Summary: When aunt Marge visits the Dursleys after the events of OotP things become too much for the Boy Who lived and he snaps, the power of his dark side that Voldemort helped create on that horrible night fourteen years is unleashed and he decides to fight the war on his own terms, his ultimate goal to create a world where there is no corrupt government or discrimination towards magical animals and half-bloods or muggleborns.
Warning: swearing, angst and tragedy.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, Warner Bros., Inc. and Sunrise Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Everything else is mine.
Power
Of
Revenge
The changing world
It was once again nearly silent in the room adjacent to the hospital room. Harry was lying on a sofa, snoring softly while Hermione was still softly stroking his hair. Luna said on the opposite said of the room in a chair with Hedwig sitting snugly in her lap. Her wounds were healing quickly but as everyone else in the room she didn't want to leave Harry's or Draco's side. Severus Snape was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Draco lay with a sullen expression on his face, his eyes staring at something only he could see. Neville was lying in another bed next to Draco's, Andrew Waldfeld sitting next to it. The other members of the Iron Circle where scattered in the room, most of them exhausted from stress. It had been a gruesome battle and even until the final minutes they had thought that they could lose. Amy was curled up in a sofa, also lost in thought.
The joy of winning the battle never really got through as the number of casualties was announced. There were less wounded than dead, that was a comfort but two of the most important people in their forces were out of the count. Neville had a severe concussion from flying against a bulkhead due to Dumbledore's arc of lightning, luckily the Potter, even after most of its systems were fried, had several safety features. When it was hit the internal gravity was shut off but when it crashed an emergency procedure activated it again but not in its normal way, it pushed on everything and everyone equally from all sides at all times so that nothing could move. At least until a certain point. When compartments were crushed and the most heavy of machinery started to shift even the system couldn't do anything against it but it had prevented the death of probably hundreds of people and that the Potter remained largely intact. Seventeen men and women died but hundreds were wounded. Luna and Sarah were happy about that. None of the wounded was injured too badly thanks to the system. As for total losses, they lost eleven hundred and thirty eight people in total, a high toll to pay for their victory, it was a fifth of the force stationed at Potter Mansion. Harry didn't know yet, they had decided to let him sleep first, he would need his strength to deal with the aftermath. The number of casualties on the other side they didn't know, with the gruesome power of the Potter and that of the MAG cannons not a lot of bodies were recovered from the other side, only those slain on the grounds itself and a few outside of the wall. Three hundred in total. Those more than a hundred meters away they didn't go for, none of their own men had gotten that far except Harry and if the Americans wanted to recover their deceased than they would have to come and ask for it. The bodies recovered by them could be delivered outside the wall if they wanted that. They knew one thing for sure, the death toll on the other side was much higher than their own and the Americans had been with far more. Nobody spoke of it, they didn't want to think about how many dead they were responsible for, directly or indirectly. It would probably destroy them if they dwelled on it.
Severus gave a great sigh as he slumped deeper into his chair. "Is something the matter professor?" Luna asked serenely.
"I'm not your professor anymore Miss Lovegood," Snape answered "but yes, something is the matter."
"What is it?" she asked a little concerned.
"I feel … confused and without purpose." Severus admitted. "Why would you feel without purpose and what is it that confuses you?" Luna asked puzzled.
"I don't understand why you people all accept me like this, I've been a bastard in live. I've committed horrible crimes, been horrible to all of you and am a traitor to almost the entire world. And I'm without purpose because I didn't think I'd live this long. I would've thought Harry would kill me first chance he got once I had decided to ask him if I could fight on his side or if he allowed me to I would be killed by the Dark Lord or that we would've been defeated long ago." he said in a sad and bitter voice.
"Then why did you join us in the first place?" Amy asked curiously as she sat into an upright position and regarded the man of whom she'd been afraid of at Hogwarts.
"Because of him." Severus says and points a finger at Draco "He showed that it was possible to defy everything and everyone and to choose your own way if you had the guts to do it. He went against Voldemort and his own family to join what he initially took as one of his greatest enemies. I admired that but I thought it was a lost cause, just a gesture of nobility and maybe a way to repent for all what he had done so far, for the wrong believes he followed for so long. I don't know but I honestly thought you would all be defeated and killed or imprisoned within weeks, if there is one thing the Ministry doesn't approve it's a revolt. I was sick of my live, I was sick of being a puppet, I was sick of living itself so I joined in order to repent for my sins and maybe die with a little sense of value, knowing that I had at least tried to do the right thing. Whatever path I took in life I didn't expect to live very long, if I had to die I at least wanted it to be a death in which I didn't die as a piece of scum known only for his Death Eater past and his hateful ways towards others." he said with pain evident in his voice. Luna was thoughtful and silent, sitting as still as a statue while Amy and Hermione both had tears in their eyes as they listened to a man ready to die, who hadn't had a lot of people who cared about him in his life nor experienced a lot of happiness.
Amy stood up and walked over to Severus who eyed her with a hesitant look. She stopped in front of him for a few moments before, completely to his surprise, she rushed forward and hugged the man. "It looks like my live was not the only one Harry saved." she said quietly as silent tears fell down her cheeks. Severus looked awkwardly around at all the faces looking at him, full of sympathy. He relaxed after a moment and hugged her back, not knowing what else to do.
"I'm grateful to him for that and at the moment I have a purpose, helping him and everyone who believes in him to victory but after the war is over I'll be useless. I won't be a popular person, ever, because of my past, they'll be suspicious of me." he said solemnly.
"That's not true." Amy continued "we'll need you to help us rebuild the world and support Harry while he does it and who cares what other people think, the only ones whose opinion matters are here in this room, those that care about you."
"You … care about me?" he asked in wonder as he looked at Amy's head as it rested on his shoulder.
"Of course silly, to me everyone here is like an uncle or an aunt, you're all extended family to me." Amy said.
He slowly looked around at everyone else and everybody in turn nodded, telling him that they felt quasi the same way, that everyone in the room was kind of family. Together they had raised a nation and had now brought it to the point where victory and survival was in sight.
"I know I'm not the most likeable of persons but at this moment I am truly grateful to have met each and every one of you." Severus said and bowed his head.
"You're right about that but I'm glad I have met you too Severus Snape." said an awakening Harry.
"I see you've joined the land of the living once more Harry." He drawled out, especially the last part but everyone knew it was in good humour.
"Oh," Harry said as he stood up, Amy left Severus' arms and rushed over to Harry "I'm back alright." he said with a cocky grin and smiled down at Amy. He looked over to the two beds and his face turned grim.
"What's our total number of casualties." he asked.
"Eleven hundred and thirty eight people." Andrew said solemnly.
"I had expected worse." Harry admitted "It's still a great loss but it could've turned out worse." he continued "We'll hold a ceremony for them and bury them in two days. We've won this battle and their sacrifice was not in vain, from now on we'll be leading the war and I'll revenge every last one of the lives lost for our cause, I will swear to that." Harry said with determination. Everyone in the room nodded with resolution and grim faces. "What about them?" Harry asked indicating at the two bedridden persons.
