The force of Moody's spell sent Harry spinning to the ground, but he was moving as soon as he hit. Over the past three weeks he had learned to never stop moving when facing the old Auror, it was the only way to have any chance of beating him. Harry winced as he sidestepped another spell from Moody before shooting a Reducto back at him. Harry's left arm hung limp and useless at his side and he was fairly certain that it was broken. Additionally his right leg was bleeding from a long gash just above his knee and the skin on his right shoulder had been burned off which made it quite painful to move his arm while casting. His only comfort was that Moody wasn't looking much better than he was. Harry was fairly certain he had broken Moody's ankle on the one good leg he had left early in the fight and though it had slowed the older man down some he had refused to give any sign that he was in pain. Perhaps he had cast a numbing charm on it while Harry wasn't looking, that was possible but it also increased the amount of damage done to the ankle. The skin on Moody's left arm had also been ripped open by a wolf that Harry had transfigured from a marble he had hidden in his pocket. Moody had quickly caught on to his habit of transfiguring random items into wild beasts to do his bidding and had removed everything from the basement that could be easily transfigured. Harry had responded by bringing his own materials with him.
In the beginning Moody had the advantage in both pure magical power and experience. As a result Harry ended most days a bloodied and beaten wreck with Moody's laughs and words of advice ringing in his ears. Gradually he began to improve, and although he still ended most days with multiple injuries he had been able to begin effectively retaliating against his tutor. Moody insisted that the day wasn't over until one of them was not able to continue, unfortunately for Harry every day so far had ended because he could go no further. Today, however, was looking promising for him.
A jet of blue light erupted from Moody's wand headed for Harry's feet. Harry turned to avoid it, realizing only as the spell hit the ground that Moody had never intended for it to hit him. The floor underneath his feet became soft like a thick mud and Harry began to sink into it. With great difficulty Harry was able to pull himself out of the hole, but it had slowed him down enough that he could not avoid Moody's next spell. It was, unsurprisingly, the Cruciatus curse. At first Harry thought it was odd the old Auror would ever use the spell but Moody had explained that this training was meant to prepare him to fight Death Eaters and the average Death Eater only really uses a few spells. The Reducto curse was one of their favorites and in the right hands could be deadly. But the two spells used more than that were the Cruciatus and the Avada Kedavra. The pain from the curse was brutal and Harry knew his teacher wouldn't hold back. His only options were to give up or fight through the pain. Harry chose to fight.
It took all of his willpower to focus through the pain, but Harry managed to conjure a brick wall between himself and Moody. The Cruciatus was strong enough to break through the wall, but in the moment that took Harry was on the move again. The spell he used to counter attack was quite different from normal spells. Instead of a ball of light flying towards its victim this one produces bolts of electricity that shot from the tip of his wand and struck his victim. Moody had used it on him during their first week of training and he knew from experience that it was almost as painful as the Cruciatus. A flare of blue light signaled that Moody had been able to raise a Protego shield which Harry knew was capable of stopping the lightning spell. Harry cancelled the spell and immediately launched a powerful piercing curse at Moody in the hopes it would break through his shield. He saw Moody's Protego evaporate as his curse flew past it but Moody was not caught off guard like Harry had hoped he would be and had avoided the spell. As Harry prepared his next move he couldn't help but notice that Moody is smiling at him, and that is never a good sign.
With his wand pointed at his teacher, Harry cast a slicing charm that spread like a wave from his wand at about chest level. It wasn't powerful enough to kill, but he knew it would end the fight if it hit. As the spell left his wand Harry heard Moody say something, but could not make out what it was. That was odd to begin with, Moody always cast silently unless it was a spell which could not be used silently and there were very few of those. Harry's jaw dropped in shock as he saw a familiar green light build at the end of Moody's wand and then speed towards him. Harry instinctively dropped to the ground to avoid the spell. Harry was overcome by anger at Moody's carelessness and as he pushed himself to the ground Harry felt the rage in him building. He attempted to cast a Stupefy in hopes of ending the duel and finding out just what Moody thought he was doing, but what came out of his wand was like no stunning spell he had ever seen before. Instead of a small sphere of light an entire wall of red magic erupted from his wand and raced towards Moody. Harry saw his shocked expression and futile attempt to raise a shield before the spell hit him and dropped him to the ground.
