A/N: I don't own Harry Potter, Star Wars, Gremlins or my house. That would be JKR, Lucas Films and Warner Bros. (Trivia time: Chris Columbus, who directed the HP 1 and 2 films, also wrote Gremlins movies.)
Chapter 12 – Potters Strike Back
22 June 1999 – Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley and its smaller branches are the premier shopping and business district in Wizarding Britain. It was the hub of life for wizards and witches from England, Wales and Scotland. Even Irish magicals routinely made the trip across the Irish Sea to shop and conduct business.
During the day, the Alley bustled with activity as wizards and witches shopped, dined and conducted the normal business of the centre of British magical life. The Daily Prophet, Gringotts, Obscurus Books and Nimbus all had their home offices located here.
However, with the recent trouble, the Alley was abandoned after 20.00. All the shops closed and most of the restaurants closed. Only a few of the seedier pubs and the Leaky Cauldron remained open for business.
Auror Oliver Smallpiece suppressed a shiver as he walked through the darkened Diagon Alley. It was just about two hours until his midnight shift change. The twenty-two year veteran of the Auror corps just wanted a quiet shift before he could return home to his wife.
His partner, Colin MacFergus followed him several paces back. It was standard patrolling protocol not to be too close so that a single curse couldn't affect both Aurors. MacFergus was close enough to cover Smallpiece with a shield or fire on an attacker. It was a tried and proven tactic.
But Oliver sure wished he was the trailing partner tonight. Unfortunately, as the senior partner he had to lead his younger counterpart in the field.
All of the UK had gone mad in the last four days. Since the attempt to arrest the Count resulted in the deaths of a number of Watchmen and Aurors, the Count's forces had attacked targets throughout Britain. The death of three Wizengamot members was bad enough, but the constant attacks on children and their disappearances had even the most hardened Auror fuming. Smallpiece wasn't convinced in his former boss, Ron Potter's involvement but the evidence against 'Harry Potter' being the former Unspeakable was solid.
A small clinking noise ahead brought Smallpiece's mind back to the task. He stopped and cautiously peered ahead with his wand pointed towards the noise.
"What is it?" MacFergus hissed.
Smallpiece motioned with his free hand for his partner to be quiet. He slowly inched forward trying to see the source of the noise.
"Is it one of the orange things that were reported?"
Smallpiece suppressed the urge to turn and hex his rookie partner. Before he could repeat his order to stay silent some ... thing wandered out of the small gap between Madam Malkin's and Flourish & Blotts.
It looked like a demented, twisted house-elf. It had the same size and ears of an elf but its skip looked more like scales. It looked up at Smallpiece and seemed to grin. The Auror noticed its mouth was filled with small, wickedly short looking teeth. It let loose a weird, high pitched giggle that sent chills up Smallpiece's spine.
"What the hell is that?" MacFergus asked with his Scottish accent coming to the fore.
The creature suddenly dated forward to grab the younger Auror's robe. MacFergus started yelling as the small form scurried up and started pulling at the wizard's hair.
"Get'em off! Geoff me!"
The odd creature was screaming in malicious glee as MacFergus screamed in panic. The young wizard staggered out into the middle of the Alley as he struggled with his strange attacker. The Auror finally got a grip on it and heaved the creature off his head. The creature screeched as it flew through the air and smashed into the side of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"What in Merlin's name is that thing?!" MacFergus yelled as he tried to stop the bleeding from a bitten ear.
Smallpiece said, "Get your wand out and back me up." The odd creature was moving slowly. The impact with the wall must have dazed it. As Smallpiece summoned a small glowing orb of light, he told his partner, "Summon help. I have no idea what this thing is."
The red sparks from MacFergus's wand had just started when the creature looked up. It started to climb to its feet.
"Don't move!" Smallpiece ordered. "Perfectus Totalis!"
The creature froze when the spell hit its small chest. The senior Auror could see rage in its eyes. Smallpiece could hear the sound of boots as he covered the creature with his wand. He glanced towards the sound to see eight Aurors coming.
A strangled choke pulled Smallpiece's attention back. "Err, sir, that thing is starting to break free," MacFergus warned.
Smallpiece turned and saw the creature was starting to move in slow motion. But it was getting faster with each heartbeat. What the hell is that thing?
"Reducto!"
Smallpiece looked on as the rookie's Reductor Curse hit the creature. The creature's body exploded into little pieces as the spell smashed through the large ice cream shop window.
"What are you doing, MacFergus?" Smallpiece demanded.
"It was moving again!" the younger Auror protested.
Smallpiece inhaled to yell at his partner when he noticed his shift supervisor, Albert Swenson, had arrived. The Auror threw a frown at his partner and turned to the supervisor. "Sir, the situation is contained."
"What was the situation, Auror?"
