Hey, Everyone! This chapter, Voldemort strikes at the Light Alliance in a show of force and terror to strike fear into the magical world at the return of the Dark Lord! And Dumbledore, the 'Leader of the Light', is nowhere to be seen. Fear grips the witches and wizards of Britain.

But, a glimmer of hope! Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, returns to the realm of his birth, and the news is gonna spread through Wizarding Britain like wildfire!

Chapter 3: Homecoming

Simultaneous multiple attacks were launched as dusk faded into full night, each under the light of the Dark Mark, all on wizarding families that were either members of the Potter Alliance or famously aligned to the Light and had opposed Voldemort in the past. A spy within the Ministry had locked all the target families out of the floo network to prevent their escape.

Ted Tonks and his wife Andromeda Tonks nee Black were able to floo to the DMLE due the incompetence of the team of Death Eaters who attacked their home prematurely, before their floo was locked down. The senior aurors on duty raised the alarm and checked for other attacks elsewhere, as auror Nymphadora Tonks did what she could to comfort her parents.

Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt discovered the Dark Mark appearing in multiple locations, and gasped when he saw one located over Bones Manor, home of his friend and boss, DMLE Director Amelia Bones and her niece Susan! He was about to order a full force there when the ladies in question appeared with the sharp *Crack!* with a house elf. They were both coughing and smudged with soot and cried out as the elf keeled over, a terrible wound becoming apparent.

"Ladies's safe now", she smiled with her last breath.

"Director Bones!", Kingsley rushed to her side. "There are multiple attacks under the Dark Mark! When I learned one was over Bones Manor we feared the worst!"

"It's worse than that", his boss hissed with anger. "Our wards and defenses were holding…until You-know-Who joined his dogs! The rumors of his return are now confirmed by my own eyes! And tales of his power were no exaggerations, either. He destroyed one of our ancient ward-stones with a single blasting curse! We held as long as we could when we realized the floo was locked down and they'd set wards to trap us inside! Realizing the battle was hopeless, Mimsy brought us here, but he fired off a curse at us as we disappeared. I want every available auror dispatched to every attack NOW! Kingsley, you and Tonks get down to the Floo Network Control Office and get those floos open immediately!"

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The wards and ancient defenses of Longbottom Manor held, just barely, with Augusta Longbottom and the family house elves putting up a fierce defense against the combined Death Eater/Dementor attack. The old dowager had zero qualms using deadly curses and brutal hexes to protect her home, killing two Death Eaters and gravely injuring three more. They managed to hold out until a squad of aurors arrived, forcing the attackers to retreat without their dead. But two of the family elves had died to protect the elder Lady Longbottom.

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Xenophilius Lovegood fearlessly exchanged hexes with the Death Eaters while his daughter Luna, a recent graduate of Hogwarts, kept the Dementors at bay with a Patronus Charm. When the aurors arrived, they were able to stun two injured Death Eaters for arrest and questioning before the others port-keyed away and the Dementors withdrew. Luna collapsed from magical exhaustion, while the aurors had to immediately port-key her father to St. Mungo's due to his grievous wounds. His chances of recovery were unclear.

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The Most Ancient and Noble Greengrass family, while a member of the Potter Alliance, were purebloods and still viewed by most as a Dark aligned family. So they were caught almost completely by surprise by the Death Eaters' attack! With the floo cut-off and anti-apparition/port-key wards placed by the attackers, the Lord's son and Heir stood and fought to cover the escape of his father and his own wife and daughters through a secret passage. The family house elves hurried to transfer as much of the gold and valuables from the Manor to the family vaults in Gringott's before they and Erickson Greengrass were overwhelmed and killed. By the time the aurors arrived, Greengrass Manor was in flames beneath the Dark Mark.

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At the Burrow, Arthur Weasley and his children were in a desperate, pitched battle with the Death Eaters attacking from all sides, led by the maniacal Bellatrix LeStrange. Arthur, Bill, Ginny, Ron and his new bride Lavender, were holding the ground-floor, while twins Fred and George took the offensive from the upper floors. The sheer craziness of the hexes, charms, and objects the twins hurled out the windows, combined with the determined defense from the ground floor windows, kept the attackers off-balance until a force of aurors port-keyed in nearby. Bellatrix hissed in frustration, and ordered a withdrawal.

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The Death Eaters found naught but an empty house once they breached the wards around Abbot Manor, as the family was on holiday at their villa in Italy. The frustrated intruders slaughtered the lone house elf left behind to mind the estate and looted what they could from the house.

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Under the eerie light of the Dark Mark, a muggle pedestrian bridge across the Thames in London mysteriously buckled and collapsed. Many of the people crossing at the time lost their lives. Walden MacNair's crooked, yellow teeth shown in a wide, nasty grin as he and his team port-keyed back to their master.

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A phalanx of Death Eaters wearing skull-masks and black robes with tall, pointed hoods marched down Diagon Alley; causing panic and mayhem, blasting random shops with explosive curses or fiend-fire. They cut down the two aurors on-duty with ease before disappearing into Knockturn Alley.

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The following day dawned over the Potter Estate. Things had been quiet ever since Sirius Black had briefly taken refuge here years ago until he was exonerated. Over breakfast in the kitchen of the Manor, husband and wife caretakers Victor and Emily were saddened to read of the attacks in the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. Their somber mood carried over to the house elves.

But, they all had their duties; to maintain the manor and estate for the next Lord Potter…..

"BREACH IN THE WARDS!", the guardian dragon-spirit Raknor roared from the ether.

"Where, Raknor?", Victor asked anxiously. Ever since all the wards were updated and tied to Raknor after the last war with Voldemort, they'd been impregnable. For there to be a breach was unthinkable! "And how?!"

