Chapter 52
"Tell me, what happened? What do we know so far?" Asked Kingsley sternly.
"Well sir, we were doing like you told us to. We were driving by the place regularly, about every half hour or so. On our last circuit we noticed the front door standing wide open." The Auror began.
Kingsley sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands. "It looks like Snape betrayed the location of Grimmauld Place after all." He said.
The statement almost passed Harry by, but then he remembered something. Something that happened last year. Something that happened in what felt like a long time ago.
"I don't think so, sir," Harry said thoughtfully, "I think it was Yaxley, not Professor Snape who knew the location. I bet it was he that passed it on to Lestrange."
Ron looked at Harry, and Harry saw recognition dawn in his best mate's eyes.
"Of course, when we escaped the Ministry! Yaxley had caught Hermione and I fended him off. That was how I got splinched. So he did see Grimmauld Place after all."
"I doubt it was very important to the Dark Lord to know about," Kingsley said thoughtfully, "That's not the type of thing that would have interested him. But Lestrange? That's another matter. He's proven that he's calculating enough to sit on something like this until it best suits his needs."
Kingsley glanced at Mr. Weasley, who was practically jumping up and down in restraint. It was clear that he wanted to leave. To get home and try and discern what happened. Maybe try and find a clue as to where his wife and daughter were.
"How did you come to find out the people inside were gone?" Kingsley asked the Auror.
"When we went inside sir. It's clear that there was a struggle. We couldn't find anyone, except a half dead house elf."
"Kreacher!" Harry gasped. "Is he okay?"
"He got beat up pretty badly. I'm betting he put up a pretty good fight. He wasn't too coherent, so we couldn't ask him how many there were, but there must have been a fair few at least."
"What makes you say that?" Asked the Minister.
"The place is a mess. There's furniture strewn all over the place. There's blood on the floor and walls, and what looks like bits of hair. I don't think there's a dish in that house that didn't get broken."
"Let's get over there," Kingsley said grabbing his traveling cloak. "Potter, Weasley, you better come too. It looks like you have your first case already."
A group of wizards and witches, Harry, Ron, Mr. Weasley, and the Minister of Magic among them, descended upon number twelve, Grimmauld Place. The house was soon a bustling hive of activity.
When Harry's eyes landed on the chaos that lay inside, he felt sick to his stomach. The inside of the house was completely destroyed. It reminded Harry very much of that last battle at Hogwarts and the mess that had been made of the school. Bits of plaster, wood, glass, and fabric covered everything. And then there was the blood.
There was a lot of blood. Most of it was concentrated in the hall and on the stairs. Harry followed a trail that looked like it was going upstairs. He went first past the room Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared, then past the room Ginny and Hermione shared to the room shared by Harry and Ron.
The blood trail ended in that room. It was on the walls, the sheets and beds, and all over the floor. Harry sorely hoped that it didn't belong to just one person. He didn't think someone could lose that much blood and live for very long.
Harry, Ron, Mr. Weasley, and Kingsley himself looked around the room. It was clear that this room had taken the brunt of the damage of the upstairs rooms. The others were still a mess, but Harry and Ron's was the most messy.
"Where's Kreacher?" Harry asked weakly. He put a hand on the wall to steady himself.
"I'm not sure, just a second..." Kingsley said quietly. He left the room and was back a minute later. "They moved him to St. Mungo's. He's under guard until we get there."
Harry only nodded. At least he was still alive. Maybe, hopefully, the elf would be able to give an accounting of what happened in the house Harry's Godfather had left him.
The group of men went back downstairs and started trying to help the Aurors piece together what happened. As near as anyone could tell the Death Eaters came in the front door and probably caught Mrs. Weasley unawares. One or both of the girls came downstairs to see what was going on and they all probably went up stairs together. That they all tried to barricade themselves in Harry and Ron's room was known. What became the next question was why? Why barricade in Harry and Ron's room? There were other places in the house that were more easily defended.
Some other questions that came up were how many Death Eaters were there? It was known that at Christmas a few had been killed. How many more were there? What were they after that they waited so long to strike? Did they know that Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley were gone at the time they attacked? Did they plan this on purpose for this day and time?
