Chapter twenty-one: Guess who's back?
As Harry stood, surrounded by several of his subordinates illuminated in the light of his Patronus a single quote he had heard back in the primary school came to the forefront of his mind.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
As he observed the utter Chaos that was this room he had to say the people here didn't seem to understand that one. The people were running around wildly some even trampling others. The only ones who seem to understand it somewhat were the parents who had picked up their children and were protecting them.
Then again he really shouldn't be surprised. They hadn't exactly embraced another courage themed quote he heard when he was younger, so why this one?
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
No they definitely never embraced that one he thought sourly; the sheep stand up and speak? Ridicules! The Wizengamot stop blustering and listen to new ideas? Heresy!
Harry sighed, he should stop letting his mind get side-tracked. Really dead bodies were most likely lying around him and he was thinking about quotes he had head in primary school? Then again did he really have to be worried? He was not alone, from his first inspection of the room the Intel was right and no inner circle Death Eater were here. Only some cannon fodder Death Eaters and those Dementors the Patronuses had already driven off. Hell so far those Death Eaters hadn't even noticed him and his group, so absorbed they were in grabbing several of the (younger) people here that they hadn't even spared him a glance. He wished he could have lead one of the other teams, but unfortunately they hadn't been able to be sure if the Intel was correct and the other teams were stationed in public places. Places he had been trying to avoid for these last few weeks. Still at some level he wished his Intel had been wrong and at least someone worthwhile had been here, alas that didn't seem to be the case here.
In all honesty the most worrying thing in this room was what he had witnessed when he had entered. He had witnessed Alex wandlessly blow a Death Eater's head off. This was in honesty a pretty impressive feat, but the problem was how would she take it?
Talking was easy. 'They deserve it after all they did!' 'A eye for an eye!'
Such were some of the exclamations he had heard from Militia members before their actual first fight, but once they actually came face to face with one and they had actually had to do the action they realised it wasn't that easy. He would know; the aftermath off his first real kill was not pleasant at all for him as he had been plagued with nightmares for quite some time.
''Boot, Bark, stay here and make sure no one leaves trough the Floo, the rest of you, subdue them,'' He ordered quietly, knowing that he really couldn't get away with permanently removing those Death Eaters from his list of problems just yet. ''And try avoid getting those people involved.'' He added as an afterthought.
Harry nearly face palmed when one of the Death Eaters turned to him recognised him and exclaimed, ''It's Potter, get him.''
Upon hearing this literally all of the assembled Death Eaters turned from their target to the one who shouted and upon seeing who he was pointing his wand at and then turned to Harry, seemingly ignoring his allies.
If they weren't his enemies, Harry would have pitied them for such a pathetic performance. Really? How the hell did people with such a sloppy performance overpower Aurors? The one's he had worked with weren't that incompetent. Then again one Auror wasn't necessary equal to the next so who knows who they put up to guard duty.
Mentally shrugging, he decided it really did not matter right now. What mattered right now were the wands aimed at him.
After quickly shooting two stunners and downing two nearby Death Eater he raised a moderately powerful shield to block several from what he could see were incapacitation spell, before he had to step to the side to avoid the dark red Cruciatus curse. While sidestepping he aimed his wand in the direction of the caster of the unforgivable and landed a bone vanishing curse to his wand-arm.
Meanwhile his subordinates weren't idle either, while the Death Eaters were standing still and firing at their boss they were ridicules easy targets and before they even realised what was happening they had been stunned and tied up.
All in all the battle only lasted minutes and was pleased to see that the people he brought with him had done well (even if the enemy was weak) and hoped that the rest of the teams were doing as well as his had done. He also made a mental reminder to give his thanks to his new spy for the correct Intel (even if he hoped the Intel had been wrong).
Their little firefight had attracted the attention of several other people in the room, most of them were openly gapping at him. If that was annoying then Harry did not even know how to describe the feeling he got when still a considerable amount of people were running around like headless chickens.
