18-Snake's Lair
(3/12/97)
When Voldemort arrived in Britain, he soon lost any good mood he might have had. He first headed to the Riddle house. Although fully muggle, it served as a good place to hide and to keep his snake. Indeed, as soon as he arrived he tried to call Nagini using the connection he had with her due to the Horcrux. It didn't work. He felt no connection, as if the other side ceased to exist. That was quite worrisome.
He searched around in a spiral pattern, starting at the house and going farther as he found nothing, only some carrion birds flying farther away from the house than where he thought Nagini would roam indicated a possible position. He expected to find her sleeping, with the remains of a larger prey attracting the birds. Instead, he found the remains of a large snake. The body had been mostly eaten by that time and the head was in fractures nearby. He could still sense his own magical signature in the remains. That simply couldn't be! Nagini was supposed to be safe from predators, if only due to her size! Someone was going to pay with his life for this, and first of all – these birds!
He shot several spells at the carrion birds, killing two and making the others fly away, quickly getting out of range. That was certainly not enough to calm his rage. He apparated to Malfoy Manor. With all his minions expecting his return, he should be able to calm down.
That didn't happen. There was nobody guarding the gate, that wasn't even fully closed. The door was also unlocked, not that a lock would have stopped him. What stopped him was the chaos he could see the moment he passed the threshold.
People were arguing loudly with wands held tight; some fights could also be seen. Where was the atmosphere of having won almost complete control of the magical world in Britain? Where was the feeling of being supreme, not bowing to anybody but the Dark Lord? He was standing at the door and nobody was even noticing him!
"Silence!" he roared, using magic to enhance his voice.
The noise seemed to have been cut by a knife as everybody turned their gaze towards him. Unfortunately, very few were happy to see him. He would come to the meaning of this or heads would roll! Well, heads would roll in any case.
\/\/\/
When Dean was declared fit enough, the teens decided to add him to the training group, after he gave an appropriate oath. Dean wasn't surprised to find that the blond Mr. Gabriel was actually Harry, nor did he ask about the other changes. He trusted Harry to know what he was doing. Had he not followed Harry Potter as a member of the DA?
Harry was glad that Dean treated Luna nicely. Come to think of it, he treated most people nicely, unlike some other dorm mate he had. Harry didn't want to dwell on that.
Instead, he tried to improve the accuracy of his piercing spell. Hermione had also found a drilling spell that had similar effects, but was practically unstoppable. They both started training with it too. It needed less wand movement than the piercing charm, but they had to get accustomed to the new charm like they had to with any other charm.
They got another intelligence report during lunch. "The Dark Lord returned and is furious beyond comparison. He'd found Nagini's body first and then went to Malfoy Manor that was in chaos. Once he got that under control he found that Bellatrix and several others died in a fire, several others were killed, and the prisoners escaped. He already killed about ten of his minions, and his fury only seems to mount."
"Does it look like he's going to attack any place tonight?" Harry asked.
"No. He'd been heard mumbling about 'one down' due to Nagini's death. He seems to think of his soul anchors and we guess he's going to check on them first, before doing anything."
Harry sighed. "That probably gives us another day to train before we go into action. Keep a tab on what's happening there and inform me immediately if there's a change."
"It will be done."
He turned to Hermione. "Maybe we should buy handguns for Remus, Dean and Luna, at least. These may be effective at ranges that are too long for most spells and I believe that no magical shield can stop them."
Dora was quick to agree. "At the Auror training, we were told that most magical shields are useless against muggle weapons, mainly because they're supposed to stop curses, not physical objects. There's one spell that creates a physical shield, but it's very complicated and not useful under combat situation."
"Do you think you can find it in the library? If so, I may be able to come with a simpler version," Hermione said, sounding very eager.
Harry felt sure that if anybody could do it, that was Hermione.
He tried to plan for what would come next. He was sure that Voldemort would find out that some of his soul anchors were gone. He would not be able to check Bella's vault, but he might want to check at Hogwarts, or maybe send Wormtail to check it. According to the reports, the traitor was not dead yet. He wondered if Lucius would survive telling what happened to the one entrusted to him. Then there were the ring and the locket. He would probably check them in person and find them missing. How that madman would react to this was anybody's guess.
Still, experience indicated that the madman would either try something grandiose or sulk for a time, planning revenge. Either way, nobody had any indication about who killed the Death Eaters nor about what happened to Nagini. For a time, only his minions suffered his wrath, but that may not do much good for the opposition. And then he'd want something grandiose anyway.
Harry needed to find how to divert Voldemort's attention back to the magical world. Attacking any significant target in the muggle world might expose the magical world and Harry had no illusions about the results of such a confrontation. Wizard magic was no competition to high power bombs or laser-guided missiles. The magical world would be doomed. He had to stop Voldemort from exposing it!
Hermione was fully aware of the turmoil in Harry's mind and even had some idea about what he was thinking. After all, she'd been his best friend since he was eleven.
"He's mortal now, remember that. Anybody may kill him. Even a house-elf could do that, if you ask for it."
Harry shook his head. "The prophecy stated that it must be me. While I don't believe in it like Dumbledore did, I wouldn't like to risk anybody else, in case it's still true. And He can still be a formidable enemy."
