It begins
Silence was the only sound to be heard from the front room of the Burrow in the early hours of this summer morning, however this was not because everyone was tucked up in bed, as you would expect at this ungodly hour. In fact the exact opposite was true, the entire family (at least those at home) plus Harry and Hermione were sitting in a stunned silence, their faces reflecting the shock they had just received. Eventually it was Fred that broke the silence.
"Are you telling us that the Malfoy's as in Lucius Malfoy's family built their 'manor' on land they knew belonged to our family? And knowing this he had the gaul to insult, degrade and basically humiliate us, while always openly flaunting their so called 'wealth'?" At his parents nods he continued, "Those black hearted, rat faced sons of . . ."
"Fred Weasley, you finish that sentence and you'll be spending the next week in a full body bind." Mrs Weasley screamed effectively ending his rant, before silently adding 'no matter how true it is.'
Harry decided now would be a good time to step in as everyone was obviously tired and tempers were getting a little frayed.
"Can I make a suggestion?" he asked and once he had all their attention continued "It's coming up two in the morning and everyone's had a tough day one way or the other, so I think it would be a good idea to get some sleep before the meeting. And maybe by then people wont be so irritable!" he said glancing between Fred and Mrs Weasley and once people started to head upstairs he relaxed and tried to follow only to find he couldn't move and glancing around he soon found out why. Hermione who had been sitting with her head on his shoulder throughout the conversation had repositioned herself into his lap and fallen asleep with her head on his chest and a sweet smile on her lips. Harry just couldn't bring himself to wake her and so with a warm smile he stood with her in his arms and headed or the stairs.
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Ginny couldn't believe how her day was going, she had woken up in a relatively good mood just to be brought back down with a thump due to the news in the papers that morning. Thankfully or all their sanity the twins were able to cheer everyone up almost as soon as they were in public (even her mum was amused though she would never admit in front of them) soon followed by a pleasant and enjoyable day of shopping, well if you ignored the incident with Malfoy. Now here she was after hours of anxious waiting, absorbing the fact that not only was the family was wealthy to an extent she still wasn't sure, but tomorrow her parents were going to retake possession of the land the Malfoys claimed their own. And after what Lucius and Draco Malfoy had put her and all those she cared about through she couldn't wait.
It was this reason and many others that she decided not to have a bath tonight and just shower in the morning. So when Harry had suggested they all head to bed she was one of the first to leave and now she stood in her room looking for a clean nightgown to put on until that is she heard a knock on the door. Glancing around she soon noticed that Hermione wasn't in the room with her and quickly guessed she had probably locked the door on her friend, and so thinking it was Hermione at the door she strode over whipped the door open. She was right that it was Hermione but what she didn't expect was to find her being carried by Harry who upon seeing Ginny quickly turned away a slight blush staining his cheeks. Standing there Ginny was slightly confused by his reaction until she realised she was only in her underwear at which point she turned bright red and shot into the bathroom. When she came back out she had her dressing gown on and stood in the doorway watching as Harry removed Hermione's shoes and carefully tucked her into bed, then just as he stood he brushed some stray hairs from her face before gently kissing her and leaving the room mouthing good night to Ginny as he passed.
As Ginny headed to her bed she Hermione sigh and mumble Harry's name in her sleep and she couldn't help but smile thinking how good those two were or each other, she knew she was only slightly jealous of Hermione but it wasn't what she expected to feel when they finally got together as she wasn't jealous of the act that Hermione had Harry but that had someone who so clearly loved her. Her thoughts were soon interrupted as she yawned deeply and remembering what would be happening in just a few hours she climbed into bed and soon followed Hermione into slumber.
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Hermione woke to the light of the morning sun at about seven thirty surprisingly refreshed considering how little sleep she had gotten. Once she had stretched and gained her bearings she realised not only was she in her bed in Ginny's room but was still fully clothed and didn't take her long to figure out what must happened, and so with a bright smile she was soon up, showered, dressed and heading downstairs where she found most of the Burrows residents sitting round the table eating breakfast some clearly more awake then others.
