Chapter 4: A New Threat
{A/N: Here's Another Update...Re-Post Chapter...}
My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy S.S.
The Interrogation Room, Ministry Of Magic Offices, Wizarding World...
Bright lights filled a small cramped room with gray walls and not a single window in sight. The heat from the seemingly focused lighting did little to make the place comfortable of course it was all done by design as celebrated Auror Harry James Potter intended when requesting to have an attempt to question the newly acquired suspect whom had attempted to assault him in an alley way. The emerald green eyes of the Wizarding World's most accomplished hero since the late Albus Dumbledore, narrowed behind his glasses as he took in the sight of the new haul.
His attacker had been a gruff looking wizard, his face was still marred by the physical assault he sustained in the wake of the American wizard's fury and his nose oozed blood onto his black robed chest. His cheek was heavily bruised and his jaw loose as he sat quietly staring back into Harry Potter's angry gaze seemingly unaffected by his petty attempt at intimidation.
He glared rather murderously at Harry smug in his beliefs and bitter about his capture.
"Why did you attack me?" asked the green eyed wizard demanding answers for this strange man's actions.
"To get your attention." replied the first assailant with a harsh expression.
"To get my attention?" asked Harry confused. "For what?"
"Your day of reckoning is coming Potter, the boss will see to it." replied the first assailant.
"Who are you working for and what does this have to do with me?" asked Harry intent on finding the answers.
"I've got nothing more to say to you Potter." replied The first assailant.
The green eyed wizard sighed. The second assailant had not been fit for interrogation given the beating the strange American wizard had given him. He had been getting no where fast and found himself in desperate need of Hermione's help.
Someone had been setting all this up just to go after him?
It didn't make any sense despite his long list of enemies since the end of the second wizarding war, none had been so bold as to openly attack him on the streets not even when given to advanced organization.
Fearing for his families safety, he became all the more determined to head up this investigation.
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Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World...
The rancid stench of the black pool caught the attention of Regulus Snape the moment he landed in the rundown textile mill town of Cokeworth England. His blazing eyes of obsidian noted the unimpressive origin place of his late father and he found himself feeling a bit sympathetic to the late wizard in regards to how his childhood must have been. He once asked his father where it was that he'd grown up only to be told by the drunken wizard in so many words that it had been the seat of hell.
Looking around at the seemingly lifeless place, it appeared his father had been quite truthful on that statement.
Making his way to the last dilapidated brick house on the left row of the similarly built houses, Regulus braced himself for what he'd find at the former Snape residence. The raven haired wizard moved up the crumbling concrete steps securing the key from beneath a long dead flower pot and opened the thick black wood front door.
Almost immediately, the stench of dust and decay accent with a bit of leather, herbs and fresh earth came rushing from the place and did it's best to combat the rancid stench from the open smog filled air of the town. Regulus stepped inside noting the numerous cobwebs along the walls and numerous books shelves. He was impressed to find each book had been intact and placed in alphabetical order as he continued inside the house closing the door behind him and using his wand for light.
The air was indeed musty as he stood at the small entrance of the modest muggle built house despite evidence of magical enhancements from the inside. Regulus nearly chuckled at the image of a clown car that entered his mind as he noted the place was much bigger than it appeared on the outside and still not as grand as a mansion or even the home he'd grown up in back in America.
He stepped into the sitting room, noting the numerous bottles of firewhiskey, possibly left by his father during his final night in this place before his inevitable end during the second wizarding war. There was a good deal of dried blood along the dusty hard wood floor below the younger Snape's feet and broken glass shards in a pile near a wall with evidence of the atrocious sixties era flower print wall paper being chipped.
The smell of wood had been strong here, as well as the smell of ash and dirt.
From the looks of it, Regulus guessed his late father spent a good deal of time in this room.
The old place had looked a good deal like a house where bad things happened behind the closed doors where no eye would venture for fear of being improper or involved in something that wasn't their business.
Regulus recalled his mother telling him that his father had not had a happy childhood, and she had often suspected that the ever brooding wizard was the victim of physical abuse and gross neglect from his parents.
The raven haired wizard sighed pushing his memories to the back of his mind as he made his way to the same armchair his father and grandfather frequented whenever they returned to this place. It seemed that by right of passage, he ventured toward the chair and sat down before the fireplace content to sit in the darkness and bask in silence for the time being.
He had been miles from North America and the life he had built there. The news of his mother's condition and his father's passing had brought him back across the ocean.
As he sat there in the darkness of the Snape family sitting room, he found a half drunk bottle of Orgren's finest firewhiskey still remained. He lifted it up noting the contents and sighed once more as he unscrewed the cap from the bottle putting the seemingly lethal concoction to his lips and enjoying the vicious burn as it went down.
"You must have needed this everyday." said Regulus reflecting for a bit before leaning his head back and closing his weary eyes still gripping the heavy bottle.
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Open Field, The Burrows, Wizarding World...
Hermione Granger-Weasley had barely landed in the center of the open field as she combated thought of what she experienced that day. She had stormed the brothel in search of Ron only to find some strange American bloke whom reminded her briefly of the late Professor Snape until he spoke and his strange accent ended the illusion.
He had been quite a handsome man, with an incredibly toned body not to mention his rather large appendage between his seemingly powerful thighs. The amber eyed witch attempted to shake the images of the strange wizard's lovemaking from her mind only to be bombarded with them.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione gathered herself and focused her attention on getting back to her life and her family. She still had not trusted Ron as far as she could throw him, and that had been pretty far given the last time she had done it, but she knew she needed to get the strange wizard and his impossibly huge wand off her mind.
The amber eyed witch climbed the steps to her family home taking a final moment to gather her thoughts and focus on what needed to be done here.
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The Potter Residence, The Burrows, Wizarding World...
It had been an all together difficult day for Harry James Potter as he attempted to figure out whom it was that wanted his attention so badly that they would send robed would be assassins to Diagon Alley beneath a double ended serpent symbol reminiscent of the death eaters Voldemort's dark mark.
This wasn't like before, he wasn't some reckless child out to join his fallen parents and godfather. He had been married this time around with three children of his own, as well as uncle to the children Hermione and Ron had together.
If this threat had indeed been a big as Voldemort during the wizarding wars, he intended to put an end to it before it got out of control. James Sirius and Albus Severus were due to attend Hogwarts and given what he endured at the school during the last war there was was no way he wished that kind of pressure on his young sons.
Neville Longbottom was a fine wizard and an old friend but he was no Severus Snape. There was no way his old friend could keep his children and an entire school safe at any given moment.
Harry balled his fists as his rage began to seep through. There was no way he was going to endure another lengthy war because some dark git got uppity about birthrights. He had far too much of that the last go round.
With a sigh, he gathered his thoughts and headed inside his family home needing to be near his beautiful wife and fast growing children for comfort. If this was indeed a war he wanted to enjoy the quiet moments he had fought so hard for the previous time.
Deciding to enjoy his time with his family, he made up his mind to see Hermione in the morning about the new details of this strange investigation. One thing was for sure, Harry Potter was ready to face this new threat even at the cost of his own life if it meant a safe future for his children and Hermione's children.