Chapter Thirty Five Riddle Manor
The next morning the country was in an uproar because the Daily Prophet had reported that an ex Death Eater had potioned the niece of the Minister. There were many wild theories as to why he might have done it but no answers were forthcoming. Several of the articles also mentioned that the ex Death Eater was under the protection of Dumbledore at the time and questioned if maybe the Headmaster might have had anything to do with it, or if he was just too old to control his staff anymore. Of course he had everything to do with it but there wasn't any proof, but the sheep never needed proof when rumor would do. There were also other articles that Ted and Harry had prepared ahead of time that showed the declining potion scores and lack of new healers and Aurors that had been happening since Snape became the potion teacher at Hogwarts. The gist of the article was that it was a plot to destabilize the British Wizarding World to make it easier for the next dark lord to take over. Dumbledore was also lambasted for letting it happen.
Harry avoided the castle that day, instead staying with Sirius in the chamber. He wanted to avoid Dumbledore and Neville. It wouldn't have mattered because Dumbledore had spent the entire day at the Ministry trying to get Snape released and trying to salvage his reputation after it had taken a hit. This had given Dobby time to sneak into Dumbledore's office and replace the mirror. He had also removed an inch from the bottom of Dumbledore's desk chair as revenge for messing with his master. Neville on the other hand had mirror called him, along with the twins, Hermione and Luna. Luna was the only one who knew where he was and had insisted on joining him in the chamber. He met her in Mrytles bathroom to let her into the chamber and spent most of the day with her in the heated pool. Luna said as the day was coming to a close, "It will be alright. Susan is fine and Neville will be OK too." She always knew what to say to make Harry feel better, even if he didn't always understand what she meant.
Susan had been removed from Hogwarts and was currently recovering in St. Mungos after having the loyalty potion flushed from her system and there was still a question of if she would return to the school. Harry hoped so, for Neville's sake and to ease his guilty conscience. Harry knew that Neville fancied Hannah, nut did he also fancy Susan? All the signs pointed to a relationship forming between all three. "Good on Neville." Harry thought.
Because Harry had no spy mirrors in the Ministry anymore, he had to rely on Ted and Andromeda, who spent the day at the Ministry, to get any information. That night Harry and Remus got together with the Tonks's at the Tonks's house, Sirius joined the conversation via the mirrors. "What a day." Andromeda said as everyone got settled in the Tonks's sitting room.
"You can say that again." Responded Ted. "It was a madhouse at the Ministry."
"What happened?" asked Remus.
"Well. The search of Snape's house uncovered many more illegal potions and potion ingredients. They also uncovered a store of Polyjuice and several hairs from current and former female Hogwarts students. There was also several female school uniforms." Said Andromeda, making a face.
Harry said, "EW!" and laughter could be heard from Sirius's mirror. Remus and Ted just had had a similar disgusted facial expression.
Andromeda continued, "Just when you didn't think it was possible to think less of the man, you find out something like this."
Ted spoke up, "It is going to be a big story in the Prophet tomorrow. We also think we know what that spell Dumbledore hit Snape with was."
"What?" asked Harry.
"All morning Dumbledore was insisting that something must have made Snape do what he did, obviously all the evidence had convinced him that he wouldn't be able to make it out to be a prank or something like that. So Dumbledore insisted that they examine Snape, and guess what they found?" asked Andromeda.
Remus beat Harry to the punch this time. "What?"
"Snape showed signs of being under the Imperius curse." Answered Andromeda.
"Bullshit!" was heard from Sirius. "Snivilis is a master Occlumens and Legilemens, he wouldn't be able to be put under the Imperius curse."
"I know that and you know that and apparently Amelia knows that but, with signs of the curse on him and Dumbledore as Chief Warlock…" Andromeda let the comment hang.
"Right, so that is the spell you think Dumbledore used? He did it so the test that he insisted on would show it and he could get his pet Death Eater off?" asked Remus.
"That is what we think, yes." replied Ted.