"Good morning all" she greeted happily as she reached the bottom of the stairs and made her way to the empty seat next to Harry, while receiving morning greetings from most in the kitchen and a grunt from Ron (definitely not a morning person). Harry however rose from his chair and pulled her into a heated kiss before pulling out the chair for the dazed Hermione.
"O.K. what gives?" Ron asked from across the table "We're all half asleep yet you two are wide awake and grinning. How come?"
"Good nights sleep!" The two grinning teens answered. Only to get a mumbled reply from Ron.
"But we only got a few hours so how come you both look like you got a full nights worth?" Fred inquired Ron's side while trying to get him to accept a sweet.
Harry was prevented from answering as Mr Weasley chose that moment to enter the room "Morning all" he said taking a seat already dressed in his best robes with a file o paper in his hand, which soon brought up the coming events of the day not to mention what to do with Malfoy Manor once the Malfoys leave. In the end it was decided to wait until the Aurors had done a complete search o the property and then decide on what they all thought of the house as to its future, a decision they all agreed on.
Once they had all finished eating they moved into the lounge where surprisingly Professor Dumbledore stood waiting for them.
"Good morning, I trust your all well!" he greeted them brightly then turning to Mrs Weasley continued in a more sombre tone "Molly I read your note and I must agree that the children stay here until we return." Harry and the others were about to protest when Mrs. Weasley prevented them.
"You will be remaining here for the same reason we have asked Albus to accompany us. We have absolutely no idea how Lucius is going to react other than the fact that he is going to be furious, and we are not taking any risks with your safety!" Her tone of voice made it quite clear there was no room for argument, but that didn't stop them all from trying, all that is except Harry who sat on the couch in deep thought before standing and getting between the two arguing groups.
As silence descended Harry turned towards the adults in the room all of whom seemed to be almost daring him to argue however that was not his plan. "I'll make you a deal.," he finally said surprising them all, although Mrs. Weasley was looking at him slightly suspiciously. "We will all remain here on the condition that you take Luna with you!"
"Harry what are you." Hermione whispered to him just to be cut off
"Trust me 'Mione."
"Why would you want us to take Luna, Harry?" Professor Dumbledore asked slightly confused
"Well I suspect that the main reason everyone wants to go is see their faces when you tell the Malfoys what's going on." At everyone's nods of affirmation he continued, "Well with Luna there we can remain here where it's 'safe' and still view what's going on!"
"How is that going to work?" Ron asked annoyed that Harry was siding with his parents.
"Simple really Ron we just need one of them to cast the 'Mental Projection' spell on me. Then when Luna passes the images to me through our bond. ."
"You can use the spell to show the others what Luna see's." A very impressed Professor finished for him. "But if I may ask, when and how did you discover the two of you could send images as well as thoughts and emotions?"
At this Harry couldn't hide the blush covering his face catching everyone's attention, but was saved from answering by Mr. Weasley announcing that if they wanted to be on time they should leave now.
"Before you go!" Harry called to them "There's one more condition, once the Malfoys have left I want Luna to fly though the house before anyone, Aurors included enters. I'll explain why later, you'd best go or you'll be late."
So with a nod and a wave of his wand from Dumbledore confirming Harry's suggestion Luna flew over to Mrs. Weasley's shoulder and disappeared with them through the floo system leaving Harry with a group of confused and inquisitive teens.
As soon as the flames returned to their usual size and colour Harry turned to find everyone in the room looking at him expectantly
"Harry?" Hermione asked with her hands on her hips "Where did you learn about that spell? I've never even heard of it!"
"Ah well you see Professor Dumbledore gave me limited access to the restricted section of the library and I found it there." Was the response Harry gave while he sat with his eyes closed as if listening to something in the air "O.K. it look like they'll be filling out forms for the next hour or so, so what do you want to do while we wait?"
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Harry couldn't believe the last hour. As soon as he'd given her an opening Hermione had started questioning him about any and all spells, charms, curses and potions he had 'accidentally' found during his work in the restricted section, of course as soon as they began that discussion the Weasleys had quickly vacated the room in favour of enjoying the sun outside.
