Chapter Twenty One
Everyone was enjoying breakfast when Hermione spotted an article in the Daily Prophet about the mysterious deaths of everyone in a small town.
"Hey look at this," stated Hermione.
Small town wiped out
By Roger Davies
We have received reports that a whole town north of Manchester was recently wiped out. The Muggle authorities have not been able to explain what happened, there were no survivors and no evidence to indicate how it could have happened.
The authorities have banned anyone from visiting the town in fear that it may be some form of virus, however their tests have not revealed anything. The ministry has refused to get involved stating that there is no evidence suggesting that Wizards were involved.
"That sounds like Dementors," Dumbledore said.
"That makes sense, Muggles cannot see them so they would be helpless if they came in force," replied Molly.
"This is very worrying and we have no way of finding them," stated Dumbledore.
"We will have to keep our eyes open for future attacks and see if there is a pattern," suggested Harry.
"Is there anything else we can do?" asked Sirius.
"We can see them with our Phoenix magic but we cannot cover the whole country," Ginny advised them.
"There is a battalion of Phoenixes currently stationed at Azkaban," replied Dumbledore just before Xavier and Fawkes arrived.
'Welcome back,' Xavier said once he arrived.
'Thank you, it seems that we have missed quite a lot,' replied Harry.
'Yes, the Phoenix King has agreed to unite with the Goblins and we have deployed a battalion of Phoenixes to Azkaban,' replied Xavier.
'Can we redeploy them to monitor for the Dementors around the country?' asked Harry
'Yes, you can, they are your troops to command; once you give the order they will do whatever they are told.'
'I don't understand, why they would follow my orders?' replied a confused Harry.
'Harry, Fawkes has a message for you that will explain everything, in the meantime you can just give the command and they will deploy as needed,' explained Xavier.
'Okay, I need the Phoenixes to deploy throughout United Kingdom, they are to be on the lookout for Dementors and report back immediately when and where they are detected. If needed they must report back to Azkaban,' Harry stated.
"Okay the Phoenixes have deployed, hopefully we will be able to stop any future attacks," stated Harry.
Fudge paced on the platform as he waited for the members of the Wizengamot to gather, he had spent all of the previous evening planning a number of changes in the laws that would basically give back the control of Azkaban and take Gringotts from the Goblins and hand it over to Ministry.
Once everyone had assembled Fudge approached the podium to speak.
"Members of the Wizengamot, the time has come for us to take action against the Goblins for their continual defiance of our rules and standards. As you are all aware early yesterday morning they illegally seized Azkaban prison killing many Ministry works in the process," stated Fudge.
"That is a lie," shouted Augusta Longbottom who had been monitoring the situation closely. "No one was killed during the seizure of Azkaban or in your failed attempt to retake the prison."
"I am afraid you have been misinformed Mrs. Longbottom, indeed a number of valuable Ministry workers were indeed killed. The Goblins went to great extremes to make it look like nothing had happened but we have proof that clearly shows they were murdered by those vile creatures," replied Fudge smugly.
"In that case, Minister Fudge, I assume you are able to produce the bodies of those who were killed so that we can verify your claim?" asked Amelia Bones who also had been monitoring what was happening.
"We have not been able to recover any of the bodies," replied Fudge calmly.
"Then you are unable to say what has really happened to them," stated Augusta again.
"They were killed by the Goblins, what else is there to say" stated Fudge again.
"Without any evidence you cannot make that claim or any other, our relations are already stained with the Goblins because of your actions at Hogwarts and now your failed attempt to retake Azkaban. Unless you can produce concrete evidence that the Goblins are responsible for the deaths of the workers then you cannot use this argument to justify any changes in the law," stated Amelia officially bringing the argument to an abrupt end.
"Regardless of that they still have illegally seized Azkaban prison and must be punished. This morning I have ordered the seizure of both Azkaban prison and Gringotts bank," stated Fudge.
The members of the Wizengamot were outraged that Fudge would go to such an extreme.
