A/N Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday! Darn I didn't get Harry Potter rights for Christmas. Oh well, guess he still belongs to Ms. Rowlings. The Stormchasers are mine along with any goofs. Thanks for reading.

Albus awoke Sunday morning wondering what had awakened him. He lay in his bed listening. There, one of the instruments that were in the adjoining office was imitating a piercing whistle. He hurried to make sure it was the one the he thought it was. Merlin's beard! The wards around Azkaban were down!

"BLOODY HELL!" Albus Dumbledore didn't swear very often but sometimes that is all you can do. He snatched his robes and cloak, flinging them on while he sent a patronus to the Marauders. All of the adults ones anyway.

By the time that Albus, Ed, Charles, Sirius and Joshua reached the headland closest to the hunk of rock that Azkaban squatted on, the smoke was already rising from the prison. The group did not hesitate and apparated directly to the island. They were able to do this because the wards were blown to hell and gone. Along with one side of the prison. There was no sight of the Dementors and most of the prisoners that were left alive were cowering as far from the site of the mayhem as possible. Sirius and Albus were checking to see who was left as the American wizards did not know anyone by face.

"Headmaster, it looks like the LeStranges are gone unless you found their bodies. I don't see Dolohov either," Sirius called to Dumbledore over some of Charles' charmed headsets. He and Ed were checking the deepest cells.

"Joshua, please see if there is anyone we can help until the Ministry gets here. I fear that all of the 10 worst Death Eaters are gone. Sirius, I don't have any in the bodies here. Are the other prisoners secure?" Albus looked up as the two younger wizards come back up to the only relatively flat area that was left on this side of the prison.

"Yes, the ones that need to be. Some just need to disappear and I am not going to stop them. They deserve to be in here about as much as I did." Sirius looked at the older wizards with a grim look on his face.

"Ay Knee see," Charles returned to the group. "All of the guards are dead. Looks like they were Crucioed then hit with the AK. Not one was spared. Tom made sure that he sent a message. Ed are you ready to send one?"

"Sure am Yoh nah, do you two need us?" Ed asked the older wizards. Joshua was performing healing spells on an injured prisoner, but he stopped to look at his grandson.

"No and it would be much better if us old men were the only ones here when the DMLE get here. No sense in you three being involved in the extreme amount of paperwork that will have to be dealt with here once the 'official' rescue party arrives. Please be careful in your mission. For some reason, I worry about the three of you." Joshua said this with a weary shake of his head.

Albus surveyed his top warriors. "Yes please be careful. If comes down to the message or retreating, please retreat. I too find myself worrying about the three of you off together. "Albus added with a rueful smile, "The only thing that would be worse would be if the Weasley Twins were to accompany you."

All three nodded and disappeared. Two heart beats later the Aurors arrived. And they were very surprised to see the former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont but then again it was Dumbledore that we were talking about. And he sure didn't act like he was losing it as he stepped up to organize and direct the operations on the island. The old wizard had them hopping. Since most of them had attended Hogwarts, obeying Dumbledore was something that they did without even thinking about it. Good thing he was on the good guy's side. They were very grateful for the other old man's healing skills. But for some reason, none of them got his name and later they couldn't remember what he looked like. Just some old guy was all they could tell their supervisors.

Sirius, Ed and Charles appeared back in the shop in Hogsmeade. Ed hurried to the communication section in the bunker. Sirius could hear him talking but not what he was saying.

"Do you know how the hell he is going to blow up the manor from here?" Sirius looked at Charles.

"He hasn't said specifically but I have a very good idea how. Be patient Padfoot, your country house is toast. It just don't know it yet." Charles smiled his grim smile. He also picked up a pair of Omnioculars off the bird watching shelf to take with them.

Ed returned to the kitchen table a few minutes later. "Well, I got up with Howard. He is on line. He just wants a signed authorization from Sirius for the demolition of the manor. I told him we would meet him in Little Hangleton with it. Sign this Sirius." He handed Sirius a printed out legal looking form. Actually two, one for the muggle solicitor and one for the wizard one. Basically each said the same thing, that Hughes Demolition Company was authorized to level the said property on this date. Ed and Charles witnessed Sirius' signature.

