Great Hall
All the muggle-born had gathered for the session with Professor Lester where she was supposed to be explaining about Liege-Lord Vassal bonds. Harry had decided to attend because he wanted to see how much Professor Lester was actually telling the students. If she withheld anything of what he had been told by Ragnok he was going to interject. Harry wasn't going to take on any more vassals unless they knew exactly what they were getting into.
Hermione had decided to attend the session too. Griphook had told her something about it, but she had not taken the time to pick up a book and learn more. She had seen the expanse of her estate and the family vault including the gold and ordered Ironjaw to invest her gold to bring returns. Other than that she had no idea of how the houses worked or what her duties were as a Head of House. She had started attending Professor Lester's lectures when she could and she understood a lot of things better than before. The topic of Vassals was an intriguing one which had her interested.
The house tables were standing at the side of the Great Hall to make room for small tables placed for the students to sit at. Everyone had parchment and quill ready before them as they waited for Professor Lester to start speaking. Harry chose a chair at the side where Professor Lester wouldn't notice him.
At the appointed time, Professor Lester stood. She pointed her wand at her throat and muttered 'Sonorus'. Her voice was magically amplified so that everyone in the Great Hall could hear her clearly even though she spoke at her usual volume. After she was sure that she had everyone's attention, she began, "As the Headmaster said this morning, I am going to tell you all about the system of Vassals. Vassals can be individuals or minor houses who haven't been around for long as such they don't have the standing as the Ancient and Most Noble Houses nor is their family magic as powerful or rich as the Ancient and Most Noble Houses. Vassals can be termed as sub-ordinates to the Ancient and Most Noble or Ancient and Noble Houses.
The need for such a system arose because at the time when this system came into being there were many feuds in our society and these disputes were usually solved by brute force and magic. Since the Older Houses had powerful magic, the minor houses needed the protection of older, larger houses so that they wouldn't be bullied by other larger and more powerful houses. To this effect, the minor Houses used to find a liege lord. A liege lord in return for protecting the vassals enjoyed their loyalty. The houses would remain loyal to him and would assist in protecting the family interests. If needed, they could implore their liege lord to fight for them.
Another part of this arrangement was that when the lord was engaged in combat, using the family magic, he could call upon the power of his vassals when he is in need. They are bound by honour and magic to respond. If a vassal fails to respond or even shows reluctance to respond, Mother Magic can impose a severe penalty which is generally removing the magic of the offending parties or their descendants, making them squibs. The same is true of the liege Lord if he fails to defend his vassal honourably. However there are only a few known cases where this has happened and they were all instances of vassals having a direct conflict with their liege Lord.
Many a blood feud has taken place in the past where the feuding parties had no direct quarrel between them but the Liege Lord was fighting for their vassal. The most recent example of such a blood feud was not very long ago and it involved a family which claimed to have descended from one of the founders and a family which descended from a Reverent house."
When she finished speaking, Harry's eyes spread in wonder as realization dawned on him. The blood feud between House Potter and House Smith was because House Potter was fighting for one of its vassals. It made him wonder about the identity of the Vassal house for which house of Potter went to such trouble.
Hermione raised her hand, "Professor, can you elaborate upon what a Liege Lord can ask from a Vassal?"
"I will give you an example Miss Granger. Let's assume that House of Potter is your Liege lord and Lord Potter is fighting a battle. Sometime during the battle, he is exhausted and needs strength to go on. Since you are protected by his family magic, he can call upon the family magic to give him strength and the strength would come from you. The Vassal would be like a back up for the lord."
Harry's eyes spread in shock as he realized what she was saying, "Professor do you mean to say if I am drawing energy from my Vassal then they would be exhausted in my place?"
Professor Lester shook her head, "No Mr. Peverell. What I mean is that the more vassals one has the more his strength would be augmented. The most powerful houses of Old had immense power at their disposal due to the number of Vassals that they had."
Harry nodded, "Professor, if someone is Lord of more than one house, how would it work in that case?"
She smirked, "In that case Mr. Peverell, the Lord would have to call upon the specific house magic to augment his strength. For instance, if House Rosier had some vassals, you can call upon the magic of House Rosier and the vassals of that house would augment your strength. I believe you know how to summon the House Magic since you demonstrated it in the middle of the Wizengamot."
Harry clearly remembered the day. On the day of his investiture, he had summoned the spirit of the magic of House Black to prove his claim.
One of the muggle born was asking, "Professor how can we decide who would be the perfect Liege Lord for our house? I mean, Are there some parameters for the said consideration?"
She nodded, "For that purpose, you would have to see the power that the Lord of that House wields; it's standing in the Wizarding World, whether he is able to fulfil his duties as a Liege Lord towards its Vassal. If the intended Lord fulfils these criteria, they are the perfect one to fill this role. You can also choose a liege lord on your personal preferences."
After a few more inconsequential questions, the session was declared over. Students started moving out of the Great Hall. Harry stayed behind deliberately. When everyone was gone, he approached Cassandra Lester, "Professor, can you tell me the name of the Vassal house for which House Potter fought a blood feud with House Smith?"
She gave him a mischievous grin, "Why Mr. Peverell, it was House Lester."
Austria
When Voldemort left Germany, it didn't take him long to get to Austria. As directed by Meyer, he found his contact in Austria with little trouble. His contact was a warlock who had helped Meyer every now and then and Meyer in his turn rewarded him with enough gold to keep him loyal. The Warlock's house was not overtly big or pretentious but he lived in a quaint little two floor cottage that looked like it had seen better days.