If so, that gave rise to an ugly question. If the Death Eaters deliberately attacked when the three men living in the house were gone, then it meant that they had someone in the Ministry giving them information. That was an idea that did not sit well with Kingsley.
Mr. Weasley, who had withstood battles at Hogwarts, the Burrow, and other places, who endured the deaths of his son and numerous friends, didn't look like he was faring so well. He was sitting on a chair in the kitchen. He had his head in one hand, and an untouched drink in the other. Ron and Harry had just entered the kitchen. They were unsure as to what to say, or even if he wanted them there when the door to Grimmauld Place opened and two more Aurors came in.
"Minister! Come quick!" Shouted one of them.
"What is it?" Asked Kingsley who was talking to another Auror in the hall.
Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley came into the Hall to see what the commotion was. They had just entered when the Aurors made their announcement:
"Sir, there's been two more attacks. One in Diagon Alley and one at the Tonks home."
Harry suddenly felt weak in the knees. His Godson! Mrs. Tonks! He had a hunch who the attack was on in Diagon Alley, so it only confirmed that hunch when the Auror answered Kingsley's question of who had been attacked there. "George Weasley and his girlfriend."
"Oh no..." Whispered Ron. Harry felt the firm hand of Mr. Weasley on his shoulder and knew there would be one on Ron's shoulder as well.
"The Weasley boy and his girlfriend are both gone. But old Mrs. Tonks must have been more than the Death Eaters who went to grab her could handle. She's fine, staying now with a close friend. The baby is with her."
The Auror took a minute to catch his breath and went on, "She said there were two of them, and according to her they weren't very smart. They didn't seem to think that an old lady could fight them off as well as she did."
"I know a few old ladies who could stand their ground, and that lady would be first among them," Kingsley said smugly, "Any word on the other two?"
"No sir, but that joke shop looks just exactly like this place. It's a mess. Stuff is everywhere. It's going to take a long time to get that mess cleaned up."
"Does it look like anything was stolen?" Harry asked in a voice that was almost void of emotion.
The Auror turned and looked at Harry curiously. Then turned back to Kingsley and said, "No, it doesn't look like anything was stolen. It looks like all they were after were the people inside."
"This time," added Harry.
"What was that?" Asked the Auror, who had turned back to Harry.
"I said 'this time'. The last time the Death Eaters were in that shop, they attacked George and stole a lot of his stuff for sale." Harry answered.
"George..." Ron said weakly. It was clear he was having a hard time with the scene in front of him and hearing that it was just as bad at his brother's shop.
"Son, you're an Auror now. This is what being an Auror means. Come on, you know this..." Said Mr. Weasley.
Harry looked up at the man who was speaking. His face was grim, his jaw set. His skin had lost much of its color. Harry worried for him, but he was right. This is exactly what being an Auror meant. Seeing stuff like this and stopping those who were responsible for causing it to happen.
"Are you going to be okay, son?" Asked Kingsley kindly.
Ron looked up at the Minister of Magic. His eyes were glazed over and it was clear that he was feeling extremely upset about what he had seen and heard. However Ron swallowed hard once, set his jaw and squared his shoulders.
"Yes, sir. I'll be okay."
Kingsley nodded once. Mr. Weasley clapped Ron on his shoulder and nodded himself. Harry had never been more proud of his friend. It was a difficult situation and would probably only become more so as time went on and they got deeper in this. However Ron was able to put that difficulty aside and face those things head on. Just like he had when fighting Voldemort. Only this time the situation was different. His mother, sister, and the person he was going to marry had been captured. Who knew if they were hurt or how bad? That Ron was able to do his job and face it while putting this fear and worry aside was an immeasurable accomplishment. In that moment Harry knew that being an Auror was the right job for Ron, and that he could do it just was well as anyone who had come before.
Thinking about Ron and what he faced losing made Harry think about Ginny. Just the thought of her name brought an intense ache to his chest. He looked down at the ring he wore and noted that even now, of all times, it still glowed. It wasn't glowing brightly, but still he knew that Ginny was thinking about him just as he was thinking about her. It made him all the more dedicated towards the job ahead of him done quickly.