Ed smiled his wolf's grin and said, "Let's go see what's happening down east." He popped out. Sirius looked at Charles, shrugged his shoulders and followed the other Stormchaser. Charles laughed as he popped out too.

All three appeared one after the other on the ridge behind the manor. Sirius looked at the other two.

"Just wait Padfoot. This is testing a theory. Howard swears that it will work. We'll see." Charles patted the younger wizard on the shoulder. Yoh nah activated the Omnioculars to record the whole show.

Then they heard it. Coming up the valley, flying just above the tree tops was what looked like dark blue muggle aircraft. Sirius knew what an airplane was but he had never seen one like this before. It was not sleek like the commercial jets he had seen. This thing was, well it was ugly. It had two seemingly oversized; well he thought they were engines on either side of the body of the plane just before the tail fins. The underside of the wings looked like a muggle weapons shop. There had to be at least 4 different kinds of things for blowing things up, there were multiples of a few of the different kinds of things. This plane looked like its only joy in life was blowing shit up. And it looked like it was really good at it.

The pilot waved as he blasted past the three friends on the ridge. As he got to just about where the wards were, two objects were released from the belly of the craft and these two objects proceeded to travel a downward arc at a high rate of speed as the plane arced up and over the wards. Then the things split into a lot more of the flying projectiles, just smaller. Sirius saw a pale face look out of one of the upper windows and disappear. All of the projectiles flew through the wards like they weren't even there. Then the house disappeared in a ball of fire. There was nothing left but a pile of still falling rocks and debris. He looked at Ed and said "That was awesome! Can we do it again?"

"Nope, this a onetime only shot for This particular target Padfoot. We'll just have to find another. Just one more thing, AH DOE NUH DOE WAY HAH LEE DUN GAH (Spirit Eagle Fly)" Ed said the last bit in a loud commanding voice with his hand pointing to the sky above the burning pile of rubble. A large glowing image of an eagle appeared over the ruins. An eagle posed in flight to grab its prey. Charles got every little bit of the picture recorded.

"That ought to get their attention." Sirius said with a predator's grin.

Today had started out so well for the Dark Lord. He had managed to break the wards around the prison of Azkaban with very little effort. His most loyal soldiers were waiting for him to release them and when he did they extracted their revenge on the prison guards. The Dementors were having a field day.

Once his followers were finished taking turns with their prey, he apparated them all back to the mainland to the meeting point he had set up. Bellatrix was thanking him and kissing the hem of his robes in between cackling her demented laughter and muttering the list of people she would be killing next. Tom hoped that she had not gone so far around the twist as to be useless. After all were bathed and robed, they were allowed to eat a meal of real food. The Dark Lord watched them all carefully. They were in horrible shape. Now that he had seen what the prison could do to such strong persons, he could almost forgive those followers of his that had lied to stay out of it. They would have to rebuild their health and magical reserves before they would be of any use to him. One more set back to his plan.

"My faithful Death Eaters. I, Lord Voldemort have released you this day. We will return to our manor and allow you to rest. Then I have many targets for you erase from my sight. "Riddle was in his element, playing lord of all he surveyed. 'Well, if you want something done right, do it yourself' he was thinking to himself. Finally something had gone right.

He gathered his minions and apparated back to Riddle Manor. Only it wasn't there. In its place was a smoldering pile of rubble. And there above it, almost invisible in the sunlight, was the image of a golden eagle, posed in its dive to snatch its prey, wavering in the breeze. The Dark Lord was pissed…totally…off.

"My Lord, we must find cover. May I suggest we adjourn to another location? We are a bit conspicuous." Rodolpus Lestrange said in a quiet voice. He was worried about being this vulnerable out in the open.

Riddle slowly turned to look at him. "Where to you purpose we go? This was my last safe house! Who the bloody hell is doing this? Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!!!" By the time Voldemort regained his control four of his newly freed Death Eaters were dead. Physically weak bodies have no resistance to that particular Unforgivable. Rookwood groveled before his Lord.