The first thing Harry explained was that the only sections he was permitted to read were those pertaining to the subject he was researching, this still meant he could look up combat, mind links, magical creatures and history of magic, giving him a very wide spectrum of subjects to look through. He had also been given permission to look up ancient magic thinking that what was known of phoenix use may be there. Of course this interested Hermione greatly especially when she learnt that this branch of magic relied upon four factors, the heart (emotions strengthen the spells), the mind (the will determines the effect), the blood (to bind and control the spells) and the environment (to determine the form the spell 'could' take). It was while Harry was explaining this and how not all were needed for every spell that he felt a quick burst of thought from Luna. It was almost time for the adults to head for Malfoy Manor.
Having quickly explained this to Hermione, Harry shot outside to get the rest all the while reflecting on how strangely enjoyable the last hour had been ' probably' he thought 'because I was alone with 'Mione, even if it was like school again'. His thoughts were interrupted however when he reached the paddock the Weasleys had gone to half an hour ago for a quick game of Quiditch. What Harry saw though looked nothing like a Quiditch game, Ginny and the boys were all attempting to keep hold of their brooms while laughing hard enough to have tears in their eyes. Harry soon realised why when he noticed that not all the Weasleys were on their brooms as there was no sign of George, there was however a disgruntled red pig sitting on the semi deflated ball they'd been using as a quaffle with a sign round its neck reading 'ball hog'!
"George?" Harry asked looking around at those on brooms and at their affirmative nods almost joined in their laughter until he remembered why he was out there "Well someone change him back their about to head to the manor!"
Within seconds the Weasleys were all following Harry back to the house all once again human though George's nose still looked slightly flat.
When they reached the lounge they found a very impatient Hermione waiting for them
"What took you so long? If we don't hurry they'll already be there. Harry what's going on at the moment?" she asked as she pulled him down to the sofa beside her and snuggled in close.
Harry once again focused on his link with Luna trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart "They're just getting the Por. . . So thats how its done!" he exclaimed smiling slightly.
"How what's done?" Ron asked eagerly
"Nothing!!" he answered quickly looking anywhere but at his friends
"Harry! What are you up to?" Hermione questioned, but the only response she got was Harry staring at the far wall and calling out
"Cerebrus convey!" almost immediately a beam of light appeared from both of his temples and converged before him. After staying there for about two to three seconds the light flew to the wall and formed into a large misty screen. No sooner had it appeared as the sound of voices filtered into the room and the mist cleared to show the office of an Auror captain as seen from Luna's perch on Mrs. Weasleys shoulder.
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Captain Donahue of blue shift was really looking forward to this job, he and Lucius Malfoy had hated each other since school, a act which accounted for him providing the Marauders with passwords for the Slytherin common room to set up their pranks during their early years. So when the news of the Weasley's new found inheritance came through along with the eviction order of Malfoy Manor he immediately volunteered to lead the Auror support for the actual eviction.
"Right then" he said as he rose smiling from behind his desk "Remember the plan. Arthur, you Professor Dumbledore and myself will be the first to the door to serve the notice, then should he resist in 'any' way the rest of you may advance on my signal. Now we all know what sort of temper Lucius has so I want you all to be especially careful, thankfully we have the element of surprise so lets hope we have no problems."
"Charles the port-keys are ready!" Dumbledore informed his former pupil and as they all neared the half dozen large diner plates he continued, "We will arrive just outside the main gates avoiding any detection spells on the property!" And with a nod of understanding from all they vanished from the office.
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If Harry had thought travelling by port-key was bad normally experiencing it through another was much worse. It took all Harry's efforts not to loose his breakfast when he felt the tug, never mind concentrating enough to keep the spell active but thankfully it was soon over.