"Minister Fudge, you don't have the authority to do that," stated a member of the Wizengamot.
"Actually this body gave me the power last year," replied Fudge with a smile.
"What are you talking about?" asked the member again.
"Attached to the Dangerous Creatures Act was the following statement.
"The Minister for Magic or their selected employees have the right to enact any emergency laws or take any action needed to control the creatures covered by this act. The Minister for Magic or selected employees cannot be held responsible for actions resulting from these laws.
"Any changes will carry the full authority of the Wizengamot and can only be overturned by a seventy five percent majority of voting members.
"This was not removed and therefore came into effect when you signed the law," finished Fudge smugly.
Amelia knew they would not be able to overturn the emergency law because there were too many people who still supported Fudge and a good number of believed that Goblins and other magical creatures should be under the control of humans.
"Minister Fudge, I hope you are willing to accept the price for your actions? The Goblins will not allow you to simply take control of either facility therefore you will effectively have put us at war with the Goblin nation," replied Amelia sadly.
"Then we will finally be able to rid this world of the foul creatures," responded Fudge to the cheers of a number of members.
Amelia was torn, she couldn't in good conscious continue to work for the Ministry but knew if she resigned then Fudge would replace her with someone he selected which would give him even more control over the Aurors then he already had. No she would have to stick this one out and hope that something could be done about Fudge and soon.
The meeting continued for a while longer as Fudge proposed creating more laws that would further restrict the rights of the Goblins and a number of other magic creatures. They barely passed despite the best efforts of several members to highlight just how damaging they would be to relations with those creatures.
After breakfast Harry and Ginny sat down with Dumbledore and explained everything that had happened while they were away that they had not shared with the others. They explained about the specific training that Merlin and Gryffindor had given them and about their duel.
"Albus, we have a special message for you," Ginny said as they continued to talk.
"Okay," said Albus a little worried.
"We met Ariana and she wants you know that she doesn't blame you for what happened and she wants you to stop blaming yourself."
Dumbledore struggled to keep his composure but failed miserably.
"She also wanted us to tell you that it is time to accept your feelings for Minerva," added Ginny once Dumbledore had recovered a little.
"And before you protest she wants you to know that it was Grindelwald who was causing you to be attracted to him, he had been feeding you a love potion."
They could see that Dumbledore was struggling with what they had told him, so left him to contemplate what they had told him.
Several hours later Dumbledore found Harry and Ginny talking in the sitting room and thanked them for passing on the messages. He was going to listen to his sister's advice and finally tell Minerva how he felt.
Once Albus had left to send a message to Minerva Fawkes flashed into the room and settled now on the back of the cough facing Harry and Ginny.
'Harry, Ginny, I have a message for you from the Phoenix King,' Fawkes said.
'Thank you,' replied Harry.
'Harry and Ginny, you are the first, and will be the only, of your race to ever achieve a Phoenix transformation. When that happened you went from being human to becoming Phoenix completely with all the abilities of a Phoenix.
'I am sure you are wondering if that includes rebirth as all Phoenixes do when they go through the burning. The simple answer is yes it does and therefore it means you are now immortal as all Phoenixes are. However for you both it will be very different the first time, you will not experience your first burning until you die as a human once that happens you will be reborn as a Phoenix with one ability that no other Phoenix has, you will have the ability to transform into your human form.
'Harry you have been chosen to unite the Wizarding World and bring lasting peace, in order to achieve this you and your mate have been selected to serve as joint King and Queen with me and my mate in the Phoenix realm. However before you can take your place you must achieve a full Phoenix bond. We cannot tell you how to complete the bond as it is different for each Phoenix pair, but we will know when it has been completed.
'Until the Phoenix bond has been completed you will be known as the Prince and Princess of the Phoenix realm and will have command of all Phoenixes currently residing in the human realm. They have been instructed to follow your orders completely unless these are overridden by me or the queen.
