Chapter 26
A Different Threat
A/N: For informational purposes, this chapter begins where Chapter 2 of "The Mudblood Revolution" leaves off. In order to get the context correct, please go read that first if you haven't already.
A/N2: This is a repost to edit out all of the italics... if you have already read this chapter, I'm sorry, but you will have to wait a few more days for an update.
Hamilton
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Office of the Headmistress
Harry had just left the Room of Requirements following a meeting with Hermione Granger, a rather spirited meeting regarding Muggleborn rights. Hermione had presented him with a document titled "The Mudblood Manifesto", the contents of which could threaten to turn wizarding society on its head. He shook his head at his friend's new found crusade, but he had promised to support her, it was the right thing to do. He now stood in front of the Gargoyle in front of the Headmistress' office. He racked his brain trying to think of the password, then gave up and addressed the statue.
"Stony, move aside, I, Lord Hufflepuff, have business with Lady Ravenclaw." Surprisingly enough, the gargoyle jumped aside and bowed. Harry snorted. "I guess rank really does have its privileges," and went on up the stairs. Reaching Minerva's office, he knocked on the door.
"Enter."
"Lady Ravenclaw." This was a signal to let Minerva know that this discussion would be addressing matters under the purview of her title, that of Founder's Heir and Wizengamot member.
"Lord Hufflepuff, is this to be a school matter or legislative item?" Minerva picked up on the nuance of the formal title and returned the serve.
"A bit of both, actually. I assume that you have gotten some feedback from parents of muggleborn students recently?"
"That must be the understatement of the year. To date, I have received one hundred-thirty howlers, twenty two notices from the parents of first years telling me that they were planning to return their children to the muggle education system, and over fifty notices from parents who want me to send transcripts of their children's grades to magical schools in other countries. I assume that is the sort of feedback to which you are referring?" she stated somewhat sourly.
"Just so," Harry said. "This is a situation that has gotten completely out of control and must be addressed or there will be no British magical community in a few years. I plan to introduce some reforms in the Wizengamot in the near future and I need your assistance."
"What sort of reforms?" Minerva asked.
"It has to do with this document. I had to take an oath not to reveal secrets, but this will be distributed in a few days anyway, and will allow us to frame the reform legislation around their demands." Harry handed Minerva his copy of the 'Mudblood Manifesto', which she took and read through. When she was finished, she handed it to Harry and sat back heavily.
"I see nothing in here that is not common sense and common decency. The problem with British Wizarding society is that few of the people in power have that good of a grasp of either. There is also the problem that few wizards apply logic to anything, it is against their mindset. It will play well to much of society, unfortunately, those people hold no power and the people who do hold power will not give it up willingly. I will support the reforms and will call Arthur to get his support. Please contact Miss Granger and Mr. Finch-Fletchley and ask them to meet us here so that they can help us draft this legislation. Since they seem to be at the forefront of this uprising, they can help with the needed work."
"Very well. Now, on a personal note; I would like to deliver this wedding invitation to you and ask you to perform the bonding ceremony."
"Harry, I am honored that you would ask, and I most certainly will. What day will the ceremony be held?"
"I know it is kind of sudden, but it will be Saturday after next. School will be out for the Christmas holidays, that will give us time to have some sort of honeymoon before returning to school."
"Wonderful! Have you decided where you are going for the honeymoon?"
"I found out from the goblins that Sirius owned an island off the coast of Belize." At Minerva's questioning look, he explained. "Belize is a small country in Central America south of Mexico on the east side facing the Gulf of Mexico. It is quite the exotic spot, popular with both magical and muggles. You can buy citizenship there simply by putting fifty thousand U.S. dollars into one of their banks. I took the liberty of having Gringotts open up accounts for my wives and myself so we will be traveling by muggle means as citizens of Belize. This should throw off any unfriendly parties that might be paying attention to my comings and going."
"Have either of your brides ever flown on a muggle aero plane; it could be quite a shock to them."
"Ah, the proper term is airplane, and no they haven't. Neither have I for all that matters, we will all three have a new experience ahead of us. I am also hoping to do a little sports fishing if I have the time. There is a possibility that we may be a few days late for the start of term."
"That will not be a problem, but if we cannot head off the parents from pulling their children from school, we may not have a new term. I suppose we could go with a smaller staff, but even if we keep their whole tuition, we would not be able to reopen next year with that small of a student body."
"It all comes back to that," Harry grimaced. "I will attempt to drum up support with the other nobles in the dorm, but I believe that we will have some problems right out of the gate. I can't see Theo or Avery siding with me on the creation of a House of Commons, and even Draco and my bride, Daphne will probably kick. For right now, I'll send for Hermione and Justin. Say seven pm?"