Voldemort thought he had been duped by Meyer because no warlock would be living in such a squalid place. However then his mind returned to the Gaunt Shack and what had become of it due to ill-keeping and the neglect of the occupants. His uncle Morfin was a humiliation to the noble name of Salazar Slytherin and so was his grand-father. They did not have had the finesse and subtlety that a Slytherin ought to have. They deserved to die the way they did. He had not heard of his uncle since that day except when he read in the Daily Prophet that he was carted off to Azkaban for killing a family of Muggles. He had felt a perverted pleasure at the looks of horror on the face of the muggle who had the misfortune to be his sire. He had abandoned his mother when she needed him. They deserved to die for desecrating a noble pureblood with their taint. He had never felt any remorse for killing them nor would he ever. He had come a long way since then. He was practically immortal. No one could kill him not even Harry Potter. The boy was powerful alright but there was no way that the boy could kill him, not with all the horcruxes he had created. Still, the boy would have to die because the prophecy said that he was the only one that could kill Voldemort. With the boy out of the way, nobody could ever get in the way of his plans to seize absolute power.
His musings were broken when he felt the presence of a ward around him. With a quick detection spell, his eyes spread in wonder. There were blood wards around the property. They could prove inconvenient to him if his host saw him as a threat. The cottage which looked like a squalid shack from the outside was magically expanded inside. It was furnished with all sorts of furniture and other fine things which could be found in a wizarding home. The floor was covered with expensive carpets while the walls were covered with portraits or paintings. There were torches in their brackets on the walls which gave light to the room. Also his host seemed powerful to him. He could sense that this was a wizard who would be hard to defeat.
"How can I help you, Voldemort?", the man brought him out of his musings.
Voldemort said coldly, "My name is Lord Voldemort. Remember to address me as such, fool."
Power crackled about the other wizard as he said haughtily, "Your arrogance is matched only by your stupidity. I will not pander to the likes of you, especially in my home. I do not suffer fools gladly, but I will give you one more chance to state your case for the sake of my friend Meyer. Test my patience again at your peril."
Voldemort recognized all the tricks this guy was using. The wards, the special effects and all. It was flashy stuff, intended to intimidate but Voldemort only felt a slight interest and mild annoyance that this wizard had the nerve to try it on him. Still, the power and the blood wards could not be faked. Taking this wizard out to erase the insults he had just uttered would be more trouble than it was worth. Besides, a dead wizard could tell no tales and it just might annoy Meyer if he killed one of his friends. Very well then, he came for information, not a fight. Better to play by this guy's rules for now.
He asked the man, "What do you know of the Dark Lord in Austria?"
"No one has even seen him nor do they know his name. His most loyal followers claim to have seen his face however no one matching that description has ever been found. He is a recluse who lives in the middle of a forest. His followers protect him with their lives. He is an expert in blood magics. He would toy with the likes of you for quite some time before he would put you down like a rabid werewolf. At my last reckoning, he had about 100 followers with him. That is all which is known about him."
"Has no one ever tried to catch him?", Voldemort asked. "I mean if they had the numbers they could have hunted him down."
The other wizard scoffed, "Many have gone looking for him. The few that have returned never got anywhere near him. He lives behind blood wards and you know what they are like. You cannot get into a place protected by blood wards if they are keyed to someone and you have plans to kill that someone exactly. And I have even heard that he is a parsel mouth."
Voldemort sneered, "Your concern for my well-being is touching. Let the blood wards be my concern. Now, tell me where I can find him."
The other wizard shrugged. If Voldemort wanted to dig his own grave, he was not going to stop him. Their adversary was powerful and the wards he hid behind could not be broken unless someone applied a great deal of brute force to them and even then it would require time to bring them down. Even if he were capable of doing it, he would need a small army to keep the defenders off of him while he did it and the effort would leave him too exhausted to fight if he ever got it done.
Voldemort was asking, "If one could fly to his place directly over the forest, would his followers be able to stop him?"
The other wizard laughed evilly, "Do you think that no one has ever tried that? First, that would not circumvent the blood wards. Second, whatever you fly in on, be it broom, hippogriff or thestral, it will be shot out of the sky and you will fall to your death. Even if you somehow manage to get through the blood wards and survive the fall, there are the guards to reckon with. You are but one wizard and you can't fight all of them and expect to live."
Voldemort smirked, "leave that to me. Just tell me where I can find him."
Unknown Castle
Groups of Death Eaters had been sent during the last hour to attack Muggle London. Their orders were clear- Apparate in, throw killing curses around and be gone as soon as the Aurors arrived. To ensure that the ministry would be forced to send large contingents, they were sending big groups of death eaters like 10 death eaters in each group. Their success last night had bolstered their confidence and they were starting to think that they could do whatever they wanted. There was no one who could stop them.
Now that they were sure that the Ministry Aurors were busy dealing with the attacks in muggle London, it was time to make their attack on the bigger targets. Rookwood had made it clear that the wards around Green Hues could not be broken unless they were analyzed so there were only two targets left for today- the home of the Weasleys in Devon and Bones Manor.
