Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
Pack Cottage, Wales, 11/15/1997, 08:48
Harry had listened to Neville explain what he saw in his vision and felt a plethora of mixed emotions, the most prominent being rage.
'How dare that bastard target his pack!' Harry thought furiously as he stared at Neville.
"Do you think I could see the memory?" Harry asked making a conscious effort to keep his voice calm.
"Okay, but how?" Neville asked in surprise.
"We should have a pensieve in Sirius' room," Harry explained looking at his godfather for confirmation.
"Yeah, it should still be there, I'm a bit surprised you two haven't moved in to my old room," Sirius commented.
"It didn't feel right," Harry shrugged.
"Benjy," Sirius called out.
'pop'
"Yes, Master Sirius?" Benjy asked after appearing in front of the Black lord.
"Please fetch my pensieve," Sirius asked kindly.
Benjy snapped his fingers and the pensieve appeared on the table in front of Sirius before he bowed to Sirius and left the room to return to his duties.
Twenty minutes later the image that was projected over the stone basin faded away, Harry was shocked at how easily a pack larger than theirs was destroyed with a simple flick of the monster's wand.
Voldemort had essentially made a giant mousetrap and baited it with a person, it was well executed Harry would admit, the simplicity of the trap was genius.
The more disturbing part was the second vision when Voldemort placed that collar on Greyback, the sight sent a chill down Harry's spine.
The thought of someone else having complete control over him or his pack by placing on a collar sent a stab of fear through his chest.
The order Voldemort had given Greyback had overrode that fear, it was still echoing through his mind.
"Lead my men to the Wales pack on the next full moon, then I want you to kill their alpha while my men deal with his pack,"
'I would not allow this is to happen, I will destroy any that tried to harm my pack! Harry thought furiously as his resolve hardened.
"Thank you for telling us about this," Harry said looking at Neville after he had composed himself.
Lavender nodded in agreement though she looked lost for words as if she couldn't believe this was real and just sat there quietly.
"I had the first dream early this morning, and the second one at dawn, I sent word to Sirius as soon as I realized what it was I was seeing," Neville said looking concerned.
"So what are we going to do? Can he find us under the fidelius?" Astoria asked looking alarmed.
"I honestly don't know, he has some device that is supposed to be able to bypass any wards in wolf form. I don't know if it will work on the fidelius or if charm works on animals," Harry admitted looking at Sirius hoping he could shed some light on the subject.
"We don't know either, we can't be sure if a werewolf that successfully crosses into a fedelius ward without being given the secret will be able to perceive where he is or not. Birds and other creatures seem to have no trouble with it, I guess it comes down to whether the ward recognizes the human part or the wolf part of the being," Sirius said slowly after thinking it over.
"Makes sense, the thestrals have no problem perceiving where they are," Luna pointed out.
"Hermione?" Harry asked looking at the girl who usually knew the answer to everything.
"I don't know, this is well above what I know about charms, all I can do is theorize," Hermione answered.
"Alright, what is your theory?" Harry asked as patiently as he could.
"I believe it would depend on how much of his human mind is in control. For instance, if a wolf were to take a regiment of wolfsbane before the full moon, I believe the charm would work against him as it does in his human form."
" However, if that same wolf was to stumble into the area while consumed by the madness of the full moon, it's very possible that the charm would not work because the ward would not consider him to be human," Hermione answered while the entire pack hung on her every word.
"I have to agree with your logic, but what about the collar does the change things?" Harry asked.
"No, the fidelius charm is an ancient spell, it would not recognize what the collar was, there is also the fact that the collar is designed to control a wolf not a person so the commands would not translate into human thought patterns," Hermione replied tentatively.
"So in theory, if he is being controlled by another person while lost in the madness he could cross a fedelius ward?" Harry asked.
"Essentially yes, though if he is being controlled by someone and his animal half is fighting it which I believe it will, then Greyback will not be at his best," Hermione added trying to give them some good news
Harry couldn't despute that, if darkness was being controlled he would fight it with all of his might. The more you try and control the wolf the harder he fights.
"The men he is supposed to lead won't be able to enter the property, though they will have narrowed down our rough location," Astoria added after some thought.