"That should work, until then." Minerva gave a small nod which could only be interpreted as a dismissal.
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Kukes, Albania
Just outside this town nestled in the junction between the North Albanian Alps and the Korab Mountains, the self styled 'Lord' Voldemort, He-Who's-Name-Must-Be-Hyphenated, aka Moldishorts or Dork Lord, Tom Marvolo Riddle, had placed his Eastern Command Centre. He had chosen this area for the following reasons: It was mountainous and remote, and there was no discernable wizarding population to stumble across he and his followers while they scouted throughout Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia for new pureblood recruits. New recruits would then be taken by portkey to the Albanian Headquarters for their branding and orientation. They would also have a language translation spell placed upon them which would enable them to communicate with their master and fellow Death Eaters.
The placement of his headquarters in a wizard free zone would have serious consequences for Voldemort; he thought he could overcome any problems with the local muggle population should his camp be discovered. Voldemort thought that muggles were so far beneath him that he had not taken any time to research his neighbors. The local population was made up of roughly 98 percent devout Muslims who were battle hardened from fighting alongside their co-religionists in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, then recently in the former Yugoslavian areas of Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosevo during a period when the Serbian 'christians' were using ethnic cleansing to rid their little patch of Earth of anyone who believed that God was named Allah and that his messenger was Mohammed. In other words, these folks were not people who could be bullied.
On this fine winter morning, a earnest young man named Khalid was wandering in the forest in search of a measure of enlightenment. He was not seeking some momentous religious insight, but rather how he could approach his father to convince him to open negotiations with the father of a beautiful young lady named Fatima. It would not be proper to approach her himself, it could ruin her reputation should she be seen with a young male not related to her. He was also unable, living under his father's roof, to approach Fatima's father on his own. Should he convince his father, her beauty would bring a high bride price. As far as he knew, there were no preexisting marriage agreements in place.
As the first son of a well respected arms merchant, Khalid had spent his youth accompanying arms shipments to his Muslim brothers in places where they had to fight for their very existence. He had spent the last year helping smuggle Muslim refugees from the war zone in Serbia to the Muslim held Bosnian Republic and to his own country of Albania. Fatima and her father were two of those refugees he smuggled out under the noses of the Serbian border guards and over the mountains into Kukes. The last set of infidel guards he had killed with his own hands, slicing their throats and taking their weapons and ammunition. Those were sent out in the next shipment, poetic justice, the weapons of the infidels used to protect Muslims.
He was musing in this vein when he happened to look up and see, in the sky beyond the first ridge, an abomination; a mark in the sky of a skull and a snake.
"What could this be?' he thought. "Have the infidels attacked us and sent up some unholy form of fireworks to boast of their victory?" He went into smuggler mode and quietly made his way to the area. Crouching behind a tree facing a clearing, he saw something that made his blood run cold. There were a group of people in black robes with death masks covering their faces. The only one who's face was bared appeared to be some sort of daemon, a unholy cross between a human and a frog. He strained his ears to hear the daemon addressing the humans. He was unsurprised to hear her speaking English, the language of the Great Satan, one he had learned from a mujahdeen fighter who had extensive contact with infidel CIA agents in Afghanistan.
"And that is the proper way to announce the Dark Lord's victories; the incantation is Morsmorde, and the wand movements are as such,' the daemon said, waving a stick. Khalid was not sure what this 'wand' thing was, but he was sure it was not good. He watched as the humans set off the sky mark, when they did it incorrectly, they were tortured by the daemon throwing a red light out of her stick into the offending human. Khalid should have never been able to see any of this; there should have been muggle repelling and notice-me-not wards in place. Unfortunately for Voldemort, he had entrusted the placement of the wards to one Delores Jane Umbridge, a low powered witch whose only real talent was the causing of pain through dark curses. She was the figure that Khalid had mistaken for a daemon. She spoke again to the group of recruits.
"You are approaching a momentous time in the service of the Dark Lord. Tonight he will receive your oaths and place his mark of service upon you. Until then, go eat and prepare yourselves for your noble commitment."
Khalid crouched lower to make sure he was invisible to these creatures. This 'Dark Lord' could only be Shaitan himself, the one called Iblis, once an angel named Azazel who rebelled against Allah. Who else could command a daemon such as the one he saw? He remained frozen in place until the infidels left and the daemon disappeared with a loud POP, probably to return to Jahannam, or Hell, to report to its master. All thoughts of the beautiful Fatima fled his mind and his inner warrior came forth. It would not matter if he became a martyr, this abomination so close to his home could not be allowed to stand. He made his way out of the forest and ran home to tell the local council.