"Draco's hit pretty hard, his left leg has suffered the most, it's broken in three different places and a splintered knee cap along with severe skin and muscle damage. , his right leg is merely broken and he has a concussion, overall he's fine but that leg will take a long time to heal, even with magic. As for Neville, he'll probably wake up soon with a major headache but nothing else to worry about." Severus said as he gazed intently at Draco.
"He's in capable hands Severus." Harry said "And I'm sorry to ask this of you but could you come with me, we have things to discuss." he asked with reluctance.
Severus looked at him for a few moments and Harry knew he was asking if he had to but he remained silent. After a few moments he stood up and exited the room. Harry made a gesture telling him he would follow shortly.
"We probably won't be seeing much of each other in the coming weeks." Harry begun "I'm leaving all of you in charge to repair the Mansion and get it back into shape should another attack come, which is unlikely but you never know. We'll meet up in two days in the War Room of Hell's Bay. I'll leave these two in your care." Harry said in a business like manner "Luna, get the Potter back to Insania as fast as you can. Sarah, I want that ship back in action at the end of next week. Andrew, I want you to stay here for a while until the Potter is back, Insania can take care of itself for now and you can be there in the blink of an eye. Hermione, how is the project coming along?"
"Almost done, I think it'll be done around the same time as the Potter. We just need to activate its power plant." Hermione said.
"I'll drop by to construct the core later. Tom, I'll leave you in charge of getting our stocks of ammo and weapons back to normal, we'll need a lot of ammo to be transported over here." they all nodded in confirmation and he left the room.
Severus was waiting for him. Neither spoke a word as they started walking. "It is nice to know that all the people in that room care about one another." Harry said after a minute or so of silence as they walked through corridors and down flights of stairs.
"Just because of what I said in there about how I feel doesn't mean I am a nice person Harry, no matter how you look at it, I have done some things that cannot be forgiven. Sometimes I wonder if I even posses the ability to care." Severus said in his sour tone. "You can still care," Harry said "if not at all times, I know there's a lot of hatred in you Severus and you are capable of unspeakable things, I know the feeling." he paused for a moment "And that's exactly why I'm in need of your assistance right now. Things are going to get ugly from now on, the war will become a scene for bloodshed, I have no doubt that Voldemort will want some revenge once he has recovered from his attack on Insania and the Americans and the Ministry will probably try to destroy us once more but this time they will try to destroy our foundations."
"You mean they will try to attack Insania again." Severus stated.
"Yes, they're probably building up their fleet to an even larger one as we speak, it will be their last chance but we will defeat them. What worries me more is Voldemort right now, Dumbledore was soundly defeated and he will keep a low profile for a while, Voldemort will not. I expect him to start attacking innocents and muggleborns soon, we will interfere as much as we can and kill every Death Eater we encounter. You know a lot of them. I need to know all of the names you can remember, possible hideouts, both in use and abandoned, homes, everything that has anything to do with them, we'll destroy all of it and once that's done he will come out to face us unless he finds a way to destroy us first. He could attack this place but he knows that if we were able to defeat the Americans he won't stand a chance against this fortress, he doesn't have the manpower." Harry summed up.
"I agree, I have already made a list of most things I know. but where are we going now?" Severus asked as they entered the lowest level of Potter Mansion, the dungeons.
"To visit a special guest I defeated during the first assault, Draco locked him up here." Harry said with a sadistic gleam in his eyes as he put the flat of his palm against one of the cell doors and briefly closed his eyes. A few moments later the lock clicked and the door swung open.
Severus had already deduced whom the prisoner was but was still surprised to see him. Ron Weasley was sitting in a corner of the cell, wrapped in clumsily done bandages. Large blood stains on them indicated they hadn't done a good job with the spells but considering what he had done Severus thought they probably hadn't tried very hard. He knew he wouldn't have. Ron looked up dumbly and dazed, he seemed to be very weak and unaware of where he really was, his eyes were listless. But when he saw the two men standing in the doorway a bit of that fire in his eyes returned and he tried to stand up and attack them but his wounds prevented him from doing that and he fell down to the ground, face first.
"Hello Ron." Harry greeted in what seemed like a jovial manner but it was tinted with a darkness "I think we have some unfinished business to take care of."
"Go to hell Potter, along with your Death Eater spawn." Ron spat and he received a quick kick to the jaw from Harry. "You won't speak unless I allow you to." Harry said harshly "And about my companion, he is loyal to me and that's all that matters. But now that we're talking about persons loyal to me, I'll let you take a guess whom my new girlfriend is. While I'm not really fond of boasting, after that other piece of your family left me for Dumbledore I don't mind." Harry said with a smirk but on the inside his guts twisted when he said that, he knew Ginny hadn't left him voluntarily but he didn't care, right now he was pissing Ron off.
"You deserve nothing better than people leaving you, you bastard." Ron said with difficulty with his sore jaw and this time he received a kick to the ribs which abruptly broke again. "Be silent you stupid pawn of Dumbledore." Severus snapped, he had dealt the kick this time. "It's Hermione by the way." Harry said amused "You know, the one you tried to have but couldn't since you were too stupid and blinded by your momentary fame, she had a thing for you for a while you know."
"Liar." Ron yelled and this time he received no punishment. Harry laughed while Severus smiled maliciously. Toying with the mind was a specialty of him and it surprised him that Harry was good at it when he wanted to be. "Maybe you think so, but I know the truth, lovers do tend to share everything with each other if they love and trust each other implicitly." Harry said, while he hadn't gone that far with Hermione, Ron didn't know that.
Ron growled in anger. "Someday I will finish all of you, Dumbledore will come for me and then the power of Godric Gryffindor will allow me to kill you." he yelled. Harry laughed at him. "Godric has abandoned you, you fool, can't you feel it how your mind is still repairing from the damage his departure did. All he did was try and maintain his presence in the sword so that he could get a chance to overpower one of us. He failed by the way and now Dumbledore is probably dead or lying in a hospital bed very close to his end. It will be a long time before he will have recovered from out little duel. We destroyed half the forest in the process. There is no one coming to save you and you have no power against me, you are at my mercy and for you I don't have much." Harry said and smiles cruelly "Your fate is in my hands, care to take a guess with it'll be?"
"Go ahead then and kill me." Ron said bitterly, he didn't want to believe what Harry was saying but he could indeed feel that something was wrong with him and he didn't feel anything of the feeling running through his mind and body which had accompanied receiving the sword.
"Ron, Ron, Ron," Harry said wickedly "I'm not going to kill you." Ron looked up startled but his head dropped back down immediately as his body protested "There are fates far worse than death, especially for you." Harry continued. "Then what will you do with me?" Ron asked a little afraid. "I'm going to send you on a trip with some fine company for a while." Harry said and all the maliciousness was gone. "You're kidding right?" Ron asked bewildered as he saw the hostility disappear. "No, I'm not, you'll see." Harry said and turned around "I'll send someone down to take care of you properly. You'll need to be in reasonable shape for your trip." Harry said and walked out the door, Severus following behind him with a puzzled expression as he absently waved his wand and the door swung shut.
