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Chapter 59

October 12th, 1995

With a heavy thud, Fleur and Harry landed on the ground. Harry was still clutching his scar. The pain felt such as strong, as when Voldemort had touched him in the Graveyard. He felt the Dark Lord's emotions surge through him...

He felt his rage and when he concentrated on it, he could swear that he saw him setting fire to the room they just apparated away from, destroying any and all evidence left behind by their escape.

"Harry!" He could make out Fleur and felt soft hands cup his chin. "Harry, can you hear me? Come back to me, my love."

He slowly regained his sense of what was going on around him. He heaved himself up from the knee-high grass he was currently laying in and steadied himself on his elbows with the help of Fleur.

He was still panting heavily, but at least by now, Harry could make out where he had apparated them too. He had taken him to a place, where he knew he could bypass the anti-apparition wards to. The spot where he had first managed to achieve this incredibly complex piece of magic. The wide, empty field, Dumbledore had taken him to learn at.

Looking up he saw the beautiful face of his girlfriend with worry and fear in her deep blue eyes: "Harry, can you hear me?"

He nodded and the next thing he knew, was that he felt himself engulfed in a strong hug, with a wall of platinum hair right in front of his face. He patted her back reassuringly: "It's okay, we got out there..."

"I saw him, Harry. He looked even worse than in your memory... A face like a snake... And his eyes.." Fleur gulped.

Harry asked the most important question: "Did he see you?"

Thank Merlin, Fleur shook her head: "You were already apparating us by the time he entered the room. As soon as you start apparating anyone around you will only see a whirlwind of dark colors."

Harry relaxed a bit at that: "You were brilliant Fleur... You quickly won your duel and even managed to preserve our identity by killing MacNair and his son before Voldemort arrived. Do you think the woman bled to death before he had a chance to enter her mind?"

Fleur nodded: "I almost cut her head clean off. She was probably dead by the time MacNair pressed the Dark Mark..."

"Good, we can't have him figure out who attacks his Death Eater..." Harry says. He slowly got back up on his legs, taking a few tentative steps with the support of Fleur: "He is angry, Fleur... I saw him... He destroyed the entire Manor..."

Fleur frowned: "What do you mean, you saw him?"

"I sometimes had visions of him last year... thinks he was doing... or whenever he felt a very powerful emotion. I can't block them out, no matter how much I reinforce my Occlumency shields." Harry explained.

"I saw him destroy the manor in his rage that we escaped. Hopefully, the anger and rage also mean that he did not manage to get a good enough look at us to figure out who we are..."

Fleur nodded her head: "Let's get back to the Chamber, we can talk there and brief Salazar on what happened."

Harry agreed with her. He waited another minute before holding out his hand to side-along her. He did not want to risk splinching either of them. They arrived in Salazar's quarter.

"Oh, you guys are back already... I take it all went well then?"

At the frown on both their faces, he continued: "What happened?"

Harry allowed Fleur to retell the events of the night, while he got himself a pepper-up potion.

"Well, I am glad you got out there alive. I think we all know that even together you don't want to face Tom at this point already..."

Fleur agreed: "I am just glad Harry knows how to bypass anti-apparition wards. I think it's safe to say that Voldemort might have gotten us otherwise or at least discovered who we are."

"We should have been more careful," Harry spoke up. "Things got too risky this night and we should have expected that MacNair might call for help via the Dark Mark. I can't believe I was stupid enough to oversee such an important detail."

"We are going to lay low for a while now. I am certain Voldemort will have a trap for us the very next time. He knows someone is hunting his Death Eaters now. He will start adding his own wards on their homes and I am not too keen to encounter them again so soon." Harry explained, thinking about the Gaunt's shack and the protections around it.

"But the mission was still a success, Harry." Salazar chimed in: "You killed the target and his Death Eater spawn. One could argue that the wife did not deserve it, but it sounds like she was a sympathizer, and the less of those, the better for you two."

The Founder waited a moment before continuing: "But I agree with you. You need to lay low."

Harry nodded absently. An idea had started taking shape in his mind. Then, he laughed wholeheartedly.