Harry turned back to the Auror who had been speaking to Kingsley. The two men looked at each other as if they were sizing each other up. Finally the Auror turned to Harry and held out his hand;
"Stephen Gleason," He said.
"Harry Potter," Harry replied taking the Auror's hand. He watched as the Auror's eyes traveled up to the scar on Harry's forehead. Almost as if it was a reflex action. Clearly he'd heard of Harry before.
"Well, that explains why you know so much about all this anyway," Gleason said, "I take it you just had your meeting with the Minister here?"
"Just this morning. Both Ron and I did."
Gleason looked over at Ron and nodded at him, "I'm sorry about your family and your lady-friend. We'll get them back."
"Yes," Said Harry, "We will."
Gleason turned back to Harry from looking at Ron. He nodded and then went on.
"From what we can tell the attacks must have happened all at once. Everyone was caught by surprise,"
"Sure, that makes sense," Said Harry.
"How so?" Kingsley asked.
"Well if they take them all at once, all by surprise, then no one gets away do they? Or if they do it really limits their options on where they can go. Has anyone checked out Shell Cottage? Or Auntie Muriel's place? Do we know if the Death Eaters tried there?"
"Whose at Shell Cottage?" Asked Gleason, looking over at Kingsley.
"My brother and his wife," Ron answered brusquely, "And Auntie Muriel is real old and probably wouldn't defend herself as well as Andromeda Tonks can."
"I don't think that..."
But Kingsley interrupted him, "Gleason, listen. If the Death Eaters have attacked Grimmauld Place, and the Weasley joke shop in Diagon Alley, as well as the home of Andromeda Tonks, it stands to reason that they might have tried the other two places as well. Especially as seeing as they both have close ties to Harry and the Weasley family."
"We'll get right on it sir!" Gleason said as he stepped away.
"I'll go with you," Said Mr. Weasley, walking after the Auror.
"I'm going too," Ron said.
Harry looked around at Grimmauld Place. He had a feeling that there was something there that he needed to see. Maybe a clue that hadn't been discovered yet. However if something had happened to either Ron's Aunt or his brother and sister-in-law, then Harry wanted to be there to support his friend. He decided that Grimmauld Place could wait. He left with the others.
When the team of people arrived at Shell Cottage, it consisted of: Ron, Mr. Weasley, Harry, Gleason, and two other Aurors that Harry hadn't yet been introduced to. Together they apparated onto the beach and then began carefully following the path up to the cottage door.
The place looked quiet. Not a soul in sight. There was flowers coming up around the home and path, and the beginnings of a small vegetable garden that had recently been planted.
They quietly made their way up to the front door, and Mr. Weasley knocked twice. There was no answer. He knocked again. Then, blissfully, the door opened and Bill Weasley opened the door.
"Dad?" He said, then he looked around and saw Harry, Ron, and the Aurors, "Dad, what's going on?"
The relief on Mr. Weasley's face was clear. Even Ron seemed to have a weight lifted off his shoulders, if only for a moment.
"There's been an attack son," Mr. Weasley looked around at the Aurors standing there around him.
Harry turned towards Gleason and the other Aurors, "Maybe we should look around and make sure that no one else is around." He said tactfully.
Ron looked from his father, to his brother and back to Harry. He didn't say anything but he was the first one to start walking down the garden path and start looking around the dunes and low hills that surrounded his brother's home. Harry and the Aurors quickly followed him. Mr. Weasley went inside the cottage to break the news to his eldest son about what had happened.
The grounds around Bill Weasley's home was clear of any intruders. The Aurors, now including Harry and Ron, scoured the area. They flushed a lot of birds and even a feral cat or two, but no Death Eaters.
Harry used the time while he was walking around the beach and surrounding hills to think. The Death Eaters must have known about Grimmauld Place for some time. Why hadn't they attacked before now? What had they been waiting for? Was it for Harry to be out of the way, or everyone in the house? If they had been waiting for the men to leave, why attack George? There were just too many questions to answer. That there were more questions than answers was beginning to give Harry a headache.
The group finished up scouting around the beach near the Weasley home. They were making their way back, when a loud popping sound could be heard from somewhere nearby. Almost instantly five wands were in hand, and five Aurors were converging on the source of the sound.