"What was that all about?" Severus asked suspiciously.
"Merely what I said, I'll be sending him on a trip with some company, and we're going to get that company right now." Harry said but his sadistic attitude had returned and a sinister smile graced his features. Severus felt a shiver run up his spine and he knew whatever this trip was, it probably was something far worse than what he could even imagine.
A moment later Hedwig appeared. They both took hold of the bird's tail without a word and disappeared.
When they reappeared Severus had to shut his eyes from the sudden brightness of the bleu sky. It took a moment or two to get used to the light and then he saw where they were. Standing on the village square of Insania in front of a white marble building.
A stunned expression crossed Severus' face followed almost immediately by the most sadistic you could imagine. "They're still here then?" he asked in malicious delight.
"They're still here, I must confess I did forget about them for a while and I didn't know what to do with them either but now it seems I have found a use for them." Harry said and strode forward, Severus followed with a billow of his cloak.
As they entered the gates of the bank all goblins which they passed gave a slight bow which they returned with nods of their head. They passed the counters of which there were a lot less than at the bank in Diagon Alley and walked straight towards the back of the room. Two goblins guarded the passage to the hallway behind them but upon seeing Harry they quickly stepped aside and moved their weapons so they were pointing away from the passage, a sign of respect.
They quickly walked through it an started walking down a long slowly descending corridor. As Severus observed Harry walking next to him he didn't know what to think, the boy leader, the founder of a nation and it appeared he would be the destroyer of another. As they passed goblins all bowed but it didn't seem like they bowed to him. He didn't care either way, Harry deserved respect, otherwise he wouldn't be next what he had once considered his enemy. And yet after all that power the boy could wield there was still just that, a boy. Perhaps he should've been a little more fair to Harry back at Hogwarts and suddenly he realised he felt remorse for everything he had done, he would discuss this later with Harry, he sensed now was not the time.
They arrived at an office guarded by two more goblins. They backed down without words and allowed them to enter.
"Mr. Potter," the goblin behind the desk said jovially "I was expecting you."
"Griphook." Harry said and made a small bow "I know it's been a long time since I've seen you but I don't have the time right now for small talk, I've come to collect my dangerous animals."
"Ah yes, your" Griphook paused a moment and a grimace crossed his face "relatives. I must say they've been mysteriously quiet the past few weeks."
"Maybe, the message has finally gotten through to them or they've simply lost their minds." Harry said without emotion "It doesn't matter now, I have a purpose for them."
"Very well," Griphook said "I'll accompany you personally to the vault." he got out of his chair and faced the wall at the back of the office. He put his palm against it and muttered something in gobbledygook. The wall shimmered and disappeared. "Follow me."
Both men followed him without a word and they entered a small station where one of the famous mining carts stood ready. "I must confess Mr. Potter that I've forgotten to express my gratitude to you for when you first approached us and made the suggestion of making me head of this branch, for that I am grateful." Griphook said and made a low bow as he motioned for the men to get inside the cart."
"It was nothing." Harry said dismissively "After all, Dumbledore never heard a word about what really happened to them so I was in your debt."
"Business always comes first Mr. Potter, no matter how mighty the person may be, goblins don't like to bend to the demands of wizards anymore." Griphook said with some bitterness in his voice.
"Understandable," Harry agreed "that's why I'm still quite surprised you aver agreed to start a new branch here, you knew we would ask for loans to start a new live here and that some of those loans would be used for the war. This war has to be bad for business on the mainland, is it not?"
"For the moment yes but we are firm in our believe that once this entire ordeal is over business will be much better than it ever was before, right now we are hindered by a lot of laws, laws that you would probably find ridiculous. Therefore we support you, we are sure that you will defeat your enemies." Griphook said with conviction as he brought the cart into motion.
Harry was taken aback by this. "Maybe you misunderstood my intentions," Harry started "while I fully intent to defeat my enemies I have absolutely no intention of taking over Great Britain or anything else for that matter. I merely wish to free the world of Voldemort, defeating the Ministry and the Americans was merely something that came along with it since both seem corrupt."
"Do you mean you don't intend to rule over Britain yourself?" Griphook asked stunned.
"No." Harry stated "I've grown quite fond of this island and once this war is over I have every intention of never leaving it again. I might keep an eye on how it evolves once the Ministry is restored but that will be all."
"It saddens and relieves me at the same time to hear you say that Mr. Potter." Griphook said "But your decision may be for the best." the entire time Severus Snape sat silently in the cart, lost in thought.
They arrived after a few minutes at Danger Animals Care vault nr. 1. All of them got out of the cart and stared at the door. Griphook looked at Harry whom nodded. Griphook walked to the door and opened it. The sight that met him would've shocked most people and would've probably made most people feel pity, Harry only smirked evilly while Severus showed no emotions. Inside were the four people that where once called the Dursleys but they didn't really look like them anymore. Instead of three rather obese persons now sat four near skeletons while Aunt Petunia had remained quasi the same. They were once proper and upstanding citizens, nothing 'abnormal' about them but now they wallowed in their own filth while constantly muttering something about magic and crawling around aimlessly.
Harry couldn't help himself anymore and started laughing very loudly. Severus felt a chill running up his spine as the laughter echoed in the catacombs, it had a distinctly evil tone to it. It took a rather long time before Harry stopped laughing and even then an evil smile nearly split his face. "Oh how low the mighty have fallen." He said and seemed very amused "they used to tell me I was a good for nothing and now look at where we stand, they are prisoners of their own mind, acting like animals muttering about the thing they despised most besides me while I am at the top of my game." Harry said and laughed again. He stopped as suddenly as it had started and waved his hand, stopping the enchantment he had cast over them. Their glazed over eyes refocused and they looked around relieved for a moment, they probably thought it was time to eat but when they saw Harry standing in the doorway with an evil smile plastered on his face they all yelped in fright and scurried backwards to the wall, as far away from Harry as they could.
"Hello dear family of mine." Harry said in a jovial tone but his expression spoke of great pain and suffering in the future. Vernon and Marge cowered in fear and only whimpered softly in reply. "Please don't hurt us anymore." Dudley whispered softly as he tried to hide behind Petunia which actually almost worked now. Harry looked at Petunia curiously, despite trying to put some distance between them she hadn't really made a lot of noise or any other reaction. She didn't look at him but instead looked down at the floor.
"Do you have something to say, Aunt Petunia." Harry asked in a curious high mocking tone. She slowly lifted her head up and looked him in the eye, Harry saw she was crying.
"I'm sorry." she said simply. There was a moment of silence before Harry burst out laughing again. The Dursleys cowered in fear but Petunia merely sat there morosely staring at Harry while tears dropped to the cold stone floor.
"You're sorry?" Harry asked incredulously and when she nodded he laughed again. "And why exactly are you sorry? Because you think that it might stop your suffering, that I'll stop punishing you if you apologize?"