Harry walked over to his stunned tutor and removed the wand from his hand. With his wand he cast Incarcerous, causing ropes to wrap tightly around Moody. Only then did he Enneverate the man. Moody's eyes shot open and he took a moment to consider his situation. Harry was glaring down angrily at him, but Moody's response was to begin laughing madly as if something were very funny.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Harry demanded to know. "You could have killed me!"
"Calm down, Potter!" Moody laughed. "It wasn't really the killing curse, just one that happens to look almost exactly the same. It's good for catching people off guard, just like I did you. And it just so happens that it got exactly the response I was looking for."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"You're more powerful than you think, far more powerful than I am." Moody explained. "I've known it for a while now. The hard part has been drawing it out of you. Every so often I'll see a flash of something great in you, but then you go and hide it away again. That must end if you're ever going to survive."
With a flick of his wrist Harry vanished the ropes tying Mad Eye Moody down and helped the man up. Neither of them were in particularly good shape at the moment and were both in need of healing spells and potions. Harry sighed, as bad as he felt today he knew he had been far worse before. That's when realization finally hit him.
"Hey! I beat you!" Harry said, smiling. "I finally did it."
"It's about time, too." Moody replied. "If it takes you this long to beat a one eyed, one legged, senior citizen you're never going to make it in the real world."
"You're still one of the best." Harry protested. "Everybody says so."
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Doesn't change the fact that if you can't beat me you certainly can't be Voldemort." Moody said with a grunt. "Still, you're a fun fight kid. Go get yourself cleaned up, I think we're done for the day."
"I go back to Hogwarts at the end of the week." Harry reminded him. "I'm going to miss these duels, but not the pain that comes with them of course. Sure would be nice if you were going to be around this year to keep helping me."
"I told you already, I am not teaching at Hogwarts this year!" Moody said. "One semester of you kids was enough, I'd rather be dealing with Death Eaters and other criminals."
"Have it your way." Harry laughed as he slowly walked towards the exit. Now that the duel was over and his adrenaline was wearing off the pain of his injuries was becoming impossible to ignore. "See you tomorrow, Professor." As Harry closed the door he could clearly hear Moody insisting that he was not a Professor any more. Harry chuckled and made his way back to his room where he kept a trunk full of healing potions. After the duel he just finished he was going to need a lot of them.
Harry's Firebolt lay on the desk in front of him with several bright lights shining on it. He was carefully inspecting every inch of the high quality broom, making sure that it had not suffered any damage during the battle at Azkaban. So far he had not seen any problems other than the normal wear and tear, but he knew better than to just assume it was fine without checking. He had found himself missing Quidditch during the past few days and hoping that the school's favorite sport would be returned this year. Finally satisfied that the broom was in good condition, Harry began applying a coat of protective potion that would ensure it stayed that way.
"Hey Harry! Didn't mean to walk in on your polishing your broom." a joking voice said from the doorway. Harry turned and saw that Fred and George Weasley were standing right outside his door congratulating each other on the joke.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Harry replied. "It's a good thing you two aren't trying to be stand up comedians."
"Don't say that." Fred protested. "We'd be smash hits!"
"Sure." Harry said skeptically. "So what are you two doing here?"
"Dad's at the Order meeting downstairs, and we thought this would be the perfect time to test out our new product." George explained. He then held out a small box which Harry carefully took, uncertain whether it was going to explode or attack him in some way.
"What is it?" Harry asked, still not daring to open the box.
