Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas which you recognise as being from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series or any other trademarked or copyrighted work. The plot of this story is my own, but I have no intention of making any money from it.
Chapter 21
"He wants what?" Ron was incredulous.
Hermione sighed. How many times would they have to go through this? "He's found a way to channel my power through a pentacle. He's going to order me to command the golems to kill all Muggles. Basically, they're going to decimate London, then he's going to use the political chaos that that will create to install Lucius as a figurehead dictator, with him the power behind the scenes. He's going to destroy all of the Muggle UK's infrastructure in one fell swoop."
A silence fell.
"Well, we can't let that happen," said Neville in a businesslike tone. "We've only two weeks until the election now – what can we do to stop it? I presume we still need Malfoy to win."
"Yes," nodded Harry slowly. "I think so. Ice-cream Eaters all in one place, when he makes the speech at midnight, is still our best bet."
"We're still going to use Fred and George's net to contain them, then?" that was Colin, usually so quiet. He seemed to have found his voice more recently, with the end so near.
Hannah was hesitant. "I don't suppose – Hermione – if you can order them to kill all Muggles, can't you just order them to kill all Ice-Cream Eaters instead?"
Hermione went quiet. "That – I mean – I don't know how they'd be able to recognise it unless.. Oh!" she turned suddenly to Fred and George. "The net – your system of resonance with the Dark Mark – I wonder if I could incorporate that into the charms in the Golems? That way, they would also be trapped inside the net, and would go after anyone with a Mark within it."
Seamus clapped his hands, gleeful. "Yes! That way, we get more soldiers."
George nodded slowly. "Yes... I suppose so. You'd need to use your Mark to anchor the resonances, though, if you were going to combine it with other spells. Otherwise, the Golems would end up rejecting all the other charms on them."
Hermione got out her wand, conjured up a piece of paper and pen, and began writing out a long and complex Arithmantic formula. She waved a hand, which the rest of the Order (except Severus) knew meant that they should carry on without her. Severus himself soon got the message, as she was ignoring him, and went to the sideboard to pour himself another scotch. George went over to her corner and they muttered away together, combining the formulae for the twins' Dark Mark resonance spell with her golem charms.
"So," said Harry. "Assuming that they manage that, which I'm sure they will, what with Hermione being brilliant and all, how does that alter the plans for June 6th?"
"Hannah and I will still have to lay out the net around the Malfoy party HQ on the first, as planned," said Susan. "The net's still integral to the plans."
"That's true," said Draco. "Except that Severus, Hermione and I will need to be outside of it before it closes."
"Why?" Ernie.
"Because from what I know of Arithmancy, and I did a NEWT in it, it's much harder to write single exceptions to a rule than it is to make it blanket coverage," explained Draco with his trademark sneer. "So when she tells them to go after anything with a Dark Mark, that means anything."
"We could give you Portkeys," said Hannah.
"Too powerful," said Severus shortly. "The Dark Lord would sense the magic as soon as I got anywhere near him. And as a high-ranking inner circle member, I'm likely to be standing right next to him."
"You could just run for it as soon as he started talking," offered Ernie.
"And get killed before I could move ten feet? No, thanks." Severus sneered nastily. Sometimes, thought Neville, order meetings with him were like being back in first year potions.
"So your best chance is probably apparition," said Harry.
"But Voldemort can recall us to his side either way, as soon as he notices we're gone." Draco looked worried. "We have to get out so quickly and quietly that he won't even realise we're gone! Besides, how do we know when to go? I mean, when you're going to raise the net."
Colin spoke up once more. "What if you knew when to get out, because it was you two who raised the net?"
All heads turned to him, and he blushed a deep red. "I mean, what if Malfoy and Snape agree on a time – say, 1 am, when Big Ben strikes, and both apparate to just outside the ring. Then, they say the words which raise the net, immediately, so Flobberworm doesn't have time to call them. I mean, if it blocks all communication, it should also block his call to them, right?"
"Theoretically," said Fred. "I mean, his magic should just rebound when it hits the barrier, not getting through to either of them at all."