"No," she said in a sad tone "because I feel regret for making you live through all those bad times while you were actually a part of our family and we never treated you as such, for making you feel unwanted, for making the misery you were already going through even worse and for never treating you fairly. I'm sorry for wanting to make you feel the way I did when I was young." she yelled the last part and then collapsed to the floor, crying loudly with sobs wracking her body.
Harry was stunned, he had imagined a dozen or so scenarios but this he wouldn't have even thought have even imagined in his wildest dreams, Petunia apologizing to him for how she treated him, and because the sale had happened to her. "How…interesting." he said slowly unsure of what to do next. Severus, sensing his doubt, stepped forward.
"Regret that comes after the act is meaningless, if you had a set of values you never would've done what you did." Severus snarled "I should curse you to heel and back." he spat while drawing his wand.
"Severus," Harry said and the amount of power in that single word made him freeze to the spot "stand down, I'll deal with them." Severus nodded and walked backwards, he kept his head down as he was afraid to look Harry in the eye at the moment. He could feel the magic in the air and it was overwhelming, he was afraid that if he looked at Harry now he would see the same thing as he did when he served the Dark Lord, a master whom demanded to be served, one with the power to enslave men with only his voice and raw power that radiated of him.
Harry stepped forward and raised his hand, wand clasped in it. Severus saw this out of the corner of his eye and was surprised he hadn't seen Harry summon it from the plane where he kept it hidden and Harry never used his wand to begin with. Severus didn't know why but it seemed some times as if Harry was afraid of it.
"You're truly feeling regret, I can feel that." he said and Severus trembled with every word as waves of raw power flowed through the air with them. "But your real reason for this regret I'm not sure of and I don't intend to find out either." Harry said and Petunia suddenly looked at him in fear "Instead I'm going to send you and your idiotic family on a trip which will be a test to see if you truly regret treating me the way you did. If you do, you won't mind having a little magical company around you day and night. I'm going to send all of you to a deserted island where there will be enough food for the five of you to survive for about two weeks but that shouldn't be a problem since there's someone there that can do magic, or will it?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Great, there's only one rule for him being able to do magic, you all have to agree that he can perform magic and you all have to maintain physical contact while he does it." Harry said and laughed evilly and he made a broad sweep with his wand and the Dursleys disappeared. Harry looked at the empty space for a moment with a harsh expression and then Severus felt the magic in the air dissipate as Harry took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His expression became unreadable.
"Do you think they'll survive?" Severus asked.
"I have no idea and frankly, at the moment, I don't care. We'll see in a few months if I don't forget about them. They can't get of the place in any case, I've made sure of that." Harry said and turned around "Come Severus, we have business to take care of. Griphook, I thank you for your time but we must be off now." Harry continued as Hedwig appeared and both men disappeared in a burst of black flames.
They reappeared in Insania's War Room which was strangely deserted. Harry immediately set down in one of the chairs while Hedwig perched herself on his shoulder. Severus sat down calmly in one of the other chairs.
"Thank you," Harry said after a few moments of silence "for getting me back on track there Severus, I must admit Petunia's words shook me more than I thought."
"I sensed that yes." Severus said.
"I didn't realise that maybe Petunia had a lousy childhood as well." Harry said a little stunned.
"She didn't have a lousy childhood." Severus said "She was merely a jealous little wench that made her own life miserable because she couldn't be like her sister. Even her parents grew sick of it after a while, no matter what they did it was never good enough since Lily was the smartest and better at almost anything and she could do what Petunia could not, magic. That's probably the reason why she treated you the way she did, because once again you could what the other child in the house could not." Harry looked surprised at Severus, he shrugged "I knew your mother when we were younger and I was, at one time, a close friend of hers. If things hadn't gone the way they have we might have even been more but it wasn't supposed to be."
"Is that why you treated me the way you did?" Harry asked perplexed.
"Not entirely, I had my role to play, everyone else treated you like a hero so there had to be someone to point out your mistakes as well but I will admit that I felt some hatred towards you. You were after all the son of one of my enemies and of someone whom could've been mine if things had turned out differently. I don't like admitting this Potter but I did love your mother. Perhaps I should've treated you differently just because of that but I thought you were brought up in a family that cared a lot about you but now I realise our growing up may have not been all that different at all, I'm just glad now you haven't made the same mistakes I made when I was young. Ti is so easy to choose for what is easy instead of what is right."
"Humans are complicated beings indeed." Harry mumbled in a slightly depressed tone "I won't judge you for your past Severus, I'm beyond that. I don't understand why you did what you did and apparently neither do you, I don't even understand myself sometimes so who am I to judge but I do feel a lot better now that you told me more about my mother and Petunia's past."
"Shall we let the past be the past for now and focus on making a better future?" Severus asked and extended his hand, Harry shook it without a doubt. Hedwig lifted of from his shoulder and let out a loud thrill. A wave of magic rippled through the air.
They looked at each other in confusion and shrugged. Hedwig settled on Harry's shoulder again.
"I'll expect you to lead the raids we'll be going on." Harry said after a moment.
"What?" Severus asked surprised.
"You have the most experience in these things and how Death Eaters think and act, I know it's a lot I'm asking of you and that it might probably bring up some bad memories but you are the one who's most qualified for the job." Harry explained "And with Draco wounded I don't have anyone else except myself but I'll be leading a team of my own which will be responsible for stopping the raids the Death Eaters will be going on." Harry continued.
"I don't like this but I'll agree to it." Severus said with reluctance.
"Thank you." Harry said with deep gratitude "I have something to help you." he produced a handgun out of thin air and handed it to Severus who took it and looked at it with disdain.
"You know I'm not a fan of these weapons Miss Lovegood has designed Potter." Severus sneered "I like to have all my wands ready to cast spells with my own hands."
"I know and therefore I'm giving you this one." Harry stated "This one is not like the assault rifles, it doesn't require a wand. We've discussed it and found that as we'll be fighting in close combat situations from now on we won't always be able to rely on the rifles and wands do get lost in battles. Therefore we designed these," he said pointing at the gun "they don't require wands because they don't give the magic being shot a purpose, it's just raw magic that. It hurts tremendously when hit by it and can even kill someone if they are hit enough and in the right place but they do have a relatively short lifespan, a clip will only last you fifty shots or so. They're a last resort."
"Then why give me this in person?" Severus asked "I'm sure we'll all be give one at our first briefing."
"Because this one is unique." Harry said with some smugness in his voice "This one is ties to me in such a way that it will never run out of power. Also, it is a lot more powerful than the regular ones. It was quite a job to get it working so we only made one."
"But why give this it to me then?" Severus asked suspiciously.
"Because I've asked a great deal of you and to show you that I trust you implicitly. You still have to activate it so it will only work when you use it. Use it carefully because when you use it it drains magic from me. You can see should this fall into the wrong hands it could be used against me."
"Very well then." Severus said "How do I activate it?"