"Are you okay, my love?" Fleur raised a single delicate eyebrow.

Harry calmed himself: "Yes... Yes... I am fine but I was just thinking how the events of this night must look to the other Death Eaters... Think about it... MacNair calls Voldemort, which every other Death Eater feels through his mark..."

"And now, either tonight or tomorrow morning, they will learn that the entire MacNair family is dead and the manor destroyed... What do you think they will assume happened?"

Fleur's eyes brightened and she grinned: "They will think MacNair called Voldemort over something not worth his attention and he leashed out on them... continuing he streak of killing his own followers... Perhaps this has worked almost better than we could have hoped..."

Salazar roared in laughter: "Now that's the Slytherin traits I have been looking for in my heirs. You are right, Harry... it must look very suspicious to them."

Harry's grin, however, vanished when he thought about his scar and the pain he felt... Somehow his visions were connected to it as well: "I need to figure out why my scar hurts so much whenever Voldemort is near me. I won't be able to think clearly or fight him if I am distracted by some sharp pain in my forehead... There has got to be a solution for it."

"I also don't like those visions you have, my love... Especially not if they bring you so much pain." Fleur added and softly stroked his hand.

Salazar nodded absently: "There seems to be some sort of connection between the two of you... We must hope that Tom is unable to reverse it and see into your mind."

At Fleur's and Harry's panicked looks, he comforted the teenagers: "If that was the case, he would already know that it was Harry who is actively hunting his Death Eaters... No, I don't think Tom is aware of this connection yet. But we cannot be sure until we have a better understanding of it ourselves. We will figure something out, no worries..."

"Alright..." Harry groaned. His body was still aching: "Well, Salazar... I need some rest for the night and I think so does Fleur... I am sure that the special Veela massage technique she showed me last time will help me get back in a good condition quickly... Unfortunately, you know what that means..."

Fleur's cheeks had turned a faint pink and she playfully swatted Harry's hand away.

Salazar growled and rolled his eyes: "You know, Harry. For centuries I was hoping an heir of mine would discover these chambers... I never thought he would use them the way you do."

Harry grinned as he pulled Fleur closer by her waist and gave her a passionate kiss: "Id say embracing the physical aspects of the relationship with my beautiful girlfriend is an excellent way to use your chamber. Perhaps the second-best place in the castle. Definitely better than some broom cupboard."

Salazar murmured angrily: "Let me guess... the best place is Rowena's room?"

"Exactly... Now allow me to accompany you out into the main chamber..." Harry flicked his wand into his palm and started levitating the angry Portrait out of the room. The last thing Fleur heard was the Founder begging them to use silencing charms this time...

October 13th, 1995

Fleur woke up to the sound of someone saying Harry's name. It must have been her imagination... After all, with the Portrait out of the room, she and Harry were the only people left. She wrapped her leg back over Harry's warm and strong body and tried to get a bit more sleep.

"Harry Potter!"

Fleur growled... Who in Morgana's name was interrupting their sacred private time? She listened carefully.

Harry Potter!"

The voice sounded familiar... It came out of the top drawer on the small nightstand next to Harry's side of the large bed. Reluctantly she crawled over him and opened the drawer.

Inside lay a familiar-looking golden Mirror with the handsome face of Sirius Black grinning at her. Luckily, Fleur had been careful enough to cover herself from the neck down with some blankets.

"Ms. Delacour... what a very pleasant surprise... You don't happen to know why my godson is, do you?"

Fleur yawned before responding: "This better be important, Sirius."

"Well, I know you two must have had an intense night..." Fleur blushed furiously. "... but I really need to speak to Harry right now. The order is holding an emergency meeting in roughly a minute."

At this, Fleur shook herself out of the tired state she had been in and quickly shook Harry's shoulders to wake him up. The boy groaned as his eyes fluttered open:

"I remember you used to wake me up in more romantic ways..."

"Harry!" Sirius yelled happily. "Good to hear your voice pub."

"Who let the dog in?" Harry joked, but he quickly readied himself. Sirius must have a good reason to call him.

