Black Townhouse

When they returned to Hogsmeade, Harry invited Viktor to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to be held at the Black Townhouse that evening. He had asked Dumbledore to arrange for it since it was necessary for their new ally to know what they were up against. When he had invited Krum to Wizarding Britain to play for Puddlemere United, he had told him only the barest details. Now it was time to come clean.

Since he arrived long before other members of the Order, he called Kreacher to bring some refreshments to the meeting room where the Order generally met.

After Kreacher had laid down a sumptuous spread before them, he engaged Viktor in conversation, "Viktor, do you get news of happenings in Wizarding Britain in Bulgaria?"

He nodded, "Yes, our news papers report what they learn from your Daily Prophet. I must say you have been busy fighting this Voldemort. Is he the one who killed Cedric?"

Harry nodded, "Though he didn't do it himself, he ordered it to be done. He's the one responsible for it. Did you get any news of Karkaroff?"

Viktor spat, "That coward ran away as soon as you returned to Hogwarts. Nobody has heard from him since then. Even his mistress had no idea of where he is. She died rather painfully, I am told."

Harry gasped, "Who?"

Viktor said with indifference, "She was a teacher at Durmstrang. People said behind our backs that she was his mistress. Sometime during the summer, some of those mask wearing goons found her and tortured her to give him up. Of course the poor woman did not know anything so she could not tell them. Killed after a gruesome torture which lasted for about 3 hours."

Harry winced, "That's appalling. What is your government doing?"

He said dismissively, "They are ostriches. They know the threat is real but they are just sealing our borders hoping it will not spill over into our country. As if Durmstrang does not have a crop of dark wizards to reap already. They should be fighting here but they're securing themselves hoping they won't be harmed."

Harry nodded, "Fudge was in constant denial about his return too. We had to get him kicked out of office. Since then we've made some progress toward preparing for our war but we still need more wands. I was hoping you could use some of your influence."

Krum said gruffly, "You don't have to ask, Harry Potter. I have a lot of people in my connections who will help. I also talked with Antonia Aleksandrov who is the head of DMLE over there. She agrees with me that the only way to keep ourselves secure is to help the light faction here. Still, the Minister is being a moron. He is working under the delusion that if we stay out of it here, even if you lose to the pretender, he will not bother with our country. She agreed to muster people to help Wizarding Britain in secret. If it is needed, she would not hesitate in kicking our minister out. I think she wants to be the next minister."

Harry chuckled, "A determined minister might be the best thing for us right now, don't you think?"

Krum nodded, "So tell me Harry Potter, how you duelled with him for two hours?"

Harry chuckled, "Now that I think about it, it feels like it happened to someone else. It was tiring. I dropped from exhaustion after he retreated. It feels like a dream now. I'm sorry that I can't tell you in more detail about it right now."

Krum had been looking around the room. He was transfixed by something in the room. He pointed at one of the crests and asked with some anger, "Vot is that doing here?"

Harry was confused until he followed where Krum was pointing. Once he saw the Peverell crest, he recognised what he was saying. He asked Krum, "What's the problem with it, Viktor?"

He said angrily, "That is Grindelwald's sign. What is it doing here?"

Harry sighed. He remembered Harsh telling him about how Grindelwald had perverted the crest of House Peverell and used it as an insignia for his forces. He adopted his best calm demeanour before he started speaking, "I know what you are getting at Viktor but this symbol is the crest of one of my houses, the House of Peverell. This represents the three Deathly Hallows which were gifted to the three brothers by death itself. I don't know if there's any truth to the old legend. It is taught to our children as one of the tales of Beedle the Bard now. Grindelwald too was fascinated with the lore and he took it to use as the sign of his forces. I can see why you would be miffed about it. Trust me this crest belongs to me, not anyone else."

Krum calmed down. He nodded, "What is this order you want to introduce me to?"

Harry gave him a brief history of the Order, what it was supposed to do and how many members there were. While it was going on, Harry felt the wards chime and he rubbed his hands in anticipation, "The order has arrived."

This meeting was not attended by many members but a select few because they wanted to keep his involvement secret from others. The only ones who were in the know were Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, Frank, Nymphadora, Alastor, Arthur, Alice, Emmeline and Kingsley.

When they had all arrived, Dumbledore started to preside over the meeting. He introduced everyone in the meeting to Krum saying, "We have met today to introduce a potential ally to all of you. I trust you all know Mr. Krum of International Quidditch fame? He has just this morning signed up with Puddlemere United and will be playing for them. In addition to that, Mr. Krum wanted to know where we stand before he will commit to our cause." He turned to Krum, "I hope Mr. Peverell has told you everything about the present situation, Mr. Krum?"

Krum nodded, "We have been hearing news over there in Bulgaria too. Our Head of DMLE Madam Antonia Aleksanderov is recruiting people to come to your aide. She believes that unless we tackle this problem together, we cannot hope to contain it within the borders of Wizarding Britain. She has promised that she and all her Aurors will come to help Wizarding Britain when the time comes. She however expects that Wizarding Britain would help us when it is our turn rather than sitting out, hoping to stay out of Harm's way. There is major resentment against Wizarding Britain because they did not officially mobilize to help others during the Grindelwald wars. A few of you participated but officially they were never involved. Most countries think that it is about time that Wizarding Britain was paid back in its own currency."

