Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I am only borrowing her characters to make Harry live a better life.
"Albus, why do you want us to capture him alive?" asked Amelia. "Why not kill the Dark Bastard there itself?"
"Because Tom had made Horcruxes." said Dumbledore, shocking Croaker.
"Horcruxes? As in plural?" asked Croaker.
"Yes." said Dumbledore, not at all surprised that the Head Unspeakable would be privy to the forbidden knowledge.
"Could you tell us mere mortals what a Horcrux is?" asked Rufus, his mane of hair making him look like an ageing lion.
Dumbledore sighed. "A Horcrux is magic most foul. It is made by a person wishing to cheat death. The person places a piece of his soul in an enchanted container after performing an act, most heinous."
"Murder." Croaker quietly added, then turned to Dumbledore. "How many?"
"In my opinion?", asked Dumbledore, understanding his actual question. "Seven plus the lone part of Voldemort's soul, which is possessing a baby now."
He surreptitiously looked at Harry, but before he could move his head back, Harry, who was listening with half an ear while discussing the Muggle Studies curriculum, caught his glance and then a thought hit him like a Bludger.
"Is my scar a Horcrux just like Riddle's diary, Professor? Is that why I could feel his presence through my scar in my First Year and had that vision over the summer before this year?" asked Harry, suddenly not feeling well.
A gamut of emotions ran across Dumbledore's face - shock that Harry had deduced it so quickly, and saddened that Harry should bear such an emotional burden. It was amply clear to Harry that he had hit it spot-on. He blacked out, but Fred and George quickly caught him before he could hit the floor.
They laid him on the bench and while Madam Pomfrey rushed to Rennervate him, Fred, George, Hermione, and even Neville and Ginny took defensive positions around him with their wands pointed outwards. Soon the other Housemates who had believed in Harry after seeing his memories followed, first amongst them, the rest of his Quidditch team. Even Snape took a similar stance. Ron moved towards them with his wand out and was saddened to see his friends and siblings point their wands at him and look at him with suspicion.
He lowered his wand and said, "I am here to support Harry, guys. I have been a jealous prat and a git till now. There, I have said it, okay, but I would never raise a wand against my first friend." He pleaded.
They re-aimed their wands at Dumbledore, and the Ministry officials present there.
"What am I missing? Can someone tell me?" asked Prof. McGonagall to the students and the lone teacher just as Harry got up and the defenders moved to cover him.
It was Prof. Sprout who spoke up. "Most of them have put two and two together. Think Minerva, if Harry's scar is a Horcrux, then I would not put it past any Ministry official to kill Mr. Potter for Greater Good to be able to finish off You Know Who once and for all."
"Even Albus too." She said looking at Dumbledore. "He must have suspected some of these things after coming to know of the scar hurting and his suspicions would have been confirmed by the diary …."
"But as usual, he kept it close to his vest thinking there was no solution instead of trying to seek help, right, Albus?" interjected McGonagall, now with her wand out too.
"Pomona, Minerva, I confess I believe that Harry would have to sacrifice himself in the end, for Voldemort to be killed, but I would never murder a child in cold blood. Trust me," said Dumbledore.
"You have yourself to blame for our lack of faith in you. I can say that having seen those memories.' said little Prof. Flitwick, also pulling his wand out.
"Why not excise it through grafting, if the soul piece is just stuck to his scar?" asked Hermione suddenly.
"Grafting? What's that, Miss Granger?" asked a curious Croaker.
"It is a kind of muggle surgery and that is how the infected or damaged skin is removed and skin from another part of the body is layered over it by the doctors. Here, though, we will let the Muggle surgeons operate upon the skin first, then after someone Obliviates them and leads them away, Madam Pomfrey can heal the operated area with spells and potions," said Hermione, in one breath.
Then, looking at Harry, she grinned and said, "That will also solve your problem of people staring at your scar."
"Marry me, Hermione," said Harry jokingly.
"Impossible," said Igor Karkaroff. There were many others looking skeptical, too.
"What? Hermione marrying Harry or grafting?" asked Fred and George in their typical twin-speak, splitting the second sentence into two, generating laughter in the Great Hall, breaking the tension a bit.
"That Muggles have a solution for magical injuries," said Karkaroff haughtily.
That really got Hermione's ire up. "Look, all of you," she said while glaring at Karkaroff, "While you have your magic, the Muggles have science and technology. It is our answer to your way of life. It can do what your magic can't and vice versa."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione continued while Snape, McGonagall, and many others watched on in amusement as the brunette tore into him. "You think that because you have magic, you are Godlike and can rule over others. We are capable of things that you never imagined. Have you ever been to the Moon, invented a weapon that can easily destroy a city in one go, watch a game happening live in another part of the world from the comfort of your home, or create devices that can allow you to watch live what's happening inside an ailing body without cutting into it? You would have known about all this if you had let go of your prejudice and your superiority complex!"