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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Noble's Dorm
Harry had returned to his dorm, hoping to get some quality time with his brides. All of the arrangements for the wedding ceremony were complete, and the girls should have been eager for some serious down time. This was not to be however, when he entered the common room, they latched onto him and led him to their quarters where a table had been set up with three chairs, a pile of parchment, and sharpened quills. He groaned, thinking that somehow details fro the wedding had been forgotten. As if reading his mind, Jennifer shook her head.
"No Harry, this has nothing to do with the wedding, it is about ours, and your, future." Seeing his quizzical look, she continued. "Daphne and I really began to look at your time here as well as your time before Hogwarts. This raises a question for which we have no answer. Why is Snake Face so damned hot to kill you?"
Harry was stymied; heknew why Voldemort wanted him dead but he had not told anyone since that fateful night in Dumbledore's office. He wasn't sure that he believed in the prophesy, his feelings were that it was just part of Dumbledore's machinations. The problem was that Voldemort believed the prophesy, or at least the part he had heard. Either way, it didn't explain why Voldemort had not died when his killing curse backfired all those years ago. Maybe his wives could look at this situation from a fresh point of view and come up with an answer.
"Okay, it all starts back before I was born. Albus was at his brother's pub in a private room interviewing an applicant for the Divination position. This person had an ancestor who supposedly had the inner eye. After listening to her prattle on, according to him, he had pretty much come to the conclusion she was a fraud. She demeanor suddenly changed and she appeared to be possessed. She began speaking in a different voice."
"This is the so-called prophesy she delivered: 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...'"
"Unfortunately, one of Voldemort's followers heard part of the prophesy before he was caught by Aberforth and removed from the area. He hotfooted it to Voldemort and told him. There were two children born at the end of July, Neville Longbottom and myself. Instead of going for Neville, he considered me more of a threat. He killed my father, then my mother, and attempted to kill me before his curse backfired. I have actually relived that night when the Dementors affected me in my third year."
Daphne got a strange on her face. "Tell me exactly what happened when you saw the scene."
"My dad jumped up and told my mum: 'He's here, Lily! Take Harry and run!' I can only guess that Voldemort blocked the floo and put up wards so she couldn't portkey or apparate out. She ran up to my room carrying me; I saw a green flash come from downstairs. Voldemort came up the stairs and told my mum to get out of the way; he wasn't there for her. She begged him to spare me and take her, she had placed herself between him and me. He sent the killing curse at her and she fell. I seem to remember some sort of glow, I don't know that I saw it as much as felt it. Voldemort then sent the killing curse at me and it rebounded, separating him from his body. That is where the vision ends."
"Let me think about this for a bit." She called Dobby and asked for tea and biscuits, then she and Jennifer began to talk softly between themselves. Harry got up and began to breathe deeply, reliving the nightmare all over again. After a while, Jennifer motioned him back over and she and Daphne each took one of his hands.
"Harry, as much as I hate to say it," Daphne began, "we have come to the conclusion that the prophesy is true. As far as the seer, well even a stopped clock is right twice a day. What seems to be the clincher is the part that says: 'And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives'. See, when he was disembodied, you didn't have anything to do with it. Your mother somehow invoked blood magic to protect you from him. That is why he wasn't able to stand your touch when he was possessing Quirrell. Again, you took no offensive action. I believe if you have somehow been able to hit Quirrell by some means with which Voldemort was unfamiliar, he would have died then. Instead, it was your mother's magic that kept either of you from killing the other. If you can figure out this 'power the Dark Lord knows not', you could finally be free from all this."
"But," interjected Jennifer, "you will have to be the one to do it; it will have to be up close and personal. Have you felt him in your scar at all recently?"
Harry thought. "No, I haven't. I never really noticed it, I have been so busy, but the pain has always been sort of an irritating background, unless he was close. Since I'm not feeling him, I wonder if he is even in the country anymore."
"He probably isn't," said Daphne. "There have not been any reports of Death Eater activity, it's a good possibility that he went somewhere to lick his wounds and regroup. He has lost about all of his inner circle; it only makes sense that he would be lying low. Since you are getting nothing through your scar, he has probably put quite a bit of distance between you. Have you tried to peek in on him?"
"Absolutely not! I have been following the philosophy of 'live and let live'. This new information though tells me that it is not going to be enough. He will never let me alone, and I have no idea how to take him out. I'm starting to wonder if us getting married will make you two targets for him."
"Don't even start with that; I have been targets since I refused to be branded as one of his cattle. Jennifer would be a target since she is a Dumbledore, the same as her brother. Together we are strong, alone we are just targets to be picked off. I believe that the first thing you need to do is start working on your Occlumency and start learning Legilimency. If you can be proactive and look in on him, maybe you can get an idea of what he is up to and screw up his plans."
"Snape tried to teach me Occlumency, the only thing it did was open me up for his attacks and a false image that ended up getting Sirius killed."