"Leave that to me, just hold it like you would while firing." Harry said and Severus did as he was told. Harry concentrated for a moment and Severus felt the gun in his hand come to live and somehow attach itself to his magic.
"So this thing will never run out of energy." he said in wonder as he looked it over once more and a dull multicoloured light at the base of the hilt.
"Not unless I completely drain my magic or die." Harry said.
"Very useful." Severus commented "So when do we start with the raids and how are you planning to go about this?"
"The idea is to completely unsettle Voldemort's forces. We'll attack them when they are at home or at their safe houses, that'll be your job. My job will be to interrupt the raids they're doing." Harry explained.
"And how do you plan to do interrupt his raids as word of them mostly reaches help when it is too late or done already." Severus asked sceptically. Harry smiled and tapped the scar on his forehead.
"Don't forget we share a unique connection Severus. While I cut the link before I ever started with Insania I can open it up again whenever I please and use it to see where they will happen." Harry explained.
"But why not simply use it then to determine where he is hiding and confronting him right now?"
"Because of the same reasons why he won't attack us even now that he knows where we are. His defences of his current hide out are way too good for us to defeat with a head-on assault. And even if I manage to corner him don't forgot he has years more experience than me. While I did manage to find him to a stand-still the last couple of times it was merely through luck or the element of surprise. I would attack him in a position where he had the upper hand, I doubt I could win. When I didn't have my magic he underestimated me and we needed the other's help to defeat the demon. Next time he won't underestimate me and I think that by now he's thought up dozens of things to defeat me. If I'm going to beat him we need to take out his support base first of all and then when the opportunity is right, finish him of." Harry said a bit dejectedly "Believe me Severus, if I could finish him off right now I would in an instant but the truth is I can't. in the beginning of all this I could and I knew it but I was so angry and arrogant with these new powers I decided I should see what I could accomplish first and know it appears I will need to pay for that mistake. A lot of things have happened in the past few months and he has been doing everything he can to get more powerful and it is working, I can feel it."
"So how long do you think it will take?" Severus asked a little perturbed at this revelation.
"I have absolutely no idea, I'm hoping that after a few raids we'll be able to gather some accurate information about how much followers he has because right know we don't have a clue. I've tried to find out through the link but his defences are strong and I can only see what he's actively thinking about." Harry said.
"So basically we either need to set a trap to get him at a disadvantage or wait for him to blow his cover and expose himself when he's at a weak point." Severus summarized.
"Indeed." Harry said.
"Then I think it will be best that we do what we said a few minutes ago: let the past be the past and focus our efforts on the future."
Two days later thousands of men, women and children were gathered on the grounds before the cemetery on Insania as the ceremony for those whom had fallen at Potter Mansion took place. Harry stood at the front facing the crowd trying to get control over his emotions as he thought about how all these men and woman had sacrificed their lives while under his command, while fighting for a cause he had started. Feeling his distress Hermione put a comforting hand on his upper arm and leaned slightly against him. Everyone of the Iron Circle stood by him. Neville, with a large bandage wrapped around his head and Draco, who needed crutches to walk around as even magic wasn't able to fully heal the damage in his legs so soon but the healers had assured all of them that in time he would fully recover but his legs might still feel a bit stiff from time to time. Harry thought they had been very lucky. It could've turned out a lot worse.
The ceremony ended and as the coffins were being lowered into their respective graves the members of the Iron Circle made their way to the War Room except Severus whom had been strangely quiet the last few days. He didn't really speak a lot to begin with and an idle conversation with the man was unheard of but the grunts and muttered words of the last few days were a bit strange, even for the sour man. Harry saw him walk of in the opposite direction, most likely to his potions factory. Harry looked after him sadly. The war was taking a toll on all of them. He looked over towards Draco as he walked with difficulty over the grassy slopes. Luna was trying to help him but Draco stubbornly refused her help. Harry didn't know what was going on there but Luna was seen at Draco's side nearly all the time the past two days. Tom McGuire and Sarah Brown were also walking close together while Andrew walked alone. While the man didn't have his customary smirk on display his gait was the same as usual. The man didn't seem to be affected by anything. Harry knew that he didn't smirk like usual only because he didn't want to hurt others. Harry figured it was Andrew's way of coping with the war, always acting as if everything was right as rain. Neville walked by himself as well and he was looking towards the lake where the Potter was lying on the support barges once again. Harry sighed, there really did same to be a curse on the ship named after him, the thing spent more time being repaired than it was in actual service. Nobody spoke as they slowly made their way to Port Neville, all of them had something to think about.
Twenty minutes later everyone was seated in the War Room including Severus, he had shown up a moment earlier back to his normal attitude. Apparently he had made peace with himself, for now.
Harry looked around and stopped for a few moments to look at everyone individually. They all looked like they hadn't slept that well which was understandable. The past two days hadn't been easy for any of them. A lot of work had been done even while they were dealing with the emotional aftermath of the battle. None of the previous battles had been as bad as this one, everyone had lost at least someone they knew even if it wasn't a close friend, they knew they would never see that person again. Dean had been a powerful blow but now they had seen what battles were truly like and how horrifying they could be. It may have been a shock to most but if anything they seemed even more determined now than before.
Harry cleared his throat and began: "Let's begin with looking at how we're coping so far. Luna?"
Luna looked up startled, she had been lost in thought and not paying attention. While Luna usually looked like she wasn't paying attention this was the first time Harry could remember she actually wasn't. "I'm sorry," she said "I was distracted for a moment. Did you say something Harry?" she said in a tired voice.
Harry repeated what he said and she nodded in understanding. "I've researched what happened on the Potter and I think I've found out what caused so much damage." she started "I'm sure some of you know some basics about our shield technology but let me explain how it works in a crude manner. Basically our shields are a kind of anti-magic." she explained and paused a few moments as she saw Hermione frown "Maybe that's not the best way to say it. It's not the opposite of magic like you might think it more like the Ennervate charm counters a Stupefy. If the magic you cast is the stunning charm than the shield is a kind of Ennervate cast before the stunner even takes effect, it simply counters the meaning of the magic heading towards it. When we initially started research for our weapons we studied magic in minute detail and found that magic behaves in a certain way. You could say our magic is like the day, it is always light even when it is clouded or raining and shields are like the night, everything is the same only that it is always dark, when the moon is up it is a bit lighter bit it still dark. Every spell we cast, even curses or the blackest of magic, or day and our shields are night. Many of you are wondering why I'm telling you this." she received several nods "Because the way I explain it the spell Dumbledore cast should've been halted or at least weakened by our shields but instead it seemed as if they weren't even there. That's because magic as a whole does have an exact opposite and that opposite is electricity." Many stared at her as if she was crazy but judging from the expression on Hermione's face she was quickly figuring it out. "We all know electricity doesn't work at Hogwarts because of magical interference but no one knew why magic interfered with electricity and I believe I've discovered why. Electricity is everywhere, the universe runs on it as the building blocks of which we are made are electrical as well, at least in the beginning. I've did some extensive research into what it is exactly that makes us different from muggles, what gives us the power to do magic and the answer is actually quite simple: Atoms. A human body normally produces a small amount of electricity but wizards don't strangely enough, instead there is a constant flow of magic, albeit a very small one. I don't know how it's possible but we're all born as regular humans that can do no magic at all but as we grow older there is something that corrupts our atoms and changes them, basically they are being inversed and turn into magical atoms. That's why the bolt of lightning produced by Dumbledore just cut straight to the shields of the Potter. It's like matter and anti-matter. When they come into contact they annihilate each other. Summoning a lightning bolt is one of that hardest pieces of magic imaginable and now I understand why. While it's still strange it's possible at all that's how far I've gotten with my research up until now. While the normal world of atoms is pretty logical the world of magic is anything but, I'm sure that within a couple of months…"
"Luna!" Harry suddenly yelled with a small smile "While your theory is terribly interesting I must admit I'm also sorry to say that we don't have the time right now." Luna mumbled an apology. "Are we able to counter it next time it comes up?"