'As you may have already learned we have reformed an alliance with the Goblins that existed when Merlin was alive. With this alliance you now have access to the mighty Goblin Warriors who were once feared for their efficiency and dedication to the task assigned. Unfortunately due to the many laws that the Wizarding World has created they have been forced into hiding until now. They are a proud race and while they will fiercely defend their property and anything that they are asked to protect they are a peaceful race when given the respect they deserve. Respect Harry and Ginny that only you will be able to restore to them.
'Other magical creatures will unite with you once they see how the Goblins are treated, included among those will be the Giants who are the second oldest race in the Wizarding World after the Phoenixes. Don't be surprised if they appear to support Tom Riddle at first, they are a very cunning race and would take immense pleasure in turning on Riddle at the last moment.
'The time of darkness that has covered the Wizarding World is finally coming to an end but it will not be defeated easily only together can you finally rid the world of the darkness and bring the lasting changes that will help to keep it away. Once you have deal with Tom Riddle, only by uniting the many different races and creatures of the Wizarding World and ensuring they are represented equally will the peace last.'
Harry and Ginny were stunned to say the least, they never expected any of this to happen, not only were they immortal which was slightly troubling but they were second only to the King and Queen in the Phoenix realm.
'Are we still dreaming?' asked Harry a little later.
'No, Harry, this is all very real indeed,' replied Xavier.
'Oh, we will need some time to come to terms with all this,' replied Harry.
'Harry, this just seems too much,' Ginny stated.
'I know, I guess that means we will really be in love forever. That's not so bad,' replied Harry trying to lighten the mood.
'What do you mean, NOT SO BAD,' replied Ginny in outrage which was ruined by the large smile on her face.
'Well I can think of worse people to have to spend eternity with.'
'But I thought you Lovvveeed the toad,' replied Ginny causing Harry to vomit.
'Well that was dignified,' Ginny said after cleaning up.
'I cannot believe you said that, just you wait until I get you Mrs. Potter,' replied Harry before chasing after her.
'I can't wait,' Ginny said before flashing to another room in the castle.
The chase continued until lunch time before they finally settled down again.
'Thank you, I needed to take my mind off everything for a while,' Harry said once they settled down for lunch.
'So did I,' replied Ginny.
During lunch Hedwig arrived with a special edition of the Daily Prophet, Harry immediately grabbed it to find out what was going on.
Dangerous Creatures Act Updated
By Rita Skeeter
This morning during an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot Minister Fudge pushed through the following amendments to the Dangerous Creatures Act.
1) Werewolves are required to register immediately with the Ministry; they will be given an identification bracelet and will be required to report to the Ministry two days before each Full Moon.
Failure to register will result in immediate execution when caught.
2) Centaurs are required to register immediately with the Ministry and will be given identification bracelets.
Failure to register will result in immediate execution when caught.
In addition the Ministry has declared the Goblin nation enemies of the Ministry due to the illegal seizure of Azkaban prison. As punishment for their crimes any Goblin who is discovered in the Wizarding world will be executed immediately. In additional the Ministry had issued seizure orders for Azkaban prison and Gringotts bank.
We have not been able to contact the Goblins to find out their response to these changes but are able to tell you that Gringotts bank has been closed effective immediately.
When questioned about these changes Minister Fudge responded.
"We have tolerated the illegal actions of the Goblins for far too long, it is time for us to put them in their proper place."
When asked when Gringotts was due to reopen the Minister stated that it would be as soon as they had taken control of the bank.
Given the success of the attack on Azkaban prison, see page 4, we at the Daily Prophet sincerely hope that everyone has another source of money as they will not be accessing their accounts for a long time.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with that idiot," shouted Harry once he had finished reading the article.
"This is exactly what Tom would want," replied Ginny angrily.
"We are going to have act much sooner than we thought, we cannot allow Fudge to continue destroying out world," stated Harry as he looked at his friends and mentors.
"Tonks, can you please contact Amelia Bones and request a meeting with her?" asked Harry.