The Weasley home was not very big or very old. It was a known fact that it was built only a few decades ago. Floors were added haphazardly as the family grew. There would be some nasty wards around the place courtesy of Bill Weasley who was one of the finest curse Breakers at Gringotts but they would not stand up against a ward breaker. Those devices were made for the purpose of tearing down wards. Given sufficient time, they could chew through centuries worth of wards and it would take them only moments to destroy the wards around the Weasley Home. They had sent five death eaters to Weasley Home with a ward breaker. They needed the numbers because the Weasley's were a large family. It would not be amiss to be prepared, just in case.
For Bones Manor, they had decided not to use the ward breaker as it would not make much headway against their wards without taking a lot of time so they had decided to use brute force on it. Augustus Rookwood who was instructing his men had told them clearly not to use any Killing Curse on the wards. It was almost certain that Amelia Bones had taken to live at Bones Manor because it had centuries of war wards. Using Killing Curses on war wards meant certain death. In a way, they were more dangerous than the Fidelius Charm because while the charm would conceal, the war wards would kill. Bellatrix had dispatched 9 Death Eaters to destroy the wards around Bones Manor and kill Amelia Bones. She was a formidable witch who could deal with 3 Death Eaters at once and they would need numbers to destroy the wards with brute force.
The Burrow
Bill Weasley had received the patronus from Harry but had not yet vacated the Burrow for the manor. He liked his freedom as it was and he was not in the mood to leave. Besides he was proud of his strength. He knew that he could deal with two or three of the death eaters by himself. Also the wards he had erected would keep them out and give him some breathing room in case he needed to escape. He was also excited about his upcoming union with Fleur Delacour. She was the perfect witch for him and she loved him with all her heart. When he had seen her at Hogwarts, he was smitten but in the aftermath of the tournament with everything else going on, he had not connected with her before she had to return home.
It was the best day of his life when he noticed her in the lobby of Gringotts. She had just been placed here on her first assignment and they had bonded so well since the start. She was always very considerate towards him. She even put up with his family and his mother who for some reason did not like her. Molly Weasley was a very affectionate mother who loved her children but sometimes she could be overbearing and that irritated him. He had moved away from home as soon as he graduated because he knew he wouldn't be able to live his life as he wanted until he was out from under her hand. That was the reason that Charlie had also moved away from home as soon as he could. Now they were all back here with the war on their doorstep and the only bright spot was his upcoming wedding. Mrs. Weasley had pulled out all the stops for it and she had been busy making preparations. Every day she was at the Burrow asking his opinion about everything like the colour of the decorations, the flowers and all the silly little details that he couldn't care less about. All he wanted was to get married to Fleur and that was all. The rest of the details would have to be worked out by his father. He was the lord and as such it was his headache.
Suddenly he heard the wards chime and cautiously he peeked out of the window. What he saw was enough to make him wary. About 5 death eaters were at the ward line and they had a device among them on which they were working. He was a curse breaker and he recognized the device. It was a ward breaker. The wards he had erected would not stand up to it for more than 5 minutes. He tried to use the floo but it was down. He had a moment of panic before he remembered the letter he had received from Harry during the day. It had said to call his personal elf if he was in trouble.
He decided that he would escape and let the Burrow fall but not before he had given them something to remember him by. They had dared to invade his house and he would be damned if he did not make at least some of them regret this decision in their afterlife. In the tombs he often had to go in, he had learnt a lot of curses and jinxes. There were so many of them that he knew and never used but now felt like a good moment to put some of them to use.
With a blasting hex, he blasted the door away and stepped out. Next, he waved his wand in an intricate motion with a sharp jab at the end. A silvery grey cloud erupted from his wand. As the cloud floated towards the death eaters in the distance, he was already ducking back inside hollering, "Dobby!"
The elf appeared before him with a loud crack. He said in his high pitched voice, "What can Dobby for bes doing for Master Wheezy?"
"Dobby can you please take me out of here to Weasley Manor?"
The elf shook his head, "I not be going beyond the invisible ward."
Bill asked confused, "Invisible ward? You mean Fidelius Charm?"
The elf nodded and he continued, "Then take me to Hogsmeade. I will go home from there."
The elf nodded and holding his hand they were gone.
Outside the death eaters saw Bill waving his wand, sending a silver gray cloud towards them. They didn't know what it was, but it was a good bet that anything a curse breaker would throw at their enemy would be lethal and not in a pretty way either. They ran for their lives as the cloud pursued them but two of them didn't make it. As the cloud engulfed them, they first started to laugh uproariously but soon their laughter changed into cries of fear and shock. They let out such harrowing cries that the other death eaters shuddered to their core. When the fog finally dissipated, all that was left of the unfortunate duo was their skeletons and their wands.
At that moment the ward breaker finished breaking the ward around the Burrow. As the surviving death eaters stormed in, they were disappointed not to find anyone in the house. They checked the entire house from the ground floor to the top. The only living soul they found was the ghoul in the attic. In the frustration of their prey slipping out of their hands, they killed the ghoul and torched the Burrow. Placing the dark mark in the sky, leaving the house ablaze, they disappeared.
Bones Manor
At the time when the Burrow was being attacked there were attacks happening throughout the realm of Wizarding Britain. The idea of keeping an eye on the tracers was working since teams of Aurors were being sent promptly. As they had feared, the ministry was being stretched too thin. That was the reason that no help arrived when the Burrow was attacked. If not for Harry's forethought, Bill might have been killed.