After ignoring his annoyance and his strong urge to turn around and just leave, Harry made a mental command to his Patronus to fade away. It was no longer necessary as he doubted the Dementors would return. Plus the drain on his magic, as miniscule as it was, was rather unnecessary and to be honest he really did not like looking at his own Patronus. He hadn't liked looking at it since it changed from the stag it had been when he first learned how to cast the Patronus.
After the Patronus disappeared, Harry addressed his people ''Boot,'' He said as he addressed a blond male, ''Keep your eyes on the Floos, if Aurors arrive tell them what happened. Bark, check the Aurors. Glace, McGrath, Davis, see if you can calm those people down and check if they have any injuries.''
After getting an affirmative of all five members of Hydra enterprise security team 3 (HES 3), Harry quickly made his way over toward the place were Alex was laying and Rose standing, with a shell-shocked look on her face. Harry couldn't really blame her. It is not every day one sees Death Eaters nor see someone's head explode.
Unfortunately before he could get there he heard someone run toward him, shooting a glance in the direction, he saw that it was the elder Potters. Why were they running toward him and not toward their daughter? Bloody imbeciles, he really did not have time for them now.
''Harry!''
Ignore … ignore
''Harry!''
He raised his wand in the general direction of the footsteps and heard the footsteps stop. Nice! Finally some common sense! There might be some hope after all
By now he had reached the two girls. He quickly scanned them both with his eyes. While Alex was down, she did not have any physical injuries from the looks of it. He wasn't sure why she was down, but he suspected magical exhaustion of some kind. As far as he knew, she couldn't do the simplest of wandless magic. So what she did was most likely uncontrolled and thus very taxing. After several seconds he conclude there was nothing he could do for her right now with his current level of knowledge regarding the healing magical arts.
Still despite not being able to help her in any way, Harry could not help the proud smile that tugged his lips. ''You did well.'' He muttered before turning his attention to the redhead and the smile was replaced with a frown.
The girl did not show any visible signs of injury although her clothes were covered in blood. No that was not the problem. The problem was that she was staring at the headless Death Eater body and her eyes were unnaturally vacant. Shock, Harry suspected, again not something he could heal with his magic. Well technically he could erase her memory, but that was more of a last resort kind of thing. Still even trough magical means failed didn't mean that there was nothing he could do.
He pointed his wand at the Death Eater and one non-verbal spell later and the man was covered by a white sheet. He then gently grabbed hold of Rose's shoulder and turned her away from the body before giving her a light shake. This caused her somewhat glazed over eyes to sharpen slightly. For a moment she looked confused, but then she seemed to recognise him. '''Harry?'' He nodded, ''Harry!'' She exclaimed as pulled him in a hug. ''You're alive.''
As he gently returned the hug, Harry said, ''Of course I am. I don't die so easily you know.''
The truth was he nearly did die, but he also knew that was not something he should voice out loud right now or perhaps ever. It was definitely not his finest moment. He hadn't survived that day due to skill or planning, but merely due to luck and if it was one thing Harry hated then that was to have to rely on something as unreliable as luck. The mere memory of it made him grimace.
XxX
''FLAMMA SCELESTUS!"
The moment the incantation left his mouth a powerful stream of magical fire left his wand. That was when he started to hear it; the hundreds of voices of the spirits that fuelled the dark magic. They called for destruction, they called for death, they wanted to consume everything in their fires, even the one who was foolish enough to summon them.
Harry knew this was the time he needed to tame them, to dominate their will and control them and by extension the fire, but he also knew he wasn't capable of that and so he let them loose. Let the flames destroy as they see saw fit. And destroy they did. Dozens of vampire lives were extinguished in seconds. All Harry could do was watch as the all-consuming fire spared none, not even the ones he rather not have killed.
Suddenly Harry spit out a blob of blood and fell down on a knee while panting hard. He knew what was happening. It was something he had learned in his first year at Hogwarts as it was covered in practically the first theory lesson of magic he had received.
A witch or wizard is to never use up all of their magic.
That had been there warning he had received back then and at the time it was a simple warning to follow. Usually when you are close to magical exhaustion you will feel too tired to cast that last spell that will drain what remains of your magic, but after he had learned how to channel magic to enhance spells that became a lot harder as he had to be careful not to channel too much.