"I will contact her immediately," replied Tonks before leaving the room.
"Remus, I am afraid you will need to stay here until this mess is sorted out, I don't trust Fudge, I have a feeling that as soon as any werewolf turns up they will be executed," continued Harry.
"I agree," replied Remus sadly. "I will reach out to the other werewolves that I trust and tell them to stay well hidden for now."
Harry turned to the New Marauders "There are several things that we must take care of before we can move forward. I need you all to except Hermione back at Hogwarts, preparing the DA, I am not sure what will happen when we deal with Fudge but I don't want Umbridge to be able to do anything. Sirius please can you accompany them and talk to the Professors you trust also."
They each acknowledged Harry's request before leaving.
"Arthur, Molly once we move forward on this we are going to assign you each a seat on the Wizengamot one in the Weasley name and the other in the Prewitt name. We need you to go and review the rules and procedures so that you are ready to take the seats once they are assigned," Harry told the shocked pair.
"Thank you, Harry," was all Arthur could say before dragging Molly towards the library.
"Albus, we think that we may be able to use Phoenix magic to help trace the soul fragments that Tom embedded in his Horcruxes, however to be certain we must get one that is still intact. We believe that there is one at a house that once belonged to Tom's mother's family, we need to determine where that is," Harry told him once everyone else had left.
"I know of that house, it has been empty for many years," replied Albus.
"That makes sense, there are certain to be many curses protecting the item. We will need to be very cautious when approaching it," replied Harry. "We will leave this evening to retrieve the item."
"Ginny, I need you to work with Hermione to see if you can adapt the trace that Fudge has been using. If we can find a way of making the trace link to each of the Dark Marks then we should be able to use it against Tom."
Harry could see that Hermione was already deep in thought as they both left towards the library.
'Xavier, please can you send a message to Ranok requesting a meeting urgently?'
'Yes, Harry, I will return shortly,' replied Xavier before flashing out of the room.
"I need to visit Ranok, once I have finished there we will retrieve the Horcrux," Harry told Albus before disappearing from the room.
Xavier arrived back a few minutes later to say that Ranok was ready to meet with Harry.
Harry went to their bedroom and changed into his finest dress robes.
'Ginny, sorry to stop your research, you need to come to this meeting too,' Harry stated when he realized.
'Okay, give me a moment to pass the information I have found to Hermione.'
While waiting Harry summoned their swords, which were still in the Founder's Study. Ginny arrived at the same time and quickly changed into a matching set of robes. They secured their swords on their waists and then flashed directly to Ranok's office.
"Good afternoon, Ranok, most noble and courageous leader of the Goblin nation," Harry said in perfect Goobledegook.
"Good afternoon, Lord and Lady Potter, Heirs of Gryffindor, Prince and Princess of the Phoenix Realm, and Heirs of Merlin," replied Ranok in perfect English.
Ranok offered Harry and Ginny seats and asked the Goblin Warriors to wait outside.
"Ranok, your people have been treated very poorly by my people for far too long; it is time for us to resolve this unfortunate situation," stated Harry.
"How can we resolve this situation with the current leadership in the Wizarding Government?" asked Ranok.
"I will soon invoke the ancient laws of Merlin to have the Government replaced, new leadership will be chosen by Ginny and I. We are also reforming the Council of Magic that existed in the time of Merlin; each race will be represented by two members. The council will oversee the Wizarding World and have a say in all laws that are decided.
"Ginny and I represent the humans; King Archimedes and Queen Amelia represent the Phoenixes. We would like to extend an offer to you and your mate to represent the Goblin nation," replied Harry.
"Janakie and I would be honoured to serve with you on the council," replied Ranok immediately.
"When the time comes the council will be summoned to review the candidates to lead the Wizarding Government and leadership will be rotated among all members of the council, no longer will the humans be the sole leaders. The council will advise the minister and must approve any proposed laws before they are brought before the full Wizengamot which will also include equal representation among all members of the council.