"Sir, some weird creature attacked MacFergus. I got it in a Full-Body Bind. MacFergus hit it with a Reductor when it started to break free. I have no idea what it was. It looked like a cross between a house-elf and a Kappa except it had these teeth. Evil looking thing."
Swenson frowned in disapproval before saying, "Let's see your creature."
"Yes, sir. Over here sir." MacFergus gestured towards the remains of the shop window.
Swenson stepped over and looked into the shop. He looked for a moment and then asked, "What the hell is that?"
Smallpiece stepped up and looked into the shop. What he saw scared him.
The pieces of the creature were scattered around the room. And they were … bubbling and growing as he was watching. From the shadows, a slight popping noise was heard.
"That was the same noise I heard…"
Something flew out of the darkness to smash into Smallpiece's face. It took a moment for him to realize it was ice cream. He spluttered as ice cream ran down his face. Then more popping noises came. In his horror, he saw what had happened.
Each of the chunks of the creature had changed and grown. Now each piece one formed its own creature, just as large as the original. However, rather than being identical, each was a bit different. Smallpiece's observations were stopped short as a barrage of ice cream flew out of the shop and at the Aurors outside.
"What the hell is going on here?"
One of the creatures leapt from the shop with a spoon in one hand and latched onto MacFergus. It started trying the stab the rookie Auror in the chest while the surrounding Aurors watched in stunned disbelief.
"Ahh, get it off! That bloody hurts!"
As Smallpiece reached out to grab the malicious little creature, a swarm of them erupted from the shop. One flew by with a pair of bat-like wings. Another had the legs of a spider. All of them were strange, ugly looking little things.
A full scale battle erupted between the Aurors and the little creatures. It was chaos as the spells flew about trying to kill off the creatures. Smallpiece found himself trapped against the wall of Madam Malkins by a giant spider web. And the spider-like creature was eyeing him as if he was dinner.
A strange screeching noise put a temporary stop to the battle. All the creatures stopped fighting and turned to the source of the noise. The Aurors started to press their advantage but a second screech forced them to turn against their wills.
Another creature had appeared in the destroyed ice cream shop's window. It wore a formal blue dress robe with stars and moons on it. It had a pair of half-moon glasses and a long white beard. It seemed to smile at the Aurors and the wizards would latter swear it had a twinkle in its eyes.
The bearded creature started to make a speech. At least, so the Aurors assumed it was. The other creatures seemed to cheer at points. The speech seemed to reach a fever pitch when the creatures all turned and bolted all parts of the Alley leaving the stunned Aurors in their wake.
The confused Aurors looked around in indecision as the creatures scattered. A small cough made Smallpiece turn back to the bearded creature.
It smiled again and then it did something that almost made the hardened Auror faint.
It spoke in perfect English.
"Trust me. It's all for the greater good."
Then it dropped out of sight.
For the next several hours, chaos reigned on Diagon Alley. More and more Aurors were called as most spells had no positive effect on the creatures. Cutting and Blasting Curses only succeeded in creating more of the creatures. Binders and Stunners soon wore off. It was only when the first of the Watchmen arrived and used the Killing Curse was something effective found. Until then the creatures alternated between attacking the Aurors and ransacking the various shops.
The chaos reached a whole new level when one of the creatures found his way into Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The creature managed to set off the entire display of Basic Blaze Boxes in the front window, filling the air with Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs.
Atop a nearby building, a pair of orang-utans watched the chaos in amusement. There was a sudden blurring of motion and the two primates were replaced by a pair of young men with hair the same colour as the orang-utans they replaced.
"The Gremlins worked even better then we'd planned," one of the redheads commented while snickering at one Gremlin dressed in witches robes.
His twin could only nod as he laughed. He took a breath and forced himself to calm down enough to ask, "Think they noticed yet that blasting 'em makes them multiply?"
"The Gremlins or the Whiz-Bangs?"
"Both"
"Doesn't look it. 'Dumblegremlin' was a nice touch by the way, Fred."
"I think the Professor would have enjoyed it. But, I thought I was George today?"
"Nope, that's tomorrow. Come on, we need to get to the next place Harry needs us."
As the two wizards crept away unobserved one asked, "Are we sure daylight will destroy all of the Gremlins?"
"Pretty sure. That's how it worked in the film."
The first part of the plan had worked perfectly. Now it was time for the next step.
Auror Headquarters 23.30
For the last hour, the second level of the Ministry of Magic was a mad house. The appearance of the weird creatures on Diagon Alley was pulling in many of the available resources the Ministry dispatchers had. Teams from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Oblivators, and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad had been sent to back up the Aurors in the Alley. Half of the day shift Aurors had been pulled in to cover the patrols abandoned by the Aurors responding to the crisis in the Alley. The only Aurors left in the Ministry aside from the three dispatchers were the two Emergency Response Teams in their ready room.