Frank who had heard every word calmly started speaking when Viktor finished speaking, "Mr. Krum, I am indeed thankful for the offer of help made by Madam Aleksanderov. I agree that Wizarding Britain did not participate officially in the Grindelwald war but my father, Jeremy Longbottom, his ally and sworn brother Charlus Potter and Lord Arcturus Black were some of the warriors who along with their allies helped in the campaign against Grindelwald. We paid the price with blood and many of our allies died and we never received a word of thanks for it but we did not complain. You might also observe that Albus Dumbledore who is present here with us was the one who defeated Grindelwald at that time when everyone had given up hope."

Krum raised his hands in surrender as if pacifying him, "We do understand, General Longbottom. My father is trying to find people to help your cause as we speak. We will stand with you and fall with you."

Dumbledore beamed at him, "I find solace in this news that you bring. Now would you like to officially join the Order?"

Before Krum could speak, Harry intervened, "Viktor has already agreed to join another order, Headmaster. However, he will keep you updated with news as it comes."

Dumbledore nodded, "If that's so then it's entirely his choice, Harry. Now is there anything else you want to tell us about?"

Harry shook his head "No Headmaster. There's nothing at the moment."

When the meeting was adjourned and everyone was gone back to their residences, Harry apparated to Weasley Manor. He had to talk about things with Molly Weasley.

Unknown Castle

Bellatrix had called a meeting of the inner circle as soon as she had received a message from her master that told her to arrange transport for 100 wizards to the unknown castle. A large company of wizards such as them was a headache for her. She had called everyone to figure out a way. To her consternation, she had to invite Severus Snape too since out of all of them, he was the only one not being hunted by the Order of the Phoenix and the Dark Lord's spy. He could help them more than anyone else.

When the inner circle met, Severus opened the meeting. He said in his deliberate low tone and irritating drawl, "I remember the Dark lord had said that he would not tolerate any more losses, Bella but you lost us how many? 7 or 8 followers since he embarked on this quest. Is this how you are supposed to be leading us?"

She said scathingly, "At least we got three of them compared to when we only lost followers when the Dark Lord was recuperating. Have you answered to the Dark Lord for that?"

Severus continued in the same slow drawl, "I told him everything, Bella. He made the decisions."

She said hotly, "You manipulated him into believing you, Severus. You deliberately caused the slaughter of so many of the Dark Lord's followers."

Snape raised an eye-brow, "Are you insinuating, Bella, that I managed to hoodwink the greatest wizard in the world into believing a pack of lies?"

Of course it was a question which had no answer. She could not say that he had manipulated the Dark Lord after Severus proclaimed he was the greatest Wizard in the world. Her even insinuating that he manipulated the Dark lord would not bode well for her. After all, her master was supposed to be most powerful. Was he not?

She however was not willing to concede defeat to Severus Snape and rallied, "You gave him flimsy excuses for betraying him, Snape. You made him believe that you are his man but you have been Dumbledore's lapdog all along."

Snape still had not lost his cool, "Bella, do you think he would have let me live if I did not have good reasons for not returning to him sooner? I came back as soon as I could when he regained a body. I gave him my reasons for every question he had for me. I have been loyal to him more than anyone."

She screeched, "I went to Azkaban out of my loyalty for him while you were hiding behind Dumbledore's robes."

Snape bristled a little but covered up his expressions and said coolly, "You did not show your loyalty for him by going to Azkaban but rather your foolishness. If you wanted to demonstrate your loyalty, you would have kept your head down and looked for him quietly with no one being the wiser. Lunacy cannot replace loyalty. Besides what good is your loyalty when compared with the information which I have given him?"

"Stop it you two or I will hex you both into oblivion", snapped Dolohov. "I can't believe that you two are still bickering like school children. The Dark lord left you both in charge. We have called his meeting to further the dreams of our great master, not to bicker among ourselves."

Rookwood added, "I agree with Dolohov. We are doing nothing of what the Dark lord wanted us to do when he left on his conquest. We must put our focus on our mission."

She turned to the assembled men, "The Dark Lord has sent me a message that he has found a hundred men who are mercenaries from Germany. He wants us to find a way to transport them safely here. I cannot make a portkey nor can I guide them here. In fact most of us have a bounty on our heads and we are being hunted. Who should bring them here?"

Lucius said, "Without doubt, this task should fall to Severus. He is the only one of our number who is not being actively hunted by the other side. He can find a way to bring them here."

Severus wanted to refuse but knew he could not. If he did, others would be suspicious. To his woe, he could not tell Dumbledore or the Order about it. Doing so would put the suspicion on Snape instantly. That was something that he wanted to avoid if he was to stay among the death eaters and find their secrets. He was furiously thinking of ways. One came to him even before they had made a decision.