Right now however in this do or die situation or to be more precise this do and die situation holding back was pointless. There was no chance he was going to survive this so he may as well give it his all, backslash for breaking on of the fundamental rules of how to access magic be dammed.
It was then that he noticed two things that shocked him. There standing in the middle of the flames was the unmistakable form of Laurent Desmarais. The sight of him was both gruesome and at some level of awe-aspiring.
The flames of his Fiendfyre was constantly burning the flesh of the vampire while at the same time his accelerated healing factor was restoring all the damage done to him. It looked like the destroying and the healing were more or less equal. What one destroyed in seconds the other brought back just as fast. Just what was this man capable off?
For a moment he and the vampire locked eyes and to Harry's surprise the vampire actual gave him a light bow. ''Such power …. Such a shame that you choose the path you choose, but as sign of respect for the power you displayed I will allow you to die by the fires of your own creation.''
Having said that the vampire slightly bended his knees and jumped up and went straight through the stone roof of the room and by extinction out of Harry's line of sight.
If the vampire's actions had been shocking then something else had been equally shocking. The fires had slightly receded. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable. That shouldn't be possible. Even if his magic was no longer fuelling the fire, it shouldn't start to lessen for hours if not days … unless something or someone else was interfering.
He closed his eyes and ignored the heat the best he could. Then he concentrated on his magical senses while feeling grateful they at least weren't powered by magic.
It took a second or two, but then he sensed what was happening. It was the wards, there must have t some kind of fire extinguisher ward woven in the wardscheme as the magic that was powering the wards was combating against the magic of the fire.
Harry knew the wards wouldn't succeed, there wasn't a ward in existence that could extinguish Fiendfyre. No this could only lead to one thing … and that is exactly what happens mere seconds later … the wards failed as it had used up all it magic.
As he felt the wards fall he felt the strong urge to laugh. He wasn't sure if it was the heat, the magical exhaustion or if he just had finally lost it, but he couldn't help, but want to laugh at the irony that the same wards who had prevented him from leaving and thus had driven him to use all his magic in one last spell were now gone due to that very spell.
As his death grew nearer and nearer Harry couldn't help, but wonder if fate really existed and if she was pissed because he had called her a bitch one more than one occasion. After all if she did not exist then how the hell had he managed to get himself in such an impossible situation.
Surrounded by his own fire, unable to escape via Apparition as he didn't have the magic available to do it, unable to have his elf do it due to him not having magic of his own and instead needed to drain it of him. Seriously how did he get in this situation.
It was then that he heard a sound he did not expect. From slightly behind him, at one of the few places that wasn't burning already he heard the familiar sound of human Apparition.
Knowing that his wand was useless, Harry grabbed his knife from his back and after moving around as quickly as he could in his pained state he came upon a sight he really did not expect to see.
Standing there dressed in her Hogwarts uniform and looking like her being there was the most normal thing in the world was a Blonde he was pretty familiar with.
''Zanabi?'' He asked in a shocked tone.
He knew there was something off about from the first meeting he had with her and he had told himself to keep an eye on her, but due to varies reasons, the most notable being a lack of time he had completely forgotten about it and now she was standing here. He would be the first to admit he had not seen this coming.
The Blonde smiled in such a way that Harry had to wonder if she was all the way there considering their surrounding before saying something that pretty much confirmed it for him. ''It's Blaise, remember Harry?''
''Why are you here?''
''I have a proposal.'' She said as her visage turned slightly more serious. ''I help you with your problems and you help me with my problems with my mother.''
Upon hearing this Harry knew there was more to this deal then he knew. He knew that at the very least this young woman in front of him was not normal. No one from his company could betray him and yet she knew exactly when and where to find him in a place where he was in such desperate need of help he would accept any help. Still what other options had he? He gritted his teethes and holstered his knife before extending his hand. ''Deal.''
The blonde closed the distance between him and accepted his hand. ''Deal.'' She repeated and then suddenly Harry felt the unpleasant feeling of being squeezed through a tube as he was getting side-apparated away.