The man barked in laughter at the other end of the connection: "Sorry pub, but the order is having an emergency meeting and I assumed you did not want to miss it."

Harry nodded eagerly: "keep the connection on, we will be quiet on our end."

"I am on my way in there." Sirius grinned and Harry heard him walking down what must be the staircase at Grimmauld Place and opening a door, probably to the kitchen.

Harry pulled Fleur closer by the waist and placed the mirror down in front of them on the blanket, so they both could hear.

"Sirius, thank you for joining us." Harry made out Dumbledore's voice: "Well, we better get started immediately then..."

"What happened," Molly Weasley asked: "Another attack by the mysterious person?"

"Perhaps," Dumbledore explained: "We don't know for sure yet. Kingsley, why don't you and Nymphadora start with your reports?"

Shacklebolt cleared his throat: "Last night around 9:00 pm, the Muggle police and firefighter were called to a manor in north wales to extinguish a fire. Soon the DMLE was notified that the flames were not natural... When we arrived, the entire manor was burned down already. Pretty much nothing was left."

"Who did the Villa belong to?" William Weasley asked.

"The MacNairs," Tonks answered his question: "According to the Unspeakables the Villa had been destroyed by Fiendfyre. They also made out the residual magical signature of Walden MacNair, his son, and wife. All three must have either died in the fire or shortly beforehand."

"What is the DMLE's and Minister's position?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"Since Fiendfyre requires harmful intent, the case is defined as arson and murder. Pretty much everyone assumes the Mysterious Killer has returned. Usually, setting the crime scene on fire does not really fit with his previous murders. Especially because he did not leave any messages for us."

"Perhaps the fire itself is a message?" Arthur Weasley chimed in.

"What leads is the Ministry following as of now?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Fudge was very quick to assume Potter was behind it. Everyone knows that the boy has an excellent grasp on Fiendfyre for his age. He was actually about to go up to the castle and take him into custody."

"However, instead he Floo called Umbridge, who ensured him that Potter was currently in detention with her. So it can't really be him..." Kingsley reported.

"So it would seem," Dumbledore mused. He paused for a second before he continued: "Harry indeed found himself in detention last night... For some reason he allowed Umbridge to antagonize her and practically challenged her to a duel so she could prove some of her qualifications."

"You think the boy did it on purpose?" Moody barked. "He planed to get himself in detention? How could he be in two places at the same time, Albus? That's impossible!"

Harry shot Fleur a glance as they waited for Dumbledore. Harry knew that the man was already suspicious of his increased physical and mental age. Would he make the connection to his time-turner?

"Indeed..." Dumbeldore mused loudly: "How could he..."

"Interestingly enough..." Snape intervened: "The Dark Lord also asked for Potter..."

Harry and Fleur frowned and waited...

"Of course, Severus." Dumbledore seemed to snap back into the meeting: "What do you have to report?"

The spy waited a couple of seconds before he addressed everyone: "Last night, also around 9:00 pm Walden MacNair activated his Dark Mark and called the Dark Lord to him in his manor."

He paused for a second: "Anyone with the Dark Mark can feel it when someone calls him. We also know who the caller is."

"Half an hour later, the Dark Lord came back in anger and pure rage, similar to when Potter escaped him in the Graveyard in Little Hangelton. He screamed at his followers and ordered the few of his spies to the Ministry to find out exactly what happened."

"And what did he say occurred at the MacNairs?" Sirius asked with anticipation.

"According to him, the MacNairs were already dead when he arrived. The last thing he saw was someone apparating out of the room they had been killed in. He was so enraged by the clutch escape of the attackers that burned down the entire Manor."

"An unlikely story." Tonks snorted: "I think he killed them himself for calling him, probably over something minor. Besides, he said the mysterious attacker apparated out of their manor? Before it was destroyed, with the wards still intact?"

She paused for a second, probably for dramatic effect, then she continued: "The MacNairs were an old pureblood family... You can't just apparate out of their kitchen... There will be dozens of wards against that...You-Know-Who must be lying!"