"That should not have happened. Tell me, how did he try to teach you?"
"All he did was tell me to 'clear my mind', then went in on a full scale attack. I was only able to throw him out once, and it never helped with the visions."
"No wonder; that is not how you teach Occlumency. The first thing is that you must have a teacher you trust. I assume that you didn't trust Snape to start with?" At Harry's assent, she continued. "The next part is to show you how to clear your mind, usually through meditation. Once you have that down, you start to organize your thoughts through means such as sorting them into a mental library, making a mental building with different memories in different rooms with different levels of security. It sounds like he was purposely opening up your mind to the Dark Lord."
"How do you know so much about it?"
"I was warned before I ever came to Hogwarts that Snape and Dumbledore regularly scanned us; I began to learn Occlumency at about age eight. By the time I came here, nobody could use Legilimency successfully on me. I could shuffle them into a room where there were unimportant memories that I didn't mind them seeing. Once you begin to organize your thoughts, you can feel anyone who tries to get in; it feels like a tickle in the front of your mind."
Harry got a grim look. "I'm not sure why Severus did what he did, but I am going to find out. In the meantime, could you help me learn? I trust you to do it more than anyone else."
Daphne leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Okay handsome. Let's start right away, that way when you talk to Severus you will have the basics down so you can at least tell if he is scanning you. Now, the first part is to get comfortable…."
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Kukes, Albania
Khalid had made his report to the local council; it had not been received well. He had actually been accused of being drunk on alcoholic spirits and either hallucinating or making the whole thing up. Due to his trustworthy service to date though, they decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and every able bodied male warrior were now following him through the woods to the clearing where he had seen the daemon and its followers. At this moment, they were spread in a semi circle, hidden in the trees around the clearing. No more than five minutes after they got settled in their ambush sites, a group of people wearing robes and death masks filed into the clearing and also made a semicircle with their backs to the townsmen. There was a feeling of anticipation when all at once, there was a pair of POPS and the frog looking daemon appeared with another figure. The townsmen froze, their blood chilling in their bodies. With the glowing red eyes, the snake-like face with slits for a nose, along with the large snake he was carrying over his shoulders; this must surely be Shaitan himself! Thirty fingers tightened on thirty triggers as they watched in fear.
"Voldemort strode up and motioned the new Death Eaters forward. One at a time they bowed in front of him and fell over in pain as he raped their minds looking for any sign of disloyalty. As he released each one from the mind rape, he would take his wand and place the Dark Mark on the recruit's arm. Suddenly the snake made an urgent hissing sound and Voldemort froze.
"Nagini tells me that we have some company in the trees. We should not be poor hosts, our visitors should be invited into our little meeting." He raised his wand and Khalid, understanding the English, opened fire. This was the signal for each and every one of the townsmen to follow suit. Before Voldemort could put up any sort of blocking ward, every one of his new Death Eaters had fallen in a hail of 7.62 mm bullets fired from that most reliable combat rifle ever made, the Russian made AK47. The Council chief, a grizzled old man who absolutely hated snakes, had emptied his magazine into Nagini, tearing her to shreds. Voldemort and Umbridge took a couple of non-life threatening hits before Voldemort was able to throw up a shield around them.
Figuring that fighting numerous unknown assailants who had just wiped out his new recruits would be sheer suicide, he grabbed Umbridge's arm and apparated both of them out of the clearing and into their headquarters building. Calling out for his remaining Death Eaters, he instructed them to take portkeys and vacate the area, that he would meet up with them in Paris. Since there were some of his DEs still in Serbia and Macedonia, he decided that he would portkey to Serbia and call his wayward followers from there. They would all go to Paris and regroup; he would then decide where to go from there.
Meanwhile, back at the clearing, the townsmen made sure all of the robed villains were dead, then beheaded them to make sure that Shaitan could not bring back their corpses to attack their homes. Khalid was being mobbed by well wishers, congratulating him and praising him as a true defender of the faith. Due to his actions, they had driven off Shaitan himself, as well as one of his daemons, with no casualties to the town's defenders. The high point of all of this came when, back at his father's house, there came a knock on the door. Upon opening it, Fatima's father asked for Khalid's father. He was there to offer his daughter in marriage to the new young hero. In less than a year, the happy couple would be expecting a child and Khalid would be the newest member of the town Council.
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Due to the distance between Voldemort and Harry, when Voldemort raged over this last setback while getting bullets picked out of his scaly hide, Harry felt not even a twinge of pain in his scar.
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A/N: I would like to thank Pwn Master Paladin for his great analysis of how to explain Voldemort's seeming immortality without using Horcruxes. I used his explanation in the scene between Harry and the girls.