The new Head Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt, held back the two ready teams. "This could be an attempt to pull all of our forces into a trap or diversion. We have enough people in the Alley to deal with the creatures."
It was just on the hour when the Floo fires suddenly flared up as if air was suddenly rushing into the fire. The dispatchers all stepped back as the fire's light glared brighter.
Then suddenly, a burst of air surged out of the Floo as if a giant was blowing out a candle. The sudden gust blew out the Floo fires and filled the air with soot. The dispatchers and Kingsley started coughing and rubbing the soot from their eyes.
"What the hell was that?" Kingsley demanded. The senior dispatcher started to reply when a deep booming voice interrupted her.
"Oops, sorry. Anyone have a tissue?"
Kingsley and the dispatchers could only stare in surprise at the fireplace where the voice had come from. It would be another five minutes before they tried to restart the Floo fires and discover they could generate even a spark.
Kingsley's eyes grew wide as the significance hit him. He smacked down on the alert button, summoning the Emergency Response Teams.
"Get to the holding cells," he ordered the ERT leaders. "We can't call for help. The attack on the Alley has to be a distraction. Once you get there, access the situation and send back a report. Back up the guards and hold until I can get some more Aurors here to relieve you. Questions? Then get moving!"
Before the ERT squads had even cleared the area, Shacklebolt was already shouting orders to his dispatchers. "McVeigh, get to Madam Bones and tell her what happened. Then get to the Minister. Ross, check the other Floo connections in the Ministry. See if we are the only ones affected by this. Jones, you run down to Black Watch's offices and tell the shift supervisor to get his men positioned to defend the Ministry against attack."
The three dispatchers were looking at the Head Auror in shock and disbelief. "Let's move, people! Now!"
As they ran to follow his instructions, Shacklebolt cursed under his breath. He hoped it would be enough.
--BD--
Kingsley Shacklebolt looked out across the large Ministry cafeteria filled with battered and bruised Ministry workers. Aside from a few cases admitted to St. Mungos, the Ministry forces had not suffered any casualties. The odd creatures fought, harassed, and mocked the Aurors and the other forces sent to Diagon Alley. The situation was completely out of control until sunrise two hours ago.
The exhausted Ministry forces were shocked when the demonic little creatures exploded into green goo when the morning sun hit them. Pushing through their exhaustion, the Aurors searched all of the wreckage that was the Alley to find any of the creatures hiding from the sun. After a two hour search, the Alley was declared safe.
Kingsley called the attention of the exhausted Aurors. "I'm going to make this real short. We will do a full debrief by shifts later. Second and third shift, go home and get some rest. Report at your normal times. First shift, you guys were called in last and should be the freshest of us."
Many of the first shift Aurors groaned at the news. A number of them had been in a favourite Auror pub last night when a wizard offered to buy the "Heroes of the Ministry" free rounds of Firewhiskey. The lot of them hadn't made it to their beds before getting called in, but none of them wanted to admit that to their boss.
Kingsley continued, "Obviously, last night's attack was the work of the Count. We have no idea of his purpose in destroying Diagon Alley, but we have to be careful of any follow-up attacks."
After dismissing the off shift personnel, the Head Auror sent half of the Aurors back to the Alley to oversee cleanup and assigned the rest to patrols and on-call response.
--BD--
The next emergency came just after noon. The head popped into the relit fireplace in the Auror Headquarters.
"We need help at Malfoy Manor immediately! We've been invaded!" The young, blonde haired man screaming out of the Floo looked to be in complete panic. "They are destroying my house!"
"Step back, sir," the dispatcher calmly replied. "An Auror team will step through in a moment."
A five-man Auror team stepping through the Floo thirty seconds later were met with a scene of absolute chaos.
A horde of small rodent-like creatures were swarming all over the once elegant Malfoy mansion.
"What the bloody hell?" the Auror leader asked in shock. After the whole previous day's shift, the extended Happy Hour at the pub, and the night's battle with the creatures in the Alley, the Auror leader was having a hard time processing what she was seeing with her own eyes.
It was a torn and bleeding Narcissa Malfoy that provided the answer to that question when she came screaming into the room followed by another swarm of the creatures.
"Stop them! They are trying to eat me!"
One of the Aurors, Michael Weston, quickly cast a charm the held the furry creatures back. A crying Narcissa Malfoy wrapped herself around the lead Auror. The Auror was not used to such a friendly welcome from this Malfoy. Or any Malfoy for that matter.
"Aunt Narcissa, what is going on here? Draco only screamed you were being invaded."
The crying witch wouldn't answer, but Auror Weston provided the answer.
"They are only nifflers, Tonks." The Auror was holding one of the rodents where it was calmly playing with a Knut and making some odd purring noises. The Auror looked up at his pink haired team leader while fighting off a grin. "Someone let a whole bunch of nifflers into the manor."