Another team of 9 Death Eaters were approaching Bones Manor to attack it. Amelia had just returned from the Ministry and she was about to sit down to dinner when the wards flared. She had sent her protection detail to the Ministry to deal with the attacks and she was alone at that moment. She however did not lose her wits. Calmly summoning her elf, she ordered her to carry a message to the Ministry. She could have escaped the manor but she was not about to let Death Eaters touch her house or cause any damage to it. She would remind them why their master feared her.
The elf had been instructed by Susan to report to her if an attack was happening before going anywhere else. The elf popped into the Hufflepuff Dorms where Susan was immersed in a book, preparing for her OWLs. When the elf appeared, Susan was instantly worried, "Squeaky, what happened?"
The elf was shaken and could barely speak, "Mistress is be attacked. Bad wizards at the manor. Mistress sent for help."
Susan was freaked but Hannah who was near her had instantly calmed her down, "Sue, don't worry. Remember Harry had told us a plan to deal with such issues. I will send a message to him right away."
Susan ordered the elf, "Squeaky, take the message to the ministry. When they have received it, return to the manor and stand by in case auntie needs to be evacuated." The elf curtsied and vanished with a pop.
While Susan was giving instructions to the elf, Hannah tapped her wand to the wand holster to send a message to Harry, "Bones Manor being attacked now. Auntie Amelia is alone. Help her."
When Harry received the message, he jumped out of his bed rousing Ron, "Get up Ron. We're needed." Then he sent a patronus to Hermione while he retrieved his travelling cloak to put on.
Ron was up in a moment lunging for his wand on the bedside table. By the time they were both in the common room, Hermione arrived on the run. Harry was inwardly grateful that Neville was not in the dorms at that moment or he would have insisted on coming along. Harry had sent for Kreacher to take Susan to Bones Manor while Dobby who had just left Bill in Hogsmeade apparated Ron and Hermione to outside of Bones Manor. Harry knew where he had to go so he had no problem apparating there. He instructed Dobby to inform Remus as soon as he had apparated Ron and Hermione there.
When they appeared there at a distance from the ward line of the Manor, he could see at least 9 death eaters who were casting at the wards, trying to bring them down. Being centuries old they were, built on ley-lines and powerful, they wouldn't be down in five minutes like the wards at the Burrow.
Given his experience with the mystics, Harry thought he could reliably take on six of them by himself. That left one each for the order members who were with him. So, a fair fight then. He assumed command of the team and started laying out the battle plan, "With any luck, we should be able to take out four of them before they even know we're here. Attack from cover, attack their backs. Attack all at once on my signal. And make sure that we all attack different targets. We must use spells to cripple or kill, not stun or disarm. We cannot afford to allow any of them to re-enter the fight once we've got them down."
While they were moving into position, there was a faint pop as figures started appearing out of thin air. Evidently a few of the order of the Phoenix members had been at the Cottage on the Hill with Sirius and Remus. They had decided to come. There were Sirius, Remus, Emmeline and Sturgis Podmore.
Sirius asked him, "What's going on, Harry?"
Harry hastily explained, "Auntie is alone inside the manor. The Bones elf came to warn us about it. I suppose Aurors will be on their way soon. We were just about to ambush them."
Sirius looked like he wanted to chastise him but was trying not to. He gritted his teeth, "Stand back you lot! You have no business here. Harry you should not have dragged them here."
Susan protested defiantly, "That's my auntie in there. It's my choice to fight or not."
Remus pacified them, "Why don't we change strategy. I, Emmeline, Sirius, and Harry will attack from here. The rest of you can go in and help Amelia bolster the numbers."
Harry turned to Susan, "That makes sense Sue." She tried to protest but he pulled her close and kissed her, "We'll have time to fight about it later Sue. Let them handle it."
She reluctantly agreed. He had the elves take them inside. When they were out of harm's way, Harry turned to them, "So what's the plan?"
Sirius grinned, "Just one plan, pup. Attack."
The death eaters realized too late that they were surrounded. They had not been able to make a dent in the wards when two of their numbers fell to the ground, their bodies twisted in such a way that there was no doubt that someone had used bone breakers on them. They turned around, realised they were about to taken down by some of the most powerful wizards and wanted to run but it was too late.
Harry had already snared one of them in the firewhip, cleaving his head cleanly off his body and engaged another. Sirius had pierced another one with a javelin through his heart and was trying to kill another with cutters. Remus already had one spread on the ground, his limbs flailing and his eyes vacant with a wound to the side of his head and the other had raised a shield, wary of the werewolf. Emmeline had shattered the spine of her opponent and was standing by with her wand ready in case any of the others got into trouble.
It was at this point when Moody arrived on the scene with three other Aurors. They responded as quickly as they could when Squeaky had brought word to the ministry. The first thing he did was fire a bone shattering hex at the back of the head of the one Remus was fighting. The other Aurors didn't have much to do as Harry's opponent went down to a spell chain of shield-breaker, bone breaker to the wand arm and bone crusher to the chest. Sirius' opponent lost his wand hand to a cutter then lost his life when his skull exploded. The only survivors among the death eaters were the first two who went down to bone breakers to their legs and wand arms. Just to be on the safe side, Moody stunned them then bound them from head to toe with chains. It looked like they might be having trouble breathing in there. The other Aurors gathered up the wands of the fallen would be assassins.