The others in the room watched as the strange screen showed the swirling colours synonymous with port-key travel before clearing to show the large iron gates of Malfoy Manor. Although the gates and walls were visible the house and grounds were hidden behind magical wards and as the group moved through the gates everything beyond slowly shimmered into being and no-one in the front room of the Burrow could believe what they were seeing, if it wasn't for the imposing building in the centre of the grounds you could easily mistake this for a wildlife reserve, but for some reason their attention was immediately drawn to the house and it wasn't till they got closer that Harry realised why.
"I don't believe it, they've put a disillusionment charm on all the grounds except the house, so no matter what you have to look at it." he exclaimed once Luna passed on the knowledge.
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked curiously
"Oh, Luna can sense the spells they used!"
Back on the screen the group was continuing through the grounds when Donahue sent a gentle blue light towards the house from his wand "I've just informed Malfoy that a ministry official is on the grounds however he will only be expecting me so we still have the surprise.
"Why inform him at all?" Bill asked as they kept walking
"If I hadn't we wouldn't have reached the door because of his security charms, we would have simply stopped until he saw who we were and either let us in or banished us from the property!"
All talk soon ended though as they reached the front of the house where Donahue, Mr. Weasley and Professor Dumbledore walked up the front steps and rapped loudly on the door.
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The Ministry of Magic was used to emotional ministers, usually this stemmed from the stress of the job or some national crisis (but only a few ministers had kept their heads through such times) so there was no surprise to see the current minister ranting at some junior officials in the early hours of the day.
People were surprised however when they heard why he was ranting. Had it been the rumours of Voldemort's return they would understand, had it been the loss of Azkaban and a number Aurors they would have agreed but the reason for the yelling was something that had them all stumped.
Cornelius Fudge had been having a good day before his arrival at work, his breakfast had been pleasant, his wife and children had been polite but suspiciously quiet especially since the twins would normally be going on about looking forward to their first day at Hogwarts in September or pranking their siblings. So it was a cheerful minister that arrived to work that day to find some of the worst news of his career. Yes the loss of Azkaban was a shock as had been the fate of the Aurors he'd sent to investigate (He was thankful Lucius had convinced him not to send a full squadron of seasoned men, he could have lost them all). But the news sitting on his desk that morning had him literally shaking in his boots. . .
His approval rating was falling.
Let Dumbledore rant about the rumours of you-know-who's return let the other departments argue about escaped prisoners, these were all minor problems to the minister, but 'this' was urgent and he wanted to know who was responsible, after all it couldn't be his fault he had done all that was expected of a good leader. When the rumours of you-know-who's return had begun he had safely assured the public they were lies (he would never understand why Dumbledore would believe that Potter boy). When the prison fell he responded quickly to send Aurors and reassured the public and yet still this happened and no one he spoke to could/would tell him why.
He knew what he needed, he needed advice and wasn't until he was half way through calling Hogwarts that he remembered he 'wasn't talking' to the headmaster so instead he changed his mind and called his financial backer who had helped him become minister, Lucius. What he got though was not what he expected, in the distance he could hear screaming and curses being thrown and he was sure that he could hear Lucius yelling for whomever it was to get off his property.
It didn't take Fudge long to reach the office of the Magical Law Enforcement division, where he demanded a team of Aurors to accompany him immediately which they had no choice but to do, after all he is the Minister of Magic.
After a quick trip via port-key the minister and his 'guard' arrived in the front parlour of Malfoy Manor only to find it occupied by Draco Malfoy and some of his class mates who were visiting. The small group of teens were clustered around one of the front windows screaming encouragement to their parents outside who, after a quick glance were obviously being attacked by a group of well trained men.
Seeing his guard head outside the minister followed confidently to find out who had the ordacity to attack his friend, but when he reached the front door he stopped dead, yes the fight had stopped but what he saw confused him entirely.
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a/n
First id like to thank all those who have been reviewing I appreciate them all and I will try to answer all your questions in the next chapter.
To those that have been waiting for updates I apologise for the delay but due to certain changes in my life I was delayed from continuing im happy to announce that I am now engaged and am expecting to be a dad by September. Hopefully with this in mind you forgive me for the delay but as I said before I will finish this story and hopefully the next chapter should be up soon.