"Master, I may be able to find you a place to use as a base. Will you allow me to check to see if it is still safe?" Rookwood did not dare to look up into the terrible face.

"Rookwood, you have 30 minutes. Do not make me have to come looking for you. Be gone. The rest of you come with me." As Rookwood disapparated, the Dark Lord led the group to the ruins of the Gaunt shack. This day was ending up being a really rotten one. He was so pissed off at the world that he did not even check to make sure his ring was still hidden. The two guards there were all that were left of the newer Death Eaters. And he could see in their pathetic excuses for minds that no one had come close to the shack.

Later that evening, Tom Riddle sat on a wooden crate, located in an abandon coal mine in Cromwell. His exhausted Death Eaters lay sprawled on the floor at his feet. They were sleeping and they had gone to bed hungry, which fortunately was something they were used to. What had happened? Who had left that eagle for him to see? None of the thirty Death Eaters that he had left in the manor survived to tell him what had happened. Lucius was gone along with the rest. That was a blow even though the man had become less of resource than he had been in the past.

Rookwood had proved to be most useful though. He not only did have a safe place for them to rest, but he had also told his master about the rules on the prophecies in the Department of Mysteries. Tom knew now that only four people could remove it from its resting place. Himself, Dumbledore, that accursed Potter brat, and what was her name, yes Trelawney. He certainly could not walk in to the Ministry to get it, not since his network at the Ministry had been decimated by possibly this eagle group. Dumbledore would never oblige him by doing it. And for some reason, he could not get to the Potter brat through Legilimency, even though he should have been able to continue the attacks on the child he started this summer.

The stupid woman was useless because she doesn't even remember having the damned prophecy. He had tried to pull it from her sorry excuse for a brain shortly after she had spoken with Dumbledore but there was nothing there! Though the experience left her damaged. She would not be giving anymore prophecies. (A/N Isn't amazing how someone so convinced they are right can be so wrong!)

Voldemort could see why this place was still safe after all these years. It was pretty damned wet, cold, and filthy. The Dark Lord was as miserable as he could ever remembering being while in a flesh and blood body.

Sirius, Ed and Charles met the pilot in the pub in Little Hangleton later that afternoon. Howard strode into the small pub and they all adjourned to the private parlor upstairs. No one said a word until their silencing charms and wards were in place.

"May I shake your hand sir? That was brilliant!" Sirius was all smiles. "What kind of aircraft was that? I have never seen anything like that before." Sirius had always like muggle machines, not quite as bad as Arthur Weasley, but close.

"That my young man was an American A10 Warthog. It is a tank killer. That happens to be one of the earlier models, late '70s. I purchased it the last time I was in the states and restored her. I have always had a talent for aircraft. I find that it works extremely well for demolitions in remote areas. Now Ed, do you mind telling me why there were so many wards around that place? And is this going to come back and bit me in the ass?" Howard turned to look Ed dead in the eyes.

"Howard, you always bragged that that damned ugly assed plane of yours could take out the Dark Lord if you it wanted to. Well, I don't think you got him, but you sure blew up his last safe house in Britain. Longs as we keep this quiet, it shouldn't bite you later down the road." Ed sat at the table and took a long pull on his beer.

"Well I'll be damned; you are the ones taking out the Death Eaters. I knew it had to be someone besides the usual suspects. No evidence left, nobody sees a thing. I knew it wasn't Dumbledore's group. They haven't got the training or at least didn't have the training for this type of operation. I thought maybe it was professionals. Before you called me boy, I was going to check with you anyway to make sure about this group. We don't need another group of dark wizards running around. It was looking like it was turning into a gang turf war. I knew you would have a good idea about who it was. Well, I guess you do." Howard grinned at Charles and Ed.

"Sir, we have the signed paperwork. And how much do we owe you for this job?" Sirius asked.