"I think that's what no-nose wants," Lavender said a look of understanding suddenly crossing her face.
"What?" Harry asked looking at Lavender curiously.
"He doesn't want Greyback to succeed, he wants to know where we are, if Greyback succeeds in killing you he'll be pleased but he expects us to kill Greyback for him," Lavender said quietly.
"That would take care of two pixies with one spell," Astoria added.
"Eliminate one enemy and locate another," Harry agreed in realisation.
"You have to see the irony in that plan," Justin muttered.
"Yes, I think we all do but that's beside the point what are we going to do about this?" Lavender asked looking frazzled.
"There is the obvious choice, we leave before the next full moon," Astoria said in a tone that suggested she already knew they wouldn't go for it.
"And risk Greyback following us wherever we go," Harry scoffed.
"We could set a trap for him like no-nose did," Colin suggested.
"That would be safest and I have to admit I was impressed with the simplicity of that trap," Harry said thoughtfully.
"You know as well as I do he won't fall into a trap like that so easily after last night," Lavender sighed.
"True, we may be indiscriminate killers on the full moon but our wolf forms are very intelligent, he'll be mindful of traps from now on," Harry conceded before continuing, "So we have two options left, either hunt him down before the full moon or meet the threat head-on during the next full moon."
"From what we saw in No-nose's mind, Greyback will be with him, most likely locked in Malfoy Manor's dungeons," Hermione cut in.
"Fuck! If we wait until the full moon it will lead the death eaters right to us," Harry exclaimed.
"If none of the death eaters live through the night then the secret remains safe," Sirius pointed out.
"I doubt the order will agree to help us with this," Harry pointed out in a dry tone.
"I am sure I could get a few of them to help, this is a good opportunity to thin his ranks so it still forwards the order's plans, we might have to keep this from the Weasley's though," Sirius shrugged.
"Fine, but we will have to call a vote on this before we go any further," Lavender said before the conversation could go any further.
"Agreed, this is a big decision we should all get a say in this. So what do we do Wales pack, do we run or do we stay and fight Greyback?" Harry asked looking around the table at each of his pack members.
They all remained silent for a moment before the first pack member spoke up.
"We Fight," Justin answered as if it were obvious.
"Run," Rose muttered quietly.
"We Fight," Dennis said though he looked less confident than Justin.
"Fight," Astoria exclaimed, there was a familiar glint in her eye thatHarry always saw before a hunt.
"Fight," Lavender said still looking conflicted but her jaw was set and she looked like she was resigned to this course of action.
"I say we fight as well", Harry said somberly.
" So it's settled, we will stay and fight," Lavender said
"So where do we begin?" Astoria asked.
"We have a month to come up with a solid plan for Greyback, I'll leave the death eaters up to Sirius and the order," Harry answered
"We will also have to move Lizzy off of the property for the next full moon," Lavender added.
"True, she does have a tendency to wander off," Harry agreed.
"We could keep her in the room you transformed in last month," Rose suggested.
"No, she spent two months in a cage and I promised her she would never have to do that again," Harry said firmly.
"You could send her to stay with Remus," Sirius suggested.
"Yeah, the place was alright, though he was kind of lazy as far as wolves go," Justin chuckled.
"If we go that route, Rose can go with her. I trust Remus well enough but I would prefer one of my packmates to be with her," Harry said getting a nod from the others though Rose looked conflicted.
"That sounds like a good idea," Lavender agreed.
"Good, that's settled then," Harry said quite happy that the younger members would be safely away from the cottage during the attack.
"We need to confirm that Greyback is at Malfoy Manor, do you think you could ask Snape to do that?" Astoria asked Sirius.
"Yes, I will relay the message to him," Sirius assured her.
"I'm surprised Snape didn't know much about this," Harry admitted looking at Sirius curiously.
"All he knew was the dark lord needed thirty-two gallons of scent masking potion brewed and that something big was in the works," Sirius shrugged
"Where did that memory take place?" Harry asked curiously.
"We don't know for sure, the man in the bed was Sabastian Scabior. He's a Knockturn alley low life that was working as a snatcher. The man he was polyjuiced into was Thaddeus Nott, so I'm pretty sure it was at Nott Manor," Sirius explained.