He interrupted their discussion, "Before you people decide to send me, I have something to say. As you know, these wizards are German. They are not marked death eaters nor are they known or hunted in Wizarding Britain. They do mingle among the muggles freely so they know their way around the muggle world. They can take any of those means of transportation to travel to London. From there, they can be brought here by any of you. The magical borders around Wizarding Britain are vast and they have their gaps. I know of at least 6 places from where they can pass undetected by the Ministry. You can also send groups of two or three to find and lead them here. I daresay many of the young followers won't be suspected because they have never been death eaters."

Travers said, "I agree with Severus. This is a sound plan. We won't have to depend entirely on one person."

After that was out of the way, she turned to Rookwood, "Augustus, the Dark Lord wanted us to eliminate the ministry officials. I want you to attack the house of the blood traitor Weasleys first and to burn that place to the ground. After that, go for Amelia Bones and then Sirius Black."

Rookwood nodded, "It won't be too much trouble to destroy the Weasley home. Bones Manor, on the other hand, is a formidable place. It has centuries of wards on it. Even a ward destroyer would not make much headway against it. We will need people in large numbers to destroy it. At the same time, we will need the attention of the ministry diverted to other places when we attack that place. As to the Minister, Green Hues is guarded by some of the nastiest wards that the Unspeakables were able to develop during the last war. We can't get to it. As for Sirius Black, for all we know, he is living under a Fidelius Charm. We can't get to him because we don't know who the secret keeper is to that place. Do any of you by any chance remember the place where the old Townhouse was? I mean the general area?"

Severus answered before anyone else could, "That place is not being used anymore. The mutt left it after the battle of the Ministry Atrium. He is now living somewhere else and the building has been abandoned and put under stasis charms. We should concentrate on other places and plans to attack."

Rudolphus put his two knuts worth in, "We can send out teams to attack Muggles randomly and that will keep the ministry Aurors busy. We raid, throw killing curses around and go away when the ministry forces arrive. This way, they will all be distracted. We can attack our targets. We can also attack the mud-bloods who have stolen our magic."

Severus listened carefully behind the façade of his disdainful sneer. He realised that their plan had a chance of succeeding. If the Aurors were busy at other places, they could not go to help the Ministry officials when they were attacked. He needed to supply that information to someone who could help them. They would need help and loads of it.

The light side needed to up its game now before the Death eaters could catch up to them or that would be a recipe for disaster. The light was already stretched too thin. If pull at any more, they may even be torn apart.

Weasley Manor

When Harry arrived at the Manor, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were just sitting down to dinner. As the floo roared, Mr. Weasley was up with his wand pointed toward the floo room. He challenged loudly, "Identify yourself."

Harry said, "Mr. Weasley, it's me, Harry."

Mr. Weasley was not convinced. He asked, "What did I say to Harry Potter when he was boarding the Hogwarts Express at the start of his third year?"

Harry replied, "You asked me to promise you that I would not go looking for Sirius Black who was out to get me."

Mrs. Weasley rushed past her husband and embraced the teen asking him, "Harry! How can you be here? Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

Harry chuckled, "Mrs. Weasley, I am out with leave from the Headmaster. I had some house business which I had to take care of."

She invited him to dinner and he accepted instantly. When they were seated, he asked, "Where's Percy?"

Arthur replied, "He's at the ministry still. Frank likes his work ethic. He says Percy is a huge help in his office. He generally comes home late in the evening and is gone early in the morning."

"And where are Bill and Charlie?"

"They're not here either. Bill lives at the Burrow most of the time. Charlie is living near the Dragon Reserve in Wales. Generally it's just us around the place."

He decided it was time that he came to the point, "Mr. Weasley, were your negotiations with Monsieur Delacour successful?"

Arthur beamed at him, "Yes. Bill is slated to marry Fleur the day before Beltane. Preparations are being made."

Harry asked Mrs. Weasley, "what's your opinion of Fleur, Mrs. Weasley?"

Molly Weasley looked like she had sucked on a lemon. She grunted, "She's fine."

Harry sighed. He knew there was a long chat ahead, "Mrs. Weasley, I know that you don't think that she's a perfect match for Bill but I have seen them together. They are very well matched to each other. I have also seen your disdain towards her because she is a bit different from us however she is a powerful witch who complements Bill nicely. I know sometimes she can't help but make comparisons but there are a few differences between here and there. She likes many things different from our customs and she has been trying to adjust to our customary way of life but it's not easy for her either. I know that you suspect she might have bewitched Bill with her charms but you are totally wrong there. Bill is an exceptionally powerful wizard and her allure has never held sway over him. That is one of the reasons that Fleur finds him attractive. She knows that his regard for her is genuine, not just some effect of her natural charms. A wizard as powerful as him needs a witch like her at his side. Like you and Mr. Weasley complement each other, it is the same with them. She is going to be family in about two months. It will not do to treat her as an outsider."