XxX
After schooling his face back into something a little more neutral he broke the hug (luckily not having to stun someone this time) and asked if she remembered what had happened.
It came soon apparent that this was not the best question to ask as the already pale Potter girl glanced from the girl on the ground to covered body that was laying a bit further away on the ground and immediately paled even more (he really should have thought it through a bit longer. Using a white sheet had not been a good idea).
Recognising what was about to happen, Harry quickly made a semi-complicated motion with his wand a caught the conjured bucket with his other hand. It was non to soon because as soon as he handed it over, the redheaded girl started to empty the contents of her stomach into the bucket.
While not really so squeamish as other people, Harry still did no really feel like watching someone puke her guts outs so he turned away and pulled a hand mirror from his pocket.
''John,'' He said and moments latter a haggard looking face appeared on the screen.
''What is it, sir?'' He said somewhat tersely, ''I am a bit busy right now!''
To prove his point Harry saw the image disappear for a moment and heard a loud explosion on the background. When he was back on the screen, Harry saw the man had a new cut on his face.
''I competed my objective.'' Harry said before asking. ''What is the situation with you?''
''Intel was correct,'' John said shorty, ''Primary target is here along with three golden masks and two dozen silver masks.'' He paused for a moment and then said ''Dumbledore and his follower have also shown up.''
Harry made a sound of annoyance, but he could not say this was unexpected, he was just glad they hadn't show up here. ''What is the current status?''
''Two torched stores, unknown amount of victims, at least a dozen civilians are down, unknown if they are alive or not, two members of team 2 are down, but managed to active emergency Portkey, team 1 is still fully active, several of Dumbledore's followers are down and at least one was hit with a AK, roughly half of the silver masks are down and one golden, one of the male Lestranges if I am not mistaken.''
As he listened he allowed the information to filter in his mind. Both Dumbledore and Voldemort were there. They should be able to fight each other to a stalemate. And then you had two unknown inner circle members and a dozen non-inner circle Death Eaters against all five of team 1 and three members of team 2, John, and whoever Dumbledore brought with him.
''Understood, contact me if there any changes. Potter out.''
As soon as John's face disappeared Harry said the next name. ''Chang,'' and just like before a face appeared, this time it was the face of a woman of Asian descent. Her name was Ming Chang and she was third member of the original trio of instructors he had hired. The woman was a similar age as the Bells and Harry knew from experience that she was a more than capable duellist.
''Sir,'' She greeted with a brief nod, ''Are you already done?''
Harry nodded, ''Yes, what about you, any sign of the enemy?''
The woman shook her head, ''Nothing yet, sir. Are you sure this information you have received is reliable?''
Harry furrowed his brow at hearing this, but answered regardless. ''So far it has been correct with both me and Bell, but there is always chance some of it could be wrong.'' He was silent for a moment before he decided on a course of action. ''You will stay there with team 4, if an enemy shows up after all I want you to contact me immediately. Potter out.''
As soon as her face disappeared, Harry spoke in the mirror again, ''One way audio only Chang, John, Team 1, Team 2, Team 4, Team 5,''
Two seconds later his mirror flashed blue showing it had made contact with all twenty-two mirrors he had attempted to contact. He then taking in account that most of them probably had their mirrors in their pockets said in a loud and clear voice. ''LISTEN UP. This is Potter, team four you are to stay with Chang, team five make your way over toward Diagon Alley and assist, but do not engage Voldemort, if all Death Eaters are restrained then I want team 5 to return and take the team with the most remaining able fighter with you. I will also come to engage Voldemort personally, but team 3 will remain here unless Aurors arrive. I repeat team 5 reinforce team 1 and 2 for as long as necessary and return with help when all Death Eaters are dealt with. Potter out.''
At that he lowered the mirror and pocketed it again. Then he realised he made his second blunder around Rose for the day. It seems she heard him when he said he would go after Voldemort.
To put it mildly the way she was looking was a little worrisome. It wasn't the wide eyes, or the skin that was so pale that some might mistake her for a vampire nor was it the small amount of vomit on her chin, no it was the sheer amount of terror in her eyes as she said. ''Y-you are going up against him?''