They came up over a ridge and saw four Death Eaters making their way to the house of Shell Cottage. They had their wands out, and from the way they were running it was clear they were trying not to be seen.
The cottage was in view. The Death Eaters would get there before the Aurors would have a chance to catch up to them. Reflexively Harry stood up and silently shot a quick spell at the house. He watched in satisfaction as a window shattered. The noise brought the Death Eaters up short. It was exactly what the Aurors needed.
They came up quickly behind the Death Eaters just as two wands, Mr. Weasley's and Bills poked out through the broken window firing stunning spells at them. The Death Eaters turned to take cover and found themselves running headlong into the waiting group of Aurors.
"Quick over there!" Shouted one of them.
The Death Eaters changed direction and started trying to get behind one of the dunes. Harry saw what they were trying to do and tapped Ron on the shoulder.
"Come on, this way!" He said as he started running around the back side of the dune to cut them off.
He came around the sand dune in front of the Death Eaters, and he and Ron took cover and the fight began. The Death Eaters put up a good fight, but it was clear that they had been caught unprepared.
Harry let loose another stunning spell at one of them and was rewarded by seeing a Death Eater fall to the ground. One of the Death Eaters fell back to try and help the fallen one, and fell to a stunning spell from the top of a nearby dune. It was Bill Weasley. The other two crouched down trying to find a way out of their current situation. They were caught but didn't look like they were quite ready to accept it yet.
"Don't bother, you're surrounded." Said Gleason, almost casually.
"Put your wands down, you're coming with us." Said another Auror.
By now Mr. Weasley and Bill were coming down the other side of the dune and joining the Aurors. Everyone had their wands trained on the Death Eaters.
"You're not going to take us anywhere," said one of the Death Eaters.
It was impossible to tell who, as they all wore masks and dark cloaks. Then a thought crossed Harry's mind; why wait until now to come after Bill and Fleur? Was Auntie Muriel next? Harry wanted to voice his concerns but didn't dare at the moment.
"I don't see how you have a choice in the matter," Bill said coldly, "What do you want with my family?"
The Death Eater just laughed coldly. Then one of the Death Eaters turned and pointed at Harry.
"He knows. He knows what we want. He knows why we're here."
The statement caught Harry off guard. He thought about it for a minute, then, "Of course! Atticus wants his revenge, doesn't he?" Harry said realizing, "He wants revenge for those Death Eaters we killed at Christmas time."
"Very good Potter," Said the Death Eater who had been speaking to him, "Very good. However Revenge is only a very small part of what Atticus wants from you."
Harry looked at the Death Eaters and wondered what else it was that Atticus might want. He was going to ask when Gleason stepped forward,
"Enough of this," He ordered, "Drop your wands! Stand up!"
"I don't think so, boy." Replied the Death Eater, bringing up his wand.
He didn't have a chance to do much more than raise his hand, multiple stunning spells brought him and the other Death Eater down. Then the Aurors stepped forward leaving Bill and Mr. Weasley alone for the moment.
The four Death Eaters were bound by ropes conjured from the wands of the Death Eaters who captured them. They were then levitated off the ground and all taken back to the beach.
"We need to get you somewhere safe," Gleason said to Bill Weasley, "Do you have a family?"
"Yes, my wife. She's pregnant with our first child," Bill said staring at the captured Death Eaters.
"You have my congratulations then, sir. Now please, go get your wife and pack a few things. We'll take you down to the Ministry for now. Until we sort this out."
When the group got back to the Ministry, the Auror Department and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were in an uproar. Kingsley was in the office with the Aurors trying to make heads or tales of it all. They weren't meeting with much success.
Then Harry remembered something; "I want to talk to Kreacher," He said.
Kingsley looked confused for a moment before he remembered, "Your house elf! Of course, I forgot all about him! Great idea, Harry."
So it was that Harry, Ron, Mr. Weasley, Gleason, and Kingsley himself went down to St. Mungo's Hospital to see the house elf.
Gleason kept looking over at the Minister, looking like he was burning to ask him something. Finally he turned and said; "Sir? Can I ask you something?"
