of the six. The background appeared to be a jungle and it looked to be near sunset. It looked as if they were going out on patrol because they were dressed in camouflage and had blackened their faces. It gave him an idea. "Leave that box out, Lily," Severus requested. "I've never seen these pictures before and I want to look through them." He took the box and placed it in his bedroom to look at later.
They finished shrinking all the boxes and putting them away. Severus shrank all the stuff he had set aside to throw out, tossed it into a garbage bag, and took it out to the dustbin. When he came back upstairs he went back into the room, pointed his wand at the cracked linoleum and said, "Evanesco." The linoleum vanished revealing the wooden floor underneath it. Severus cast a Scourgify to clean it and then cast the Nitesco spell to polish it. He got six cotton balls out of the bathroom and transfigured them into thick mats. Lily noticed that he hadn't done anything with the wallpaper. "I'm planning to use this room for practicing defense," he explained. "My reflexes are kind of slow after two months of inactivity."
"Would you mind if I came over and practiced with you occasionally?" Lily asked.
"No. Maybe I'll invite Remus over too."
Lily flooed back home and Severus took a shower, got dressed and flooed over to the Evans for dinner. The maple ham was tender and delicious as was the rest of the meal. Vernon and Richard discussed Manchester United's chances for the league title this year while Lily and Petunia discussed shopping for Petunia's wedding dress and Lily's maid of honor dress as her wedding date was set for mid-June. Severus ate quietly while working on an idea he'd gotten after seeing the picture of the camouflaged men. Dessert was treacle tart. Severus ate his with a dollop of Devonshire crème.
When he got back he looked through the pictures in the box before going to bed. It contained a mixture: some were of Tobias as a Royal Marine, some were of his mum and Tobias and there were a few of him as a baby and a toddler and a couple from what was apparently his first birthday, but none of him after that. Severus figured that was probably when Tobias had found out he had a witch for a wife and a wizard for a son.
He went back to college the next day and back to work for the first time since October. The two owners were happy to see him again, but insisted on him doing light work such as stocking the shelves, sorting potion ingredients into jars and labeling the jars until his healers cleared him to do heavier work. He worked until five and then met Kingsley at the Leaky for dinner. Severus cast the Muffliato Charm around their booth so nobody could overhear their conversation. "I had this idea for when we're fighting against Death Eaters." He took out the picture of the soldiers out of his pocket. "You see the clothing they're wearing?"
Kingsley took the photograph and studied it. "What is it? I've never seen any clothes like this before."
"It called camouflage clothing. Muggle soldiers wear it so they blend in with their surroundings and the enemy can't spot them easily. It gives them an advantage over the enemy. It's usually a light green or grey background with patches of slightly darker green, gray or brown over it."
"So …what you're thinking, Sev is we should wear this camouflage whenever we're out patrolling?"
"I'm thinking it will give us an advantage. We should also learn how to use hand signals too because talking might give away our position."
"What the stuff they're wearing on their faces?" Kingsley asked.
"I don't know. I think it's some kind of paste or something that's used to blend in further and I'm assuming it's impervious to sweat."
"I guess I won't need any of that since I already have natural camouflage," Kingsley joked. "I don't know when the next meeting is yet or where it will be, but somebody will contact you to let you know and you can let Lily know."
"That sounds good," Severus replied. When he got home He did an hour of defense practice before going to bed. The next day Severus met April in the library and after casting his Muffliato spell, told her about the new defense group which he jokingly referred to as 'Weasley's Warriors,' and asked her if she wanted to join. "Arthur says anybody who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who is welcome to join and Professor Flitwick is a member."
"What happened to Dumbledore's group?" April asked.
'A lot of people got tired of Dumbledore listening to Potter and Black over more experienced people. They felt they were careless and would put them and their families in danger. Arthur, Edgar Bones, and Alastor Moody all tried to get Potter kicked off the Inner Council after what he and Black did to me, but Dumbledore refused."
"Of course he would! The Marauders' heads are stuck so far up Dumbledore's arse I'm surprised he can sit down!" April snorted. "I guess I could go to one meeting and see whether or not it's something I want to be part of. Is Lily a part of it?"
"Yes, she and Potter broke up after she found out he was the one that deliberately leaked that lie about me in the Leaky Cauldron that caused You-Know-Who to come after me."
"Well, I guess she's not entirely stupid after all."