"That might just work," said Harry. "I'll bet Flobbers won't bother putting up anti-apparition wards, because he'll think it's just him and his cronies. And the rest of us could still get in and out..."
"What about Hermione?" interjected Severus suddenly. "It's all very well making these nice little plans, but I'm not leaving her behind."
"You wouldn't have to." The woman herself, clutching a piece of parchment clutched to her chest, crossed the room with George to rejoin the conversation. "I've run the Arithmancy – I can make myself the only exception to the rule, because it'll be my mark which establishes the resonance. So effectively, the order is to "kill all others with marks". I should be safe."
" 'Should be' is not good enough," Severus said quietly. She shot him a look, clearly saying we'll talk about this later.
"What about the rest of us, then?" asked Ron. "If Hermione's golems are going to do all the work, what the hell have we spent ten years training for?"
"I think you all need to be there anyway," said Hermione. "Remember, there'll be Muggles inside the building, panicking. They need protection. Also, some of the Death Eaters will be strong enough to overwhelm the golems. They can be destroyed!"
Susan was nodding. "Besides, Harry needs to fight Flobberworm himself, according to the Prophecy."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
"I don't like that Severus and I will be stuck outside the circle doing nothing, though," said Draco sullenly. "If the golems can be destroyed, can't we take our chances inside, helping out?"
"No!" said Harry and Hermione in unison.
"Look," said Hermione placatingly, "they can be destroyed, and I have no doubt whatsoever that each of you could do it. But that would be taking more golems out of play, leaving less of them to pick off the other Death Eaters – you know, the ones that we actually want dead."
They nodded reluctantly, seeing the logic in this.
Harry added, "this way has the added benefit, Draco, of making sure that you're in no danger of getting angry and attacking your father. I refuse to have you dying of that stupid vow!" Draco scowled, but acquiesced.
"Besides, you'll be needed to patrol the outside of the building. I'm sure that not all of Voldemort's sympathisers are Marked! Make sure that anyone coming out with a wand is incapacitated, and that all the Muggles are catalogued, just in case they're not actually Muggles," Hermione added.
Harry rubbed his hands together. "That's settled then! At the beginning of June, Hannah and Susan are in charge of laying down the Lodestones around the building. Make sure they're slightly underground, so they're well hidden."
The girls nodded, having been through this several times over the past few weeks.
"We'll apparate the Order to just outside the circle at midnight. The Flobberworm's speech should start then. As soon as he finishes, and tells Hermione to step into the pentacle, Severus and Draco disapparate to – where?"
"Just outside the pub opposite the front doors," said Draco promptly. "Unfortunately, it's called the Red Lion, but I'm sure that we two Slytherins can manage for a couple of minutes." He made a face.
"Since you're both dating Gryffindors," said Harry with a smirk, "I should hope so."
Ron looked faintly ill, Draco grinned, and Severus looked murderous. All as per usual, then thought Neville tiredly.
"Has anyone actually thought," came a small voice from the corner. Susan. "About the ethics of killing all the Ice-cream Eaters. As opposed to say, capturing them and giving them a fair trial?"
Hermione paused. She had a point. What had they become, that no one in the room had objected to this beforehand? But then, this was war. There were no easy options.
"I can't do it," she said quietly. "Capture – it's an order too complex for the golems to understand, especially when they have to capture people with a Dark Mark. I mean – killing is simple: something's either alive or it's not, but capture – how does a pile of sand know whether the Death Eater will be able to escape or not? They'd either end up using too much force and killing them, or too little and they'd be completely ineffectual. That's why, even in the room, their orders were only ever "stun", and that the plots have always been slightly simplistic."
Hermione shuddered at her own words. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought that she'd just advocated mass murder. What had she become?
"H is right," said Severus. "We cannot risk them escaping. The organisation has too deep a hold in the wizarding world – we need to completely cut out this cancer in order to start again."
There were a series of nods around the room.
"You know that that sounds a hell of a lot like a justification for genocide?" Hannah responded quietly.
"Yes." Severus was firm. "But in this case, it's them or us."
She bowed her head. "I suppose."
Draco looked belligerently around the room. "Anyone else got a problem with putting these murdering bastards to the death they deserve?"
No one spoke.