Thank you
pp]dragos
Silence was the only sound to be heard from the front room of the Burrow in the early hours of this summer morning, however this was not because everyone was tucked up in bed, as you would expect at this ungodly hour. In fact the exact opposite was true, the entire family (at least those at home) plus Harry and Hermione were sitting in a stunned silence, their faces reflecting the shock they had just received. Eventually it was Fred that broke the silence.
"Are you telling us that the Malfoy's as in Lucius Malfoy's family built their 'manor' on land they knew belonged to our family? And knowing this he had the gaul to insult, degrade and basically humiliate us, while always openly flaunting their so called 'wealth'?" At his parents nods he continued, "Those black hearted, rat faced sons of . . ."
"Fred Weasley, you finish that sentence and you'll be spending the next week in a full body bind." Mrs Weasley screamed effectively ending his rant, before silently adding 'no matter how true it is.'
Harry decided now would be a good time to step in as everyone was obviously tired and tempers were getting a little frayed.
"Can I make a suggestion?" he asked and once he had all their attention continued "It's coming up two in the morning and everyone's had a tough day one way or the other, so I think it would be a good idea to get some sleep before the meeting. And maybe by then people wont be so irritable!" he said glancing between Fred and Mrs Weasley and once people started to head upstairs he relaxed and tried to follow only to find he couldn't move and glancing around he soon found out why. Hermione who had been sitting with her head on his shoulder throughout the conversation had repositioned herself into his lap and fallen asleep with her head on his chest and a sweet smile on her lips. Harry just couldn't bring himself to wake her and so with a warm smile he stood with her in his arms and headed or the stairs.
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Ginny couldn't believe how her day was going, she had woken up in a relatively good mood just to be brought back down with a thump due to the news in the papers that morning. Thankfully or all their sanity the twins were able to cheer everyone up almost as soon as they were in public (even her mum was amused though she would never admit in front of them) soon followed by a pleasant and enjoyable day of shopping, well if you ignored the incident with Malfoy. Now here she was after hours of anxious waiting, absorbing the fact that not only was the family was wealthy to an extent she still wasn't sure, but tomorrow her parents were going to retake possession of the land the Malfoys claimed their own. And after what Lucius and Draco Malfoy had put her and all those she cared about through she couldn't wait.
It was this reason and many others that she decided not to have a bath tonight and just shower in the morning. So when Harry had suggested they all head to bed she was one of the first to leave and now she stood in her room looking for a clean nightgown to put on until that is she heard a knock on the door. Glancing around she soon noticed that Hermione wasn't in the room with her and quickly guessed she had probably locked the door on her friend, and so thinking it was Hermione at the door she strode over whipped the door open. She was right that it was Hermione but what she didn't expect was to find her being carried by Harry who upon seeing Ginny quickly turned away a slight blush staining his cheeks. Standing there Ginny was slightly confused by his reaction until she realised she was only in her underwear at which point she turned bright red and shot into the bathroom. When she came back out she had her dressing gown on and stood in the doorway watching as Harry removed Hermione's shoes and carefully tucked her into bed, then just as he stood he brushed some stray hairs from her face before gently kissing her and leaving the room mouthing good night to Ginny as he passed.
As Ginny headed to her bed she Hermione sigh and mumble Harry's name in her sleep and she couldn't help but smile thinking how good those two were or each other, she knew she was only slightly jealous of Hermione but it wasn't what she expected to feel when they finally got together as she wasn't jealous of the act that Hermione had Harry but that had someone who so clearly loved her. Her thoughts were soon interrupted as she yawned deeply and remembering what would be happening in just a few hours she climbed into bed and soon followed Hermione into slumber.
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Hermione woke to the light of the morning sun at about seven thirty surprisingly refreshed considering how little sleep she had gotten. Once she had stretched and gained her bearings she realised not only was she in her bed in Ginny's room but was still fully clothed and didn't take her long to figure out what must happened, and so with a bright smile she was soon up, showered, dressed and heading downstairs where she found most of the Burrows residents sitting round the table eating breakfast some clearly more awake then others.