Molly Weasley had wanted to admonish him for trying to tell her something but she realised that he had a point. Yes, the girl had the allure. She had seen Ronald and Arthur among other wizards, tripping over themselves, trying to impress her and that rankled her something fierce but she had seen Bill being impervious to it. Yes, she complained about a lot of things but they did things differently in France from Wizarding Britain but she was also trying to adapt herself to their lifestyle. More recently, she had stopped demanding that they change to suit her lifestyle. She hadn't wanted to accept it Fleur was the best match for her little boy.

She turned to Harry, "Thank you for saying this, Harry. I realise that I was slightly in the wrong about it. I will see to it that I do not try to repeat it."

Harry nodded, "I will also talk to Ginny about it, Mrs. Weasley."

Hogwarts

The topic of discussion these days was the growing camaraderie between the heiress of Greengrass and the Heiress of Bones. Many of the students who had started to know them since the start of the year were surprised with the way they were standing up for each other. For the observant ones, it was clear that they both had been infatuated with the boy-who-lived and could not stand to be near each other. It was only Harry who was the glue that kept them together. However since that Hogsmeade weekend when Harry was supposed to be in London for family business, these two witches had been behaving like they were best friends. This behaviour of theirs had even puzzled Hannah Abbott and Astoria Greengrass who thought they deserved to know what happened between them but no one was telling. The weekend had passed with Bones and Greengrass being very friendly to each other and no one knew the reason why.

It had actually started the day Emmeline was attacked. Harry had given his cloak to Susan to return safely to the Badger's hole. Susan was on her way to the dungeons when she fancied that she heard some voices in the dark. It was a room on the side on the fourth floor which was not generally used. The door was shut but there was no locking charm on it nor was there any anti-eavesdropping spell cast to keep out anyone who might be listening in.

Susan was not one to pry or to spy on others but she knew the present climate was such that caution was better than later regret. Applying some silencing charms to her feet, she stalked silently towards the room. It was then that a better idea occurred to her. She cast a little spell into the room which would tell her what was being said.

It did not take her long to realise that the girls in the room were Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass. She knew Tracy was appointed as the new Slytherin Prefect after Pansy had been ousted from the school. She had no idea what Greengrass was up to. Her curiosity was piqued. She listened with bated breath.

Tracy said, "Have you given up entirely, Daph?"

Daphne said, "What do you mean Tracy?"

Tracy scowled, "Don't try to play dumb with me Daph. It won't work on me. You know that I'm talking about Harry."

Susan's heartbeat picked up as she listened intently. Daphne sounded like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders when she said, "I don't know Tracy. He seems to be quite enamoured with Bones and won't return my affections. I guess I was too late in approaching him."

Tracy said with a hint of sympathy in her voice, "Daph, it isn't too late yet. I would that you don't give up. It isn't written in stone that he will end up with Susan at last."

Daphne said, "You know I won't do anything that would make him hate me, Tracy. Besides Bones' feelings towards him are as genuine as mine."

Susan had been listening intently and she realised what they were on about. She knew Daphne was interested in Harry but Harry was not showing any affection towards her. She also realised that Daphne's feelings towards him were genuine and maybe she even loved him. True that Susan had been angry with Daphne at first because it looked like she was scheming to snag Harry from her but there was nothing to it now. She also knew that at some time she would have to make Daphne see reason. There was no time like the present.

She walked into the room and said authoritatively to Tracy, "Davis, please leave me and Greengrass alone for some time. I need to talk to her."

Tracy protested, "What are you doing here, Bones? Shouldn't you be in your dormitory?"

Susan snapped, "The same goes for Daphne. She's breaking curfew too. Leave us be for a few minutes. I promise that I won't hurt your friend. You can collect her from here after an hour."

Tracy looked at Daphne uncertainly. She nodded in answer. Tracy left the room. Susan locked the room behind her and cast a privacy spell around them so no one could hear them.

She smirked, "This will ensure that Davis does not hear what I am about to ask you."

Daphne nodded, "What do you want, Bones?"

Susan said, "First of all, I want you to call me Susan. We've been in the same circle for the last 6 months. I think that it's about time that we called each other by our names. Second I have a question for you."

Daphne nodded, "Ask your question, Susan."

Susan smiled, "So tell me Daphne, what are your feelings towards Harry?"

Daphne did not speak for a few moments before she started speaking, "I guess there's no point in trying to hide it from you since you overheard us. I was smitten with him from second year when I heard that he had slain the monster of Slytherin. I fell in love with him when he stood tall and behaved with honour towards even those who didn't deserve it."

Susan sighed, "I know how he is but for your own peace of mind and mine, I am going to tell you something. You must promise me that you are not going to mention it to anyone else."

Daphne nodded, "What is it?"

Susan took a deep breath before she started speaking, "Can you wait until the weekend? There is something that I should show you first so that you will know that I am being honest with you. Also, I am sorry to you for any slants that I may have committed towards you."

Daphne nodded, "I accept your apology Susan and in return offer mine for any unintended insult which I may have given to you. What is the plan for the weekend?"

Susan grinned, "Well it should be obvious. I want to puzzle everyone and maybe get another best friend at the same time."

Daphne grinned in response, "I like your way of thinking, Susan."

