"Harry!" An upset Hermione called out when Harry entered his common room to figure out both the time and where he was supposed to be. A glance at the clock told him he spent way more time travelling than he had expected. "Where have you been? Professor McGonagall only said you were on some adventure with headmaster Dumbledore."
The girl took Harry's surprised silence that he could not speak of it. "Well you'll be glad to hear no-one bothered my parents." She continued onward and Harry was suddenly reminded of the morning troubles. He couldn't help it and burst out in laughter at the absurdity as he remembered how worried he was about that. Hermione took offence at the humor he apparently saw in it and he in turn saw she was ready to blow.
"Sorry Hermione… but between the dark ring, calling Voldemort a snake to his face and nearly killing him it sort of slipped." Harry explained to his girlfriend before she exploded at him. "You called Voldemort a snake?" Hermione picked out the thing she considered the most absurd. "Voldemort is in Britain?!" Then she fully processed the implications. "Yes. We obtained some credible information that he'd be looking for something so we beat him to it." Harry answered.
"How?" Hermione asked, burning with curiosity as she could see Harry was fine for a change. Harry nearly mentioned Luna's name before stopping himself. He both knew Hermione's scepticism of divination and that she wouldn't leave the other girl alone in her quest to know more. "One of the Witenagemot seers foresaw it." Harry answered with a literal half truth. He could see the thunderstorm forming before it cleared up suddenly with a defeated air.
"I can't believe those wishy-washy seers were right." she grumbled. Harry shrugged. "They do sometimes. So your parents did not get into trouble, or misunderstood after the little newsletter accident?" Harry said leaving one set of waters for one he considered slightly less dangerous. Hermione seemed a bit unhappy at the reminder but to Harry's relief it seemed Mia's advice was spot on.
"Yes. Hedwig returned just a while ago. They had no idea this was all happening. Although my father warns you he has a shotgun." Hermione seemed unsure why her father had said that. "Overall they seemed to be more amused than anything." Harry wondered what he was missing as there seemed to be more to Hermione's general displeasure at her parents' response.
"Well. Would you then care to tell me what I missed today?" Harry offered next. And as he had hoped. Focusing Hermione on the academics got things straightened out in no time. It also reminded him he still needed to read that muggle book about Geology, he left it hanging lately with all the other things that had happened.
Amelia Bones was an unhappy woman the moment that Dumbledore wandered into her office that afternoon. His arrival usually meant trouble, a factor that only increased when Harry Potter became a Campione under his mentorship. Despite all the extra work he brought in she bore it with stoicism as it so far resulted in pursuing true justice.
Sirius Black received his trial he never had gotten and shown to be innocent. She was grateful for that and through it succeeded in uncovering dangerous amounts of corruption and through that could go after the people she felt managed to escape proper prosecution by claiming various mind affecting spells as their defence. And with the proper methods to find out obstructed by claiming privacy and 'family' magic she was unable to do anything once the DMLE fell under her control.
Now however with Fudge babbling every little thing she wanted to know after the goblins for once didn't feel like being obstruction after Potter cut his way through their fortress she had the information to act. Only to find the majority of her targets to be abroad on 'business'.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she had already accepted that the Dark Lord wasn't as dead as everyone thought. That the man could confirm that the Dark Lord was back and had both engaged him, the Campione and the Witenagemot was extremely unpleasant news. She was only assuaged of her worries of meddling by third parties that Harry Potter would keep the Witenagemot in check. She wasn't entirely sure if the young man could do that, but he was the same man that did the impossible with both Heretic Gods and the Goblins.
So she planned and to her pride she could say she had all the pieces in place in three days. As far her auror force, Witenagemot and the other ministry workers were concerned. She had planned a raid on a group of Persons of Interest. Who she was going after and where was only known to her and her head Auror despite spirited attempts of the ministry gossip to figure it out.
The woman had even wheeled out Alastor Moody for the operation. She was well aware that the man was chomping to get back at certain people after being ambushed and locked up in a trunk for an extended period and had worked miracles to get into top shape. She was not surprised the old auror had a good idea what the plan was when her forces arrived at the outskirts of the Malfoy manor. As some exclaimed their surprise the old auror was already shouting her forces into action.