Severus continued to practice defensive spells every night and soon felt he was back to his previous speed. He had also been brewing various potions that would be needed if somebody were injured. He was practicing one night when a weasel Patronus landed in the room and announced in Arthur's voice, "Meeting tomorrow evening at eight o'clock at the Hog's Head. See you then." He went downstairs to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, knelt down and threw it in and said, "Evans residence, Manchester."
Richard came over and knelt down by the fire. "Sev, how are you?"
"Fine, sir. Is Lily available?"
"Yes, she just got back from her last class and she'd eating dinner. Let me get her for you."
He got up and left for a moment and Severus could hear him calling Lily. A few seconds later Lily's face appeared in the fire. "What is it, Sev?"
"I just got a message from Arthur that there's going to be a meeting tomorrow night at eight at the Hog's Head."
"Okay. I'll floo over to your house about 7:30 and we can floo to the Hog's head from there."
"I'll see you then."
The next day Severus told April about the meeting that night. "If you want to come you can floo home with me and when Lily comes we'll floo to the meeting."
"Are you going to ask Boris, Kaemon, Michelle, or Colleen about joining?" April asked.
"I suppose I could, but You-Know-Who really hasn't really gotten a foothold in their countries yet although I think he could easily enough in France and Ireland, but Russia and Japan are pretty far for his reach right now."
"No to mention that the Communist's would probably kick his arse around the block if he tried and imprison him in Siberia somewhere," April added. "Hmm …maybe somebody ought to suggest it to a Death Eater so they can suggest it to him that he should invade the Soviet Union."
When Lily flooed over to Severus' house that night she found him waiting with April.
Lily nodded at April. "Hello, April. How are you?"
"Fine and you?" April asked politely.
"I'm also fine." Lily turned to Severus. "Are we ready to go?"
"Yes." All three of them stepped into the fireplace and Severus called out, "Hog's Head, Hogsmeade," and then he threw down the floo powder.
The bar was completely dark as they stepped out of the fireplace at the Hogs Head, but Aberforth was waiting to escort them upstairs. When they entered the room Severus noticed there was a long table with chairs all around it. Arthur was standing and talking with Filius, Frank, and Remus while Molly was visiting with Alice. Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick were already seated at the table and talking with Ned Crockford. Lily went over to talk with Alice and Molly while Severus took April over to introduce her to Arthur.
Filius was always happy to see one of his former house members and chatted amicably with her.
Moody and Kingsley arrived and the meeting was called to order. Arthur stood up. "I know I said this at the last meeting, but I'd like to say again that anybody who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who is welcome in this group." He turned to Alastor. "What can you tell us about the attack on Godric's Hollow, Alastor?"
Moody snorted. "Biggest cock-up I've ever seen! We could have caught more Death Eaters if Dumbledore hadn't sent in his clown patrol. Bunch of glory hounds! Potter and Black flying around on their brooms like morons and when the Death Eaters got on theirs and started chasing them then we had to go rescue them."
"Not to mention those gits were flying around haphazardly casting spells that almost hit some of us," Frank complained.
"All they did was get in our way," Kingsley agreed. "We spent more time having to rescue them than fighting the Death Eater. MacDonald and McKinnon didn't even have the sense to change out of their party clothes before coming." He shook his head. "They got cornered by Death Eaters and couldn't run away because of their long dresses and the high heels on their shoes. Ned and Frank had to rescue them."
"I think You-Know-Who was just flexing his muscles," Ned said. "The only real damage they did was set fire to the roof of Potter Manor."
"I agree with Ned. I think it was just a scare tactic to show people he could strike anywhere at any time." Severus said.
"Well it worked because people are bloody scared!" Alice replied.
"I heard Dumbledore recruited John Dawlish to replace Kingsley and me in the Order. No surprise there since he's a close buddy of Potter's and Black's," Moody said.
"Sev has a good idea for when we're ready to start patrolling," Kingsley said.
Severus passed the picture around he'd found in the box of photos and explained about the camouflaged clothing the soldiers in the picture wore. He'd also found a book of his father's on hand signals.
"So, what you're saying is that this clothing will make it harder for the Death Eaters to spot us?" Edgar asked.
"Yes, it's like being disillusioned, but it won't be a drain on your magical core," Severus said. "You know how you can only stay disillusioned for short periods of time and that doesn't work if you're watching a bunch of Death Eater. You don't suddenly want to become visible again."