"We'll go with that then," Harry said.
"I think we've talked about this enough for now," Lavender said looking exhausted.
"She's right, we all need to get some rest," Astoria said as she stood from the table.
Soon the rest of the pack cleared out leaving only Harry and Lavender and the three guests.
"I have the address for the property in the Alps," Sirius said as he pulled a slip of parchment out of his breast pocket.
"Thanks, I am looking forward to flipping the tin isles the bird on my way to France," Harry exclaimed as he summoned the slip to him.
"The place wasn't always so bad," Sirius protested lamely.
"It has always been bad for my kind," Harry shrugged.
"Yeah mate, I get it," Sirius sighed in sadness.
"How are you two getting on now?" Harry asked looking over at Neville and Hermione.
"Moody's training us into the ground," Neville scowled.
"How's Ron?" Harry asked noticing them both tense up.
"He's different since he was captured, he trains harder than we do and barely talks anymore," Hermione said softly.
The human part of him did feel some small amount of sympathy for Ron, he had a couple of bad turns lately and Harry knew the night he and Lavender had marked him had not helped matters. The wolf side of him stood firm on his decision, Ron wronged his pack multiple times and they were forced to act.
After finding out what he had this morning he didn't regret what they had done, Ron had effectively started the events in motion that led to Greyback being forced to hunt his pack down.
"Thank you for making the bracelets for everyone, they have been a big help," Harry said taking the hint to leave the subject alone.
"You're welcome," Hermione said softly.
"We had better get back, I'll be by in a week or so to catch you up on what the order learns of the attack," Sirius promised as he got to his feet.
"Thanks for the heads up," Harry told Neville who nodded before he got to his feet and followed Sirius.
"Be careful, Harry," Hermione whispered as she followed the other two to the fireplace.
"They're still upset with me," Harry told Lavender as soon as the fireplace swallowed Hermione up in green flames.
"You could always tell them I did it," Lavender suggested.
"I'm not concerned, to be honest, we both agreed that it was the right decision let them blame it on me," Harry shrugged
"If you're sure, now, let's go get some sleep before Lizzy wakes up," Lavender said getting to her feet and offering him her hand.
Harry let himself be led to their bedroom as he pondered over the new information.
Voldemort was now focusing on their pack so they were forced into a position that Harry had been hoping to avoid.
It seemed fate would not let him leave Britain behind until he took care of Greyback like he had planned to do months ago.
He had only been wearing the glamour bracelet since last night and simply took it off and climbed into bed.
Lavender took her own bracelet off and snuggled up to him as she got comfortable.
"We'll get through this," Harry whispered before placing a kiss on his mate's head.
"I know, I'm just scared one of the pack is going to get hurt," Lavender murmured into his chest.
"So am I," Harry admitted.
"I love you, Harry," Lavender whispered softly into the dark room.
"I love you too," Harry replied as he heard her breathing slow, he could tell she had fallen asleep.
"One way or the other, we will come out of this whole," Harry whispered before he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
Pack Cottage, Wales, 11/20/1997, 15:45
Harry was just leading the pack back to the cottage after running them through some teamwork exercises.
He had Justin partnered with Astoria and Dennis, he had them learning to square off against him or Lavender to learn how to take down a larger enemy working together as a unit.
These exercises were time-consuming because in wolf form it was hard to communicate anything more than simple directions by moving their heads.
When they entered the kitchen they found Sirius talking to Lizzy while they both ate big slices of chocolate cake.
"Oh bugger," Harry muttered as he saw Lavender's eyes narrow and shift to amber.
"He really has a knack for getting on her bad side," Harry whispered to Justin as Lavender marched into the room and started giving Sirius an earful.
"You should probably go rescue your godfather," Justin suggested in amusement.
"Not a chance, better him than me," Harry said matter of factly.
"Coward," Astoria whispered.
"Shut it, Greengrass," Harry said as he walked into the dining room just as Lavender was leading a whining Lizzy out of the room.
"The little girl tricked me," Sirius exclaimed as soon as he saw Harry enter the room.
"She still hasn't finished scrubbing the game room, she can't have sweets until she's done it," Harry shrugged as he took a seat at the table.