Since then, Daphne and Susan had been amicable towards each other and they behaved like the best of friends. Susan found that Daphne was not as frosty as she showed to most people. Daphne found out that Susan was not the confident smug type of individual she appeared to be either. Their friends were scratching their collective heads over what had caused this change but neither of them was telling. Tracy had grilled Daphne for hours but she did not budge. Even Astoria was not able to get anything out of Daphne.

When they returned from Hogsmeade, Susan asked Daphne to meet her in the Room of Requirement the next night.

When they met in the Room, Susan had asked it to provide a less formal setting. It had made a replica of the sitting room of the manor in Ireland where they had spent their holidays. When Daphne arrived, she raised an eyebrow over the appearance of the room and asked her, "Is this what the sitting room at Bones Manor looks like?"

Susan shook her head, "No, this is the sitting room of a manor where Harry and I spent a part of our winter vacation with others."

With Daphne's curiosity piqued Susan told her everything about their holiday except the fact that he could fly. That was a secret which was not hers to tell. When she was done, Daphne whistled, "That was some holiday."

Susan beamed at her, "yes, it certainly was. We plan to visit again and stay much longer after Voldemort is gone for good."

Daphne then asked the real question that she wanted answered, "What were you saying that day Susan? I trust you were going to tell me something important?"

Susan said, "About the time I was born, my parents made a decision for me which fixed the course of my life for me. It was a decision that I knew nothing about at the time but came to know of it later."

Instead of speaking further she simply handed her a document which she had retrieved from Gringotts during the weekend. Daphne eyed it apprehensively before she took it and started reading. The moment that she realized what she was reading, her face started changing colours. As she read on, her hands were trembling and Susan fancied that she could see tears in her eyes.

When Daphne was done, she asked in a very low voice, "Is this for real?"

Susan said kindly, "yes Daphne. I wouldn't try to trick you. This is real. It was written by our parents when we were less than a year old. It employs all the terms which were standard in those contracts except for the most vulgar ones or those which would have been absurd. The infidelity clause is part of it. I don't know what they were thinking but they agreed to it and I am bound to it, as is Harry."

Daphne sighed, "I realise my entire effort was for naught however I wish you had told me this sooner, Susan. Does Harry know about it?"

Susan nodded, "Yes he knows. He only came to know about it a week before Samhain."

Realisation dawned on Daphne, "That was when Harry went missing for a week! I take it that it was his reaction to this news?"

Susan nodded, "That's right. You know I would have rather had liked a chance to get to know someone before I made these decisions but then maybe I could have done a lot worse. I mean there aren't many blokes out there who would measure up to Harry. It is just that I feel cheated that the usual romance of properly courting is not quite there for us. It all feels a bit forced when we know there's only one way it can go. Having said that, not only is Harry seriously easy on the eyes, he's also as brave, as kind, as smart and as generous as any girl could hope for. Once he got over the initial surprise, he's been the perfect suitor."

Daphne didn't say a word for a while. She was letting it sink in that she had been having empty hopes for herself. Susan could see the changing expressions on Daphne's face. She said kindly, "Daphne, you deserve better than to be chasing someone around who can't return your affection. I'm sure that with your charms and your smarts that you'll snag a guy who's just right for you. If things were different, I would be honoured to have you as a rival. As things are, I hope that you can find it in your heart to be my friend and Harry's friend as well."

London

In the early evening, there was the usual line-up outside of the Padella restaurant. The place didn't take reservations, but people who were in the know were willing to line up to partake of their excellent fare. The people in the line were taking in the cool evening air and chatting among themselves when there was a rapid series of curious popping noises around them. The jovial chatting stopped suddenly when they saw that a wild assortment of strange people wearing dresses and silly masks appeared all around them. Each of the strange people appeared to be wielding ornately carved sticks which they had pointed at people in the line-up. They started yelling some nonsense words that sounded something like, "Abra Kadabra!" People started falling as jets of green light from the sticks hit them. When the people in the crowd realized what was happening, all hell broke loose. Some of them bolted, running for their lives. Some of them just stood there and screamed. One of them turned and sprinted at one of the men in funny dress. He got a jet of the deadly green light in his face for his trouble and his lifeless corpse fell at the feet of his murderer. A few of the costumed creeps were uttering different words. Their victims were shrieking in pain or being doubled over in agony or feeling that the blood in their veins was being boiled.

As the Bobbies arrived, one of the attackers pointed his stick at the leading police car. It exploded in flames, killing the two Bobbies inside. The next two police cars met the same fate.

This went on for nearly 5 minutes before there was another series of popping noises, shortly followed by a series of red jets flying from the sticks of the new arrivals at the masked murderers. One of the masked men hollered, "AURORS!" and the reaction was immediate. One of the masked men pointed his wand into the air, shouted something creating a glowing, green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth high overhead. In the next instant, the masked men who were still standing were gone.

The new arrivals were dressed in a similar manner to those who had just vanished. The main difference being that they were not wearing masks and their robes all matched. Some kind of uniform maybe? Judging by the reaction of the people who just left, these guys must have been the authorities. One of them an old, grizzled man, with a face that looked like a battlefield with one bright blue eye and one squinty dark eye, barked out orders, "See to the wounded. I'll call for back-up from St. Mungos."