"Good morning all" she greeted happily as she reached the bottom of the stairs and made her way to the empty seat next to Harry, while receiving morning greetings from most in the kitchen and a grunt from Ron (definitely not a morning person). Harry however rose from his chair and pulled her into a heated kiss before pulling out the chair for the dazed Hermione.
"O.K. what gives?" Ron asked from across the table "We're all half asleep yet you two are wide awake and grinning. How come?"
"Good nights sleep!" The two grinning teens answered. Only to get a mumbled reply from Ron.
"But we only got a few hours so how come you both look like you got a full nights worth?" Fred inquired Ron's side while trying to get him to accept a sweet.
Harry was prevented from answering as Mr Weasley chose that moment to enter the room "Morning all" he said taking a seat already dressed in his best robes with a file o paper in his hand, which soon brought up the coming events of the day not to mention what to do with Malfoy Manor once the Malfoys leave. In the end it was decided to wait until the Aurors had done a complete search o the property and then decide on what they all thought of the house as to its future, a decision they all agreed on.
Once they had all finished eating they moved into the lounge where surprisingly Professor Dumbledore stood waiting for them.
"Good morning, I trust your all well!" he greeted them brightly then turning to Mrs Weasley continued in a more sombre tone "Molly I read your note and I must agree that the children stay here until we return." Harry and the others were about to protest when Mrs. Weasley prevented them.
"You will be remaining here for the same reason we have asked Albus to accompany us. We have absolutely no idea how Lucius is going to react other than the fact that he is going to be furious, and we are not taking any risks with your safety!" Her tone of voice made it quite clear there was no room for argument, but that didn't stop them all from trying, all that is except Harry who sat on the couch in deep thought before standing and getting between the two arguing groups.
As silence descended Harry turned towards the adults in the room all of whom seemed to be almost daring him to argue however that was not his plan. "I'll make you a deal.," he finally said surprising them all, although Mrs. Weasley was looking at him slightly suspiciously. "We will all remain here on the condition that you take Luna with you!"
"Harry what are you." Hermione whispered to him just to be cut off
"Trust me 'Mione."
"Why would you want us to take Luna, Harry?" Professor Dumbledore asked slightly confused
"Well I suspect that the main reason everyone wants to go is see their faces when you tell the Malfoys what's going on." At everyone's nods of affirmation he continued, "Well with Luna there we can remain here where it's 'safe' and still view what's going on!"
"How is that going to work?" Ron asked annoyed that Harry was siding with his parents.
"Simple really Ron we just need one of them to cast the 'Mental Projection' spell on me. Then when Luna passes the images to me through our bond. ."
"You can use the spell to show the others what Luna see's." A very impressed Professor finished for him. "But if I may ask, when and how did you discover the two of you could send images as well as thoughts and emotions?"
At this Harry couldn't hide the blush covering his face catching everyone's attention, but was saved from answering by Mr. Weasley announcing that if they wanted to be on time they should leave now.
"Before you go!" Harry called to them "There's one more condition, once the Malfoys have left I want Luna to fly though the house before anyone, Aurors included enters. I'll explain why later, you'd best go or you'll be late."
So with a nod and a wave of his wand from Dumbledore confirming Harry's suggestion Luna flew over to Mrs. Weasley's shoulder and disappeared with them through the floo system leaving Harry with a group of confused and inquisitive teens.
As soon as the flames returned to their usual size and colour Harry turned to find everyone in the room looking at him expectantly
"Harry?" Hermione asked with her hands on her hips "Where did you learn about that spell? I've never even heard of it!"
"Ah well you see Professor Dumbledore gave me limited access to the restricted section of the library and I found it there." Was the response Harry gave while he sat with his eyes closed as if listening to something in the air "O.K. it look like they'll be filling out forms for the next hour or so, so what do you want to do while we wait?"
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Harry couldn't believe the last hour. As soon as he'd given her an opening Hermione had started questioning him about any and all spells, charms, curses and potions he had 'accidentally' found during his work in the restricted section, of course as soon as they began that discussion the Weasleys had quickly vacated the room in favour of enjoying the sun outside.