"A bunch?" Tonks snorted. "It looks like every niffler in England is in this place." She looked around in amusement and dismay. "All the gold and silver on display in this place must be driving them nuts."
"They kept biting me," Narcissa stammered out. "I woke up and they were gnawing on my fingers and ears." Narcissa held up her right hand to show the bloody mess her fingers had become. Tonks noticed when she moved her head that she was missing a least one earlobe too as her aunt started to break down again.
Tonks nodded her approval when one of the other Aurors hit Narcissa with a Calming Charm. "Aunt Narcissa, where is Draco and Lucius?"
The now calmer witch answered, "Lucius is on business in France for the week. Draco is here somewhere. I don't know. I was trying to get away."
The conversation was cut short when three Black Watch units stormed out of the Floo in attack formation, wands out and ready for a fight. Tonks could feel their confusion where instead of the expected Dark Wizards there was only a massive horde of relatively harmless nifflers cheerfully disassembling Malfoy Manor.
The Black Watch leader took command and started ordering the Aurors and Watchmen to start corralling the rodents. He also called for teams from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to come in to assist in the round up.
When Tonks tripped over a fallen vase, Weston reached down to pull her back up before the nifflers swarmed her. As she stood up, Weston leant into his boss's ear and whispered. "I know who did this." He paused at Tonk's raised eyebrow. "It was the Potter twins. I was a year ahead of them at Hogwarts. Al is great with magical creatures. Once he let a Mooncalf loose in Thomas's dorm room. It smashed everything flat and then danced into my room next door."
Tonks snorted at the thought of her missing cousins. "You're right. This is something they would come up with."
"But if they are with the Count, then why this prank?" Weston asked curiously. "Why not an attack? We've seen the results of their attacks. And even if Narcissa is their aunt also, they had as little fondness for the Malfoys as the rest of the Potters."
Tonks considered this for a moment. "Something to think about," she agreed. "Get this mess cleaned up and then we can think about this. Merlin, I'm tired."
--BD--
Ministry of Magic
The three wizards stepped into the phone booth dressed in plain labourers' clothes. The shortest of the three picked up the phone and dialled 6-2-4-4-2. After a moment, a voice came from overhead.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. State your business, please."
"Visit the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Thank you." Three badges popped out of the slot on the phone as the booth quickly descended down into the depths of the Ministry.
The Ministry of Magic is an odd building. It has roughly ten levels going down into the ground. The bottom two levels consist of the former offices of the Department of Mysteries and the courtrooms of the DMLE. Black Watch had now taken over the former DoM spaces. The next level up, Level Eight, is the Visitor's Entrance and Atrium. The next five levels going up are the various bureaucratic department of the Ministry. Level Two houses Auror Headquarters and part of the Wizengamot. Level One, closest to the surface, housed the Minister's office, senior officials, and the Wizengamot chambers.
The three wizards stepped casually from the phone booth into the bustling Atrium. The Atrium was filled with Ministry workers returning to their offices after having lunch in the Ministry cafeteria. The lifts going to the higher levels were filled as more and more witches and wizards finished up.
"Wands, please," Eric the security guard ordered them as they stepped out. The three wizards complied handing over a trio of old, well-used looking wands.
"Your business today?" he grunted while scanning the wands.
"Estimate on an office relocation for some guv'nor on the second floor," one of the workers answered." That matched with the construction and moving charms the wands had mostly cast.
"Take the lift to the Second level. Check in with the receptionist there." Eric handed back the wands.
"Cheers, mate," one of the wizards commented as they took their wands and started away.
The three wizards joined the lines for the lifts without talking. Eric watched them a bit, until a mother with her three young, crying children appeared from the phone booth and he turned to face them. The three workers were quickly forgotten.
The ride of the lift to the DMLE offices was perfectly normal. The lift was crowed leaving the Atrium, but each stop saw fewer passengers moving up to the next floor. When the lift finally reached the Second level, only the three labourers and two attractive young secretaries from the Wizengamot offices remained. As the three wizards stepped out of the lift, the last one out turned and gave the two witches a smile and a wink as the lift doors closed causing the two to blush and giggle.
"Stop playing with the birds and concentrate on the job," one labour wizard admonished the trailing wizard.
The scolded wizard shrugged. "The boss said to think of this whole thing as a prank. Pranks always make me a bit randy. 'Sides, one of them was a 'Puff a few years above us that I always rather fancied." The other two wizards ignored him and walked over to the waiting receptionist.
The third wizard seemed to be searching his robe pockets for something and stopped just a few steps from the lift doors. When he saw his two friends blocking the receptionist's view, he pulled out his real wand and cast a weak opening charm on the doors. The doors parted a hands width before starting to close again. Before they closed, he threw three glass tubes through the opening. Then he casually walked over to rejoin his mates.