"Ranok, we will be proposing that Amelia Bones serve as the next Minister unless you have any objections. We will also be creating the new position of Vice Minister which is also an elected post and we propose Arthur Weasley for this position," added Harry.
"I don't have any objections, Harry, both have been completely respectful in all their dealings with the Goblin's and will serve well," replied Ranok.
"Ranok, as part of the new Government we would request that you continue to run Gringotts bank, however we must insist that the accounts of all known Death Eaters be frozen. Any Death Eater who attempts to enter the bank is also to be arrested and sent to Azkaban. We would also request that you run Azkaban prison officially," announced Harry.
"We would be honoured to run these institutions, and will implement the request immediately," replied Ranok with an evil smile.
"Thank you, I am sure we will soon have a number of guests for you at Azkaban. I fully expect the prison to be run under Goblin laws until the new council can create new rules," replied Harry with an equally evil smile.
"We understand," replied Ranok who was a little surprised given how prisoners are treated under Goblin law.
"Harry, in return we the Goblin nation fully support Ginny and you and will unite behind any leadership that you put in place. We will also assign a detail of Elite Goblin Warriors as personal protection for you, they will remain invisible unless either of you are in immediate danger," announced Ranok.
Immediately a team of heavily armed Elite Goblin Warriors appeared in the room to introduce themselves and then immediately disappeared, Harry could sense they were still in the room but were using advanced stealth charms.
"The Warriors will not intrude on your personal privacy but will be close by whenever you are out in public," added Ranok.
"We are honoured to be under the protection of these fine warriors," replied Harry.
"Soon it will be time to bring Minister Fudge to justice for his numerous crimes; I know you have been working closely with Bill Weasley for that thank you. I need you to tell our guards that Ginny must be arrested by Fudge and taken to the Ministry. While there we know that he will try to attack Ginny, the guards must allow him to get close enough to make it look like he is succeeding, as soon as he touches her however they are to intervene. I am afraid that some may be gravely injured but the complaint from you for this action will be the trigger we need to start the proceedings," explained Harry.
"Harry, it is the highest honour in our nation to die while protecting someone as important as Ginny or yourself. They will be instructed to follow your request and will report back to me exactly what happens," replied Ranok all the Elite Warriors acknowledged the request before disappearing again.
"Please can you setup a trust to help those who have been affected by the war? The council will authorize any payments from this trust to ensure no false claims are made. The trust will be funded by seventy percent of the proceeds from any vaults owned by convicted Death Eaters, with the other thirty percent going to the bank as a processing fee."
"We will establish the trust as requested, however we will only accept a ten percent processing fee and will deposit the rest into the trust," replied Ranok knowing that some in the Goblin nation would be upset at turning down such a large amount. However Ranok knew that it would carry a lot of weight in the future and show that the Goblins could be trusted.
Harry and Ginny acknowledged what Ranok had said before disappearing from his office closely followed by the Elite guard, who dispersed around the perimeter of Potter Castle, as they could and would not enter the perimeter, unless someone had found a way in; or if either Harry or Ginny were in immediate danger.
Fudge was not willing to back down regarding Azkaban and decided it was time to call in some hired help from several of his associates. Once all the arrangements were made Fudge had two hundred mercenaries from around the world who were eager to fight the Goblins. Add to that the ministry works that stayed loyal to him and were just as eager to fight; Fudge has managed to put together a sizable strike force.
Kingsley Shacklebolt had been running an errand when he walked past the Minister's office.
"Weasley, I need you to get a contract together for the mercenaries who will be assisting us retake Azkaban, make it clear to them that if they agree to our terms they will be paid a bonus for each Goblin they kill.
"Once the contracts are signed send a message to all Ministry workers who wish to remove the Goblins from Azkaban to meet at the Atrium in thirty minutes," shouted Fudge from his office.