"Go ahead, look for yourself." Fred replied. "It won't bite." Harry didn't completely trust either of the twins, but decided he might as well get it over with. When he opened the box he thankfully saw that it had not been a trap as he had feared. Inside was one item: what appeared to be a human ear with a long, flesh colored string attached.
"An ear on a string?" Harry asked. "What's it do?"
"You, oh business partner of mine, hold in your hand Weasley's Wizard Wheezes newest creation: Extendable Ears!" George proudly proclaimed. "With these, no conversation is private!"
"Maybe that's not the best ad line..." Fred said thoughtfully. "But who cares! We'll figure it out. And now, the demonstration..."
"How would you like to listen in to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix?" George asked. "Once in a lifetime opportunity!"
"Sirius will just tell me what's going on when it is over anyway." Harry said to the disappointment of the twins. "But, let's try them out anyway."
The twins smiled and ushered Harry out of his room and to the stairway. From here they could faintly hear voices talking, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying. George put a finger over his mouth, telling the others to be very quiet, as he took an Extendable Ear out of his pocket. He slowly began lowering the ear downstairs and closer to the meeting itself. Thankfully, none of the Order seemed to notice what was going on. When the device had reached its destination George put the other end of the string in his ear and gave Fred and Harry a thumbs up to let them know it was working. Harry began copying what George had done and after a bit of effort to get the ear positioned right he could now hear exactly what was going on at the meeting.
"These are great!" Harry whispered to Fred who merely smiled and nodded. Downstairs the meeting was already in progress with what sounded like Kingsley Shacklebolt reporting on a team of Aurors taking down a pair of giants the previous night. Two young Aurors had also apparently died on the mission, but the Ministry still seemed to consider it a success.
"...Similar missions will be authorized as soon as we have solid information on where the giants are hiding." Shacklebolt continued. "To date we believe we have killed perhaps a quarter of the giants brought to England, but the threat is still very real. The good news is that funding to the Auror division has finally been increased allowing us to update equipment and hire new recruits. The bad news is that we are getting fewer applicants wanting to be Aurors than we had hoped."
"A problem you will soon be in a better position to address, I would think." Dumbledore commented. He received no audible response. "Severus, any news?"
"The Dark Lord is planning something, though no one knows what. A meeting of all Death Eaters has been called for tomorrow at five. This is a very unusual occurrence." Snape explained. "I will bring back what news I can."
"Where is our next target, then?" Sirius asked. "We should be planning on attacking as well."
"Let us wait at least until Severus has uncovered more information." Dumbledore replied.
"You can wait then." Sirius said. "I'm going to help the Aurors. I have experience fighting giants and that's what they need right now. Amelia offered me a position as a consultant to the Auror division, and I guess I am going to take it." Harry was surprised by his godfather's statement as he had not mentioned anything about it to him. He wondered if Sirius had been waiting for him to go back to school before doing this.
"There are other ways you could be helping the Order..." Dumbledore responded.
"But this is the best way I know how to help the war effort." Sirius said, interrupting him. "It's done, Dumbledore. There's no use arguing with me anymore."
"Very well." Dumbledore said softly. "I believe this meeting is at an end. All of you, please be careful in the coming days. If, as Severus says, Voldemort is planning to launch a new offensive it could come at any time." There were murmurs of agreement as the meeting broke up and people began to leave or talk to each other about other things. Harry and the twins quickly pulled their Extendable Ears backs so they would not be caught. No one seemed to have noticed them. Quietly they stood up and walked back to Harry's room.
"Well that was interesting." George said once they had closed the door. "Well, ok, maybe a bit boring. Do you think all of their meetings are like that?"
"That's basically it." Harry said knowingly. "They mostly just sit around a talk about what's going on. Why did you two want to know so badly anyway? Thinking of joining the Order?"
"They'd be lucky to have us!" Fred insisted. "We've got to do something though don't we? Family tradition and all."
"These Extendable Ears work great." Harry said. "I bet the Order could use things like this. The truth is that they probably won't let you fight until at least after you graduate, but if you two could keep coming up with useful stuff for them to use then they would be a lot more likely to let you in."