Molly studied the picture while thoughtfully tapping her lip. "You know, Severus if you can find me an outfit of this material I can easily replicate it with a Geminio spell."
"I'm going to check the military surplus stores, Molly and see what I can find. I think I'll ask your dad to come with me, Lily."
The meeting ended with Arthur saying that everybody would be contacted with the time and place of the next meeting. Moody added that they should all continue practicing their non-verbal spell and if anybody needed help they could contact him and they would be given a tutor. He had replicated the book on hand signals that Severus had bought and gave everyone a copy with orders to learn them. "Anything that will put us ahead of the Death Eaters needs to be taken seriously. After all, this is a war we're fighting and constant vigilance is the key to winning."
Severus continued practicing to increase his speed. Sometimes he was joined by Lily or Remus or Frank and Alice. Kingsley came over quite a bit with April.
"So are you and April becoming an 'item'?" Severus teased when they met for their weekly dinner at the Leaky
Kingsley chuckled. "She is very smart and attractive. We're both alumni of the same house so that gives us additional common ground."
"Well, she's very nice and I think you'd be good for each other."
Severus, with Richards's help, bought a camouflage outfit from the military surplus store and took it over to the Burrow. Molly replicated it and would size them on everybody at the next meeting. After two more months of intense training and learning the hand signals Moody deemed them ready for patrol and possible engagement with the enemy.
"We've gotten several report of a lot of activity around the Lestrange Manor in Gravesend. I think we should check it out."
"Severus, Lily, Edgar and Ned will go there." Arthur decided. "For the time being one of the Aurors will accompany each group. What else, Alastor?"
"There's been activity sighted at Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, too. Since Lucius is sitting in a cell in Azkaban I'd like to know what's going on there," Moody said. "Finally the villagers in Little Hangleton have reported seeing lights in the old Riddle Manor there."
"Alice, Frank, Kingsley and April will go to Malfoy Manor and watch while Alastor, Filius, Aberforth, Remus, and I will go to Little Hangleton. Benjy, you have medical training so I want you to stay here with Molly in case anyone is hurt."
Benjy nodded and went to check the chest of potions that Severus had brewed and make sure everything was in order.
Severus had brewed a dark paste for their faces. "It will not only provide camouflage, but it will condition your skin," he joked.
They were all dressed in the camouflage that Molly had replicated and shrunk or enlarged to fit everyone. She'd even added a special pocket for their wands.
"Don't engage the Death Eaters unless you have no choice," Arthur instructed. Everybody's apparition took them within a mile of their assigned targets. That way the cracks of their apparition couldn't be heard by the occupants of the manor houses.
Severus, Lily, Edgar, and Ned hid themselves in a nearby ditch. They had been there nearly an hour when they suddenly heard three cracks and heard Bellatrix's voice say. "If you two want to play with that Mudblood you captured; do it and then kill her!"
At eye level in the ditch they could see Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan with a girl who looked to be maybe fourteen."
"No! Please don't hurt me! Please let me go!" The girl pleaded frantically
"Shut up, Mudblood!" Rodolphus snarled hitting her across the face and knocking her down. She didn't move again.
Edgar hand signaled to the rest of them that he would cast the Toenail hex on Rodolphus. Ned decided to use the Boot Kicking hex on Rabastan and signaled what he was going to do. Severus wanted to cast the Comburo Irrito hex on Bellatrix. They would cast them all at the same time after which Lily would stun and bound them.
Rodolphus started screaming as his toenails tore through his shoes and then Rabastan began yelling as two boots began kicking his arse and he ran around in circles attempting to dodge them. Lily cast the Langlock hex at both of them to shut them up.
"What are you two screaming about?" Bella demanded. It was too dark for her to see what was happening. "If the Mudblood bitch scratched, bit or kicked you don't come whining to me!"
Severus chose that moment to cast the Comburo Irrito hex at Bella. She suddenly started screaming and tearing at her dress in a frantic attempt to scratch where she itched. For good measure Severus also cast his Whirling hex at her too. She began spinning around so fast the skirt of her dress flew up around her face so she was unable to see anything. Severus cast the Langlock hex at her so she couldn't scream.