Kingsley immediately rushed to the office of Amelia Bones, on the way he sent a Patronus message to Dumbledore, advising him what was happening. As soon as he arrived in the office he sealed the door and made sure his badge was deactivated before telling Amelia the information.
"That man is going to get us all killed, he is playing right into Voldemort's hands," spat Amelia in disgust when she heard the news.
"I would not be surprised if he wasn't already working for Voldemort," replied Kingsley.
"Surely we should be able to use that to get him out office?" added Kingsley afterward.
"Normally yes but we would have to prove it and he has made so many subtle changes to the law that it would be impossible at the moment, our only hope is the heir of Merlin but as we still don't know if they even exist there isn't a whole lot of hope," replied Amelia sadly.
As they continued talking a Phoenix Patronus appeared acknowledging the message from Kingsley and telling him that it has been taken care of. At the same time Tonks arrived to talk with Amelia. Kingsley immediately removed the seal on the door to let her in then resealed the room.
"Good afternoon, Sr. Auror Shacklebolt, Madam Bones," Tonks said as she entered the office.
"Madam Bones, I have come on the request of Harry Potter, he has requested a meeting with you," announced Tonks.
"Thank you, can I ask what the meeting is about?" asked Amelia.
"I am unable to reveal that information, however it does relate to the current situation that we find ourselves in," replied Tonks.
"I see, in that case, please tell Mr. Potter that I would be very happy to meet with him. However I suggest that it not be here."
"I will advise Harry, he will be able to provide a secure meeting place," Tonks told her. "Thank you for your time, I believe there is another crisis that will be needed to be handled with care."
"Yes, unfortunately there is," replied Amelia before they all left her office.
Harry and Albus were discussing their plan to find and visit the old Gaunt family house when a Patronus message arrived for Albus.
Albus, Minister Fudge is preparing to attack Azkaban again he has brought in mercenaries and has put together a sizable strike force. They are planning to leave in the next thirty minutes and Fudge has put a bounty on each Goblin's head.
As soon as the message finished Harry flashed directly to Ranok's office.
"Ranok, Fudge is planning to attack Azkaban again, he has hired mercenaries to help and has put a bounty on each Goblin they kill," Harry said without waiting for any acknowledgement that he had arrived.
"Thank you, Harry, I will sent two more battalions to Azkaban," replied Ranok.
"I have ordered the Phoenix battalion back as well," added Harry.
"Azkaban is sovereign Goblin territory, therefore you can deal with any prisoners as you see fit. If Fudge is captured then please release him with a strong final warning," requested Harry.
"We will ensure he is released," replied Ranok before disappeared to send his troops. Harry returned to Potter Castle to continue the planning for their trip.
"Thank you all for coming this morning, as you are well aware the Goblins have defied us once again, and this time they will pay dearly. We will leave immediately for Azkaban Island, you are all authorized to use whatever force you need to subdue the Goblins," announced Fudge.
"Once we reach make sure you take cover immediately and wait for them to attack," continued Fudge. "The Portkeys will activate in thirty seconds."
Thirty seconds later 313 witches and wizards disappeared from the Atrium and arrived at the Azkaban Island Apparation point. They were surprised to see no Goblins around and therefore didn't take cover as quickly as they should have.
Fudge being his normal arrogant self took this as a sign that the Goblins had cowered in fear and immediately moved towards the main prison entrance. However he quickly stopped when a thousand heavily armed Goblin Warriors appeared and completely surrounded them.
"Attack," shouted Fudge who immediately launched a Killing curse at the nearest Goblin before diving for cover.
Immediately both sides launched into battle with curses flying in all directions, the Mercenaries were working efficiently in teams alternating between attack and defense however they were no match for the Goblin Warriors and were badly outnumbered. Most of the Ministry workers had fallen in the first few minutes of the battle as they were not prepared for such a strong defense.
Fudge looked around after several minutes since they arrived and realized that he had once again failed completely and to make matters worse a lot of their people had fallen. Fudge immediately activated an emergency Portkey to return him to his office; however nothing happened as the anti-Portkey and anti-Apparation wards had been activated upon their arrival.
