The Rani

The Order finally meets Ursula.

The bottle of Firewhiskey on James' desk in Potter manor was half full, but after the night wore on it was likely to take a pounding. Dumbledore watched as both Lily and James took long gulps of the fiery alcohol to steady their nerves, and probably get drunk. Dumbledore was only just beginning to see the possibility that Ursula Potter wasn't the savior he and the others in the magical world were hoping for. The memory of her using those tongs to remove that - that creature, and then dropping it into the ear of the Death eater to control his mind...no one of light side mentality would ever do such a thing.

Dumbledore had long since held an aversion to death and murder since the death of his little sister Arianna, that was why he and the German Ministry of Magic had imprisoned Grindelwald for so many years. Forgiveness was a practice Dumbledore had long since advocated, but now he wished he had been a lot more harsher with the Death eaters than he had when Ursula had banished Voldemort as a baby. If he had then Voldemort would still be gathering his forces to prepare for the war, but Dumbledore had had matters to attend to, like cleaning up the mess left behind by Voldemort, the trials of the numerous Death eaters, not that his opinion carried any weight since they all cried they had been placed under the imperious curse, and fools like Bagnold had simply slapped them on their collective wrists and sent them on their way, much to Dumbledore's bitterness, but the elderly wizard had been concentrating on other matters, so his contribution with the trials was limited, though he had approved wholeheartedly with Crouch senior's approach to the problem, though it didn't last as long as Dumbledore may have wanted.

Sometimes Dumbledore loathed the responsibilities he had even though he had chosen to hold them.

Lily was shaking. " That thing...she put it in his ear." Her hand shook as she took a long draw of firewhiskey from her glass, not that Dumbledore could blame her, he felt the same way only he was using his occlumency to keep out the ghastly images.

James had to breath deeply before he spoke. " What do we do now Albus, we've tried everything to speak to her?"

Dumbledore sighed. He knew how much the Potters wanted their only daughter back, but it was clear now the hope was remote. Ursula simply refused to have anything to do with the Potters. Normally squibs and muggles were powerless against magic, but the same could not be said for Ursula, who used technology to stop magic from harming her, and since Dumbledore and Voldemort knew so little about muggle technology though both were aware of it, they could do little to get to Ursula.

He decided to be as honest as he could with James and Lily, they deserved that much at least. " I'll be frank, James, I don't think we can get to Ursula. I don't mean give up on her," he added holding up his hand to stop the protests. " She has already proven she can fight us without magic, rendering us powerless, as Voldemort, myself, and Lily can attest to. She's also incredibly apathetic towards life, that Death eater she used proves that."

" What can we do?" Lily asked.

Dumnbledore sighed again. " Our only consolation was when she brought us back into the lounge, and the Death eater was gone. She did say she would be in touch, though when we least expect it. She also stated clearly not to come anywhere near her home, or intrude on her privacy and if we did, then as she says the innocents will pay the price."

James shook his head. " I didn't like the sound of that. Could she mean Hogwarts students?"

Dumbledore's eyes grew darker, and his voice, aged as it was, frightened both Lily and James. " If she did, then she will regret it." Dumbledore's tone became lighter, though it kept his seriousness. " Tomorrow, we're going to have an Order meeting, to discuss what has been happening with Ursula, and we can use the night to rest and think a little of what we found in San Francisco."

Normally James was overwhelmed with his wifes beauty when she got into their bed at night, but both Potters were in too sour a mood to even dwell on each other. Lily wrapped her husband in her arms, as if she were cold, but James knew she wasn't, and it angered him that Ursula would even think of assaulting his wife, and then not bat an eyelid when she'd dropped that parasite down in the Death eaters ear.

James believed, unlike Dumbledore, that the Death eaters could not be redeemed, but he did believe Ursula's techniques were unnecessarily excessive.

Lily couldn't stop herself from shaking, and James was rising to the occasion of keeping her mind off the parasitic nightmare her daughter had dropped in the Death eaters ear. Ursula's lack of emotion also scared Lily, she couldn't believe that anyone could be so cold, so callous. Even Voldemort, who was probably the cruellest man Lily knew after Adolf Hitler, had more emotion than Ursula did. His death eaters were animals, and their cruellty was savage compared to the calculating evil of Voldemort.

Albus Dumbledore couldn't sleep either, though his body ached for sleep. That was the problem with international travel, it scrambled up the body clock, besides his mind was racing too fast to sleep. He was thinking of the hell he and the Potters were going through with Ursula. The girl, no woman, had no scruples with life, and her ability to simply turn magic off frightened him beyond belief. Dumbledore shivered in fear as he thought about how the woman had broken into Hogwarts so easily, yes that was a question but unfortunately he doubted very much she would answer the question.

Lord Voldemort was in agony.

A mere second before the bomb had exploded, he had prepared to break through the wards of his HQ, but it had been a near thing when the flash of light and superheated energy ripped through the manor of his family, killing his followers who were unlucky to be there though their deaths were not a problem. There was a good reason why they were called Death eaters afterall. No matter. He could easily recruit other fools to his cause.

The damage, though, to his body was more extreme. His body had remarkable regenerative capacity due to his making horcruxes, but even so the agony he was in right now was not something he cared to dwell on.

In his rational mind, Voldemort now saw that using his normal tactics of scare and destroy his opponents through sheer magical power and psychological terror, but in his maddened state after tearing his soul to shreds over the decades, he demanded vengeance.