The first thing Harry explained was that the only sections he was permitted to read were those pertaining to the subject he was researching, this still meant he could look up combat, mind links, magical creatures and history of magic, giving him a very wide spectrum of subjects to look through. He had also been given permission to look up ancient magic thinking that what was known of phoenix use may be there. Of course this interested Hermione greatly especially when she learnt that this branch of magic relied upon four factors, the heart (emotions strengthen the spells), the mind (the will determines the effect), the blood (to bind and control the spells) and the environment (to determine the form the spell 'could' take). It was while Harry was explaining this and how not all were needed for every spell that he felt a quick burst of thought from Luna. It was almost time for the adults to head for Malfoy Manor.
Having quickly explained this to Hermione, Harry shot outside to get the rest all the while reflecting on how strangely enjoyable the last hour had been ' probably' he thought 'because I was alone with 'Mione, even if it was like school again'. His thoughts were interrupted however when he reached the paddock the Weasleys had gone to half an hour ago for a quick game of Quiditch. What Harry saw though looked nothing like a Quiditch game, Ginny and the boys were all attempting to keep hold of their brooms while laughing hard enough to have tears in their eyes. Harry soon realised why when he noticed that not all the Weasleys were on their brooms as there was no sign of George, there was however a disgruntled red pig sitting on the semi deflated ball they'd been using as a quaffle with a sign round its neck reading 'ball hog'!
"George?" Harry asked looking around at those on brooms and at their affirmative nods almost joined in their laughter until he remembered why he was out there "Well someone change him back their about to head to the manor!"
Within seconds the Weasleys were all following Harry back to the house all once again human though George's nose still looked slightly flat.
When they reached the lounge they found a very impatient Hermione waiting for them
"What took you so long? If we don't hurry they'll already be there. Harry what's going on at the moment?" she asked as she pulled him down to the sofa beside her and snuggled in close.
Harry once again focused on his link with Luna trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart "They're just getting the Por. . . So thats how its done!" he exclaimed smiling slightly.
"How what's done?" Ron asked eagerly
"Nothing!!" he answered quickly looking anywhere but at his friends
"Harry! What are you up to?" Hermione questioned, but the only response she got was Harry staring at the far wall and calling out
"Cerebrus convey!" almost immediately a beam of light appeared from both of his temples and converged before him. After staying there for about two to three seconds the light flew to the wall and formed into a large misty screen. No sooner had it appeared as the sound of voices filtered into the room and the mist cleared to show the office of an Auror captain as seen from Luna's perch on Mrs. Weasleys shoulder.
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Captain Donahue of blue shift was really looking forward to this job, he and Lucius Malfoy had hated each other since school, a act which accounted for him providing the Marauders with passwords for the Slytherin common room to set up their pranks during their early years. So when the news of the Weasley's new found inheritance came through along with the eviction order of Malfoy Manor he immediately volunteered to lead the Auror support for the actual eviction.
"Right then" he said as he rose smiling from behind his desk "Remember the plan. Arthur, you Professor Dumbledore and myself will be the first to the door to serve the notice, then should he resist in 'any' way the rest of you may advance on my signal. Now we all know what sort of temper Lucius has so I want you all to be especially careful, thankfully we have the element of surprise so lets hope we have no problems."
"Charles the port-keys are ready!" Dumbledore informed his former pupil and as they all neared the half dozen large diner plates he continued, "We will arrive just outside the main gates avoiding any detection spells on the property!" And with a nod of understanding from all they vanished from the office.
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If Harry had thought travelling by port-key was bad normally experiencing it through another was much worse. It took all Harry's efforts not to loose his breakfast when he felt the tug, never mind concentrating enough to keep the spell active but thankfully it was soon over.