The receptionist was a bit flustered when the unnoticed third wizard joined his friends. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any record of a work order for a relocation on this level," she was saying whilst leafing through a stack of papers.
"Are you sure, ma'am? Our boss insisted the move had to be today. Right scary she was." The shortest wizard said acting as spokesperson. Almost against her will, the receptionist smiled back at the glowing green eyes of the young wizard's joke.
Further conversation ended when alarms started ringing all over the Ministry. Coming from nowhere, a voice boomed through the reception area.
"MAINTENCE TO THE ATRIUM! POSSIBLE BURST PIPES FLOODING LOWER LEVELS! ALL MAINTENCE TO THE ATRIUM!"
--BD--
Eric was sitting behind his desk having sent the witch and her loud brood up to the Floo Network Authority. The Atrium was even more crowded than before as the full mass of workers moved out of the cafeteria. Eric opened up his Muggle sports magazine to read the latest football scores during the lull at his desk.
His lull didn't last long.
The first shrieks started at the lift doors as water started to trickle up and out onto the floor. In seconds the trickle grew into a spray as water pressure forced more water out the crack between the doors.
Eric rushed over, his magazine forgotten. He tried a freezing charm but the water was coming with too much force now. The guard wondered what to do next.
That was when things went from bad to catastrophe in a single heartbeat.
The stairway door leading down to the courtrooms burst open as a flood of water slammed through the opening. The Atrium instantly started flooding. Within a minute, the water was already up to the wizard's ankles and showed no sign of slowing down.
Eric sloshed his way over to the security desk and waved his hand over the crystal ball, activating the Ministry-wide announcement system. He only hoped something could be done before the situation got any worse.
He hoped that everyone on the lower levels had been able to get their Bubble-Head Charms up quickly enough. But now that the water was up to his knees, he hoped it wasn't needed on this level too.
--BD--
The scene outside Auror Headquarters was one of panic. To cover for the exhausted and wounded Aurors, many of the Auror cadets were pressed into service filling in support positions. The reports from the lower levels were causing a fair amount of panic amongst the green LEOs.
The three labour wizards stood unnoticed off to the side. They just stayed out of the way. None of the Aurors noticed the short wizard shoot a glare at his companions when one of the Aurors shouted out a report that the Atrium was now completely submerged and level Seven was starting to flood.
At a signal from the short wizard, the three labours moved off towards a nearby bathroom.
--BD--
Harry led the Potter twins out of the loo. Their labourer robes had been shed revealing black pants and boots topped by black commando-style sweaters. All three wore charmed necklaces the obscured their identity like the Unspeakables' hoods. Harry had his matching Holly and Phoenix feather wands attached to each forearm. His trusty old Colt M1911A1 was riding in a shoulder holster. Al and Thomas wore bandoleers with small glass orbs attached across their chests.
It said something about the chaos around them that the threesome reached the entrance to the Ministry holding cells before they were challenged. Harry was happy to have made it that far without raising any alarm. That is when things went a bit wonky.
The guard on the door was taken out by a wandless stunner as Harry placed his hand on the wizard's shoulder. To anyone watching, the guard just seemed to fall asleep. Al kept watch and Thomas cast a Notice-Me-Not charm as Harry quickly and efficiently searched the guard removing his wand and the jail keys.
Harry glanced at Al and said, "Mortis, watch the door. Hound, you're with me."
Harry was just stepping through the door to the cells when the sight of an approaching witch stopped him.
"What are you doing in here? What is your authorization?" she demanded.
'Oh bloody hell!' Harry swore to himself. Everyone else in the Ministry and we had to run into Hermione. Harry motioned behind his back for Thomas to stay back.
"I asked you a question," Hermione demanded. Harry noticed she was moving for her wand. Years of training and experience stepped in. Hermione's wand was clearing her robe pocket when Harry's hand smashed into the nerve cluster on the top of her hand.
The sudden, unexpected pain caused Hermione's hand to snap open, dropping her wand back into the pocket as she started to yell out. Harry grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall with his hand over her mouth.
"Stop it, Hermione," Harry growled quietly. "You don't know everything that is happening here. I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm only here to get part of my family back."
The young witch's brown eyes showed her fear as she realized the Count himself was holding her against the wall. Her research worked against her as thoughts of the deaths at this wizard's hands ran through her brain. Then her eyes started to harden with determination.
Harry recognized that look from seven years as best mates. "Sorry, Hermione. Stupefy." He gently lowered her unconscious body to the floor.
"Harry?" a voice called from a nearby cell. Harry ran over. Inside was a bruised and battered Tom Potter-Evans.