"Brother, our business partner makes a good point." Fred replied. "I've got it! A new line of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products! Zonko would never think of doing something like this."
"We could corner the market!" George said happily.
"Just be careful who you're giving these things to ok?" Harry said, holding up the Extendable Ear. "It would be bad if they ended up in the wrong hands."
"Guess that's going to be a small market then, huh George?" Fred asked. "No worries! Come on, I've got an idea I'm dying to try out."
"Lead on!" George said, raising his hand to point towards the door. The twins waved good-bye before marching out of the room leaving Harry alone to wonder what they could be up to. After considering it for a moment he decided it was probably safer not to know and sat back down to finish working on his broom.
"Are you sure you can't tell it's me?" Harry asked as he gently poked at his face. He and Daphne were standing in front of the entrance to Diagon Alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. Before getting on the Knight Bus to make their way here they had taken turns casting various glamour charms on each other so that no one would be able to recognize them. As a result Harry was now a blond with brown eyes and a flat nose. His most unique feature, his scar, had been hidden and he did indeed look completely different. Daphne, meanwhile, had been turned into a brunette with bright green eyes that would have matched Harry's natural eye color. Harry had also conjured a pair of glasses with plain lenses for her to wear that masked her appearance even more.
"No, Harry." Daphne replied, smiling. "You saw yourself in the mirror before we left, there's no way anyone will recognize either of us. We'll be safe this way, Sirius and my dad both thought so." Harry shrugged in response but made sure he could quickly get to his wand if he needed to. Daphne began pressing bricks on the wall with her wand and a moment later the bricks began to rearrange themselves into a door, opening the way into Diagon Alley.
"So, what's first?" Harry asked. "Quidditch supplies?"
"No, how about some new robes?" Daphne replied. "You may not have noticed, but you've grown since last year. So have I, for that matter. Madame Malkin's is right over there, let's go." Harry groaned but followed anyway. He did not especially like the process of picking out and having new robes fitted for him, but he knew it was necessary. They spent the next half hour in the store, most of it with Daphne mocking how uncomfortable he clearly was having his measurements taken. In the end though they both left with exactly what they came for. For the next few hours they strolled through Diagon Alley purchasing all the supplies they would need for the coming year and enjoying the anonymity. They both agreed that disguising themselves was the best way to spend time in public when they wanted to have a good time.
Eventually the day was drawing to a close. They had arrived shortly after lunch had barely noticed how much time had passed. They knew that they would be expected back soon so reluctantly they began to head back to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Their path took them past the entrance into Knockturn Alley and what Harry saw when he glanced down the seedier district stopped him in his tracks.
"Did you see that?" Harry asked as he took a step towards Knockturn Alley.
"See what?" Daphne asked, clearly unaware of what Harry was talking about.
"I could swear I just saw Rodolphus Lestrange walk into that pub." Harry explained. He took a few steps towards where he had seen the Death Eater before Daphne put a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"What are you thinking of doing, Harry?" Daphne asked. "You can't just go charging into Knockturn Alley and attack Lestrange, who knows what kind of back up he has."
"I just want to see what he's doing, ok?" Harry explained. "Maybe I'll get the chance to take him out, maybe not. But I can't just give up and let him go."
"OK, but just try not to draw attention to us." Daphne replied. Together they walked into Knockturn Alley and towards the pub where Rodolphus Lestrange had gone. They alley seemed unnaturally dark, even though the sun was brightly shining back in Diagon Alley. Very few people were there, and those who were made sure to keep their faces mostly covered. Harry and Daphne tried to do the same so as not to appear out of the ordinary. They approached the pub and stood next to it, looking through a dirty window that offered a view of the bar at which Lestrange now sat. A glass of amber colored liquid was placed in front of him and he eagerly drank it before ordering another. The bartender nodded and poured a glass, but it was clear from his face that he was reluctant to do anything to anger Lestrange.