"The Great Hall! A portal! A magick I have not seen in this world for centuries! I have no way to stop or block it!"

Victor and Emily ran to the hall, joined by the estate's four house elves. The wizarding portraits of the previous Lords and Ladies were all anxiously looking at the large mirror that took up most of the wall at the end of the hall. It was swirling with eldritch energies.

Suddenly, two familiar figures emerged, accompanied by unusual escorts. The wards recognized and accepted Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"Lord Black? Mr. Lupin?", Victor said in a shocked tone beside his wife. "What? H-how? And who…?"

"Easy, Victor", Sirius replied gently. "Everything is fine. Better than fine, actually. Juliet here is my wife."

The bee girl on his arm nodded with a friendly smile. "Hello."

"And Laura is my mate", Remus added. The she-wolf waved with a smirk.

"B-b-but why are you here?", Emily asked. "What's going on?"

"And where did you come from?!", Raknor demanded. "The knowledge to create portals was lost centuries ago!"

"And what do you mean that everything is 'better than fine'?", Victor asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Because we found Harry", Remus grinned.

"And he's right behind us", Sirius smirked, "with his wives and children."

Even Raknor was stunned silent. Could it be? After 20 years, the Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter was coming home at last?!

Both Sirius and Remus and their wives smiled as they turned to look back at the mirror-portal.

A tall, athletic young man of a little over twenty years of age stepped through. His long, black hair was tied back in a bushy ponytail, as if that were the only way to tame it. His emerald green eyes shone brightly, the fabled lightning-bolt shaped scar clearly visible upon his brow over his right eye. His forest-green and black silk robes and cloak fit him perfectly. On his right arm was what appeared to be a white she-demon of divine yet sinful beauty, and on his left arm was a no-less beautiful girl with features of a panther and owl; including a large pair of feathered wings on her back. These three were followed by six more very beautiful, non-human women, along with many small children resembling them; all of which shared their Father's emerald-green eyes.

They were followed by another young man about the same age levitating two enormous flowers in front of him; one with two beautiful, green-skinned girls inside, the other with one that looked a bit older with red hair and a forlorn look on her face.

Finally, twenty more bee girls resembling Juliet came through, each carrying a large chest or trunk. The mirror then dimmed and returned to normal in appearance, but an undercurrent of magick could still be felt from it.

Harry smiled warmly at those assembled before him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a warm familiarity from this place. He felt his magical core connect with the history, his ancestry of this land. He belonged here. It felt like…..home.

Raknor could sense the Potter Family magick in him, and felt the loving acceptance of the estate itself embrace the young man like a comforting blanket. There was no mistake. He was the very image of his father, but with the bright eyes of his mother.

"The Prodigal Son has returned!", Raknor announced loud and proud. "Welcome home, Lord Hadrian James Potter!"

Victor, Emily, and the elves all briefly bowed as the smiling Harry approached and stopped before them.

"Welcome home, Lord Potter", they all said at once.

"Thank you. But please", he said warmly, "you can just call me 'Harry'."

"Oh thank Merlin you've returned, Sir!", Victor gushed, shaking his hand. "I am Victor, your devoted butler. This is my wife Emily, your head maid. These are your family's house elves; Turner (the one wearing a smaller version of Victor's butler uniform nodded curtly with a smile.), Remmy (he was dressed like a chef), Blinky, and Polly(the two females were dressed like maids). The last time we saw you was just before your parents went into hiding with you."

"We mourned their deaths", Emily sniffed, a tear rolling down her cheek. "But we were overjoyed to learn you'd survived. But when you disappeared ten years later, we feared the worst. Oh, we can't tell you how happy we are that you've returned to your ancestral home!"

"Thank you", he said humbly. "I thank you all for taking excellent care of the estate in my absence, and preparing it so well for my return."

"The timing of your return is most fortuitous, Sir", Victor said gravely.

"Why? What's happened?", Harry asked with concern.

Victor handed him the copy of the Daily Prophet resignedly. Harry read about the attacks of the previous evening with an arched eye-brow.

"Now that the Dark Lord has stepped out of the shadows and made his presence publicly known", Emily shuddered with fear. "The wizarding world is panicking, gripped with terror. Most of the ministry is paralyzed, unsure of what to do."

Harry nodded grimly.

"First, let's get everyone settled", he said finally. Then he turned to Sirius, Remus, and Neville. "Then, we have allies to contact and plans to make. Natasha, Dina, Hermione, and Minerva? Please make sure this end of the portal is stable. We want to be able to go back and forth at will."

The lilim, echidna, wiccagriff, and werecat all nodded and kissed him before turning back toward the mirror.

"Victor, would you please show the rest of us around the Manor?", Harry asked with a smile. "I'm sure that my children are anxious to pick out their rooms."

"Yay!", many of the little ones cheered.

"Of course, Sir", Victor replied with a smile, leading the way. Harry followed along behind his wives and children. While they were distracted, he conjured the jar containing the repugnant fragment. The black flame flared angrily in a hopeless attempt to break free.

"Your days are numbered, murderer", he said to himself. "And thanks to this vile thing, you won't cheat Death again."

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Author's notes: Things are heating up! Next chapter, Harry starts reaching out, first to the Weasley family. And Neville returns to Longbottom Manor with his new wives, and rumors of Harry's return reach the ears of the Dark Lord!

The bulk of this version of Potter Manor/Estate and the characters of Victor and Emily are taken from "Harry Potter and the Curse's Cure" written by Dragon-Raptor (seriously, it is a "must-read"!). I'm just adding the ruins of Potter Castle to the estate as well for Juliet and Sirius to build their new hive.

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