Croaker tried to bring the subject back to track. "If as Miss Granger believes the scar can be removed through grafting, then let's say we do so but that later. First, we need to capture Tom Riddle, his snake, and Pettigrew and also ensure none of the students here warn their parents," he said, looking around.
Amelia immediately snapped out an order to her Aurors to not let any student out of their sight and her orders were followed by Dumbledore vanishing the House tables and conjuring sleeping bags for the students. Leaving Professors Sprout and Flitwick in charge, they moved the discussion to the antechamber. Only Hermione, Ron, the Twins, Neville and Ginny followed the party in. The rest of the students were content to stay out.
Once inside, Prof. McGonagall magically expanded the room to accommodate everyone and then Croaker conjured what looked to be a Muggle satellite map of Little Hangleton where Riddle Manor, Voldemort's base, was supposed to be. Hermione looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he, sensing the obvious question in her eyes, smiled and gently said, "Just because I don't know about grafting, Miss Granger, it doesn't mean, I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to the Muggle world." She blushed.
Then turning his attention, back to the map, and pointing at a spot, he said, "We will portkey a team of Aurors, and Ward Masters with Obliviators going in first, in order to set up Muggle repelling charms at this spot here so that Muggles don't venture where the rest of the team later portkeys in. It's 200 meters from the Riddle Manor. We will jog the rest of the way under invisibility, scent-masking, and aura-masking spells. Before we plan the attack, the Ward Masters will analyze and give me a report on the enchantments surrounding the Manor. Then we will decide on the next step."
Knowing that the Unspeakables comprise magical researchers and inventors who work for the intelligence wing and the DMLE, Hermione asked, "Sir, has your department invented a gas which could put people to sleep as some Muggle-made gases can?"
While Croaker nodded, Harry, recognizing the look, chuckled and said, "You again have a plan, Hermione."
"Yes, I do," she said, smiling.
"What are you thinking, Miss Granger?" asked Amelia.
"First, your team will require infrared goggles," said Hermione.
Turning to the entire room, she then said, "Infrared goggles would allow the men to see the people in the manor based upon their heat signatures, even if they are behind walls. The people will appear bright yellow or red through the goggles because of the warm human body temperature, while a snake, being a cold-blooded creature, will appear bluish."
Then, turning to Croaker, she said, "Once you have determined their positions, charm the knockout gas container so that you can detonate it remotely. Then, as the Headmaster did in the Great Hall, it's only a matter of making it appear in their room through conjuration. Make the bomb appear in a blind spot and then detonate it. The infrared goggles will help you choose the best place. Once the inhabitants are knocked out, your Ward masters can do their job and then the Aurors can move in after casting Bubblehead charms upon themselves."
"May I suggest something, Hermione?" Ron spoke up hesitantly, not sure whether he had been forgiven.
Hermione turned to look at him.
"Instead of wasting time in trying to break the wards, have some houses-elves don the Bubblehead charms, pop into the rooms, and magically bind and transport the prisoners to Mr. Croaker's chosen destination. They are not affected by wards here as well and most folks underestimate them enough to not place anti-elf wards on their homes. I don't even know whether such wards exist. Have the men on standby outside though, just in case things go awry," said Ron.
"That's brilliant, both of you," exclaimed Prof. Dumbledore.
Ron looked at first relieved that Hermione had not started off on a rant about slavery of House-elves, then turned red at receiving praise from the Headmaster himself. Everyone else seemed impressed, too. He seldom received praise from anybody.
Almost everyone in the room was blown by the sheer simplicity of the entire plan and the minimal risk involved. Croaker seemed to know about infrared goggles from his expression. The Head Unspeakable immediately portkeyed out with Rufus to implement the plan after a brief discussion with Amelia.
Amelia then wracked her brains for a plan to deal with the Death Eaters and roped in Snape and Dumbledore to help.
Meanwhile, Harry drew Hermione and his classmates' attention back to the topic of introducing the magically raised people to the modern Muggle culture and advancements.
Prof. McGonagall suggested making Muggle Studies compulsory for all years and Hermione suggested introducing primary school education that would cause an early mixing of both the Muggle and Magically raised wizards and witches, thus the two sides would get comfortable with both worlds from a young age. Also, it could lessen the instances of accidental magic in the Muggle world if the children would learn control early on. Everyone liked the ideas being put forward. Once this current mess was dealt with, they would all work on creating a workable proposal to be brought before the relevant authorities.
An hour had passed while they had been discussing the finer points, when the badge on Amelia's cloak glowed green twice, making her look pleased though unable to believe herself despite it.
"The Little Hangleton mission has been a total success. No casualties." She calmly declared.
Everyone in the room gave a loud cheer.
Now only the Death Eaters needed to be weeded out and the Hogwarts education system to be revolutionized.
Shouldn't be too hard? ;)
There you go, guys. My new chapter. Hope you liked it. Let me know.