"Give me a moment, Tom, and I'll have you out of there." Harry unlocked the door and tossed the keys to Thomas. "Go find your Mum." Thomas nodded and started down the hall.
Harry stepped into the cell as Tom struggled to stand. He dropped back down with a groan. "Busted my ribs," Tom wheezed. "Black Watch wanted to know where you were hiding."
"Why not use Veritaserum?" Harry wondered aloud.
"They were more interested in hurting me then really trying to find out where you were," Tom grunted. Harry nodded. That made some sense but he'd have to think about it later.
"Tom, I am going to transfigure you into a chess piece. You are too hurt to walk out of here and we need to move quickly."
Tom grinned a bit through the pain. "As long as it's not a queen."
"Deal."
Harry stepped back a bit and quickly cast the spell. He snatched up the king piece and placed it into a pocket as he left the cell. Coming down the hall was Thomas, Bella and an unexpected guest. It was Christina.
"What the hell are you doing here?" a shocked Harry asked.
"Nice to see you too, Count. I heard you were back in action," the former Dark Witch answered with a twisted smile. "Black Watch ordered my arrest as a known former 'collaborator' of yours. Who knew what we did during the war counted as collaboration."
"That's why Hermione was here," Harry half asked.
"My granddaughter wasn't happy with my arrest, but it was a legal order. Hermione believes in rules. Too much like my sister for her own good."
"Where is my wand?" Bella interrupted. "I want the bastards to pay for this!" Harry recognized the expression on her face. It was the same one he'd seen on Bellatrix LeStrange's face two lifetimes ago.
"The Ministry still has it, but we are getting it back," Harry explained.
Harry glanced back to where Al was guarding the door. He turned back to the two witches. "We need to hurry. I'm going to transfigure you both. No, we don't have time to argue! Neither of you are in any kind of shape for a fight and our way out might kill you."
Christina grimaced as she realized the Count was right. "Fine, but bring Hermione too. Even if she won't join us there is too much danger of her getting hurt fighting us or hurting us." Harry quickly agreed. It was in line with his own thoughts anyway.
Harry cast the spells and quickly picked up the two queens and a rook and placed them in the pocket with the king piece. The two Unspeakables moved quickly through the jail and joined with Al.
Al made the 'all clear' signal as he heard the two Potters coming up behind him. Harry stopped just inside the jail and peered out into the Auror Headquarters. Things were a lot calmer and more Aurors had arrived. Harry counted about fifteen of them scurrying around. That wasn't good.
"They realized no one was drowning in the flooding," Al whispered back to them. The 'water' used to flood the Ministry was similar to the liquid Muggles used for deep dives. You could breathe the 'water' and be perfectly safe. At least once the panic of drowning had past. Getting the fluid out of your lungs once back in air wasn't a pleasant experience either.
"Okay, let's get out of here. Plan B. Mortis, toss your bandoleer out there." Harry handed Thomas the chess pieces and said, "No matter what, you get out of here."
Al pulled the bandoleer over his head and ended the protective magic on the orbs. Then with a quick motion, he arched it towards the centre of the room. The glass orbs shattered on impact creating a bright flash and a thunderous boom. White smoke started to fill the room as the dazed Aurors close to the impact point staggered around holding their ears.
The Count, followed by Mortis and Hound started moving swiftly through the Auror Headquarters. They were halfway across the room when a team of ten arriving Aurors noticed them.
"Get out now," Harry ordered them. Both wands dropped into his hands as he turned to face the Aurors. "I am the Count. I believe you gentlemen wished to have a word with me?"
That had the effect Harry wished as they paused for a split second in surprise.
"Quasso!"
The Concussion Curse exploded on the floor in front of the Auror squad. It hurled the oncoming Aurors aside. Then the spells started coming in from the Aurors that had been further back and retained their footing.
Harry was purely defensive. There were too many spells coming from different directions. He only needed to but the twins a few minutes. Harry knew he could hold off this amount of magical energy for long. So he did the only thing he could.
He attacked.
To the stunned Aurors surprise, the Dark Count suddenly moved in amongst them. His shields prevented them from physically piling on him, but many could not cast more than Stunning Spells in fear of hitting their fellow Aurors.
Harry didn't have the same restriction. The Count flowed through the Aurors, thwarting their best attempts to stop him. He kept away from the spells that would be instantly deadly, but he cast Bone-Breaking Hexes, Reductos and similar spells at will. The Count aimed for the arms and legs for the most part, however the treatment of his family didn't make him feel too forgiving just now.
The two minutes of the fight had lasted what seemed hours as Harry suddenly moved towards the door. At least fifteen Aurors were down with various injuries as Harry ran out of the room with twice that number starting in pursuit.