The last remaining Mercenaries were quickly dealt with and the only person who was still able to do anything was Fudge. For the first time in his life he actually made a sensible decision and immediately dropped his wand and surrendered to the Goblin Warriors who had completely surrounded him.
Moments later Ranok arrived with his Elite guard.
"Minister Fudge, you have once again attacked the Goblin nation and as you can see you have failed miserably. As punishment for your crimes your accounts at Gringotts have been frozen.
"You have caused the deaths of thirty five Goblin Warriors today a fine of 25,000 Galleons per Warrior will be taken from your account and paid to the families of these fine warriors," Ranok announced.
"You cannot do that, you no longer have the right to run Gringotts or Azkaban," replied Fudge angrily as he realized that the fine alone would take most of his money.
Ranok was tempted to reveal that they did have the right but Harry had asked him not to say anything at the moment about the agreements.
"Minister Fudge, you are in no position to argue," replied Ranok with a toothy smile as he watch Fudge squirm.
"I will let you go this time," replied Ranok. "However everyone else who has been involved in this attack will be secured in Azkaban prison to await a Goblin trial for their crimes against our nation."
"I demand you release them all immediately or you will suffer the consequences," shouted Fudge as his anger increased.
Ranok snapped his fingers and Fawkes appeared and took Fudge back to his office again dropping him.
Moment later Harry appeared next to Ranok, "Thank you for returning him, we will soon be able to put our plan into action. Please let me know the names of all the Warriors who died today so we can honour them when the time comes, also arrange for an additional 25,000 Galleons to be paid to each family from my family vault."
"That isn't necessary, Harry," replied Ranok.
"It may not be necessary but it is going to happen, they lost their lives because of the greed of a few humans. I want them to see that Fudge's views do not represent the views of everyone," replied Harry kindly.
"In that case Harry, the Goblin nation thanks you for your generosity," replied Ranok.
"Oh one last thing, I have a few guests at Potter Castle who I would like to have removed, I will send them over later today," Harry said before disappearing back to Potter Castle.
Ranok once again smiled evilly before declaring to his second, "I think we are going to have a very profitable relationship with Mr. Potter. Please ensure that the money is taken from his account and the Fudge account and is paid to the families immediately. Remember to apply the standard five percent handling charge for the transactions from the Fudge vault."
'Gin, we are ready to leave,' announced Harry as he and Albus applied a number of concealment charms. Harry had also changed his appearance so that even if someone spotted Albus they would not know who he was with.
'I will be right there,' replied Ginny who had been working with Hermione since returning from Gringotts earlier.
Ginny appeared in the room a few seconds later.
"Take care, Xavier and I will be monitoring you the whole time," Ginny said after hugging Harry for a few minutes.
"We will, if anything goes wrong we will wait for you to come and help," replied Harry before kissing her soundly.
"Harry, we need to arrive a good distance from the house so we can determine if there any traps around the house," explained Albus as they were about to leave.
"Okay, I saw a wooded area about half a mile from the house that would allow us to arrive undetected," replied Harry.
Moments later Harry flashed them both to the area; once they arrived he immediately reached out with his Phoenix senses to see what was around.
"You were right Albus, there are several perimeter wards around the house," announced Harry as he lead them forward slowly.
"We will need to remove each one without tripping the others," replied Albus as they continued to approach the first ward.
Harry stopped them and looked carefully at the ward with his Phoenix senses, "This is an older ward, there doesn't appear to be any links to other wards."
Harry made a note of the ward so they could replace them all later, at the same time Albus removed it quickly but carefully.
They continued towards the house and had to remove several other wards again each time making a note of it and then removing it.
"This final ward is linked to some wards in the house," announced Harry. "However I believe that we can create a portal through it, the ward is designed to activate the others only when it is taken down or someone attempts to pass through it. The portal will allow us to enter without breaking it."