Harry frowned at and wondered if it was the previous experience that caused her to act like this or if there was more going on. Regardless he didn't have time to stay and find out. Voldemort was out there along with Dumbledore, this was a golden opportunity. He may not practically like Dumbledore, but there was no denying his strength and not even Dumbledore was stupid enough to give Voldemort a second chance, so assisting him now so that it will be a two against one fight should be his best choice.
''Look, I will be fine.'' He promised, knowing that that probably was a lie; even two against one, one does not go up against Voldemort and come out untouched. ''Do you have your wand?''
"N-no, security has all our wands.''
Again, Harry felt the strong urge to face palm at hearing this, but he managed to control himself. At least this explained why Alex didn't defend herself with her wand. He also gave himself a mental reminder to remind both of the girls that were here to never ever give away their wand unless they could do controlled battle oriented wandless magic.
He sighed and removed from the holster around his leg his third wand and held it in front of Rose to take.
''W-what do I need to do with your wand?''
Due to the current situation Harry's mind was more or less set on 'battle mode' and despite his earlier show of affection he really did not have any more time to coddle her.
''Your best friend,'' He said slowly and clearly while pointing at Alex, ''Is lying there unconscious and defenceless. She needs someone to look after her.''
Rose seemingly understanding what he meant nodded and took the wand. To be honest the Black girl really did not need protection considering everyone here was apparently wandless except his people, but he also knew she needed something to do right now, something to focus her attention on instead of allowing her thoughts to wander.
He gave Rose's shoulder one last comfortable squeeze before turning around. The sight that greeted him caused another spike of annoyance to rise from within him.
It looked like a good portion of the room had assembled around him. Heck the only reason why they probably weren't closer was because the three he had sent out to calm the masses had all three raised a magic shield of some sort. The three shields clearly stopped anyone from passing and together they didn't leave any room for anyone to pass.
'' McGrath,'' He said addressing the male that was a few years older than him, ''What is going on?''
The man did not lower his wand as he turned his head to face his employer. ''The crowd got a bit exited when they saw you, sir. We thought it was best to stop them. Otherwise they might trample the injured.''
Harry made a sound of annoyance as he gazed at the crowd which seem to get even more exited now that they saw he had their attention. Seriously they had just been attacked by Death Eaters and they were gapping at him like some kind of animal in a zoo. The only difference being that there was a shield charm between them instead of bars.
Harry took a deep calming breath, non-verbally casted a Sonorus on himself and said. ''Listen up! You have just been attacked by Death Eaters. Another attack is currently going on and I am going there to assist. I will now give you two seconds to move out of the way or I will count you as a accomplish of the Death Eaters and I will act accordingly.''
''ONE!'' He raised his wand threateningly at the masses and small sparks of magic sprang from it. ''Tw-.''
That was all that was necessary as the people quickly made way from him. He had to admit it had been satisfying to do this after being gawked at like that for years. He just hoped this wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass on a later date.
''Lower your shield,'' he said to Glace who was upholding the middle shield.
As soon as she did two people rushed forward and just moments before Harry was going to blast them away (he had warned them after all) he recognised who they were; Sirius and Vance. Well technically not Vance here, but screw technicalities.
He sighed and lowered his wand, ''Let them in, bring you shield back up as soon as I leave. Don't lower it for anyone save a healer, a Auror or own of our own.''
''Understood, sir.''
Harry nodded and left the confines of the magical barrier. For a moment he stood still, briefly glancing around, daring anyone to disregard his warning, but fortunately no one did and as such he quickly strode through the room and came upon the last two members of his team.
"Boot, still no Aurors?''
''No, sir, maybe they are preoccupied with another attack?''
Harry shook his head in disgust and turned to the last member of the team, ''Bark?''
''Most of them were stunned, sir.'' The man replied. ''Half of them also carried a large number of wands.''
'Stunned?' Harry thought in disbelief. Death Eaters weren't exactly known to be merciful. So what was up with that? Then it came to him what might have happened.
''When this is over I want your memory of you seeing their faces.'' He ordered before adding. ''For now leave them stunned and collect all the wands.'' He then turned to Boot. ''I want you to contact the Aurors and explain the situation to them.''