Harry and Fleur exchanged another glance. Most of the Order members seemed to agree with her from the sound of it. Harry however noticed that Dumbledore did not say anything.

"How did the other Death Eater's react?" Lupin asked curiously.

"The majority does not believe the Dark Lord anymore. During the first war, he sometimes punished a Death Eater by torturing him if they called their Master for reasons not important enough... However this... is new to us. He has never killed the entire family of one of his followers before."

"The better questioned is why MacNair would have called him in the first place..." William Weasley said: "Did he not just days earlier report that his mission with the Giants was a success? Should You-Know-Who not have been pleased with the man?"

"There are too many unknowns as of right now." Dumbledore spoke up: "Let us all gather more information on the case and see what further leads we might be able to follow."

With that, the meeting came to an end. Fleur spoke up first: "Well, it's just as we were hoping... Voldemort is blamed by his own followers and the Ministry does not have concrete evidence against you, since you were technically here at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded: "Yes... But Voldemort also asked about me right after he came back. In addition, I think Dumbledore might be suspecting me again. He already knows I found a way to alter my biological age. He was also the one that taught me how to bypass anti-apparition wards. It won't take long for him to figure out the connection between the two."

"Well, it's a good thing we will be laying low for a while then." Fleur smiled: "Now how about we get back to bed and later today you teach me that new apparition technique?" The Vella smirked.

"I sincerely hope you are not just offering your body in hopes of me revealing my secrets." Harry grinned.

November 5th, 1995

Nothing much had happened over the last few weeks. Every day, it seemed like Hogwarts was squeezed even tighter between the small fat fingers of Dolores Umbridge.

The news of the death of the MacNairs had been the main topic for a few days after the Daily Prophet published an article about it. As an old pureblood family, many of the Slytherins were shocked and frightened, that the entire line had now been wiped out.

Once again, Rita Skeeter provided extraordinarily detailed information that only the lead investigators had access to. Ever since last year, Harry had been wondering how the woman got her hands on this kind of exclusive information. Was she simply well connected and knew the right people? Or did she perhaps use other means?

He and Fleur had only seen each other once, since their confrontation with the MacNairs. Soon, the rest of his OWLs were approaching for Harry and Fleur was dealing with her NEWTs and preparations for starting her apprenticeship at Gringotts.

Besides following his usual classes and his daily physical and magical workouts, Harry had followed the amusing developments within Hogwarts latest Rebellion Group. The self-proclaimed Dumbledore's Army, already had a few meetings.

Usually, they would find themselves some empty classroom, late in the evening and relied on the Weasley twin's knowledge of the castle's layout to escape Filch of any patrolling prefects.

Using his map, it had been the easiest to infiltrate one of their little sessions. Harry could find no fault in their goal of getting better at defending himself. However, the fact that most of them could barely perform a simply disarming charm, spoke of the group's skill level.

Anyways, Harry let them continue their little meetings. Changing the rooms frequently was not a permanent solution. Soon they would be caught... One way or another.

November 15th, 1995

Harry checked the map before making his way up to the ROR for some practice duels against the dummies. As he checked the giant staircase and seventh floor for any students or members of staff, something caught his attention...

A name with the tag 'guest' appeared on the map. A name he had not seen on the map ever since last summer. The question was, what was Britain's most famous reporter doing at the entrance to the castle during a regular school week?

Harry's natural curiosity got the better of him and he quickly left the Ravenclaw tower to intercept the woman. Stealth would come in handy, so in addition to silencing his steps, he also cast a disillusionment charm on himself.

Checking the map once more, he saw the name tag of Rita Skeeter, making its way over to the Great Hall, which was still full of students. Harry could not allow her to get in there. Whatever disguise she might use. It would be almost impossible to find her there without causing too much attention.

He decided to wait for her, still invisible, right at the anti-chamber in front of the Great Hall. He checked the map once more. The reporter seemed to have joined two third-year Hufflepuffs and the trio made its way straight towards him.

They would step around the corner anytime now and Harry would be able to see them. He tightened the hold on his wand, as he heard the voices coming closer from the hallway. Any second, now...