"Young man, I don't want this on paper anywhere, muggle or wizard. If what I heard this morning is true, you are going to be a hot item. And Rookwood at least has enough sense to checkout everything if he can get to his resources." The group exchange glances.

"So you heard about Azkaban?" Charles asked the older man.

"Sure did. You aren't the only ones with contacts in the Ministry. By the way, they don't know who you are either. So my next question is: Got any use for an old pilot? And son you don't owe me a thing. I sure don't need the money, but your group is going to." Howard looked at the younger men in turn.

"Howard, I have know you for a long time, longer than either one of us would like to admit. Ay Knee Se knew you before me. We would welcome you to our group. We will have to report in but I don't see any problem with you joining us. Or the Order if you want? We left Grandfather and Dumbledore to deal with the crap at Azkaban early this morning so we have to get back home shortly. Of the two groups, I think we had the better end of the deal today." Ed hoped the two old men were ok.

The two old men in question were doing just fine. Dumbledore was his usual quiet commanding self while Joshua was able to mingle with the crowd of Ministry employees that had flocked to the island in the wake of today's disaster, no body paying him a bit of attention. Albus organized the evacuation of the surviving prison inmates to other secure facilities or to St. Mungo's. The DMLE was busy identifying the bodies. And discovering that the worst Death Eaters they had ever imprisoned were gone!

Joshua was able to tag two more Death Eaters, but they were the only ones he could find. It seemed that being a Death Eater was no longer a prerequisite for employment with the Wizarding government. That was some good news on this dreary day. He knew that he and Albus would have to wait till they had returned to Hogwarts before they could find out anything from their young men. Joshua hoped that they were safe. They had not revealed their plans for the destruction of Riddle Manor, but knowing his grandsons; it would be done quickly and completely destroyed. With a lot of ordinance. Those two did love blowing stuff up.

Earlier that day:

Lucius was supposed to be drafting a plan for attacking Gringotts in revenge for blocking the Dark Lord's attempted acquisition of the missing Death Eaters' funds. He had been hiding out at Riddle Manor with the Dark Lord since Wormtail's disclosure of his involvement with the current crop of Death Eaters. His life had gone from being a pureblood lord of the realm to a fugitive. His wife had gone to visit family in France two weeks ago as he had instructed her to and he had not heard from her since. He did not even know if she was alive. He hoped that she was safe because she was one of the two people on this planet that he loved. Draco was the other.

Malfoy wished that he had never joined the Death Eaters. He had done things in the Dark Lord's name that he was sure had earned him a special place in hell. He had not started out as a murderer and a rapist but once within the inner circle of Lord Voldemort's higher ranks, it had become a way of life. And with each occurrence, easier and easier. Lucius had no problem working the political side of things that was one of the reasons that his family was so powerful. They had worked the political arena to their benefit for centuries. It was something that Malfoy children learned at their father's knee.

Why couldn't he have been like Orion and Walburga Black, Sirius' parents, though? They supported the pure blood doctrine but stayed out of the Death Eater mess. But, that didn't protect their family either come to think of it. He didn't know how or where, but he knew that the Dark Lord had killed the youngest brother, Regulus. And look what happened to Sirius.

At least Draco was safe at Hogwarts. Dumbledore without a doubt could be trusted to protect the boy. He hoped that Draco would keep his head down and stay out of trouble, but knowing his only son, that was not going to happen. Lucius hoped Draco wouldn't get himself killed before he could figure out how to get his family out of this mess.

The Dark Lord seemed to know that Lucius was at a breaking point and thought he would be a liability on the morning's chore; the blond man had been left to work on the plan and see to the other minions. As he was working, he heard a roar of some sort of machine from the other end of the valley. He walked to the window and looked out. There coming up the valley was a muggle aircraft, so low that it looked like it was brushing the tree tops. This cannot be good. Lucius knew that he was looking at Death coming for him.

He clutched the medallion under his robes, the one that Narcissa had given him before she left, and said "I wish I could see your face once more my love!" Then he disappeared, just before the projectiles impacted the wall where he had been standing.