"That's brilliant Harry, I would have never thought to use a portal to get through a ward before," replied Albus who was rather amazed.
"I hadn't until just now," Harry said before appearing to think.
'Gin, can you ask Xavier to check our wards and ensure that no one can attempt what we are about to do.'
'Yes,' replied Ginny quickly.
Harry created the portal and as expected they were able to pass through and were standing at the front door of the house. Albus waved his wand and noticed several more wards and a few nasty charms on and around the door.
After carefully removing each they entered the house for the first time, what they found made them feel very sick. In the middle of the room where two badly mutilated bodies that had not been there that long but long enough to fill the air with a nasty odor. Once they had placed Bubblehead charms on themselves they approached the bodies carefully.
"Looks like the Death Eaters got closer than we realized," announced Albus as they turned them over.
"Yes, maybe we shouldn't put all the wards back up when we leave, we need them to get the fake Horcrux," suggested Harry.
"Agreed, let's worry about that once we have secured the real one," replied Albus.
They slowly and carefully searched the room, Harry using his Phoenix sense and Albus using a verity of spells. Just as they were about to give up Harry noticed one of the floorboards was slightly loose and redirected his attention there.
"Found it," announced Harry happily.
After a careful check they slowly lifted the floorboard to reveal a deep hole. They could see an object at the bottom; they could not see any further protections around it.
"It seems that Tom didn't think anyone would get this far," stated Albus before they levitated the object out of the hole.
The object was an old box that they guessed belonged to Tom at some point, once it was placed on the floor they checked it again and then opened it to reveal a ring. As soon as the box was opened Albus felt pulled towards it, Harry wasn't affected by this due to his bond and was able to stop Albus from touching it.
Harry levitated the ring from the box and placed it into a box they had brought with them once it was sealed Albus no longer felt the pull from the ring.
They then placed a fake ring which contained poison that would weaken Tom even more and delay his recovery even more. They believed that once the ritual was performed the object would dissolve causing the poison to mix with the potion and then be administered to Tom.
Harry then replaced the box and floorboard before putting up weaker versions of the wards they had found so the Death Eaters would be able to break though and get the ring.
Once they had finished Harry flashed them back to Potter Castle and a very happy Ginny.
Just as Harry and Ginny where heading to bed they felt the pull of the Dark Mark, they quickly entered Tom's mind to find out what was happening. As soon as they were in their normal spot they heard the lead Death Eater talking again.
"Friends, the time has come for us to act, our Master would not be happy to wake up and find that we had not done anything to help the cause.
"So far we have not been able to get to the object that we need to help our Master; we have lost two colleagues in the attempt. Malfoy, we need your expertise to complete this mission; the wards around the house are extensive and will have to be taken down carefully.
"The Dementors are off feeding themselves at the moment, the more damage they do the better. The rest of us should follow their example and cause as much damage as we can to the Muggle world. I suggest that we divide ourselves into several teams and each select an individual target to attack.
"I have heard from our contact at Hogwarts that Harry Potter and his whore Weasley have not been in school for some time. One of the Ravenclaw tarts attempted to break them up and is still trying to, I have instructed out contact to give her all the aid she needs to succeed. Once they are broken up we will capture the whore and she will be our toy. Potter will do anything to help someone he cared for and we can use that to our advantage.
"If we have Potter in custody when our Master returns then I am sure he will greatly reward us all."
They could hear a number of conversations going on around but were not able to pick out many details. After a while they gave up and returned to their own minds.
'I cannot believe Cho is still determined to break us up. She will be even more dangerous now,' Ginny said.
'Don't worry, with the Elite guards and us checking anything we eat or drink at Hogwarts I don't think there will be much she can do,' replied Harry.
'I should have taken care of her after the last attack,' replied Ginny angrily.
'There would have been too many witnesses, they would have been justified in arresting you then,' Harry told her before comforting her in the bond.
They soon feel asleep and shared a wonderful dream about the forest they had explored when with Merlin.