The battle was over within minutes and Amelia was informed that it was safe to come out. When she did come out, she was scowling, "Harry why did you bring Susie here? I had already sent for the Aurors and I could deal with them. There was no reason for children to get involved."
Behind her, the three children looked queasy from all the blood and gore of the battle. Harry was sure that they would throw up sooner or later.
Moody growled, "It's a good thing that they were here. Most of our men are already engaged in little skirmishes all over Wizarding Britain. By the time we were able to respond to your situation, it might have been too late."
Harry approached Amelia, "I'm sorry Auntie if you feel that what I did was wrong but you are important to us. We could not risk you."
Moody asked him curiously, "How did you know that you were needed here though?"
Harry shook his head, "Sorry, Master Auror. The Order of the Snow Leopard has its ways."
Moody barked a laugh, "I will be sure to mention this Order to the Daily Prophet. That'll get the death eater's robes in a twist."
Sirius asked him, "What'll you do with the two survivors?"
Moody growled, "I like to break them, Black. A man needs some entertainment, doesn't he? I might even get some useful information out of them while I'm at it."
It turned out that another one was alive. Well, sort-of. By the looks of the wound to the side of his head, he wouldn't ever be talking again even if he did live. Leaving Moody to deal with the situation, the students returned to the castle.
Sending Ron and Hermione up to the dormitories, Harry and Susan sneaked up to the Astronomy Tower. They chose a secluded corner to sit and cast some charms about them to keep the weather away and indulged in star gazing with mugs of hot chocolate in their hands.
Susan asked him, "Harry, did you not feel remorse when you killed them?"
Harry took some moments to answer her, "I don't take any pleasure in killing. They were there to kill your Auntie. Who knows how many they have killed before or would have gone on to kill if we had not stopped them? If I had not killed them, I would be responsible for every life they took from that time onwards. Non violence is good but when you're at war, non-violence and mercy may not be an option."
"An intriguing thought Harry but seeing you are breaking curfew with Susan here, I think a detention and 20 points apiece is in order", said Albus Dumbledore who was standing at the door of the Astronomy tower, his eyes twinkling and a serene smile on his lips.
Ministry of Magic
"What're we doing to ensure the safety of Muggles, Alastor?", Frank roared, "We are supposed to protect them and yet their casualties are mounting. Tell me how we can help them and protect them. It's one small mercy that he is not yet sending Dementors to do his bidding. If they were involved we would be more hard pressed to deal with those situations."
Alastor Moody had no answer for the minister. They were able to dispatch quickly thanks to the tracers, but it still wasn't quick enough. If only there was a way to be there waiting when the death eaters arrived. But that was impossible.
He shook his head, "I can't see any way that we would be foretold about an attack at any place. I mean we try to be as quick as we can be but it just isn't quick enough. By the time our people arrive, the death eaters have already fled, leaving carnage and the dark mark hovering in the sky. Our Obliviators are collapsing from exhaustion, trying to keep up with the work load. I swear, if it weren't for the International Statute of Secrecy, I'd enlist the muggles instead of obliviating the lot of 'em. What's more, with all these random attacks recently, we're stretched pretty thin. We don't have enough people to deal with it all. The only thing I can think of is to put Aurors and trainee Aurors on patrol all over the country but I'd rather not do that because I can only send them out in ones and twos so they could get jumped and killed. The other problem is that a trainee who's out on patrol is a trainee that's not training. We're just going to have to come up with another way to deal with this menace."
Frank nodded, "Keep working on it, Alastor. One of us is sure to come up with something. Let's hear today's report."
"In the 10 raids that the death eaters did tonight, we lost about 30 muggles. 10 more were grievously injured and were taken to St. Mungo's for treatment. The obliviators are working double shifts and we lost two Aurors tonight. The Burrow was burned to the ground and their family ghoul was killed. Bones Manor was also attacked. Six death eaters were killed and one more succumbed to his injuries without regaining consciousness later. The two survivors are awaiting my attention. I am also told that Bill Weasley had just vacated the Burrow on advance warnings of a well-wisher. We also found two skeletons at the Burrow which we are certain were death eaters once. We intend to question Bill Weasley about it later. At Bones Manor, we were late in responding to the distress call. Madam Bones' security detail was at the Ministry. When we arrived on the scene, the members of the Order of the Snow Leopard and Order of the Phoenix were already on the scene. They had already handled the situation", he finished.
"The Order of the Snow Leopard? What is that?", Frank asked.
Moody grinned, "It's a secret society like the Order of the Phoenix and it works in close co-ordination with the Order of the Phoenix. The whereabouts of the leader are not known nor is his identity a public matter. What we know for certain is that they have their own ways to reach somewhere ahead of the Aurors and they can fight well."
Frank glared at him, "Don't talk in riddles Alastor. What is this new Order?"
Moody shook his head, "Sorry, can't talk. I've taken a vow of silence about its members. Rest assured that they are friends."
HOGWARTS
Breakfast time saw most of the members of the Order of the Snow Leopard sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor Table for breakfast under a silencing ward. Hermione was comforting Ron who hadn't taken it well when he received a letter from Arthur telling him that although Bill had escaped harm, the Burrow had burned down and the family ghoul had been killed. Arthur went on to say that he felt it was better to hear it from his father first than to read it in the Prophet. It was certain to be on the front page.
Harry had told the twins and Ginny about it while Hermione worked on Ron. They were relieved that no one else was harmed and Ginny joked that perhaps Ron was sad about the Ghoul which had been his childhood companion.