"Believe me I heard, your mate's right scary when she goes all mother wolf," Sirius said with a shudder.
"You should see her in wolf form," Harry grinned.
"No thanks," Sirius stated firmly.
"Don't worry yourself too much, Lizzy has gotten comfortable with Lavender and me. She has started to push her boundaries a bit to see what she can get away with, she's also getting to be pretty sneaky," Harry assured his godfather.
"I noticed, listen I heard from Snape and from what we found out I'm pretty sure Longbottom's dream really happened. Snape saw Greyback in the Malfoy's dungeon the last time he was summoned there, he's been ordered to make another large batch of scent reduction potion," Sirius explained.
"I figured as much, we have started the teamwork drills already, any word from the order?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I asked some of our better fighters. Moody, Shack, and Tonks are on board and Longbottom wants in as well," Sirius explained as he finished the last bite of his cake and went to grab Lizzy's half finished piece before Harry snatched it up and took a bite.
"You've had enough cake, you'll spoil your dinner," Harry said going to take another bite only for the plate to be snatched away from him by Lavender.
"Thanks, Harry," she said sweetly before taking the fork out of his hand.
" Shut it, Justin," Harry said not having to turn around to know the other boy was having a laugh at his expense.
"So what's up?" Lavender asked looking at Sirius expectantly between bites of cake.
"We have established that the dream was real and I am getting a team together to deal with the death eaters, Oh mighty wolf queen," Sirius said in mock reverence.
"I prefer your highness but that will do... for now," Lavender said before taking another bite of cake and passing the plate back to Harry with a sizeable chunk still on it.
"We want to bring Bill and Fleur in to ward the area we plan to set up as an ambush," Sirius continued looking longingly at the cake Harry was eating.
"Is that wise, I thought the Weasleys were not happy with Harry," Astoria asked.
"Bill understands magical creatures, he works for goblins and married a veela, he wasn't happy about Ron but as Moody said, Ron got off easy," Sirius explained.
"Good, I like Bill. It might be a good idea to show him that memory and see if he could set up something similar, those pikes would work on wizards just fine," Harry suggested with an evil grin.
"That would be like giving no nose the finger wouldn't it," Justin chuckled
"I'll run the idea by him but it might not be feasible," Sirius agreed.
"Well you can still set other traps, exploding runes buried under the ground would be just as effective," Harry pointed out.
"Like landmines," Colin exclaimed in understanding.
"Pretty much though I don't think there is a way to make them pressure sensitive without overcomplicating them," Harry admitted.
"I'll run the idea by him," Sirius promised.
"Thanks, mate, anything else?" Harry asked.
"Yeah there is one more thing," Sirius said nervously.
"What?" Harry asked knowing he wouldn't like it by the look on Sirius' face.
"Ron wants to be on the team that will be taking on the death eaters," Sirius said quietly.
"Why?" Lavender asked.
"He wouldn't say," Sirius answered.
"It's up to you, I have no say in order business," Harry shrugged not sure how he felt about the Weasel so close to the pack.
"He's a good fighter and he's willing, I will need every man I can get," Sirius said watching Harry closely for his reaction.
"Okay, just don't do something reckless and get yourself killed," Harry said looking Sirius in the eye.
"You know me," Sirius smirked.
"That's what I'm worried about," Harry chuckled.
"I'll be fine Harry," Sirius assured him.
"Good, it's almost dinnertime care for dinner and a tantrum?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Dinner and a tantrum?" Sirius asked confused.
"Lizzy, she has been making a spectacle of herself when dessert comes around and she isn't allowed to have any," Astoria explained in amusement.
"She is close to finishing in the game room, she just gets distracted very easily," Harry explained.
"Yeah I'll stay, I don't get out of Grimmauld Place very often," Sirius said.
The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed, the expected tantrum never came though Lizzy did pout through dessert and looked longingly at the chocolate eclairs that were served.
Not long after dinner was over Sirius returned to Grimmauld Place with a promise to check in sometime next week.
Harry was feeling more confident about their plans though he couldn't force down his nervousness completely. No matter how much they prepared there was too much at stake here to get overconfident.