He surveyed the scene, shaking his head and said, "Merlin's beard, the Obliviators're going to be busy tonight!" He pointed his stick into the air and muttered something and the fireworks overhead vanished. He growled, "The Cretins had the gall to cast that right in front of us. What're they up to?" To the muggles, it was a rather creepy looking firework. The Aurors knew it to be the dark mark, the brand of the death eaters.

When they went through the fallen, there were two of the masked death eaters among them and they were mere children. Once they were taken into custody and their masks removed, they were identified as Theo Nott and Pansy Parkinson.

Hogwarts

"VIKTOR KRUM JOINS PUDDLEMERE UNITED

-Jerome Montford

Yesterday was a historical day in the history of the British Quidditch league. One of the world's best seekers, Viktor Krum joined the prestigious Puddlemere United Quidditch Club at a starting salary of 250,000 Galleons per season on a two year contract.

This is the first event of its kind in the history of club Quidditch in Britain and it has turned a lot of heads with the announcement. The ministry sources said that the Department of Sports had no objections to Mr. Krum joining the league since there are no rules prohibiting international players from joining the league. The club has also made it clear that Mr. Krum will be excused from his club duties to play for the Bulgaria national team when the need arises as this is an explicit term of his contract.

Jeremiah Wright, the manager of the club said, "We are positively elated with Mr. Krum joining our club. He will be our starting seeker in all our games during the period of his contract and we hope that he will be an asset to the team helping us clench the title with his performance."

Mr. Krum had the following to say on joining the club, "I am happy to be here playing Club Quidditch for Puddlemere United. They will keep me in practice and I would love to know the people more. I visited Britain once during the Triwizard tournament but I could not see the country. I hope I will get a chance to visit places when I am not playing."

This news is sure to soar the Club's popularity to new heights and there will be a guaranteed increase in turn out for fans for the games ahead. We at the Daily Prophet wish good luck to Mr. Krum for the season ahead."

The newspaper had also published a poster sized photograph which showed Krum and Harry side by side as they walked out of the building of the club. They seemed to be laughing in the picture and the caption read- Harold Peverell with Viktor Krum after the latter was leaving the club after his signing.

The news which accompanied the poster read:

"After Mr. Krum had been signed up by Puddlemere United, he was seen leaving the club with none other than the-chosen-one aka the boy-who-lived Harold Peverell himself. What the chosen one was doing there is anybody's guess. The rumours are that Mr. Peverell came along to show support for Mr. Krum who we are told had become friends with the latter during the Triwizard Tournament. A few sources close to the chosen one suggest that he was asking for tips about improving his game from Mr. Krum. It is pertinent to mention here again that Mr. Peverell who plays as seeker for Gryfindor is one of the best seekers to have ever played at Hogwarts. His record shows that he has never lost the snitch but once due to interference from Dementors."

Susan finished reading the article. She chuckled. Daphne eyed her, "What's so funny Susan?"

Susan showed her the newspaper, "They are insinuating that Harry needs tips to improve his game. Also I think they won't ever realise that Harry hates all the attention being lavished on him. Though I must admit that the poster is gorgeous, isn't it?"

Hannah, who was sitting across from her said, "I can imagine how many witches will have it pinned to the walls in their dorms and fantasize about them, can't you?"

Daphne wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Do you have to be so crass, Abbott? I swear you and Tracy came of the same stock."

Susan chuckled, "Finally someone who agrees with me but I'm with her on this one. It would be a wonder if by lunch we did not see this poster in girls' dorms in every House. I swear I will hex anyone who tries to do it in Hufflepuff though."

Daphne grinned, "It won't happen at least in the 5th year Slytherin Dorms. Lilith is in a serious relationship with Ernie. Tracy is busy with her redhead. I get to see the real thing before me every day and Millicent is busy with Malfoy. She thinks he is the centre of the universe."

They had been at breakfast on Monday morning before classes and they were both waiting for Harry to return to the castle. They had chosen the Hufflepuff table this morning for breakfast. Their friends were sitting around him.

Hermione's attention was on the third page where the rest of them had not reached yet. The headlines screamed:

"Muggle Massacre in middle of London

Last evening, the death eaters raided the heart of London where they attacked unsuspecting muggles outside a diner. There was a substantial queue of patrons waiting to be seated. Before the ministry Aurors could intervene, about 20 muggles including 6 Bobbies (Muggle law enforcement) officers lost their lives in the attack. When the Aurors arrived, they captured two under-age wizards who were recently expelled from Hogwarts for trying to kill one of their year mates at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

What is of concern is the involvement of under-age wizards and witches in this conflict now. With the Dark not being choosy about its followers, how will we be able to retaliate against them?"

Hermione was frowning. Ron had one of her hands between his hands. He was consoling her, trying to calm her down. At just that moment, the double doors opened and Harold Peverell walked in. The students spared a moment to see him and then they returned to the serious business of consuming food.