The Daily Prophet had a field day with the attacks the next day. The front page of the news paper had a photo of the blazing inferno that had been the Burrow. The story read:
"Ministry Officials attacked
Yesterday, the death eaters attacked the Ministry of Magic official's residences while attacks were being made on muggles. In the raids conducted throughout Muggle London, it is estimated that about 30 muggles were killed while 10 more were grievously injured.
As it later turned out the said attacks were done to distract the ministry forces and keep them occupied while the Death Eaters attacked the homes of Ministry Officials. One such attack happened on the home of the Weasleys in Devon. By the time fire fighters (Muggle authorities who deal with fire and related catastrophes) arrived, the home was already a total loss. Luckily the only casualty was the ghoul they kept in the attic.
Lord Weasley had this to say about the incident, "We had changed residence about 6 months ago after the Triwizard Tournament. We have always believed Albus Dumbledore and Lord Peverell's word that Voldemort was back. Accordingly, we took precautions to keep ourselves safe."
That however was not the end of it. A short while after the attack on the Weasley home, there was another attack at Bones Manor and Madam Bones was home at the time. The attacking death eaters were swiftly dealt with through the intervention of members of the secret Order of the Phoenix and a new force calling themselves Order of the Snow Leopard. When Aurors from the ministry arrived led by Master Auror Mad-eye Moody, there wasn't much left for them to do.
The ministry has commended the efforts made by the said orders and their members in helping the Ministry forces to tackle the menace of death eaters."
There was another piece of news in the lower half of the newspaper which read:
"THE ORDER OF THE SNOW LEOPARD: VIGILANTES OR ANOTHER MENACE?"
The press release issued by the Ministry of Magic last night stated that members of the Secret Order of the Phoenix and a hitherto unknown group calling themselves Order of the Snow Leopard combined forces to thwart the death eater attack on Bones Manner. It is widely known that the Order of the Phoenix was a factor during the last war and they actively opposed the death eaters at great personal risk and sacrifice. What was not known was who the members of the said order were. It has been speculated that such upstanding members of our society as the late Edgar and Ellie Bones, the late Lilly and James Potter, our general and his wife and Alastor Moody were some of the members, with no less a personage than Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore as their founder and leader.
As of this writing, little to nothing is known about this new Order of the Snow Leopard. If anyone knows anything about their membership or objectives, they're not talking. One ministry insider has speculated that they are a splinter faction from The Order of the Phoenix that was not content with the older order's leadership. The same source has also put forward that this new faction may have its own designs on controlling our society. Apprehensions remain about this order and its objectives but we hope that it is not yet another threat to our way of life that has reared its ugly head."
Harry read the paper and let out a long sigh. Mandy who was sitting near him asked, "What happened? Bad news in the paper?"
Hermione said darkly, "It's just the Daily Prophet being an idiot again. There's this stupid article, full of dark speculation about The Order of the Snow Leopard. It's nothing but speculation and innuendo and not solid facts or reputable sources. I thought they had stopped publishing this sort of rubbish."
Daphne said, "Relax Hermione. They're just speculating. I'd have thought you were used to it by now."
Harry clamped down hard on his Occlumency shields to keep from smirking. He said seriously, "Try to put yourself in their position. This new faction shows up out of nowhere and takes out a bunch of death eaters and there's nothing known about them. When their reporter tries to investigate, they get stonewalled and they don't know if these new guys are helping out the ministry or eliminating the competition and they can't publish any facts and certain types of rumors to sell papers. So, that's what they publish. I wouldn't worry too much about it."
Hermione shook her head, "I guess you are right. I over-reacted."
Terry asked them, "So what happened yesterday? I mean you people were obviously in the middle of it."
Ron scowled, "Yeah! Some adventure." He waggled his spoon at Harry with a potato still speared on it, "Before we could fire a single curse, some of our backup arrived and they forced us to safety. Among us nobody except him got a chance to do anything."
Harry turned to him, "Ron, this isn't some sort of kid's game. Some of us could have been killed if things went badly. We are last resort back-up, not hardened combat troops. I'm glad the others showed up when they did or we would have had to fight four on nine. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are not the main force or ministry Aurors. We have to be more careful out there because we are less experienced."
Neville asked him, "Why I was not informed?"
Harry warily eyed him, "Did you by any chance forget that you have your own group? If needed, I would have sent Dobby to fetch you."
At that moment, they heard the familiar slow drawl of Severus Snape behind them, "Potter! The Headmaster has told me to inform you that you and Miss Bones will be serving your detention with me this evening at 7:00 in my office. As much as I loathe wasting an evening with you, I have to abide with the headmaster's orders."
Harry actually had the audacity to smirk, "Of course Professor. We will be there at 7:00."
As Snape turned to go, he said over his back, "And 10 points from Gryffindor for the smirk, Potter."
When Snape was gone, Hermione asked, "What just happened? Was it my imagination or was Snape actually trying to smirk at you? And I noticed his voice didn't have the usual vitriol in it. Are we sure it is Professor Snape and not someone using Polyjuice?"
Harry gave her a very mischievous grin, "You would have to ask him Hermione. As for whether it's Professor Snape or not I don't think someone can actually copy his mannerisms."
Hannah asked them, "Also when did you get a detention from Dumbledore?"
Harry blushed a little, "It was when we had sneaked up to the Astronomy Tower for star gazing after we had returned. Dumbledore found us there and put us in detention."