Nurmengard Prison, Austria, 11/27/1997, 01:32
Voldemort had finally discovered the identity of the blond-haired teen from Augustus who recognized the picture at once.
Gellert Grindlewald was the thief. At first he had been concerned to learn this, as he assumed Grindelwald had been killed by Dumbledore almost half a century ago along with his only lead to the elder wand.
After intensive research, Voldemort had discovered that his predecessor had actually been imprisoned in his own tower fortress.
Voldemort was confident that he was nearing the end of his search.
He had accomplished quite a feat over a week ago capturing Greyback taking care of one of his most dangerous enemies, so now he could focus on the Longbottom problem.
Coming back to the here and now he flew over in the mountains in his ghostlike smoky form, he sighted the tower in the distance and set his course for the topmost window where Grindlewald was most likely to be.
Finding a narrow slit of a window maybe six inches wide and two feet high he glanced inside and saw his quarry asleep in his cot. Feeling excitement build in his chest he flew through the window before rematerializing into his human form.
Less than an hour later he flew out of the tower window after having found out what he wanted to know. He had done Grindelwald a small mercy and ended his miserable existence.
Time had not been good to the man, the once handsome charismatic man whose exploits Tom had followed with great interest in his teenage years was a shell of his old self. His magical power was still impressive, Voldemort had sensed it as soon as he entered the tiny tower cell but his mind was gone. He was like an old caged lion completely broken.
The handsome features he remembered seeing in the papers in his Hogwarts years was replaced by a bald toothless old man who had wasted to nothing, it was a shame that such power had gone to waste.
That was neither here nor there, he had his answer to where the elder wand was.
It was at Hogwarts!
Dumbledore had claimed the wand when he had defeated Grindelwald all those decades ago, how that was possible when the wand was thought unbeatable was confusing. Apparently Dumbledore put that myth to rest.
The wand would not make him unbeatable but it wouldn't have the same limitations as his yew wand did either.
This was a good solution to defeat the connection his wand had to Longbottom's holly wand, the boy who was prophesized to defeat him was nowhere near him in terms of power or skill, now that the boy's wand couldn't protect him any longer he could be killed.
He still had a ways to fly before he could cross the German border and apparition hop across the country all the way to the French border, the International wards could be quite troublesome for these long journeys.
Hogwarts, Scotland, 11/27/1997, 03:32
Voldemort finally arrived at his destination, he wasn't ashamed to admit that the journey was tiring, He had to cross three countries to get to the French coast, before having to fly across the English channel, and then apparate to the gates of the school.
He was currently standing over the corpse of Albus Dumbledore and staring in wonder at the wand clasped in his old professor's dead hands.
Snatching it from the open tomb, Voldemort held it delicately between his fingertips, looking it over and noticing the unusual design etched into the handle, and the seven large knots going down the length of the wand.
The knots made the wand look very primitive almost crude, taking the wand by the handle he waited expectantly for something to happen.
He had no doubt that this was the right wand and he decided he had better test its capabilities.
He casually flicked the wand and sealed the tomb shut where he had cracked it open before levitating the entire tomb high into the air over the lake.
With a lazy swishing movement of the wand, he hurled the marble tomb way out into the lake,
He watched the tomb fall from hundreds of feet in the air and slam into the surface of the lake sending waves back to shore the water lapping much higher than normal on the shoreline.
Truthfully he felt no difference between this wand and his old wand, there was no surge of magic as the wand accepted him as he had expected.
He would look into this more at a later date he was weary from travel and wished to retire for the night.
He would also have to talk to Severus soon, there were debates as to whether the wand's last master had to die before it would give its allegiance to another.
If this was even remotely possible there was only on path he could take, Severus would have to die for him to use the wand to its full potential.
That could wait a while, Severus was of great use at the moment and he had no need of the wand just yet, but soon.
Hundreds of miles away Neville Longbottom awoke his body covered in sweat.
He rushed from his room at Mad-eye Moody's house to share what he had witnessed in this new dream, even if he didn't like Snape he should be warned of the danger he was in.
Pack Cottage, Wales, 11/30/1997, 01:27
The alpha snuck through the Welsh forest using the wind to blow his scent away from his prey.