Harry walked up to their friends and sat next to Susan. She opted to sit very close to him almost as if hugging him while Daphne sat on the other side of Susan. The way both witches whispered things to each other was still making Harry nervous. What exactly had happened between the two of them?

Before he could ask anything, he heard someone clearing his throat behind him. He turned to find Severus Snape, pointing towards the door with a subtle movement of his chin. With that he walked out of the hall. Harry got up about a minute after Snape left. He walked out of the Great Hall with Susan in tow. Severus emerged from the shadows of the entrance Hall when they entered. As they entered, he cast a privacy ward on the room and turned to them, "In the last meeting, a decision was made to attack the Bones Manor. They have an elaborate plan to keep the Ministry forces busy at other places while they try to attack and maybe kill Madam Bones. There have also been talks about attacking the Weasley home and Longbottom manor. I have told Dumbledore about it but I thought it would be prudent to let you also know."

With that Snape walked out of the entrance Hall. Harry pulled out his wand and cast the Patronus spell. The Snow Leopard burst out and he said to it, "Go to Bill Weasley. Tell him to evacuate the Burrow and shift to Weasley Manor. The Burrow will be attacked any day now."

The snow leopard sailed out of the room. Harry returned to the Great Hall. When he had taken his place again, he turned to them, "Jeremiah Wright has invited us to Puddlemere United's opening game. It'll be some time during the Easter holiday and he has promised to keep some seats for us. I have accepted his invitation. Also Bill Weasley is going to marry the day before Beltane and our favourite Marauder duo are having a double wedding on Beltane. I must say, I'm excited for these events. They promise to be fun."

As breakfast was winding down, Dumbledore stood up to get everyone's attention, "Attention, students! This announcement is of particular interest to those of you who are muggle-borns. I have recently received communication from the goblins of Gringotts. They have consented to come to Hogwarts and conduct inheritance tests, right here, in this very hall. For those of you who wish to undergo the test, you must first learn what it means to become a vassal of an ancient house. Second, you must find a member of an ancient house to sponsor you. There is also a cost for the test but this can be covered by your sponsor. Professor Lester will be giving a lecture with questions and answers, here, at 3:30 PM today for those of you who are interested in taking the test or sponsoring another student. The goblins will be here in the afternoon next Sunday."

Germany

Voldemort had to be content with his progress. True he had failed to add any new death eaters to his ranks but 100 wizards who were trained mercenaries was nothing to sneeze at. He had seen them fight. Not only were they fearless, they were also superior in strength, more disciplined and had greater skill than most of his followers. Meyer had carefully honed the men under his command, making them into superior killing machines by artfully using the knowledge he had gained from Master Abbadon. He had also curtailed his own ambitions and ran an organization together with others making them his equal. Meyer never had been the one to have very high ambitions for himself. He certainly preferred to sit back and watch the carnage rather than to step in and do it himself.

Voldemort had plans for the immediate future that included starting towards Romania while collecting more followers in Austria. Meyer had agreed to hire out his best fighters to him. He was also trying to understand the disposition of ICW's forces and what he would need to overcome them. Unlike Meyer he was not content with his sphere of influence being contained in Wizarding Britain. He wanted to expand into other countries eventually with a large army at his back. For the purpose of that army, it was necessary that Wizarding Britain fell before him.

He would recruit some help in Austria first. Then he would go to Romania to make alliance with the Vampires. The final leg of his journey would be to find Master Abbadon in Greece. His master would have the answer to his woes and may have a solution for him in the current predicament. He would be able to tell him some way that Voldemort would be able to kill the boy in their next clash. Voldemort knew that he could defeat Harold Peverell but he needed some help which he would get from his master.

He had already been briefed by Meyer that the reigning Dark Lord in Austria was not one to co-operate so Voldemort would have to thoroughly defeat him to get the loyalty of his men. That Dark Lord however did not live in some fort but in a forest. The forest was teeming with creatures magical as well as mundane. There were many trees within the forests which were obviously magical and could kill anyone. Somewhere in the middle of the forest was his hideout. There was no saying how many followers he had. Meyer also told him that the wizard was adept at dark Magics and particularly at blood magic. Voldemort would be careful to ensure that he did not let his blood flow or that his enemy got his hands on it. There was only one way to win over him and that was in an open duel. He would kill him and then claim the loyalty of his followers as a right of conquest due to having defeated their master.

Before he met him however, he would have to locate them in the forest and brave his way through all sorts of dangers which were in his path. If he ever succeeded in passing through those dangers untouched, he would get to face his adversary. To Voldemort's astonishment, they did not even know his name but only that he was a force to reckon with.

For now, he was in a hurry to leave because of the message he had received from Meyer.

Meyer had housed him in his mansion and gave him all the comforts that were available to him, treating him as a honoured guest but Meyer, by his actions showed that him under his roof, Voldemort was nothing but a guest.

A day ago, Meyer had come into his chamber and said, "Voldemort, we need to talk now."

Voldemort drawled coldly, "What do you want, Waldhem?"