After getting another affirmative and feeling his team had received enough instructions and training to function on their own, Harry stepped through the Floo and said, ''Leaky cauldron.''
XxX
As soon a Harry stepped out of the roaring green flames he knew he was at the right place. The pace was unnaturally utterly deserted and sounds of combat could be heard in the distance.
As he quickly made his way over toward the barrier that separated Diagon Alley from the pub, he was surprised that the stone barrier was no longer there. From the looks of it someone had casted a blasting curse on it and it had actually had worked.
Harry idly wondered what kind of spell had been used. Surely there must have been some kind of protection against them being damaged? After all, all it would take was some kind of drunk who forgot the combination and lost its patience.
He mentally shrugged, it did not matter right now and unlike before he could not afford to let his thoughts wander. After steeling himself for a moment Harry fully entered the Alley, wand held forward and eyes scanning for any threat.
He didn't have to look long however; with the Alley deserted like this he could scan the Alley in one fine sweep. He saw Death Eaters, his people and people of Dumbledore's cult all firing spells at each other … why were those idiots firing spells at his people?
Harry shook his head in annoyance; those people shouldn't even be here. Seriously he knew from experience that not even half of them could put up a decent fight. Most of them probably didn't even have any training outside of their DADA lessons. What was Dumbledore thinking? Did he expect a housewife to win against an inner circle Death Eater just because they fought for the light? Or a simple ministry employee? Or a store owner? At least they had all the common sense to stay behind cover.
Heck the only people currently not behind cover of some sort were him, the unconscious/death that laid on the ground and the two combatants that were in the middle of the Alley locked in what truly was an awe-inspiring duel.
Voldemort and Dumbledore were ducking it out in the middle of the Alley. Only second of seeing it was enough to make him remember why those where hailed as two of the strongest wizards of the last century.
The power they were throwing around should be respected, should be feared, a sane person should stay as far away from the duel as possible or get caught in the crossfire …. not that this mattered to Harry. No it did not even cross his mind as he aimed his wand at the back of Voldemort.
''Avada Kedavra.'' He muttered as he allowed the dark memories of the man fuel his spell. It was a risk using a unforgivable verbally in broad day light like this, but as he couldn't do this one non-verbally, and this was Voldemort after all, he would risk it. Besides nobody could have possibly heard him with all the combat going on like this and if he missed then there were many green coloured spells anyway and if he hit, then well it was Voldemort and no politician was stupid enough to lock him up after killing him.
The green cursed soared and as if having eyes in the back of his head, Voldemort stepped to the side and positioned himself in such a way that he now could keep track of both Harry and Dumbledore. The curse meanwhile kept flying straight and nearly hit the other combatant, but he to managed to sidestep it.
Having completely missed the fact he was nearly responsible for killing the 'leader of the light' Harry had his eyes firmly locked with the blood-red ones of the one who was feared above all in this country.
''Hello Voldemort, long time no see.'' He said nonchalantly, but while his tone was relaxed his stance never wavered.
''Harry Potter.'' The snake like man hissed in contempt. ''You are supposed to be death.''
''Well what can I say?'' Harry asked as he broke eye contact for a moment and locked eyes with Dumbledore. He looked clearly surprised, but at least he didn't seem shocked. When Harry made a head motion toward Voldemort the man nodded much to Harry's relief as he hoped the much older man understood his unspoken message. He then turned his eyes back toward Voldemort's and continued. ''The reports of my Death have been greatly exaggerated.''
Then as if by some unspoken signal all three combatants sprang into action. Voldemort was the fasted as he cast a killing straight at Harry who countered by conjuring a slab of solid stone. The curse impacted and the slab shattered in a hundred little pieces and Harry quickly jabbed his wand at the remains while they were still in the air and banished them toward his enemy.
Dumbledore meanwhile had fired a powerful binding spell at the currently occupied dark lord. The man probably have similar if not better magical senses as Harry felt the magic approach and turned toward what he perceived the bigger threat.