She gave her head auror a stink eye for letting the veteran take charge and he spun into action. 'Dumbledore should be here in five or so minutes. Once he is here we start to move in. I can only hope that no-one panics upon seeing the Dark Lord. Nearly fifteen years since his defeat at the hand of a toddler should be enough to dispel the worst of his reputation.' The woman fervently hoped.
Harry was working away at his breakfast. His morning spar with Mia was particularly vigorous today as they sought to rectify the weakness their short encounter with Voldemort had shown. Both were working on their speed so that the next opportunity they had Tom would not have the chance to flee before being poked by a sharp piece of metal. "Harry?" A shy voice called out from behind him. He turned around to see Luna look nervous.
He could see Hermione give the girl a suspicious look from the corner of his eyes. "Ah Luna. Did you find out about the divination thing I asked?" He asked easily like it was a simple favor she was doing for him. The girl's eyes widened before a smile melted away the shyness. "That is why I had to write it." she mumbled just loud enough for Harry to hear. She handed Harry a small piece of parchment.
'Men and Women plot but only a mansion burns as all falls apart. The trice lived flees once more with his most trusted as his plots shattered. Women curse men for their actions while their hopes turn to ashes.' The note read. Harry glanced to the head table to find Dumbledore absent. "What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, an unfamiliar sense entering her gut as she watched the situation.
"I asked Luna to look into something." Harry replied evasively as he folded the note. "Thanks Luna. I will keep it in mind." The girl gave a courtesy to Harry's amusement and went back to the Ravenclaw table. "I could have done that." Hermione said once the girl was out of earshot. "You are my girlfriend Hermione. Not my research assistant. Not to mention its divination." Harry answered and he felt very clever for doing so.
As Hermione processed that and forgot to ask how Harry had managed to enlist the girl to do his research for him. Meanwhile the news that Luna Lovegood had somehow gained the Campione's favor started to travel up and down the Ravenclaw table. A few broke out in cold sweat as they worried why the girl would do so and if she was seeking to use him as a method of reprisal for what they had done.
Luna was simply delighted that her lost things had somehow wandered their way back to her over the coming days. She had never known some of her real and imagined creatures could be so helpful. Since the only thing that had really changed was that she was a sort of friend of a Campione. She would craft an elaborate theory on how Campione could influence the complex politics of the dozens of creatures she could only see.
Her father would dutifully print it in the Quibbler later. Harry remained blissfully oblivious that he was the center of the story.
Harry meanwhile went looking for the Headmaster, only to not find him for the rest of the day to find out he was too late anyways the next.
Harry closed the book on the power hidden underneath the mantle of the earth. 'Interesting, I think I am close.' the young Campione concluded as he put it aside. He knew Hermione was tracking something down in the library while Mia was playing messenger on his behalf while they closed down the investigation in Egypt.
"Cressida?" he called out to the only other companion still around. "Yes Harry?" the young woman immediately turned all her attention to him. "What exactly is a fayseer?" he asked. Cressida nodded and stood up, picking up a book.
"There is little known for certain, but the term comes from the fact that some of the creatures seen match stories of the Fea." Cressida explained. "Why the rest of us can't see them, no matter what experiments are tried, is still unknown. They would be written off as insane people if it was not for the fact that they sometimes either know things they shouldn't, or give scarily accurate predictions that the most skilled Hime-miko's would be hard pressed to match. Unlike the other types of seers, they don't seem to suffer as much interference from a Campione's presence either."
"And what is the catch?" Harry asked. "They don't get to choose what they see, and some secrets whispered to them could cost their lives." Cressida answered. "Or they might be told things they don't want to know. Since what she told us was so obvious, the fay must have had some kind of stake in that as well… but for what reason I would not dare to guess."
Cressida looked outside. "The only reason I guessed it was because it came up in the files they sent me of all students of interest when I came into your service. Otherwise I would have thought she was crazy. She is still an incredible asset." She stopped herself from pushing the point as Harry's frown turned deep enough for her to know she was treading dangerous waters.