"I knew it was him." Harry smirked as they watched. "Hopefully he'll be coming out of there soon."
"I don't know about that." Daphne said as Lestrange downed another drink. "He looks pretty occupied at the moment."
"Wait! What time is it?" Harry asked, remembering something he had heard the previous night.
"Almost five, why?" Daphne replied.
"Because Snape said they had a Death Eater meeting at five to discuss something big, all of the big shots are going to be there." Harry explained. "I guess we can just wait for him to leave..."
"That won't work." Daphne said. "See that door in the back? It leads outside. I've already seen a couple of people leave through it. My guess is that Lestrange will do the same thing when he has to leave."
"Well then do you think we should just go in there and drag him out?" Harry wondered. "I bet I could take him..."
"Too risky. I don't think we're going to be able to stop him, Harry." Daphne said sadly. She was disappointed as well. Lestrange had just been given a new drink, having quickly finished his first two. The other people in the bar had moved out of the Death Eater's way as if trying to avoid him.
"So we don't try and stop him, we do something else." Harry suggested. "I think I could get a tracking spell on him from here."
"Those are unpredictable if not done very close to the subject." Daphne replied with a shake of her head. "Wait a second... I think I may have an idea."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"If it works, we'll have to thank Snape and Malfoy." Daphne said with a grin. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a tiny pouch. When the pouch was opened Harry saw numerous small containers, each filled with a different potion. "I got the idea for this from Professor Snape. He always carries around a few useful potions just in case he needs them. And Malfoy gave me this idea." Daphne held up a vial that held a dark red liquid.
"Let me guess, the Draught of Rage?" Harry asked. Daphne nodded and carefully handed the potion to Harry. "Have I told you today how amazing you are?"
"Never hurts to say it again." Daphne replied. "Now, how good are your switching spells?"
"Oh I get it." Harry said as he began to understand Daphne's plan. "You want me to switch some of Rodolphus' beer with the potion. Do you think he'll notice?"
"He's drinking pretty fast, so hopefully not. Can you do it?"
"I think so." Harry answered. "The hard part is going to be figuring out when to do it. We don't want it to wear off before he gets there." Daphne nodded and they both turned back to the window trying to decide when to act. Lestrange had just been given another drink and reached out to take it when suddenly he stopped and winced in pain a little.
"Now Harry! He's just been called!" Daphne said, realizing that Lestrange's pain came from his Dark Mark being activated. Harry nodded and cast the switching spell. Instantly the red potion in the vial was replaced with some of Rodolphus' beer. They could only assume that the potion had made it's way into the Death Eater's glass. Rodolphus stood up from the bar and for a moment Harry and Daphne worried that he would leave without drinking the potion, but thankfully he retrieved his beer and downed it one long gulp. He then walked out the back door and left without paying. The bartender wisely did not try and stop him but was simply thankful he had left.
"Do you think it worked?" Harry asked. "I couldn't tell."
"I think so." Daphne answered, also unsure. "I guess the Death Eaters are about to find out."
Harry shrugged and happily began to imagine all the chaos they might have caused. He only wished he could be there to see it...
Rodolphus Lestrange did not know it, but Harry's spell had indeed worked exactly as he planned it.
The Death Eaters were all beginning to arrive at Voldemort's lair in response to the call, but Voldemort himself had not yet arrived. The room into which Lestrange and the others had apparated was dark and cold, with rough stone walls making it appear like the dungeon it was. As Rodolphus Lestrange looked around the room he scowled in annoyance at the others and the fact that his drinking had been interrupted. His mood did not at all approve when Crabbe and Goyle, two of the less intelligent Death Eaters, bumped into him,
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Lestrange demanded to know as he turned to face them. Already his hand was tightly clutching his wand, just waiting for an excuse to use it.
"Out of the way, Lestrange." Goyle said, unafraid of the other Death Eater. They attempted to keep walking, but Lestrange grabbed Goyle by the collar of his robe and threw him into the wall. Crabbe and Goyle both looked surprised by his actions, but Lestrange's face was twisted into a look of pure fury. "What's wrong with you?!"