Torn between vengeance and the new realisation, Lord Voldemort had another battle to wage, and it was not on his body. It was in his mind.

Albus Dumbledore called the newest meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order, though his eyes were fixed on the startling sight of Severus Snape, who had a bandage on his face. " It's good to be back," he started with a grim smile. " Though I wish I had better news. Simply speaking Ursula Potter is not coming, and she seems determined to wage her own little war on the Death eaters."

Snape grunted, and Dumbledore turned to face him as the surly man started speaking. " I wouldn't call capturing a Death eater and turning him into a suicide bomber and burning a manor to the ground with Death eaters inside it a little war, Dumbledore. She somehow captured Peter Derrick, and he exploded taking with him a good thirty of the Death eaters with him, though the Dark lord himself is still alive."

A chill went down Lily's spine, and from the glance James gave her, he'd thought the same thing. " Severus," Lily said, drawing the potion masters attention to her, and she shuddered when she saw what looked like angry red welts and cuts in the skin where the bandage didn't cover his face. " Describe Derrick, what does he look like?"

Puzzled Snape described him, and Lily gasped in horror. " That is the Death eater we saw in San Francisco. When we were guests in her home, Ursula unveiled a Death eater she'd said she'd captured after another attack on her home. He was trussed up. She took a parasite and put it in his body to control his mind. Severus, after she'd done that, Ursula ushered us out the room, when we went back the Death eater was gone, and when asked where he'd gone, she simply said he was on a mission."

" A mission to assassinate the Dark Lord, though it didn't work." Snape snarked.

Molly Weasley's opinionated mouth opened. " There, that proves it, the girl is dark and she should be locked up." Molly didn't notice the glares being sent her way by Lily and James.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, wishing he had never inducted this moronic female into the Order. It wasn't as if she ever made a decent contribution, only to open her massive gob and not shut up. The most annoying thing about Molly was that she said things about people without even noticing their presence in their midst.

" And how do you propose to lock her up Molly?" Dumbledore asked, opening his eyes and resting his chin on his folded hands on the table.

Molly thought the answer was obvious, though everyone knew the question was rhetorical. " We simply go over there and capture her. I don't understand why we haven't already done that, and you and her parents went over there yourselves. You've had plenty of opportunity."

" The reason we haven't tried that is because Ursula has the power to stop our magic from working, and you should know we can't function properly in the muggle world for long periods. If you think its simple Molly, then you take the effort to try it." Dumbledore said.

Snape also added his own surly contribution to the debate. " Don't forget Weasley that the Dark Lord has already sent Death eaters to the girl, and none of them returned, and those that did..." Snape shuddered.

For her part, Molly Weasley didn't see a problem. In her most arrogant and self righteous voice, she said, " Well we're not Death eaters, are we?"

" You are as good as, in my opinion." A voice from the shadows said coldly.

Jumping a foot in the air, and with Moody cursing himself for not noticing her presence, Ursula Potter glided into the light. She was dressed in a muggle shirt with jeans and trainers. Her hair was done up in a ballerina top knot and her eyes were highlighted in black. Molly regarded her outfit distastefully, but didn't say a word.

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. " How did you get here?"

An enigmatic smirk graced Ursula's face. " I'm not really here. I'm a hologram transmitted from a satellite in orbit around the planet. I own 12 of them."

One of the purebloods snorted, muttering, " Something in space, ridiculous."

Ursula didn't say a word, deciding not to waste her time saying anything otherwise. " I'm in the middle of something important. Unlike you, I don't like wasting time dealing with terrorists that need to be put down. I found out about the meeting and decided to attend."

Moody narrowed his eye, his blue one confirming the girl wasn't really there. " You told you about the meeting?"

Ursula sneered, " No one told me, I found out by chance. I also wanted to clear things up for you. As to the fat woman who thinks the solution is obvious, get this into your brains, you are not to send anyone to my home in the states. If you do, then arrange for as many funerals as possible. I've already told my parents and Dumbledore that the innocents would pay a terrible price if they did. Unlike some, I don't play games. It is a pity you can't see that I just want to be left alone. Oh, I intend to kill Voldemort, but only on my terms."

Molly couldn't keep her mouth shut. " You should be listening to your betters, young lady, and Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard on Earth."

If there was one thing Ursula loved it was debating, and she simply couldn't resist. " What about Merlin, or do you discount him because you've never met him? In every generation there's someone different. Its life, you can't change it.

" As for me listening to my betters, none of you fit that profile." Ursula's tone became obviously damning. " All you have demonstrated is sitting behind your wards and twiddling your thumbs. I have already proven those same barriers are not a problem for me, and if I was actually here then I would have activated the dampening field around you, and you would never be able to stop me."

Silence dominated the room, and Ursula carried on. " I said to the party that met me last night that the innocent would pay if any more witches and wizards try to bring me to the magical world. Don't think its an empty threat either. I'm not one of you, nor do I believe in live and let live. If I wage war on someone then I don't stop until the enemy are nothing more than mummified corpses in tanks I use for experimentation." Ursula became thoughtful. " In fact, if any of you come, please tell those brave volunteers they will never see their families again, and if they did then they would shy away in fear about what their relatives have become. When I experiment on life, I leave a monster left. Take the warning seriously, old man, its the only one you will get, and watch for the deaths of your people. It will happen if you try and approach me. The same threat applies to the Death eaters."

Ursula disappeared.