'I suppose getting any hint of what a campione might do is worth its weight in gold ten times over.' Harry thought. 'Well I gave her my word and I am keeping it.' "Thanks for explaining Cressida." he said out loud. The witch nodded and returned to her reading while Harry went hunting for another book on the more violent side of geologic events.
Narcissa did her best not to show her distaste for the two men 'gracing' her table. One in her mind personified the saying 'A rat of a man'. The other displayed every trait of the pureblood death eaters that she hated. If it was not for his skill with his wand she highly doubted he'd gotten so far even with his insane loyalty to the Dark Lord.
And like a pair of ruffians the pair gorged themselves on her family's food with no manners. She would not be surprised if they discarded their cutlery to dig in with their hands, or alternatively steal the silverware. 'If only the 'Dark Lord' kept them in whatever cave he squirreled them away in.' she thought distastefully. 'I shall have words with Lucius. The Dark Lord is one personage I can endure. But I will not suffer having these barbarians around when Draco returns home.'
With a glance to her husband she made her desire to communicate abundantly clear, and she could see he understood what had her displeasure. The pair endured the rest of the breakfast while the Dark Lord shined in his absence. As the pair of ruffians wandered off Narcissa took Lucius to the sitting room. "Narcissa…" Lucius tried to start to avoid his wife's rant.
"No Lucius. Those two are not purebloods and act absolutely the worst we'd expect from mudbloods. And these days those same mudbloods have more manners than them. I absolutely want those two savages out of the house before Draco returns for Yuletide." Narcissa made sure that her tone conveyed that she would not be swayed. Lucius sighed and resisted from showing his nervous habits. "You know that is not possible Narcissa."
"Then make it possible. You are one of the Lord's most favored are you not?" Narcissa said bitingly. She could see Lucius shift through multiple expressions and she could almost place his verbal response with each one. "I cannot." Lucius decided to declare instead. "I will have a talk with them to remind them of their proper breeding, and we can keep them as far away from Draco as we can. But unless the Dark Lord commands them on a mission they are here to stay."
He sighed and glanced around before putting up a privacy spell. "And with the recent injuries Dumbledore managed to inflict on him. I suspect the Dark Lord will be plotting for a while as he waits for interest to subside and gauge the responses of the other groups." He admitted more privately to his wife, who despite her current ire still held his trust.
As if his words were a prophecy they both flinched as the wards sprung into action. "I think the other groups are not waiting around unlike the last war." Narcissa answered for him as she rushed towards the hidden exit. She fully expected the Campione to come charging in and cut down everything in his path. And she had no intention of being anywhere near it.
"Fleeing are we?" A silky voice demanded in a menacing tone. "If you wish to throw yourself against the implacable might of a Campione…" Narcissa replied bitingly as she opened a secret path downstairs with a wave of her wand. "... then you are more than welcome to pursue that idiotic path and buy us more time to escape." As she did not look back while she thundered down she missed the gobsmacked expression at her sudden defiance that saved her from getting a killing curse in the back.
"Follow us my lord." Lucius suggested with a wince and he hoped his wife had the presence of mind to keep running once they were safe before the Dark Lord decided to exact vengeance for her angry words. "The heat of the fire should burn Potter…." The Dark Lord mumbled as Lucius disappeared as well. With a swish of his wand he declared to the empty room. "Fiendfyre!" Uncaring that he still had two minions potentially in the path of danger.
He kept the cursed fire under control long enough to make his own escape through the underground path the Malfoy family had once built. Upstairs the fire started to consume everything it could with almost gleeful energy.
"You did not bring the Campione?" Amelia asked as Dumbledore appeared. "Aside from that this is our fight, and not that of the next generation. It is also a normal school day." the old wizard rebuked. "Furthermore mister Potter's magical resistance means most methods of magical transportation are ineffective. So bringing him here would be a task on it's own."
Amelia did not agree. A few hours missed in class for lives saved were more important in her opinion. There was nothing she could do however so instead she signalled for the assault to start. The wards, detecting the sudden intrusion of many unknown presences tried to harden to disallow entry. Only for Dumbledore and a few wardbreakers stop the process. What was certain that the inhabitants inside knew something was going on.