"He's drunk!" Crabbe said, leaning in closer to Lestrange. The smell of alcohol still lingered around him. Lestrange growled at Crabbe, but kept Goyle pinned to the wall with his forearm at Goyle's neck.
"Stay out of this, you useless moron." Lestrange demanded, before turning back towards his victim. "Now, you will pay for what you did."
"You won't do anything to me." Goyle replied, not recognizing the danger he was in. By now the argument had started to draw a crowd of Death Eaters who had been waiting for Voldemort to arrive. Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy both watched, wondering what would happen.
"Oh really? CRUCIO!" Lestrange roared. Immediately Goyle fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Crabbe, seeing that his friend needed help, charged at Lestrange and knocked him to the ground. Lestrange hit the floor hard and struggled to get up while Crabbe went to check on Goyle. Everyone assumed the confrontation was over, but Rodolphus Lestrange had other ideas. Finally pulling himself to his feet, he pointed his wand at Crabbe's back and yelled "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Crabbe only had the chance to turn towards his attacker and look at him in shock before the green light struck him in the shoulder and sent him tumbling to the ground. The surrounding Death Eaters gasped in surprise, not expecting the argument to turn deadly. Goyle, seeing his life long friend murdered right in front of him, did the first thing that came to his mind. He aimed his wand at Lestrange and cast the killing curse right back at him. Fortunately for Lestrange he was able to dodge the curse, but a young Death Eater who was standing behind him was not so lucky. As he fell panic began to spread in the room as Death Eaters tried to get away from Goyle and Lestrange.
"Goyle!" Lucius Malfoy yelled, "Put down your wand!" Goyle looked at Malfoy for a moment, unsure of what to do. He knew that the Dark Lord would not be happy with what he had done, but Lestrange had killed Crabbe... His brief moment of uncertainty was what Lestrange had been waiting for, and he took advantage of it by firing another killing curse at Goyle. The large man tried to avoid it, but was not able to. He too collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap.
A moment after the spell had left Rodolphus Lestrange's wand Bellatrix fired a Expelliarmus at him and sent the wand flying to the ground. Rodolphus screamed in anger and dove for the wand, but was hit by an Incarcerous spell from Lucius Malfoy. The two senior Death Eaters stood over Rodolphus and looked at each other, unsure of what to do now. Around them the Death Eaters all began trying to talk over each other, some yelling for Lestrange to die and some trying to calm the others.
"SILENCE!" the magically amplified voice of Lord Voldemort demanded. Immediately all conversations stopped and the crowd parted so that Voldemort could approach Lestrange. As he stood over the man the potion in Lestrange's body began to wear off, and his senses came back to him. "Rodolphus... why have you betrayed me?"
"No, my lord!" Rodolphus pleaded. "I would never betray you!"
"But you have." Voldemort insisted. "Three men lay dead because of you. You know how this must end."
"No, please!" Rodolphus begged. "I don't know what came over me, someone set me up!"
"I shall have mercy on you." Voldemort finally answered. "Due to your many years of loyal service, I will not torture you before I kill you. Avada Kedavra." Voldemort spoke the words with no enthusiasm, disappointed that he was being forced to kill on of his most loyal followers. But the man must pay for his actions to ensure that the others understood the consequences of such behavior. Lestrange had no chance of avoiding the spell and soon he too was dead. Finally everyone understood that the carnage was over. Voldemort turned to head back to the front of the room, saying as he walked "Clean this up, we have business to attend to."
The newest Death Eaters understood that meant they were to dispose of the bodies, which they obediently began to do. The others just shook their heads and wondered how this could have happened before turning to face the Dark Lord who would not let that minor inconvenience get in his way.
Author's Note:
And the summer's drawing to a close. Thanks again for sticking with this story, it means a lot to me when I hear that you're enjoying it.