"That sneaky bastard!" exclaimed Harry. "So is Snape going to get off?"
Before either Ted or Andromeda could answer, Sirius said, "It sounds like old Sev got off plenty." Everyone groaned.
"It seems that he will escape unscathed for potioning the Ministers Niece, but there is nothing that Dumbledore can do to … help Snape escape punishment for the illegal potions and ingredients. The Polyjuice, while disturbing, is not illegal." Answered Ted.
"I'm sure he will still try." Said Harry.
"No doubt, but the Minister is rightfully pissed and doesn't believe for one second that Snape was Imperiused. The potion was flushed from Susan right away, but she could tell that it wasn't keyed to Snape and suspects Dumbledore's involvement. Fortunately Amelia was never one to blindly follow anyone. It is why we want to support her to become the permanent Minister in the next election." Said Andromeda.
"I'm OK with that. What do you think Padfoot?" asked Harry.
"I think it is a good idea. I only have good memories if her when I was an Auror." Answered Sirius.
"I think it is a good idea too." Said Remus. "And Dora likes her."
"Dora?" teased Sirius. "Is my niece sharing pillow talk about her work day with you now"?
"N-no!" stammered Remus. "She just, she just mentioned it at one point." He said, trying to cover for his choice of words and hide the rising blush in his cheeks.
"Suuure." Drawled Sirius, and everyone, other than Remus, laughed.
"Whatever. So what can we do to help her become the next Minister?" asked Remus.
"Well the first thing we have to do is convince her to run for the position. Remember, she didn't want to take the temporary Ministers position, so it might be hard to convince her to stay on." Said Andromeda.
"The Daily Prophet will support her campaign." said Ted. "And hopefully, if we capture Pettigrew and Crouch Jr., it will give her extra public support."
"Help her in any way you can, but make sure that she knows that it isn't a bribe." Harry said to Ted and Andromeda. "What's next on the Shit on Dumbledore agenda?"
"The Prophet will still 'hint' at Dumbledore's involvement in the potioning scandal and we have uncovered some things about his past. Did you know that he was friend with Gellert Grindelwald when they were both young?" said Ted.
"Really?" said Remus. "But how? He dueled him to end the wizarding portion of the Second World War."
"Apparently they were neighbors one summer and got together. Gellert ran off when Dumbledore's sister died under mysterious circumstances." Answered Ted.
"Dumbledore had a sister?" asked a confused Harry.
"Apparently. He also has a brother, if you didn'tknow." Said Remus.
"I didn't. Who's his brother, and is he still alive?" asked Harry.
"His brother's name is Aberforth and he is the barman of the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade." Said Sirius from the mirror.
"The other bar in Hogsmeade?"said Harry.
"Yup." Answered Sirius.
"So what do you think happened to his sister?" asked Remus.
"No idea." Answered Ted. "For our purposes it doesn't matter."
"Right." Said Harry. "Make sure we don't outright lie, but go after Dumbles with all you have. He crossed a line that he can't walk back over, no matter his justification. Feel free to do the same to Snape"
"I was planning too." Replied Ted.
"Good, I'll leave you too it. By the way, did…" Harry looked at Remus and continued, "… Dora agree to join us on our raid on Riddle Manor?"
"Yes she did. She was able to get three day off from work before the mess started and will be joining us." Said Remus
"Good, we have a meeting with Swiftdeath in two days to go over the plan with the whole group." Said Harry.
"We'll be there." said Remus.
"Us too." Said Andromeda.
"Good, the meeting is at eleven in the morning." Said Harry. "We should end here. I'll see you soon Padfoot." Harry had been sleeping in the Chamber of Secrets in his trunk. Sirius was happy to have Harry near.
It was fortunate that Dobby had removed the spy mirror when he did because Dumbledore had spent the night tearing up his office looking for anything that might have given up his plan to potion Harry. Dumbledore had found the listening device in Snapes office and it had caused him to search his own. Dumbledore spent the next day at the Ministry again and Harry was able to visit with his friends and finish up the mapping rune stones. The previous night Luna had mirror called him from Mrytles bathroom and they spent the night together in Harry's trunk. Harry was happy to have his bed partner back, even if he wasn't in his suite.