The front door was blasted open and aurors streamed through the breach. Amelia for a moment realised that if at least Lucius was not inside, she would be out of a job. The Wizenagemot would never accept such a violation of ancient rights like this. Her informants however swore that had seen him haunt the darker parts of the alleys in the search of something.
So she was 'all in' as she followed the first wave in. Standing on top of the staircase was Barty Crouch Junior. The man just finished his incantation and a killing curse leapt out. As his target managed to leap clear Amelia retaliated with a blasting curse. She was not the only one to do so and the man was sent flying upward, nearly hitting the ceiling before he slammed into the wall.
She saw a rat with silver limbs dash down the stairs and with a cry of "Animagus!" she cast the charm that forced him to return to his true form. As she expected the form of Peter Pettigrew stumbled down the last part and conked himself out as he slammed headfirst into the carpeted floor. She wasn't taking any chances and stunned the man for good measure.
"Bind them properly and bring them to the ministry!" She ordered the first wave as the second came in. "Split up. One group goes up, another stays on the ground floor. You are authorized to arrest everyone inside for harbouring known fugitives!" She had to struggle not to sound too excited for finally having something to pin on the slippery Malfoy that would see him banished to Azkaban.
The men and women nearly had made it to the top of the stairs when cursed fire eagerly reached around the corner. "Fiendfyre!" someone shouted in a panic. Well aware of the danger it represented, the aurors wheeled around as quickly as they had come again and ran before the fire could consume them. "Damn it!" Amelia cursed as she followed from the rear. Dumbledore stepped forward and gave it a valiant attempt to subdue the fire, but it was already out of his ability to return under control.
"Suppressing wards around the house! Don't let it run wild over the countryside!" Amelia shouted to aurors who had not already sprung into action. She joined them, putting up the magical barrier specifically made in ancient times to stop the fire from rampaging further out of control and strangling it to death. With gritted teeth she saw it smash through the roof like a kraken of the tales of old.
'All that evidence to pin Lucius and his compatriots, it's all going up in smoke.' she thought with anger. As long as there was magic and fuel, the fire would burn. To her surprise, jumping just out of the clutches of the grasping fire was Moody with a grin. "I grabbed as much paperwork as I could before things went up in flames. Dear old Lucius kept his records in the basement."
His expression grew grim as he glanced over his shoulder. "There is a secret hallway from the basement into the open. You'll need to plug that hole. I'll take Dumbledore and see if we can hunt down the Malfoys." "Take more people with you." Amelia ordered as she caught the expanded evidence bag with one hand while keeping her wand on the ward.
"Fine, Shacklebolt is a good spell slinger. You need everyone you have to contain this fire." Moody agreed far too quickly for Amelia's tastes. She wrote it off as the man wanting to start hunting straight away instead of stubbornly insisting he could do it alone. The trio disappeared into the forest with their robes flapping behind them and she wished them the best before focusing all her attention on the ward. The cursed fire was probing the barrier and she still had a hole to close.
It was a struggle to bring the cursed fire under control. The Malfoy mansion burned down to the bedrock. If it wasn't for Moody going off on its own Amelia would have nothing to show for it but the two fugitives. It wasn't the result she had in her mind when she set off. But she accepted it nevertheless. "Is it out?!" She shouted as she could no longer see the cursed flames.
There was no wreckage to hide behind and the earth was blackened like the deepest abyss. It would take decades for life to take hold once more and it would feel haunted to muggles, and empty to magicals for centuries to come. The ward worked by preventing the energy of the world to flow in, strangeling the cursed fire like a normal one would be put out without oxygen.
But this void would scar the world. 'A scar Malfoy would be blamed on as no-one but the most trusted know Voldemort was there as well.' She thought for a moment and realised that it would be the ultimate way of sinking his reputation. He had done something so nefarious he burned down his own mansion with fiendfyre to hide it. As the ward collapsed and the aurors advanced cautiously Amelia struggled to hide her smile.