"The ICW has got news of your presence here and I have heard that they are going to close the borders of the country to try and contain you. Then they will let loose their War Contingent upon us."

He questioned in his cold drawl "Why not fight with them? You have so many followers. Fight with them and annihilate them at once and for all."

Meyer looked at him as if he had grown two heads, "Have I not told you Voldemort that we cannot fight the ICW? Their forces are huge. If they started their crack down on us, we have nowhere to run."

Voldemort asked him indifferently, "What do you want me to do then? I am immortal and they cannot kill me."

Meyer sneered, "I will not have my men die for your delusion, Voldemort. I would rather that you leave Germany as soon as you can. We will fulfil our contract and give you the help we promised but that is the extent of it. As for your immortality, I have heard how a mere boy made you look like a boy when he was fighting with you."

Voldemort sneered, "Do you not value your life, Waldhem? Is it your wish to die?"

Waldhem waved him off, "The wards around this mansion would not let you fire any lethal spells. I also have more than enough followers to see to it that you will not leave here in one piece. Be reasonable. Take our contract and go quickly from this place."

Voldemort had not wanted to fight Waldhem anyway. He was a force to reckon with and when the time came, he would make him bow to his wishes. He would brand him and make him his commander in his war against the ICW. For now, he would be better off if he went on with his campaign and move onwards towards his journey. The more time he lost here, the more time the ministry in Wizarding Britain got to put their affairs in order.

Behind the Mirror on the Fourth Floor (Headquarters of the Order of the Snow Leopard)

A few selected members of the Order had come for an emergency meeting. The agenda was the news that Severus Snape had delivered to Harry.

Harry started, "This morning Professor Snape accosted me and informed me that Bellatrix who has been acting in Voldemort's stead has given orders for attacks on the residences of Ministry officials and prominent families, specifically the Burrow, Bones Manor and Green Hues. I have already warned Bill Weasley to evacuate the Burrow and shift to Weasley Manor. I'm open to suggestions about what we can do?"

Hermione asked him, "The ministry can protect them, can't it?"

Harry shook his head, "One part of their plan is to conduct raids, create mayhem and keep the ministry too busy and distracted to deal with anything else. I daresay the ministry would be hard-pressed to respond to every such incident effectively."

Daphne asked, "What can we do while we're here at school?"

Harry shook his head again, "There's a lot we can do, Daph. I think the reason that Professor Snape gave us the information was to let us form some plans of our own in case the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix were too busy to respond. Does anybody have any ideas?"

Susan said, "We could try House elves."

Hermione looked at her in disgust, "You mean we ask house elves to fight for us? That would be barbaric."

Susan snapped, "No. That's not what I meant, Hermione. I mean House elves have different magic from us. They can come and go from the castle as they wish and almost every one of us has a house- elf. Our elves can inform us if an attack is happening. Then we can go there with the help of our elves and return the same way. That way we would be well equipped to respond to any situation."

Harry nodded, "That can be done but we will need more than one elf. Perhaps we can borrow a few from Hogwarts when we need to move a lot of people. Also in case of an attack, we can have them evacuate with help of house elves then appear there to fight. I will put Kreacher and Dobby on these tasks starting now. You all would do well to ask your elves to evacuate your families from your houses in case of an attack before informing you."

Ron spoke, "How about to guarantee our family's safety and speed up our response, they just bring them to a safe house."

They were all nodding. Harry said further, "Also we need to decide who would go."

Immediately everyone started insisting that they all deserved to go and that they had been training exactly for that.

Harry pacified them, "Listen, all of you. We can't just appear as an army out of the school. That would make everyone suspicious if so many of the students have disappeared at once. We will have to form groups that can help. Now I would like you all to give your suggestions for the groups. For my part I would say that we keep a maximum of 4 students in a group."

The twins chorused agreement, "We can form 6 teams at least and that would be sufficient."

Harry turned to Hermione, "Have you worked out the task that I gave you?"

She nodded, "I have marked 50 who would fight with us in case Hogwarts is besieged."

He nodded, "Alright. I'd like to hear who can lead those teams."

Ernie chipped in, "One should obviously be you. Another can be Longbottom. The third can be me. The fourth should be Greengrass. The fifth would be Du Vant and the sixth can be the twins."

Harry asked everyone, "Is that agreed?" When they all nodded agreement, he asked, "Now as to the teams. Can we make our own choices?"

It was agreed that they could pick their own teams. Harry went first, "I would have Sue, Hermione and Ron in my team."

Ernie went second, "I want Justin, Lilith and Terry."

Daphne went third, "I want Mandy, Tracy and Fay."

Du Vant went fourth, "Since you all had your pick, I don't have much to go on, eh?" Everyone chuckled and he continued, "Alright I want Padma, Adrian Pucey and Harriet Jackson."

It was Neville's turn then, "I want Hannah, Rupert McNaughton and Michael Corner."

The twins went last, "We want the Old Quidditch team."


A/N- so here is this chapter. As much as I want to speed up the story, I seem to keep it at a constant pace and just make it run. I hope none of you are getting bored with reading this or losing interest. Thank you all.