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, when not three, but only two people walked around the corner. He had been sure that Rita Skeeter was with them just moments ago. The Map never lies.

He cast a silent Homonum Revelio at the group and indeed, his wand vibrated three times. Three souls and therefore three humans were approaching him... how was that possible?

"Accio Invisibility cloak!" Harry performed the spell silently, but nothing happened. The two students passed him and made their way into the Great Hall. Harry had rarely ever been so confused. He pulled out the Map once more.

Indeed... The guest tag of Rita Skeeter was now in between a bunch of upper-year students at the Slytherin table. Harry peered into the Great Hall, but he could not find the woman.

He doubted that she could cast a disillusionment charm powerful enough to become completely invisible. Besides, that would have been a terrible strategy in a room full of students... She was bound to bump into someone at some point in time... No, it must be something else.

Harry decided to wait. This would be his opportunity to get ahold of the press. If had leverage on Skeeter, the Prophet would lose its most popular reporter and Harry gained invaluable knowledge and insight into the affairs of the British Magical Society.

However Skeeter managed to sneak into places, just as she did right now, Harry was sure that she had gathered some amazing, priceless information over the years, by doing so.

He watched the Map as Skeeter seemingly walked from table to table, occasionally remaining longer, and sometimes turning back to places she had already been to. There seemed to be no patterns in her movements. In addition, Harry noticed something else...

Her name tag was literally floating from one table to another, without having to walk around it. This told him something important... Unless Skeeter was walking right over the tables and avoided stepping on any dishes, she was either crawling underneath them or flying above the heads of the students.

One thing was certain... She was not in a human form right now. Otherwise what she was currently doing would never be possible. This theory was only confirmed as Skeeter turned her attention towards the head table. There was no way she was actually sitting right in between Dumbledore and McGonagall right now...

McGonagall... Of course... Harry facepalmed himself... How could he only have figured it out so late... Rita Skeeter... The reporter for the Daily Prophet was an Animagus... and an unregistered one as well...

Harry had seen the records when McGonagall started teaching him the complex branch of transfiguration. He was certain that the Reporter had not been on the very small list in Britain. Macgongall had used it to demonstrate the complexity and skill level required to achieve a full transformation.

This was how the woman got her inside information... By sneaking into places she would never have access to as a human. This was also how she had been keeping an eye on him and Fleur last year and how she managed to follow Harry around without the boy noticing.

Harry grimaced... This would be excellent leverage to use against her. But first, he needed to capture her. He had no idea what her actual form was, but he could probably easily figure it out as soon as he could isolate her.

That might be the only problem here... Keeping her away from the students. She clearly came here to gather information on the ongoing events at Hogwarts from the students and staff. Harry decided to just wait and see what the reporter might do next.

Indeed, as the majority of students left dinner, Skeeter leached on to a group of Ravenclaw first-years and accompanied them out of the Great Hall. This was Harry's chance. He watched the incoming group from his position at the entrance. Three students and according to the map, the furthest to the right was somehow carrying Skeeter.

Harry squeezed his eyes together and scanned the incoming student from head to toe. He almost grew frustrated, when he finally saw something very suspicious crawling around the left shoulder of the boy. He would have a better look in a few seconds when the group passes him.

Harry held his breath as the group walked right past him in exciting chatter. Thanks to his height, he had a good look at the boy's shoulder: Right there... barely visible on the child's black robes was a small beetle...

Harry decided to give his very spontaneously developed plan a try. He followed the group, keeping an eye on Skeeter, until they reached the giant staircase and were all by themselves. Then he dispelled his disillusionment charm and approach the group from behind.

"How are you guys enjoying your first months, in the castle?" Harry asked louder than necessary, making the firsties spin around and turn towards him. Harry noticed that the beetle seemed very interested and crawled from the boy's back up to his shoulder, to better listen.

"We are doing fine. Thank you, Mr. Potter." One of the boys smiled nervously.

"Daniel,..."Harry grinned, he prayed that he had remembered the boy's name correctly: "... how often do I have to tell you to simply call me Harry?"