Things in the castle on other hand were business as usual. The students were enjoying the last of their youthful innocence before war would claim it from them. Between morning sessions to start again, Harry reinstituting the morning work-outs and the crunch of getting ready for their OWLs, it was getting hard to find the time to be up to anything else.
For most of the fifth years, it was busy. For Harry, it was more so. There was the management of The Order of the Snow Leopard, the extra practice sessions in the Chamber of Secrets, business reports from Moony, instruction for the students practicing defensive magic in the Room of Requirement and a number of students approaching him about sponsoring them for their inheritance tests. It was hard to find time to do the class assignments and he wish he could use a time-turner like the one Hermione had in third year. He knew the material well enough, it was just finding the time to sit down and write it out. He had set certain hours to do the assignments on his weekly schedule and he wanted to spend time with Susan too. Fortunately for him, Susan kept him honest. Whenever they got together, if he couldn't show her his finished homework, she "encouraged" him to finish it before they got up to anything else. If Harry objected, she simply reminded him that every minute he spent in detention was one less minute they could spend together. Her logic was inescapable and Harry completed his work with a will.
Flitwick was teaching at his usual pace, not fretting at all. He had made them revise all the charms he had taught them previously. At times he would quiz the students about how a charm could be used in a situation like a duel or a fight. At the end of class, he assigned two feet of parchment on the uses of the charms he had revised during the class.
McGonagall was on the warpath since the term started. She was personally going after every student in the class. She kept after them until they could perform to her satisfaction. If some of them were having difficulty, she worked with them until they got it right. She would also keep testing them on things where she knew they needed work. Like Flitwick, she also challenged people in the class to come up with ways to use what she had taught that were unconventional. That forced the students to think. Simple book learning was not going to be enough to pass her class. It really showed the strengths of students who were good at the practical and thinking on their feet like Harry.
Vikram had taught them the spells which were used as part of defensive magic and he had not taught them anything more dangerous than a reductor or a blasting hex. As far as OWLs were concerned, that was all that was required. The curriculum of Hogwarts was such that it severely curtailed what he could teach to them but with the spells that he had taught to them, even those who were not active members of the Order of the Snow Leopard would have no problem defending themselves if it came down to it. He had also taught advanced shields as well as the simple protego to students while stressing the importance of dodging. He had spent the entire year teaching all of them, making sure that they would be able to defend themselves even if they were not inclined to be fighters.
Snape had been his usual sneering, drawling, sarcastic, criticizing self since the start of term however that had changed in the next lesson after 4 of his precious Slytherins had been expelled. They had just entered the dungeon and were taking their assigned seats when he started to speak in his low drawl, "Since we have had four of our students expelled from amongst us I believe it is time that we made certain adjustments. As there is not much time left in this term, you may all accommodate yourselves as you wish."
Immediately Draco leaned in to say something in Runcorn's ear. She gladly traded places with Bulstrode. Runcorn moved over to join Dean Thomas. Parvati Patil paired up with Fay while Lavender paired with the last remaining student that being Seamus Finnigan. Of course, Harry, Ron, Daphne and Hermione, Neville stayed where they were.
When the class started, Snape had even smiled at Harry for something he said and at a comment which would have earned Harry a detention in the past. They had also seen Snape grin. Hermione thought she was seeing things. Nobody had ever seen Severus Snape grin, especially at anything Harry said. Evidently the sentiment was shared by Malfoy who stayed after class.
After others were gone, he asked him, "Professor, are you alright?"
Snape raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think something is wrong?"
He apprehensively said, "I have never seen you so much as smile before. Today you were grinning. And over something Potter said at that."
Severus said indifferently, "I have my own plans for him. For now, that means that I have to appear to be friendly with him to win his confidence."
Apart from that, Professor Sprout had Harry, Neville and a few other students come to the Greenhouses a few times so that they could handle the plants which were housed in the new greenhouse. The New Greenhouse was protected with some intricate wards and charms so that no one could get in by mistake. If someone got in there without knowing exactly what they were about, that would mean certain death for them. She had taught them everything that she wanted and had declared that they were as ready as they could be for the OWLs at the end of the term. The OWLs were the objective which they were vying for irrespective of the war knocking at the door.
Professor Hughes had them write two essays a week and none of her essays were to be copied from the books. She never set a minimum length of parchment for them but she told them to write in their own words and she would mark them according to that. They would get their grades according to what they had written so they would know how much more work they had to do. If she ever found that two essays were the same, she would put both students in detention and give them both T's for copying. A couple of students had actually started to think that perhaps they were better off when Binns was teaching them. Professor Hughes could be a holy terror.
Hogwarts Archives
Dumbledore was routing through the archives. They contained tomes, volumes, letters, and records of every type imaginable that dated from the time the school was first built. There were some volumes left by the founders that contained their personal journals and family records. That was the section where Dumbledore was looking. Harsh may have known the founders personally, but they didn't tell him everything. One such thing was the location of the Ravenclaw Diadem.
Albus knew for certain that the diadem was not with Rowena when she died. She had lied to everyone that she still had it but the diadem had been taken by her daughter Helena Ravenclaw who vanished with it. Alas that was the end of the story which Dumbledore could find. There was no mention of the Diadem anywhere after that. He however was hopeful that perhaps the Diadem was recovered at a more recent point in time or maybe Helena's descendants had attended Hogwarts under a different family name. Those questions could only be answered if someone accessed the family tree of Rowena Ravenclaw. Unknown to almost everyone, her family tree was kept in the Archives of Hogwarts along with those of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin.