She nodded. "Sure, he's a very powerful and knowledgeable wizard, but he's only one man… well, somewhat. We must find a way to challenge him to an open duel. You'll have a handgun. I'll be on a roof nearby with my rifle. We'll make it."
Harry smiled sadly. "It's not that easy. He controls the papers and the only magical radio station."
"We can cover Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade with pamphlets calling for a duel, calling him a coward who hides behind his minions for fear someone will best him. We can just use a muggle drone to spread these over the area and protect the papers from being summoned or burned, so they will need to pick them one by one to remove them from the street.
"We may also find a way to broadcast. Maybe contact the twins for inclusion in Potter Watch transmissions," Hermione told him.
"Where and when would you suggest the duel?" he asked.
"It should be nowhere near muggles, and as far from any lodgings. This leaves only one place – Hogwarts."
"But the students…"
"...will be home for Christmas. We'll set it a few days after they start the winter vacation. I suspect Snape would send everybody home. No need to endanger the next generation of Death Eaters, you know."
Harry allowed himself to smile. "That might just work, you know."
She smiled back. "Of course, we'll have to gain control of Hogwarts as soon as the students leave, to assure there's no ambush against you and to set our own ambush. Our unstoppable drilling charm gives very similar results to a bullet hit. Nobody needs to know how exactly we did it."
They had to plan, of course, as well as staying ready to respond to any attack on unsuspecting civilians, but it didn't seem so gloomy any more.
\/\/\/
They got another update that evening. "The Dark one left Malfoy Manor alone after sending Wormtail to Hogwarts. Did Dobby tell you that he left there an exact replica of the Diadem he brought to you? He hadn't interrogated Lucius yet, since the man seems to have lost his mind after finding that his wife left. He'd been heard mumbling 'How dare she?' and 'I need revenge!' One of the house-elves isn't sure, but he believes he heard him thinking of killing Draco as revenge on Narcissa."
"Shouldn't we warn him?" Harry thought aloud.
The house-elf shook his head. "Draco has taken the Dark Mark. You know what that means."
Harry nodded sadly.
\/\/\/
At Hogwarts, the atmosphere felt much lighter since the Carrows disappeared. They still had Snape as Headmaster, but he didn't torture students. He was extremely strict, for sure, but fairer than expected, based on his behaviour the previous years.
Severus Snape also felt lighter since those horrible twins had been removed. He wanted to enjoy the respite since he was sure that the Dark Lord would send someone even worse as their replacement.
He didn't really mind what would happen to the Potter brat. He could just go and hang himself, for all Snape minded, The only reason he still wanted Potter to win was because that meant that the Dark Lord would lose. Severus had no illusions about himself. He knew that he was the cause that the Dark Lord went to the Potters that Halloween, even if he hadn't wanted it that way. He only hoped he could get revenge for Lily. The rest was of no interest to him whatsoever.
And yet, if he could do something not very obvious to help finish the Dark Lord, he'd gladly do it. If only he knew what to do…
\/\/\/
The house-elf in charge of delivering the information the next morning seemed quite smug. "The Dark Lord is beyond furious. He killed Lucius Malfoy and that moved the wards into war lockdown mode, evicting anybody who wasn't a Malfoy from the estate. The Dark Lord landed on his butt outside the outer wards just like his minions."
The house-elf smiled a predatory smile, quite uncommon on a house-elf. "Of course, the wards disregard house-elves, so we could check everything freely. Lucius is really dead, but he had never declared Draco as his heir, so the wards don't recognize him as such. He'll have to go to Gringotts and perform a lengthy ritual to claim his position and release the wards, assuming he lives long enough to do it."
"So, where is the Dark Lord now?" Harry asked.
"He went back to Riddle house, not trusting any of his followers any longer. He sees every one of them as his potential assassin. Quite paranoid, I'd say."
"Where are the other Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, he took them there too, but they stay in a different wing and only come to him when called, and even then – only a pace beyond the door."
"So, he checked for his toys and didn't find them. What about Wormtail?"
"He found the fake diadem and brought it to his master just before he started interrogating Malfoy. He paid with his life for the fake."
Harry considered it a poetical justice. Wormtail betrayed the Potters for Voldemort and was rewarded by death. It just fit. And the death of Lucius Malfoy was also quite a reward. Draco would follow soon, of that he felt sure. If only he could feel so sure about the confrontation with Voldemort...
Harry felt quite sure that with the loss of Malfoy Manor, Voldemort would need some time to reorganize at the new headquarters. Unlike Malfoy Manor, there were no house-elves at Riddle house and the minions would have to either bring some of their own house-elves or do the work themselves. The Dark Lord didn't mind cleanliness that much, but he wanted his meals on time and of high quality and his bed made soon after he left it. It was a sure bet that some of his minions would pay dearly for any lack of service in that house.
Well, that pause allowed them to go to another arms dealer and buy some handguns and ammunition. They discarded the idea of buying another sniper rifle just because there didn't seem to be enough time to train anybody to use it well. Handguns were easier to use and could be just as lethal in the right circumstances.
With their shopping done, they returned to the Manor. Training was becoming more and more important.
A.N. Please note that the drones mentioned are NOT the modern computerized plastic helicopters. I'm referring to the ones created usually by amateurs, using light wood and thin paper with rudimentary radio-control. These existed since my teens, man-many years ago, way before the time of this story. As for the guns - see my previous AN.