Upon seeing the spell coming the man immediately raised a protective wall of magic to protect himself, but this did not stop Harry's scrapple attack which impacted seconds later.
This was something Harry had noticed when fighting Voldemort in his own universe. The man almost never dodged. Heck if he moved during a duel it was by means of Apparition. Harry wasn't sure why any sane person would handicap themselves like that, but it did not really matter to him. In fact it was more a blessing than anything. His lack of movement was probably one of the main reasons why his team back home had been able to beat the man.
The man in question meanwhile did not look amused as his faces was covered in small cuts and bruises, but they only remained there for seconds as they healed in seconds much to Harry's bemusement. Seriously did every strong enemy he faced had to have accelerated healing?
Ignoring how hypocritical that last statement of him was Harry was about to taunt the man about drawing first blood when his mirror activated and the voice of John was clearly heard.
''All teams this is Bell, all enemy forces have been defeated sans main priority, team 5 return to previous assignment, team 1 join them, team 2 bind and secure all enemy combatants.''
Upon hearing this Harry risked it and activated his magical eye to quickly scan his surroundings for confirmation. What he saw confirmed it. No more Death Eaters were active. No more Dumbledore people either for that matter. Had his people taken them out to? Or had they fallen to the Death Eaters?
Mentally shrugging as it did not really matter and giving himself another mental reminder to throw a party when they returned from their first job well done, Harry focused his full attention back on Voldemort. ''It seems your servants have lost.'' He said. ''Are you ready to follow them?''
Not even waiting for a response Harry fired a high powered blasting curse at the man. What happened next was not something he had expected. The man literally backhanded the spell away.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Harry thought in disbelief. Seriously he could pull of something similar with minor hexes and spells, but one does not backhand a freaking high powered blasting curse!
The man sneered cruelly at him ''You understand nothing, Harry Potter.'' He said as he turned to the warily looking Dumbledore for a moment, ''But the time will soon come when you will understand. And when that time comes I will be waiting. Until then.'' He said with a mock bow and with near silent crack of Apparition he was gone.
Harry stared at the place where the dark wizard had left from in a state of disbelief. 'What the hell was that?' He mentally screamed. 'Voldermort does not retreat, does not surrender. So what the hell was that! Merlin! The fight hadn't even really started yet that was a mere warm-up so why did he leave? And what the bloody hell was he talking about. I understand nothing? What did that mean?'
Harry briefly shook his head and took a deep breath. So what if his plans hadn't go as he expected. He was still alive so he needed to prepare for the next confrontation. 'Accept, adept and move on.' He thought absentmindedly as he heard someone approach his position.
''John,'' He acknowledged.
''Sir, do you still want me to go ahead as planned?''
Harry thought about it for a moment before he nodded and pulled an empty vial from his back pouch before putting his wand at his head and pulling a memory from it and into the vial.
''My memory of what happened at the ministry.'' He said as he handled the vial over. ''Supply her with your own memory of what happened here.''
''Yes, sir.'' The man replied as he accepted the vial and stashed it in his own back pouch. ''Do you still want me to tell her to 'bug off and wait until you contact her.''
His boss nodded, ''Yes use those exact words. She will understand.''
The man nodded again and left to do his assignment, moments later Harry was approached by someone he rather not deal with right now. ''I believe we have much to discuss, Mr Potter.'' Dumbledore said in a tone that made it clear he wanted some answers.
''Yes I believe so.'' He replied.
Author Notes:
First things first; you guys were awesome with the number of reviews last chapter. Although it seems I wasn't clear on something in my last chapter. A couple of reviewers pointed out that Harry would never do the same as was done to him. This is true and Harry will not summon someone knowingly, but at some point in the future I have an event planned where I could bring someone back without it feeling very forced.
Secondly if any of you are worrying that I am going to bring a lot of OCs in in the form of Harry's teams then don't worry. For the most part they will be cannon fodder, albeit well trained cannon fodder and are there to oppose Voldemort's non-inner circle Death Eaters and some of his other weaker allies.
Lastly about the quotes. The first was said by Ambrose Redmoon and the second by Winston Churchill.
Next chapter: Chapter 22: Around the table