He had once seen the family tree when he was introduced to the Archives by Armando Dippet, the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts. Since then, he never had a reason to access them. The next time that he had used that room, it was to check the family tree of Slytherin during the fiasco of the Heir of Slytherin during young Harry's second year. The family tree had shown what he had always suspected. Voldemort (Tom Riddle) was the heir of Slytherin. Since it never occurred to him that Voldemort could have made Horcruxes or that one day he would have to find the elusive Helena Ravenclaw, there was no reason for him to check Rowena's family tree.
The family tree was vast. It had so many branches that it took him quite a while to reach the name of Helena Ravenclaw. When he did, he was disappointed. Helena had died without marrying or having children where meant there was no descendant of hers running around. It also made him wonder exactly how Voldemort had got his hands on it.
He was about to leave when he found a very old journal kept neatly on one of the shelves. The name of the owner was scribed in neat bold letters on the spine and cover, "Helena Ravenclaw".
His heart started to hammer excitedly in his chest. May be this journal would be of some use to him to figure out what had happened to that diadem. It was a pity there was no portrait of Helena in the castle or he could have asked it. Being honour bound, it would have given him all the answers that he sought.
He decided to read the journal thoroughly and try to find anything which might be of some use to him. May be he could enlist Harry and Neville's help in this task. They were young, had different ways of thinking than him. They would be able to see things in a different light than him.
Clutching the journal tightly to his chest, he walked out of the Archives.
Unknown Castle
Bellatrix was seething. She had meticulously planned the attacks and yet, all she got for her trouble and 11 more of the faithful lost was a bonfire and a meaningless handful of dead muggles. No Ministry Officials! Not a single one of the ministry officials had died. She was sure that the ministry would find a way to keep the death eaters contained soon. The element of surprise which they had would not work for long. They lost 9 death eaters in the attack at Bones Manor and two more had died at the Weasley home.
She thought about why the Aurors were not so confident in the last war. It occurred to her that the Dark Lord always sent his commanders with any attack and the Aurors feared them. This time they were sitting on their hands, sending their underlings to do their dirty work. The Aurors knew that the top brass would not venture out because of the huge bounties on their heads, while the underlings posed no threat to them. Perhaps it was time that she started venturing out on missions herself. That would bring some excitement to her and others. The castle was vast and the grounds extensive, but she was still starting to go stir crazy.
"What's the agenda of this meeting, Bella?", asked Rudolphus.
She bristled, "Do not call me Bella. Try that one more time and I will Crucio you."
Dolohov pacified her, "You can sort your quarrel with him later. For now let us know why you've summoned us here?"
"It is time that we went out and fought the Aurors ourselves, rather than leaving that task to the troops. They will learn the meaning of fear when we show them our power. They shall see our faces and flee. They shall tremble at the mention of our very names! We shall not retreat when they show up. No. We shall stand and duel with them. They shall know pain, then they shall know fear, they shall know despair and finally, they shall die."
Dolohov grinned, "So when do I leave?"
She smirked maliciously, "I will go first. I have some scores to settle. May be I will be lucky enough to run into Sirius Black and kill him."
Keeping his face impassive, Severus listened to everything that was being said. He decided to relay this tidbit to the Ministry. If the Inner Circle was going to step in then, the ministry was going to have to be ready to face a whole new level of threat. He would have no problem using an Unforgivable after all these years. There was still enough hatred for the Dark Lord in him. It was time to channel this hatred. He gave a surreptitious glance around the room to consider who could be put under the curse and not resist it. Someone whose mind was already broken would be the perfect candidate. His gaze stopped at Rabbastan who had been the most affected. As Severus understood it, the scion of the House of Lestrange never had much mental protection to begin with. Whatever he did have had eroded with the passage of time and exposure to the Dementors. He also did not have much in the way of will power so Severus would have no problem in subduing him.
When the meeting was dismissed, he found Rabbastan in his chamber, "Lestrange, I want a word."
Rabbastan had once been a friend to him in school. He had helped him in some tight corners. He always saw Severus with favour so it was safe to assume that he had no idea what was going to befall him.
He smiled at the Potions Master, "Yes Severus, do you need anything from me?"
Severus drawled, "I was wondering if you had some fine mead around this place. I wanted to sit down with you and reminisce about the old days."
Rabbastan grinned, "Funny you should ask. Father has been kind enough to send me so much that I won't run out for at least another 2 months. Come and have some."
Severus kept him talking for about an hour. After he had filled him with enough mead, he levelled his wand at Rabbastan and intoned, "Imperio."
Rabbastan who had no defenses to begin with and was now deep in his cups could do nothing to resist him. When Snape was sure that he was firmly under his control, he tossed a Galleon to him, "Whenever any of the members of the inner circle are going on a raid, send the place and time instantly on this coin. If you receive instructions on this coin, carry them out as soon as you are able. Be careful to act normally when anyone else is around. Never let them know that anything is amiss. If anyone suspects something, feel free to kill them discretely. Now sleep."
The coin had a protean charm on it which connected to a similar coin that Snape carried. The other man didn't need to know that detail. With that Severus walked out of the chamber, leaving Rabbastan to go to sleep.