Lily stunned all three of them although she did allow Bella to whirl around a bit longer than necessary before stunning her. She then cast an Incarcerous on all three of them and gagged them for good measure. They wanted for ten minutes to see whether anybody else emerged from manor in response to the noise and then Edgar cast his bulldog Patronus and sent it to Scrimgeour with the message about the three Death Eaters lying stunned and bound outside of Lestrange Manor. Severus took all the hexes off them and repaired Rodolphus' shoes. He figured it would be better if nobody recognized his hexes. Lily went over to examine the girl.
"Is she all right, Lily?" Severus whispered.
"Yes, she's just knocked out. We'll take her back to the Burrow and let Molly take care of her," Lily said.
All four of them walked back to their apparition point to disapparate. Severus carried the girl since he was the tallest and it was easier for him to do it. They disapparated and appeared in yard outside the Burrow. Molly and Benjy ran out when they heard the cracks of apparition. "What happened? Who's this, Sev?" Molly said.
"Bellatrix, her husband and his brother kidnapped her and were going to rape her and kill her. We hit them with a few hexes, stunned and bound them. Edgar sent his Patronus to Scrimgeour and he'll take care of the rest."
"She's just a young girl," Molly said as Severus laid her on the couch.
"The Lestrange brothers always were a couple of perverts!" Severus spat.
Benjy ran his wand over her. "She's okay, just out cold." He grabbed the parchment that appeared. "Hmm …she does have a slight concussion and some serious bruising probably from when they grabbed her."
Molly's face hardened and she stood up straight. "I'm glad you rescued her and I hope you gave those three hell!"
"We did," Ned assured her. "I don't think Rabastan is going to be able to sit down properly for a few days. That boot kicking hex really works!"
"Well, I tested it on Potter's and Black's arses first," Severus commented with a smirk.
There were several cracks outside the Burrow causing everybody inside to draw their wands, but Alice called, "It's me, Frank, April and Kingsley." They walked in to see Molly and Benjy bent over the girl on the couch. "What happened?" April asked.
Before he could start there was a couple of more cracks and then Arthur followed by Aberforth came in. "Where are Remus, Professor Flitwick, and Moody?" Lily asked in concern.
"Remus and Filius flooed back to Hogwarts before Dumbledore could discover both their absences," Arthur explained. "And Moody went back to Auror Headquarters to see who Scrimgeour sent to fetch the Lestranges."
Severus proceeded to relate what had happened at the Lestrange Manor. "We really didn't have a choice, but to engage them," he said. "We struck fast and furious. None of them knew what hit them either."
"You didn't have a choice," Arthur agreed. "You couldn't allow them to harm that young girl."
The next morning's Prophet Headline story was about the capture of the Lestranges. Few details were given except that Rufus Scrimgeour had received anonymous information about the Lestranges' capture and had sent two Aurors to Lestrange Manor to find Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan stunned, gagged and bound. All three were now sitting in high security cells in the Ministry.
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Voldemort finished reading the Prophet, angrily crumpled it and threw it in the fireplace at Riddle Manor. He had now lost two of his most trusted advisors, Mulciber and Bellatrix and three of his most loyal Death Eaters, Lucius and the Lestrange brothers. His spy within the Order was useless and he had put the Cruciatus Curse to good use last night on him and the rest of his followers for their worthlessness. His plan to take over Wizarding Britain that had been moving smoothly and swiftly was now in peril it seemed.
"I will find them and have my revenge!" He screamed.
Nagini slithered up his chair making soft hissing sounds to comfort him.
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James and Sirius were lounging in Dumbledore's office after a big breakfast with Albus who was upset after reading the morning Prophet. Elphias Doge was also present. Albus put down the paper.
"Does Mr. Dawlish know anymore about this than the information printed in the paper?"
James shook his head. "All his said was Scrimgeour contacted the Aurors on duty that he'd received an anonymous tip about captured Death Eaters at Lestrange Manor and sent Aurors Knightly and Finchley out there to check it out and they reported back that they found Bellatrix, her husband and his brother lying stunned, bound and gagged outside."
Albus slammed his fist down on his desk. "This is making us look as if we're fools! The Order should be the ones capturing Death Eaters and meting out justice not some vigilante!"
"Well Albus since so many members have left the Order we are spread thin and we can't be everywhere at once as much as we might want to be," Elphias pointed out.
"We'll have to rectify this. The Order of Phoenix needs to be in the forefront of the battle against Voldemort! We need to think of ways to top whoever did this last night!"