"I've found a way yes." Luna said hesitantly "I'll try and implement it into every ship as fast as possible but it'll take some time, naturally the Potter and Ekliptica take priority, it should be done in the next two weeks for the both of them. The others should take about another month."
"Very good." Harry said with an approving nod "Sarah, how is the Potter coming along?"
"Well, it was quite a hassle to get it here so fast." she began "But we managed, damage to the ship's frame was minimal I'm surprised to say thanks to the gravitational technology on board. The location of the transportation crystals was shifted a bit but with some adaptations in the program and some emergency wiring we were able to get the transportation drive up and running. We were lucky in that regard but that's about as far as our luck goes. Ninety percent of the wiring and equipment is damaged beyond repair. Everything is fried to scrap: magical conduits, energy cylinders, buffers, radar. It'll take a while to replace all that and we're trying to scrape together everything we need from spare parts and other ships. The parts are already being constructed but they do take a while to make. We figured it would be better to take some parts of certain ships and have them replaced later on. As long as the smaller ships work together there shouldn't be a problem, it'll be done within the deadline you gave us."
Harry nodded. "Andrew, how are reparations to the mansion coming along?"
"Quite well," Andrew said in his normal way "the wall has been repaired and the mansions is well underway but I'm still curious about how the enemy was able to breach it."
"Crap." Luna swore and everyone stared at her in horror, Andrew looking around wildly to see if the end of the world had finally begun "I completely forgot to tell you about that." she continued and looked at Harry, completely unaware of everyone else's expressions.
"Don't worry about it Luna, I'll admit I forgot about it as well, we've all been a bit busy." Harry said recovering from his shock, Luna swearing was a first for all of them "So how were they able to do it?"
"It's actually quite simple." Hermione interrupted "The thing that makes the wall and almost all of our technology possible is magic. The enemy cast killing curses at the wall and shortly after that shot bunker buster rounds at it. The killing curse is a curse that forcefully separates the soul from the body as well as sort of kills the magic the magic in a person, while the wall of course doesn't have a soul it did weaken the magic in it severely making it almost no better than ordinary metal."
"Exactly." Luna confirmed "I knew this might be a weakness but tests have indicated that while it does weaken the structure it is still stronger than normal. Even after being hit with the killing curse spells have little effect on it, I just never took into account what a shell would do to it that managed to make it inside the wall."
"Is there any way to counter that one." Harry asked a little worried.
"Not really." Luna admitted "But it shouldn't pose a real problem in the future, now that you've got your magic back we can establish the wards around Potter mansion as originally intended and they won't be able to get a killing curse past them. We know for a fact that a killing curse can't penetrate the shield or the wards we designed because they still fall under the category of the 'day' magic."
Harry remained silent for a moment as he thought about everything that had been said for a moment. "Tom, how is the restocking of ammo coming along?" he asked after another moment or two.
"Production is as high as it can be but for the moment we've taken about fifty per cent of Insania's emergency supplies out of storage mostly for Potter Mansion, the stock there is seventy per cent for the moment and for the upcoming missions. We've calculated that our stock will be full again by the end of next week as long as you rest enough sir." Tom reported.
"I'll remember that." Harry said and turned to Severus. "How are the preparations for the raid coming along, have you selected your first target?"
"I have," he said and seemed a bit reluctant to continue "Malfoy Manor will be our first target." this shocked most and all of them cast a sideway glance at Draco who sat there with a stony expression on his face, Severus continued as if it was any regular target. "I've assembled my team. Malfoy Manor is a high profile target as Lucius is one of the Inner Circle members and we know for sure it is a base for the Dark Lord. By attacking it we'll also attract media attention on it and if we leave behind some evidence that connects it to the Dark Lord Lucius will be cast in a bad light which will hinder his financial support, I'm sure the Quibbler can help with that."
"You're right Severus." Harry said "This might finally open an avenue for us to hinder Lucius' financial capabilities. So far the goblins weren't able to interfere as they have to remain neutral and not choose a side unless there's prove of criminal activities. Good, I think that's all for today? Tom, I'll stop by later today to start construction on a core at Potter Mansion. Hermione, I'll stop by your office as well and see when I'll start construction of a core there as well. Severus, I'll come by in a bout half an hour."
Everyone nodded and stood up to leave. "Luna," Harry suddenly called "would you mind staying behind for just a moment."
Luna knew it wasn't a request and shook her head as she sat back down.
As soon as everyone had left the room Harry walked over and sat down next to her with a look of concern on his face.
"Is everything alright Luna? You seem a bit off lately." Harry asked in a mild tone.
"I'm fine Harry." she said with a forced smile that could've fooled him if it weren't for the lack of her normal enthusiasm is her voice.
"Strangely enough I don't believe you. Normally you're the one who doesn't seem affected by anything, especially not in your work, your behaviour today has got me really worried."
"I'm sorry Harry, but the attack made sure I had a lot of work on my hands even with the use of the time-tu…" she said and suddenly slapped her hands over her mouth.
Harry looked grim for a moment and a little bit angry. "I see, now I understand and that's another indicator you're not fine. Normally you never would've let something like that slip, I can even start to read your surface thoughts." Harry said in an almost scolding tone.
"I'm sorry Harry," Luna said and her eyes started shining "but after you raided the DoM I stumbled across it and thought it could be useful in an emergency but once I started using it it was such an asset, all that extra time I have now but the past few days have been a bit too stressful and…" a hiccup interrupted her and a tear started to slide down her cheek "seeing not just you but a lot of people injured like that and a whole lot more dead made me realise that by the end of this war I'll have probably lost some people that are dear to me. Draco was nearly killed and I started thinking about how it would be if I lost him or you, besides you he's the one who comes down to my lab the most to help me improve weapons and test out new things."
"I know it's though Luna but you should've told me you were using a time-turner, Hermione used one on out third year and she suffered greatly from it by the end of the year and she only used to do over a couple of hours, I'm sure you used it for days." Harry said in a stern voice. She nodded and tears started flowing freely now.