Harry burst through the magical curtain that hid the Ministry of Magic from the Muggle world. Several unconscious bodies strewn about the floor here told Harry the twins had not had an easy walk out. Harry paused only long enough to cast a Locking Charm on the door. It wouldn't slow the Aurors for too long, but every bit helped. Harry ran out of the shop.
From the Muggle street, the Ministry's Auror entrance appeared to be an abandoned chemist. A number of parked cars and Lorries lined the street in either direction. The twins were waiting for him with brooms in hand. Harry cast a revealing charm on a parking meter to reveal his own broom.
"You cast the wards?" Harry asked. He could feel the anti-travel wards that came up when Eric the Security Wizard activated the Ministry alarms down in the Atrium. Tom had added the wards whilst Minister of Magic. They prevented all Portkey and Apparition travel within two kilometres of the Ministry.
"All set," Al answered.
"Then let's fly."
The three former Seekers took to their brooms at maximum speed straight through the heart of London in broad daylight.
--BD--
The first Aurors reached the sidewalk in time to see the three broom riding Dark Wizards turn between two buildings at the end of the street. They were shocked that even Dark Wizards would act so blatantly in front of Muggles.
Kinglsey Shacklebolt arrived in the second wave of Aurors. He was quickly briefed. "There are some brooms in Headquarters. Grab them and get moving!"
Less than ten seconds later, five Aurors took off in pursuit. The Count and his followers had a twenty-second head start on them.
The rest of the Aurors cleared the sidewalk to return to the mess in the Ministry. One figure was left standing on the walk alone.
He had arrived just as all hell broke loose and witnessed the entire fight. The wizard wasn't sure of everything that was going on but he was sure of one thing. That really was the Count. Few wizards were willing to carry Muggle weapons of any kind. If they did, it was a sword or a dagger, not a pistol. However, the proof was the fight with the Aurors. No one else fought with that same casual, yet ruthless style.
The retired Auror turned and made his way back into the building. The Count was back and Alistor Moody really didn't have a clue what it really meant. And why leave on brooms?
--BD--
Harry was having a blast. The mission was a success. The diversions had been a complete success and now they just needed to keep the Aurors busy.
Flying, in any form, was always a favourite. Even that time he had jumped out of an aeroplane over Italy was a fond memory.
Banking though the artificial canyons of downtown London was going to be joining that list. Even with the post-fight stress, this was a lot of fun. The three wizards were flying high enough to clear the tops of the buses by about four metres.
Harry risked a glance back and noticed the pursuing Aurors. They were too far back to have a chance of catching the three Potters, but they were pushing their brooms for everything they had.
"Time to split up," Harry yelled. "On the count of three. One, two, three, break!"
The twins banked hard to the right at the intersection. Harry dropped lower and banked left around a large, red double-decker tourist bus. The bus blocked Harry from sight as he made the turn the highlighted the manoeuvrability of a top Seeker.
Thirty metres down the street, Harry braked suddenly and turned down a side alley between two large office buildings. He started gaining altitude pulling into a ballistic trajectory up and over the building, setting course to follow the twins.
Up ahead, Harry could see the Aurors straining to catch up to the twins. If the two Potters had been pushing their brooms, the Aurors would have never had a chance. However, that wouldn't have been according to the plan.
Harry trailed after the Aurors and rapidly closed up the distance. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal orb. Concentrating on the rear-most Auror, Harry muttered, "Target." The orb rose to fly alongside Harry. Harry repeated the process, pulling out four more orbs and concentrating on the other Aurors. Finally, surrounded by five floating orbs, Harry grinned, "Get'em guys!"
The orbs shot away from Harry. As they moved away, they grew to the size of normal Bludgers. Harry snickered. "Thanks, Dobby"
The five Bludgers ripped into the Aurors' formation. The trailing Auror took a blow to the back before they knew they were under attack. The sudden blow flung him from his broom and to the street below. His shout of surprise and pain was all the warning his fellow Aurors would get.
Three of the Aurors played Quidditch at Hogwarts so they knew exactly what they were facing. Or at least they thought they did. The group scattered to avoid the oncoming Bludgers in a standard evasive technique. Unfortunately, these were not normal Bludgers.
The Bludgers locked onto their targets doing an excellent imitation of a Muggle smart missile.
Chaos ensued as the Aurors vainly sought to avoid their mindless attackers. Three of them were knocked from their brooms before a former Beater managed to hit one with a Reducto. The Auror tried to assist his fellow Auror but the Bludger caught her before he could get a clear shot at it.
The Auror watched in shock as his partner hurled off her broom towards the street thirty metres below. He was too far to help and all he could do was watch as he flew desperately towards her. He only vaguely noticed that the Bludger had popped like a soap bubble after hitting its target.
His shock was complete when she suddenly disappeared just before hitting the road pavement.