There were three of them hunting him while he was hunting them, even with his size there was no way he could overpower three of them.
Keeping low to the ground he followed the scent of a female the wind had blown in his direction and started creeping forward following the scent to its source.
Coming up to a stream he saw the female through the trees drinking the clear water completely at ease.
The alpha continued to creep through the light dusting of snow, making sure to stay as quiet as possible as he followed the female.
She soon left the stream and headed back into the trees, the alpha closed the distance getting almost in striking range without her giving any indication she knew he was there.
Suddenly he froze, he saw movement to his right, he turned only for a brown male wolf to slam into him hard enough to topple him over.
Before he could react another male slammed into his left side forcing him to stay on the ground, he struggled to get his feet under him. The wolf on the right latched his jaws around his front leg pulling it away from him while the one on left did the same with his rear leg.
The female was soon upon him and wrapped her jaws around the back of his neck forcing his head to the ground, he could feel her fangs pressing into him on either side of his spine.
"Time," Lavender called from the air above them using the broomstick Harry had stolen from that auror months ago.
Astoria released her hold on him and shifted back into human form dressed in green glamoured robes.
" I can't believe that worked," Astoria admitted as Justin and Dennis released him and transformed back to human form as well.
"I couldn't smell the other two," Harry said sounding confused after he transformed back and got to his feet his right arm and left leg feeling tender.
"I cast a charm on them to make them smell like pinesap," Astoria said smugly.
"That's cheating but well done leading me into a kill zone," Harry complimented.
They had started these hunting drills at night a few days ago, they would most likely be fighting at night so this was good practice.
He had let his instincts take control tonight and just followed his nose, that had cost him as Astoria had intentionally let him catch her scent and led him right between Justin and Dennis.
"Can we go in now?" Dennis asked from his right.
"Yeah, I didn't think it would start snowing," Harry admitted.
"He noticed that he wasn't bothered by cold anymore, he noticed it, especially his feet but it felt like more of an inconvenience than anything else.
" I think I will have to take a bath before bed," Lavender said as she touched down beside him.
Harry was pleased to discover she was a decent flyer, this let her observe the exercises from above so they could watch them in the pensieve if needed.
"Mind if I join you?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Sure, as long as you wash my back," Lavender whispered.
Dennis looked over at Astoria hopefully only to make her roll her eyes and smirk, "dream on Creevey."
"Tough luck mate," Justin said smacking Dennis on the back.
"Daphne would have both your hides if she knew you two were bathing together," Lavender giggled.
They stepped out of the forest and quickly crossed the snow-covered lawn their bare feet sinking ankle-deep in the fresh powder as the snowfall seemed to be getting heavier before they all stepped into the entrance hall.
That last week had been uneventful, Lizzy had finally finished scrubbing the game room, so much to everyone's relief dinner was tantrum-free.
Sirius had been by twice, once to bring Bill and Fleur over to scout out a good location for an ambush and another time to relay Neville's dream about Voldemort stealing something called the elder wand from Dumbledore's tomb.
Harry vaguely remembered it referenced in an old bedtime story Sirius used to read him when he was Lizzy's age called, The tale of the Three Brothers.
Supposedly, it was a wand given to the oldest brother, that would be undefeatable.
Personally he thought it was complete hogwash, a wand was a tool and nothing more. Still, Harry could admit that the thought of Voldemort with an unbeatable wand was an unsettling thought.
"Are we doing this again tomorrow night?" Dennis asked pulling him back to the present, Harry detected a hopeful note in his voice.
"Yeah, we need to keep this up as long as we can," Harry nodded.
"I think I'm going to get a warm bath," Lavender said casually.
"Alright, I am turning in too, good work you three," Harry told the younger members before leading Lavender up the stairs to their room.
He was feeling better about their plan by the day, his packmates were starting to become very good at working together, that velociraptor manoeuvre they had pulled off tonight was genius.
The real thing that worried him was if the order could uphold their end,
The days were ticking away until the next full moon, they would just have to be ready and have faith on one another that they could defeat Greyback.
'I hope we all come out of this in one piece,' Harry thought as he followed Lavender up the stairs to complete his final task of the night, joining Lavender in a bubblebath.