They were walking into the hospital and had stopped to wait in line at the station inside the main lobby.
Kingsley looked over at the Auror and replied; "You're wondering why I'm here, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"I know under the last few Ministers, they haven't really done a lot of direct involvement in cases like this one. As I'm sure you're quite aware, I used to head the Auror Department. This is an important case in that it involves the remaining Death Eaters that You-Know-Who recruited himself. Does it not then stand to reason that I might want to take a personal hand in making sure that this case is resolved quickly?"
Gleason looked like he was a little chastised, "I guess so, sir."
"Moreover, Potter here and his friend Weasley were just inducted into the Auror Program today. I have some big plans for that department, and I intend to have them help me put those plans into effect."
This was news to Harry. Under other circumstances he would have been quite curious to find out what those plans were and what part it was that he would be expected to play in bringing those plans to pass. As it was, he barely registered what was said. He was sick with worry. He wanted to know what happened to Ginny and Hermione, not to mention Mrs. Weasley, George and Angelina. He knew that Ron felt the same way. It was his family that had been attacked.
The group was quickly passed through the security checkpoint and then shown to the guarded room where Kreacher had been taken. The Healers were diligently working on him, feeding him potions and trying to help him to heal. The elf looked like he had been beaten severely.
There were cuts, bruises, scrapes, and abrasions all over his small body. One eye was swollen shut, and his leg was in a cast. One of the healers said that it had been badly broken.
When Harry led the group into his room, the house elf looked up at Harry fearfully.
"Master is here to give Kreacher his clothes. Kreacher has failed his Master."
The elf looked like he was in intense pain, and that seeing Harry at that point wasn't helping him. Harry saw the locket he'd given Kreacher, the fake one he and Dumbledore had found in that cave by the ocean, sitting on a table where it had been precariously placed.
He picked it up, and took it over to the house elf. He gingerly placed it around the elf's neck. Harry was very careful to avoid the wounds the elf had suffered when he was doing this. However the effect was nearly instantanious. Kreacher's eye brightened and he looked reverently at Harry.
"Nonsense Kreacher, I understand you tried to protect them?" Harry asked quietly.
"Kreacher did. Kreacher tried and tried, but there were too many of them. Too many. Kreacher tried to keep them from Master's friend and Master's pureblood wife to be."
"How many dark wizards were there Kreacher?" Asked Ron quietly.
"More than this," the elf said trying to hold up both his hands.
He had four fingers on each hand. That meant there were more than eight of them. Harry looked over at Kingsley, who nodded.
"Kreacher," Harry said as kindly as could manage. He wasn't sure he could stand hearing the answer to what it was he was about to ask the elf, "Can you please tell me what happened?"
"Master?" Kreacher asked, seemingly confused.
"When the Dark Wizards came into the house, what happened?" Harry clarified.
"The Dark Wizards came in and they were very insistent. They wanted the women to go with them. Master's friends and the mother pureblood fought valiantly, but the Dark Wizards were too powerful. Too powerful and too strong. Kreacher tried to stop them, he did! They did mean, nasty things to Master's friends. The Dark Wizards chased them. They hit them. They grabbed them by the hair!" Kreacher's guilt seemed to be extreme. He covered his face with his hands.
"What happened then?"
"Kreacher tried to fight them. He cursed them and hexed them and made one of them bleed most profusely. Then they hit Kreacher. They hit him and hit him and hit him again, and Kreacher wasn't able to fight them anymore."
"That must be when the fight went upstairs." Gleason stated matter of factly.
Kingsley nodded. "I would assume that's correct."
"Now what?" Asked Ron who seemed to be feeling very disheartened.
"What do you mean?" Gleason wanted to know.
"I think what my son means is," Mr. Weasley said with a touch of irritation in his tone, "We seem to have reached a dead end here. What do we do now to find my wife and daughter?"
"And my girlfriend," Said Ron.
"Well," Said Kingsley, "I think we need to take some time to examine all of this, but I should think that getting everyone back safely is top priority."
"And how are we going to do that?" Harry asked.
"Well Harry," Kingsley said turning towards him, "You have more experience in dealing with these Death Eaters than any of us. I was wanting to know what your ideas are."