The day of the meeting, Harry arrived at Gringotts at five in the morning. He met Swiftdeath and they both took a Portkey to Riddle Manor to set up the rune stones. It took then over two hours to set them all up. They were being very careful, and careful took time. When they were done the map showed everyone and everything that was in the manor and grounds. The map showed Tom Riddle and Peter Pettigrew on the second floor in what appeared to be a bedroom, and on the first floor was Barty Crouch Jr. The snake Horcrux was named Nagini and was on the grounds. Avoiding the snake was the main reason it had taken so long to place the stones. Harry had tied the rune stones to five maps and he gave one to Swiftdeath. He was going to keep the other one for himself and give the rest to the other team members to use when they raid the manor. The other map he was going to leave with Sirius who was going to be with Ted in Ragnok's office when the raid was going to happen. The previous day, Ragnok 'asked' to be made aware of what was happening when he learned of the maps and insisted that Sirius join him to watch the operation. Ted was also invited and couldn't refuse. The maps along with the communication mirrors that Harry promised to take along had done a lot to relieve some of the fears that Sirius had about letting Harry go without him. He was still a nervous wreck.
Harry and Swiftdeath arrived back at Gringotts a little after eight and Harry decided to spend the remaining time to see what was happening in Diagon Alley in his Sam Underhill personality. He made his way to the Leaky Cauldron and listened to the patrons as they discussed the mornings Daily Prophet. Everyone was outraged when they heard about Snape's Polyjuice collection, but the big topic of conversation was Dumbledore's friendship with Grindelwald. This one fact seemed to be doing more than anything else in making people question Dumbledore. After eating Breakfast and people watching, it was getting close to eleven so Harry made his way back to Gringotts and went to the conference room that the goblins had provided for the meeting. The room only cost ten sickles to rent. 'Greedy little blighters." Harry thought.
A few minutes after eleven, everyone had arrived. It was a square table in the room and Harry, Sirius and Remus sat on one side. On the other was Ted, Andromeda and Nymphadora. The other side had Swiftdeath, Barkaxe and Joshua Platt. The last side was empty but there was an ornately decorated chair that was empty. Harry wondered if Ragnok would be joining the meeting, the chair looked like the one in his office. The maps were set before everyone and Barkaxe started the meeting. "Thank you all for coming. We are here to co-ordinate all of our efforts in removing this blight from our world."
Everyone gave an agreeable nod or quick you're welcome before Harry said. "Yes, thank all of you."
Barkaxe continued, "Tomorrow at five in the morning we will commence the raid on Riddle Manor. We believe that the early hour will provide the element of surprise that will help make this a successful operation. You all should arrive at Gringotts at four that morning by Portkeys that we will provide. We will go over the plan one more time then and relocate to the staging point near the manor. At the signal, Swiftdeath and Mr. Platt will bring down the wards and place their own. Then the two teams, including Mr. Platt, will enter the grounds and take down the two Death Eaters while Mr. Potter dispatches the snake Horcrux before moving on to take care of Voldemort."
"I still don't like that you have to take care of the Horcrux and Voldemort." Sirius said to Harry.
"I know, I know. It can't be helped. I have a plan to help with the snake and have come up with something that should help all of us out." Replied Harry.
"What?" asked Nymphadora. She had quickly agreed to help and was looking forward to the raid. So far she hadn't done too much as an Auror.
"Well, I plan on releasing a drugged rabbit for the snake to eat. It should make it easier to kill. I have also come up with these." Harry said and removed several rune covered stones about the size of a golf ball, only flat, not round. Before anyone could ask what they were, Harry continued. "I call them Stun Stones. You charge them up with magic and when the runes glow, you have five seconds to throw them at your target before they go off."
What happens when they go off?" asked Ted.