--BD--
"So, after they got to the street, Thomas handed the chess pieces off to Jimmy who was waiting with a normal Muggle cab. Then we just had to distract the Ministry long enough for him to get out of the travel tracking charms that surround the Ministry," Harry explained.
"I can't believe you used brooms in full view of all of Muggle London!" Tom yelled at his father two mornings later.
Katie had restored the chess pieces on their arrival. Together with Fleur, Katie worked on healing their injuries. Tom had slept for two days while his body healed. Bella and Christina were out of the infirmary the morning after their arrival. Bella was given a series of Calming Potions to help her deal with the death of her husband and the events of her imprisonment.
Al and Thomas had just finished telling Tom the whole story of the jailbreak.
"Relax, Tom," Harry tried to reassure his son. "Do you really think I would expose the Wizarding world like that? Here, read this." Harry tossed a copy of the London Times onto Tom's lap.
Tom read the headline.
Endor in London!
Officials were baffled how several people appeared to fly through the streets of downtown London while dressed from a scene of the movie Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. All of the witnesses reported three of the men were dressed in as Rebels whilst being pursued by others dressed as Imperial Storm Troopers.
A spokesman for Lucas Film Ltd. denied reports that it was part of a publicity stunt for the recently released Star Wars Episode I that will be premiering in London next month.
One executive at Industrial Lights and Magic, Lucas's special effects house, commented, "I wish I knew how they did that. It would take real magic to pull that off real time in the middle of the day!"
"We had a modified illusion ward outside the Auror entrance," Harry explained. "Anyone taking flight would appear as a rebel or Storm Trooper to Muggles for five hours. See no one knows about magic."
"What about the ones knocked off their brooms?"
"The Bludgers were also delayed Portkeys. Once the Auror was within three metres of the ground, they pulled to a safe landing place." Harry smirked at the look on his son's face. "What? I didn't want to kill them."
"Where did you drop them?"
"The middle of Hogwarts Lake," Luna answered as she breezed into the room.
Tom snickered. His father would never grow up.
"Harry, it is time for you to leave now. The snortwarts said so."
"Leave?" Tom asked. "Where are you going?"
Luna smiled vaguely, "On his next great adventure, of course!"
"What?!" a concerned former (sort of) Dark Lord protested.
Luna nodded while Harry smothered a grin. He had really missed Luna.
Missing Chapter 1 Scene
Many reviewers have asked what happened to Wormtail. The scene below takes place shortly after Harry's return but before he left on his vacation.
Potter Manor
The three Marauders were joined by Harry and Tom in the study in Potter Manor after the dinner to welcome Harry back. The dinner was a repeat of the reunion at Hogwarts except now it was a bit more relaxed.
"So, I know about Fred and George having competition from Ron's twins, but were the Marauders trouble makers again here?" Harry asked.
"Probably worse," James admitted with a snicker. "Dad told me about your stories before I left for Hogwarts. He wanted to make sure I didn't cross certain lines," he admitted with a faint flush.
"James told me about it on the Express," Sirius grinned. "We had a reputation to live up to."
"Or down to," Remus commented with a mock frown.
"That too," the unrepentant dog animagus happily admitted.
"I had pranks planned before I even climbed on Platform 9 3/4," James added. Then he cringed slightly. "The first person caught by one of them was Lily. Caused her eyebrows to fall out before we even got to school. She wouldn't even talk civilly to me until Second year!"
Harry stared at his 'father' is disbelief before he started laughing and holding his ribs. Tom and the other two Marauders grinned at Harry's reaction and James's embarrassment.
"Sure, go ahead and laugh," James sulked with a grin twitching on his lips. "Mum and Dad enjoyed it too. They never told me whom I married in the other timeline until my wedding day. They just laughed through my seven years at Hogwarts."
"That sounds like Tom and Elizabeth," Harry wheezed as he struggled to get his breath. He nodded his thanks when Remus handed him a glass of water.
Once Harry had regained control of himself, he looked curiously at James. "What happened to Peter?"
Now James sighed. "Nothing really. It was an unintended side effect of Dad telling me stories trying to warn me about my behaviour and what your life was like. He never told me then about Peter's role, but I knew he'd been a Marauder. I knew one of my friends would betray me." James pointed at the now quiet Sirius and Remus. "And Dad told me about these two gits helping you out. So, I figured out the person to turn on me was Peter.
"I was an eleven year-old boy. I never did anything to Peter but I also didn't try to be friends with him. He mostly hung out with some boys in Ravenclaw. Considering my uncle was also the Dark Lord that killed me in the old timeline and I was okay with that, it didn't make sense to blame this Peter, but I guess I did."
"You were only a kid," Remus reminded him. "At least you grew up, unlike this big child next to me."
"Oi!" Sirius protested. "I am not big!"
James ignored the byplay. "Last I'd heard he was working for the Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.