The boy smiled up at him.

"Well, you better get back to the common. But wait for a second! Let me get your robes straight."

He pattered the boy's shoulder, seemingly cleaning some dust off of it, but his fist quickly closed itself around the beetle: "There you are... off you go, now."

"Thank you, Harry." Danial smiled and made his way up to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Harry grinned triumphantly. Careful not to let the beetle escape, but to neither squeeze her to death, he walked towards an empty broom cupboard on the first floor and quickly entered it. With his free wand arm, he cast a Lumos and looked around.

On one of the shelves, he found a large glass jar. He put a few simple charms on it, including making it unbreakable before he threw the beetle in it and closed the lit. Finally, he could watch the beetle from a closer distance.

As he looked very closely, he noticed the markings around her antennae, which were exactly like those foul glasses Skeeter always wears. He shook the jar a couple of times and grinned as the beetle buzzed angrily against the glass.

"I think it's time for a little talk, Rita. Don't you agree?"

He grabbed the jar and exited the broom cupboard. He could not take her down into the Chamber and he was reluctant to share the ROR with the foul woman either. The best place might actually be his dorm. Perhaps he could convince Terry to give him some privacy under the pretense to mirror-call Fleur.

Luckily, Terry was already sitting in the common room, finishing some homework: "Hey mate, I am going to call my girlfriend. Do you mind giving us some privacy for perhaps half an hour?" Harry approached the boy.

"Yeah, sure. No problem, Harry. Talk to later." Terry simply replied, without even looking up. The boy took charms very seriously.

In his dorm, Harry locked the doors with a parseltongue spell, that even Dumbledore would struggle to breach in a short amount of time. He shook the jar until the beetle seemed too dizzy to even fly straight. Then, he opened the lid and fired a quick stunner, before Skeeter could use her chance to escape.

He put the stunned beetle on the floor below him and cast an Anti-Animagus charm on her, which would prevent her from transforming back into a beetle by herself.

Time to see if his theory had been correct or if he had simply tortured an innocent random beetle for the last 15 minutes: In the end, Harry was right. The Animagus Revealing charm transformed the beetle back into the blond reporter, who he had gotten to know as Rita Skeeter.

Just to be on the safe side, Harry cuffed her and bound her in some thin robes, before he cast a Renervate on the reporter.

The woman groaned and slowly opened her eyes. When her eyes found Harry's, she visibly panicked and Harry could tell she tried to change back into her Animagus form.

"Naha, my dear Rita..." Hary grinned: "We have only just met... it has been such a long time since the last time we saw each other. Yet, you have written some rather nasty stories about me this summer..."

Rita gulped. She seemed very scared of being caught like this and started sweating profusely: "You... you can't just keep me here... People will come looking for me..."

Harry laughed coldly: "And pray to tell me, who do you think would actually come? Besides the owner of the dragon dung paper you write for, no one cares enough about you... You have pissed off too many important people over the years, Rita... But this doesn't have to end badly for you... I only want to have a chat..."

"What do you want?" Rita asked nervously.

"I want information... On anything and anyone that you have or will be in contact with you. I want Magical Britain's dirtiest secrets... And, of course, I would prefer if you could stop writing so much bullshit about me... Instead... I will give you other topics to write about..."

"Fudge has control over any article the Prophet publishes... They will never print what you want..." Rita gulped once more.

Harry nodded: "You are right of course... which is something I have already considered... I will find a way to reach the public sooner or later. A wise man once suggested to never underestimate the power of the media... After all, the quill is mightier than the sword... isn't it?"

At Rita's confused nod, Harry continued: "You will do as I say over the next weeks, months, perhaps even years, Rita... I am certain this is the beginning of a very profitable business relationship between the two of us." Harry smiled coldly.

Rita frowned: "And if I don't do what you tell me?"

Harry's eyes flashed emerald green for a split second: "Then you will not have to worry about paying a few gallons for being an unregistered Animagus or spending a few weeks in Azkaban... Because I will kill you... simple as that."