"They release a stun field three feet in all directions for a sphere six feet around. Anything in that field will be stunned just like a Stupify. It also works well in bringing down a regular Protego shield." Answered Harry.
"Cool!" exclaimed Nymphadora. Everyone at the table had to agree.
Sirius said, "I can tell you that they work. I think Harry had too much fun trying them out on me."
"I brought several for us to practice with before the raid so you can get used to them. During the raid everyone will have five of them with them, just to be safe. I also have something for you Nymphadora." Said Harry.
Don't call me Nymphadora, Call me Tonks. I told you before." said the witch with a scowl. "And what did you get me?" she said with a cheerful tone returning to her voice.
Harry pulled out a Basilisk skin coat and handed it to her. Sirius took that moment to also hand over his coat to Andromeda. Harry said, "It's a Basilisk skin coat and it should protect you from most curses."
Nymphadora let out an excited yelp and tried on the coat, modeling it for everyone, especially Remus, to see. "Thank you Harry!" she said and then gave him a kiss on the cheek.
This might have caused Harry to freeze before, but his time with Luna had done a lot to mellow him out. "No, thank you for helping me… us with this."
"When I heard what was happening, I wanted to help." Said Tonks
Swiftdeath interrupted, "Now that the fashion show is concluded, can we get back to planning?"
Tonks sat back down with a quiet, "Sorry." And the planning commenced.
Harry said, "I also have one more thing for each team." He then pulled out several small rectangular mirrored buttons about two inches wide and tgree tall. There was also a Large mirror twelve by fourteen inches. All the mirrors had three segments that attached to make the whole mirror. Harry explained what they did, "These are similar to the communication mirrors that we use, except that the small buttons only receive sound back. The large mirror can see and hear whatever the three buttons show… at the same time. The three smaller buttons can hear whatever the other mirrors hear. This should help all three teams keep in touch with each other, and the home base with the large mirror can see and hear everything that is going on with everybody. If we use them with a reverse silencing charm that will let us hear what is going on around us but not let any of the noise escape, it should work well."
Tonks was the first to respond, "These are brilliant! I wish we had these and the Stun Stones at the Auror office. Will you maybe consider selling them to the Auror's?"
"I'll maybe consider it." Replied Harry. The meeting went on for another half hour before everyone left to get ready for the next day or practice with the Stun Stones, just in case anything went wrong, Harry spent the rest of the afternoon with his friends. They had dinner in his suite thanks to Dobby and Winky, Hermione had a little frown on her face, and everyone spent many hours laughing before they had to leave because curfew. Luna decided to stay the night with Harry again, even if it wasn't the weekend. She always seemed to know when he needed her.
The next morning he woke to a very passionate kiss from Luna. "Good morning Harry Potter."
Harry could never figure out why she almost always used his whole name but at the moment he didn't care. "Good morning to you too Luna. What time is it?" asked Harry.
"It's three thirty. You have a few minutes before you have to go." She replied.
Harry hadn't told her what he was about to do that day, but somehow Luna knew. Luna always seemed to know. The thought of what was going to happen that day made Harry say what he did next, "Luna, I… I think that I…loveyou." The last few words were said very quickly and quietly.
Luna heard them anyway and replied, "I know, and I love you too." This had made Harry break out in a huge smile and release the breath he didn't know he was holding. A moment later their lips were once again joined together in the most passionate kiss yet. When they eventually broke apart, Luna said." Today will go fine, but remember your Nargle repelling necklace and your invisibility cloak."
After a few more kisses, Harry got dressed in black muggle clothes and put on the belt that Remus gave him for Christmas before he put on his Basilisk skin coat. He had packed the belt with everything he might need including a number of healing potions, the sword he found in the dueling room along with several goblin silver daggers. His Firebolt was in another pouch and thanks to Luna, he put his invisibility cloak in another. He would have forgotten it if it weren't for her reminder. Right before four they exchanged final kisses and another 'I love you' with Sirius making kissing noises behind them before the Portkey whisked Harry and Sirius off to Gringotts.