"I'm sorry Harry, I just didn't want to fail and the fear of losing someone because something didn't get done in time was too much to bear so I did whatever it took…" she couldn't finish her sentence and merely slumped in her chair crying.
Emotions welled up inside Harry but he didn't allow for his tears to start flowing, he had to show he was the brave one. He had shed enough of them the past two nights when he talked about his fears with Hermione before they went to sleep.
"It's okay Luna." Harry said and put a comforting hand on her shoulder "I understand why you did it, I probably would've done the same and I can see now how much stress you're under." he said and he felt a little ashamed "I didn't realize how much I was asking of you, this is for a great part my fault. Can you forgive me?"
Luna looked at him tearfully and launched herself at him. The chair toppled backwards and both fell to the ground. Harry was surprised for a moment but a small smile appeared and he stroked her hair comfortingly. "I suppose it's good for people to cry once in a while." he said softly as he let Luna cry out her frustrations of the past few days.
He waited for some time until her sobs became less frequent and her breathing evened out.
"Are you okay Luna?" he asked and he could feel her nodding against the side of his face "Then you wouldn't mind if we get up, the floor's getting rather cold and hard." he said jokingly. She got up slowly and looked down at him. He looked up at her with a questioning look.
"What?" he asked curiously.
"Nothing," she said as she offered him her hand "just wondering what my life would be like without you in it."
"A lot less stressful probably." he answered with a smile as he grabbed her hand and pulled himself up.
"And a lot less … worth living for." she said with honesty.
He mock-bowed. "Glad to be of service. While I disagree it does make me feel better that you think that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to take care of." he said, turned around and walked away. "I'll drop by later to see if we can come up with a compromise in regards to your time turner issue."
She nodded and as soon as he was out the door started walking, she too had some things to do.
Severus Snape sat brooding in his living quarters. He lazily swirled the liquor in his glass around as he looked through it at the fire. He knew he shouldn't be drinking but he had to calm down his mind. He didn't like going out on raids again and the next one would be especially harsh on him. While it was unlikely Voldemort would be there, and if he was they wouldn't go, but a lot of his former 'associates' would be and defeating them would be though. They knew his ways and would no doubt try to capture him instead of killing him outright. He was pretty sure the Dark Lord would reward the one who brought him Severus Snape alive with piles of gold and a lot of respect. He took an object of a small table that stood next to his chair and looked at it with mixed emotions.
He had accepted the gift, sure, but he didn't really have any intention of using it but he was starting to turn around. Accepting it completely was something that meant more to him than it would appear on first side. If he decided to use it it would basically mean he would devote his life to the cause of a Potter. He rolled his eyes at himself, he was past the childhood grudges but still, a man's past haunts him. His eyes turned hollow as he started living through some of his memories. Some about his uncaring parents, some about life at Hogwarts where he only had one friend, the later years where he had nothing but an empty live and the past few months where his life had been given a meaning again. He grasped the gun tighter. "What am I doubting about? There was no choice to begin with, I've chosen my path, I will follow it to the end whatever the end may be." he thought, shut his eyes and clenched his hands in resolution, so hard that he pulled the trigger and the gun went off. A shattering of glass was heard and his eyes snapped open. A picture standing on the mantel of the fireplace fell to the floor and the frame shattered. He sighed, put his glass down and the gun next to it. He stood up and walked over the to fireplace where he gingerly picked up the shattered picture. He looked at it in a strange sense of detachment. He was in it, maybe three years old or so, with his mum and dad standing behind him, all of them showing off a happy smile. He smiled bitterly. "How much someone's upbringing influences them." he muttered and threw the picture in the fire. The wood crackled merrily as it rapidly consumed the picture and its frame.
Someone knocked on the door and he didn't even have to guess who it was, fate wouldn't allow it to be anyone else when thinking about upbringings and how it made them who they were.
"Enter." Severus said.
"Am I interrupting?" Harry asked as he entered and quickly scanned the room.
"No, I was merely having an internal debate but it has been settled." Severus sighed and turned around to face Harry. Harry nodded, understanding what he meant, he noticed the frame burning in the fireplace but decided not to comment. "I'll take a guess and say that you came here to ask about my choice for the first target at this time?"
"It seems you're starting to get to know me too well." Harry said with a laugh "I am indeed curious, you know very well that Draco can't go on this raid even if he wanted to right now and I think he would've liked to go, even if it was only to close a chapter in his life."
"I know Harry and while I think you're right I personally think it's better this way, while he may not hold much love for his father or mother anymore the house is where he grew up, it holds a lot of memories for him, both good and bad and I don't think it'll survive the raid, at least not if I have anything to say about it."
"I see what you mean, I only hope that Draco won't be mad at you over your decision."
"I'm willing to take the risk, he might not see it now but it is for him that I did it." Severus said with determination.
"I knew someone who did things because he thought it was for the best, I think you knew him pretty well too." Harry said with a glint in his eyes.
"I won't repeat Albus' mistakes, I will explain myself fully once it's done and then let him judge over me." Snape said with resignation at being compared to the old man.
"Very well then, now if you'll excuse me, I have other places I have to be." Harry said and turned to leave. "Just one more thing Severus, you have made the right decision, I'm certain of it." with that he left the room.
"I very much hope so." Snape said. He looked at the small table where the gun and glass were. He strode over to it and picked up the gun. He looked at it once more and saw that the multicoloured light was pulsing. A maniacal grin crossed his face. He turned around with a billow of his cloak and started walking to another section of his compound.
"I have some training to do, tomorrow might be more fun now." he said with a satisfied smirk, while he still feared it the expressions on his former 'associates'' faces would be priceless when he cut them down one by one.
He blew out a puff of smoke into the evening air and he could feel himself calm down, slowly, but surely.
He looked up and saw the landscape slowly turning darker. It was starting to get chilly outside. A knock on the door made him sigh, he knew it was coming but he was still wondering who it would be, Harry most likely.
"Enter." he called and was surprised to see Luna appear on the balcony. What surprised him even more was that for once she wasn't in her usual work clothes but in a white summer dress. Draco's eyebrows rose up in wonder.
Luna looked away embarrassed and blushed prettily. "Don't look at me like that, it's not that special." she said in a small voice.
"I'm just surprised, that's all, the world isn't ending and yet you're not in your work clothes. It's not for me is it?" he asked a little apprehensive suddenly.
"No!" she yelled vehemently and this puzzled Draco "Harry ordered me to take a day off because…" she said dejectedly and hesitated for a moment at the end "Well, he has his reasons." she finished lamely.
"Found out about your time turner did he?" he asked with a cocky grin.
"You knew about that?" she demanded outraged.
"Of course." he said as if it was obvious "Not only was the amount of work you got done suspicious but there was the time when you had just woken up and greeted me cheerfully but when I walked into the furthest lab thirty minutes later you were so tired it looked as if you were about to collapse and you snapped at me that it was too late to be bothering you." he snickered.
She blushed again for a moment but let her shoulders droop. "Cat's out of the bag now, we'll just see what he decides on how it'll be in the future." she shrugged.