The others in the room watched as the strange screen showed the swirling colours synonymous with port-key travel before clearing to show the large iron gates of Malfoy Manor. Although the gates and walls were visible the house and grounds were hidden behind magical wards and as the group moved through the gates everything beyond slowly shimmered into being and no-one in the front room of the Burrow could believe what they were seeing, if it wasn't for the imposing building in the centre of the grounds you could easily mistake this for a wildlife reserve, but for some reason their attention was immediately drawn to the house and it wasn't till they got closer that Harry realised why.
"I don't believe it, they've put a disillusionment charm on all the grounds except the house, so no matter what you have to look at it." he exclaimed once Luna passed on the knowledge.
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked curiously
"Oh, Luna can sense the spells they used!"
Back on the screen the group was continuing through the grounds when Donahue sent a gentle blue light towards the house from his wand "I've just informed Malfoy that a ministry official is on the grounds however he will only be expecting me so we still have the surprise.
"Why inform him at all?" Bill asked as they kept walking
"If I hadn't we wouldn't have reached the door because of his security charms, we would have simply stopped until he saw who we were and either let us in or banished us from the property!"
All talk soon ended though as they reached the front of the house where Donahue, Mr. Weasley and Professor Dumbledore walked up the front steps and rapped loudly on the door.
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The Ministry of Magic was used to emotional ministers, usually this stemmed from the stress of the job or some national crisis (but only a few ministers had kept their heads through such times) so there was no surprise to see the current minister ranting at some junior officials in the early hours of the day.
People were surprised however when they heard why he was ranting. Had it been the rumours of Voldemort's return they would understand, had it been the loss of Azkaban and a number Aurors they would have agreed but the reason for the yelling was something that had them all stumped.
Cornelius Fudge had been having a good day before his arrival at work, his breakfast had been pleasant, his wife and children had been polite but suspiciously quiet especially since the twins would normally be going on about looking forward to their first day at Hogwarts in September or pranking their siblings. So it was a cheerful minister that arrived to work that day to find some of the worst news of his career. Yes the loss of Azkaban was a shock as had been the fate of the Aurors he'd sent to investigate (He was thankful Lucius had convinced him not to send a full squadron of seasoned men, he could have lost them all). But the news sitting on his desk that morning had him literally shaking in his boots. . .
His approval rating was falling.
Let Dumbledore rant about the rumours of you-know-who's return let the other departments argue about escaped prisoners, these were all minor problems to the minister, but 'this' was urgent and he wanted to know who was responsible, after all it couldn't be his fault he had done all that was expected of a good leader. When the rumours of you-know-who's return had begun he had safely assured the public they were lies (he would never understand why Dumbledore would believe that Potter boy). When the prison fell he responded quickly to send Aurors and reassured the public and yet still this happened and no one he spoke to could/would tell him why.
He knew what he needed, he needed advice and wasn't until he was half way through calling Hogwarts that he remembered he 'wasn't talking' to the headmaster so instead he changed his mind and called his financial backer who had helped him become minister, Lucius. What he got though was not what he expected, in the distance he could hear screaming and curses being thrown and he was sure that he could hear Lucius yelling for whomever it was to get off his property.
It didn't take Fudge long to reach the office of the Magical Law Enforcement division, where he demanded a team of Aurors to accompany him immediately which they had no choice but to do, after all he is the Minister of Magic.
After a quick trip via port-key the minister and his 'guard' arrived in the front parlour of Malfoy Manor only to find it occupied by Draco Malfoy and some of his class mates who were visiting. The small group of teens were clustered around one of the front windows screaming encouragement to their parents outside who, after a quick glance were obviously being attacked by a group of well trained men.
Seeing his guard head outside the minister followed confidently to find out who had the ordacity to attack his friend, but when he reached the front door he stopped dead, yes the fight had stopped but what he saw confused him entirely.
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a/n
First id like to thank all those who have been reviewing I appreciate them all and I will try to answer all your questions in the next chapter.
To those that have been waiting for updates I apologise for the delay but due to certain changes in my life I was delayed from continuing im happy to announce that I am now engaged and am expecting to be a dad by September. Hopefully with this in mind you forgive me for the delay but as I said before I will finish this story and hopefully the next chapter should be up soon.
Thank you
pp]dragos