"I'm sure he'll allow you to use it but merely with some restrictions and if he doesn't I'm sure I'll be able to persuade him to allow it anyway." Draco said reassuringly.
"Thank you." Luna said honestly.
"You know," Draco said after a few moments of silence "didn't you come up here to comfort me instead of the other way around." Luna blushed again "What's up with you today Luna, you're really not yourself."
"I think it's just the fact that this is my first day off since the beginning of all this, it feels good to let the stress go for a while, I guess that's why I'm so loose today."
"That might explain it." Draco acknowledged with a nod.
"So how are you?" Luna asked.
"I'm fine." he said and continued immediately, not allowing her to interrupt "I truly am, you think I should be angry because I won't be able to go on the raid don't you." she nodded "But I'm not. I would've liked to go, to put a definitive end to my past but now I think it might be better not to. I think I would regret it later if I go. I do have some good memories there, even if not much. It wouldn't feel right I tainted them now."
"I can understand that." Luna said sympathetically "So you're really okay with all this?" she asked and he nodded. "I'm glad." Luna said "We all need to be strong, the less internal problems we have the better." Draco nodded.
"You're right, now let's stop with all this emotional stuff and let's get something to eat, I'm hungry." he said.
"I'll agree to that." she said with a laugh but it disappeared when she saw him almost fall when he got up from the railing he had been sitting on and grab his crutches. She rushed to his side to help hem and to her own surprise he immediately let her, normally he always protested in the beginning.
"Thank you." he said.
"It's not a problem, you know every single one of us is always ready to help the other." Luna said with fondness.
"I know and even know I still have to get used to it sometimes." Draco said with a small smile that was followed by a wince as pain shot through his legs.
Luna gave a disapproving grunt but didn't comment on the fact that he shouldn't be overexerting himself, he hadn't interfered with her time-turner as well.
"Let's go to that new restaurant in the village, I've heard it serves some pretty good food." Luna said and Draco nodded.
In the cheerful hospital wing of Azkaban Jonathan woke up groggily. He sat up and clutched his head.
"Damn it," he swore "what hit me?"
"A magical shockwave." Was the dry reply he got from the occupant of the chair standing next to his bed. Jonathan looked to the side and winced as pain lanced through his neck.
"Please Albus, don't scare me like that. Fast movements don't seem to agree with me right now." Jonathan said with a hint of humour.
"Nor with me." Dumbledore said gravely as he stood up, still rather fast in Jonathan's opinion for such an old man but definitely more cautious than normal "I'm glad to see you're awake Jonathan." Dumbledore finished as he stepped into Jonathan's field of view. Jonathan gasped involuntarily. Dumbledore looked a hundred years older, he looked absolutely horrible, his eyes seemed haunted and a large scar now graced his left temple. "Don't be like that." Dumbledore snapped as he saw the expression on Jonathan's face "You know how war is, people get injured and killed. Besides, me external injuries are nothing in comparison to my internal struggles."
"I understand." Jonathan said "So how did it end?"
"Badly, very badly, the losses we suffered were far too great. I'm afraid we were truly beaten. As it stands now we can't stop Harry from spreading his influence on the mainland." Dumbledore said with anger in his voice.
"Then we'll have to bide our time and wait for the right moment to strike at his weakness." Jonathan said seriously.
"I'm working on it." Dumbledore said "I'm afraid my friend that playtime is over and the true war is about a to start like in the old days, we'll probably see news of new victims every day in the newspaper from now on. I can only hope Harry knows how much of an impact our defeat will have. I'll leave you know, your advisors are very eager to speak with you." Dumbledore said and left without another word.
Jonathan realized Dumbledore was right. They would be powerless for now but soon he would get another chance to destroy Potter's little band of renegades. He looked out one of the windows and he had to smirk, the large shape on the horizon meant that at least their defences were in place. He had to divert his attention as his advisors rushed into the room.
Lord Voldemort laughed maniacally as he read the day's newspaper headline.
Ministry suffers humiliating defeat
Potter gains influence
"Today, my loyal followers, today is the day the old days in which the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord spread fear and terror return, from this day on there won't be a family that won't be afraid to go to sleep last night afraid that they won't wake up in the morning, that their loved ones might be gone. Today our path to former glory has started." The Dark Lord said coldly as he regarded the gathered men before him "Rest now because tomorrow will be a very busy day, tomorrow we will announce our return."
"Praise be to the Dark Lord." All men assembled replied in unison.
"Are you truly prepared for the consequences of your actions?" Arakir asked as he lazily flapped his wings.
"I am." Harry said with resolution as he looked at the clear bleu sky from his position, lying on Arakir's back "I will stop him and prevent him from hurting as many people as I can, even if it kills me."
"You are resolute Harry, but don't forget, you are only human."
"In the end, even if he isn't wholly anymore, he is as well."
Author notes: Well, another one done, a few more to go. The end is coming near and the pieces are being set. I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews are still very welcome, they help keep up my spirits. For anyone interested my yahoo group is still open for anyone (who doesn't use it as an advertising blog) who wants to join, the link is on my bio page. Please check out the polls and there are some drawings of ships and weapons as well which I made myself. 'Till next chapter.
Review responses (the most fun part of a chapter is you ask me):
Beth5572: As always, you're very welcome.
Quetzalcoatls: Can't disagree with you there.
Lina239: Don't land too far, there's still more to come.
Lady-Luthien-Ancalimon: There's actually a lot more to go, Voldemort still has to be defeated, the Ministry isn't completely down just yet and there are still some other matters that need to be settled, if I can remember them all that is (I really should start taking some more notes.)
harry shall rise: Yeah, the whole duel with Dumbledore didn't feel as right as it should have but it suited my needs and after having started over a couple of times it was the best I could do at the moment, sorry for that. Hope you like this one better.
Steve's Place: I love to hear these things, I like to be one of a kind and my ideas are mostly unique even if I do tend to mix up certain things I've seen somewhere else and use them in entirely different ways. I remember at a job interview when they asked me what the first word that came to mind would be if you asked a friend of me to describe me. My reply: weird.
Harshbutfaircritic: Harsh? Most certainly. Fair? No way! Just one of those who judges a book by its cover. It's such a shame to know there are people around that are just that shallow, tsk tsk.
Messhnhs: I get them done as fast as I can, I'd like nothing more than to see this story done so that I can be proud that I was able to finish it. I truly never that that I'd still be doing this after three years.
Hpnut1: Like nothing you'll ever expect, believe me.
Story Plotter: Everything here happens for a reason, that's all I can say and now you probably now why that happened.
Sigm: I'd say another six to seven chapter although I can't say for sure, in the beginning I was expecting the story to be thirteen chapter and maybe 90K words and look at it now but I'll promise it won't drag on too long anymore, even the best things need to come to an end and this is far from the best so… I'll just say the end is in sight and I've almost completely figured it out.
Thanks to everyone else who has reviewed:
Sploft, Matt101, harry rukes