Chapter 2
At the Ministry of Magic in London, the Department of Mysteries had set up a special division to instantly detect Death Eater attacks and alert the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to dispatch the Aurors and necessary clean-up.
While it would be extremely more efficient for the Aurors to do this themselves, due to Minister Fudge's refusal to recognize Voldemort's return they were banned from doing so. However the Department of Mysteries is almost autonomous from the Ministry at large, so with a few strings pulled by alert people, this division came into being just a week before.
On this night, the quiet tension in the room suddenly erupted.
"Death Eater activity detected!" "Location? Possible target?' barked the SAC. The assistant rechecked his screen again, itself a new invention, and hoped it was malfunctioning. "4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey . . ." a strangled gulp, "residence of Harry Potter."
A moment of dead silence, then everyone exploded into action, barking orders, checking screens and detectors, and people Apparating everywhere. The news was not good. The initial force of 5 had been reinforced immediately by dozens of Death Eaters, who created a perimeter around the house for a 3 block radius.
The protective wards had somehow collapsed, allowing them to enter the house. Luckily the anti-Apparation barrier was still up, meaning that for now the dark forces were trapped. That was the only bright point, since in the center of the circle of Death Eater lay Harry Potter. The ministry sent out a general call to arms for all departments, scrambling all the forces they could get.
************************************************
At the Burrow, Ron Weasley sat up in his room, still awake despite the late hour, finishing his birthday letter to Harry. His gift had only just arrived that evening, so now Ron was trying to send it with Pig so his friend would receive it that day. He had just signed the letter and addressed the envelope when he heard a screech from the window. With a flurry of feathers, Hedwig soared in, clutching a parchment in her talons and panicking, or as close as an owl can get.
"Hey girl, what's wrong? Is it Harry?" Ron tried to calm the hysterical owl, but knew something was horribly wrong. Hedwig dropped the parchment in his hands, and he glanced over it quickly, noticing first the letter was unfinished, then the small drops and streaks of brownish substance that had sprayed over the letter. On closer inspection, some drops were revealed to be not brown, but red. Blood red.
That was enough to make Ron panic. "Mum! Dad!" he yelled as her ran down the rickety stairs, ignorant of all the ruckus he made and dashed into the kitchen. Sure enough his parents were still up, their quiet chatter ceasing as Ron skidded to a halt. Mrs. Weasley stood and frowned. "Why Ron, what in Merlin's beard is the matter dear?"
Ron panted out "Hedwig . . . letter . . . blood . . . Harry . . . danger," trying to catch his breath and gain some semblance of calm. The rest of the family, woken by his thundering down the stairs and panicked yells, had followed him into the kitchen just in time to catch the last 2 words.
The stunned silence that followed was broken when Ron began relating the tale of Hedwig's dramatic arrival and then showed them the letter. The white face of his father confirmed his fears that something was horribly wrong with his best friend. He wanted, no, needed to know what. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, the fireplace crackled and a head appeared.
"Sorry to bother you so late Arthur, but we have an emergency. Death Eater attack at 4 Privet Drive. Everyone possible is being called up immediately. Apparate about a quarter mile away, the single remaining ward prevents getting closer that way. Oh, and bring your sons too." With that, the head vanished with a "snap!"
The whole family sat there shocked and pale-faced, then Arthur rose and motioned Bill, Charlie and Percy to follow him. He kissed Molly goodbye, muttered "We'll return later," then all 4 men disappeared with a "pop." Ron sank down in a chair, his legs unable to support him any longer as his world twisted around a few more times. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were on the brink of tears, but joined the remaining family members as they surrounded him, not speaking, just comforting and supporting even as their own worry for Harry escalated.
******************************************************
Voldemort was not happy. He had personally come to oversee the kidnapping of the Potter boy, yet now they were trapped, surrounded and unable to Apparate. The idiots in the advance force had tripped the magic barriers too soon, alerting the Ministry to their activities and drawing the Aurors.
Right now, though, all his Death Eaters had to do was maintain their perimeter and fight defensively. The hard part would be trying to escape past the barrier in the midst of the ever-increasing Light forces, but only after he had the boy.
The Dark Lord stalked toward the besieged house, preparing to claim his prize.
******************************************************
Harry stirred at the sound of the door crashing open downstairs, then came fully awake with Petunia's screams. Disoriented and in tremendous pain, he tried to determine what was going on, when he heard a cold voice say "Crucio!" and Petunia's shrieks increased. Harry's breath caught in his throat. Death Eaters.
The adrenaline rush cleared his head enough to get him moving. Not particularly caring about possible expulsion, but concentrating on survival, he rolled painfully off the bed and crawled towards his upended trunk. He snatched up his wand with his unbroken hand and booby-trapped the stairs with a few Hurling hexes and various charms he knew, then magically sealed the door shut. He would have loved to try to take out a few of those Dark idiots right now, but knew that since he was almost too weak and in too much pain to stand at the moment, that wasn't a viable option.
Never one to sit still and wait for trouble to come to him, Harry dragged himself towards the window; he needed to see what was going on. Peeking out his window, he observed the flashing lights of curses being thrown down the block. More and more black-robed figures were converging on his house. A full-scale war waged just down the block, and Harry was trapped.
His scar blazed with pain, and he ducked out of sight instinctively just as Voldemort himself came into view. It was so much worse than he had thought. Apprehensively he listened as the aunt's screams were joined by another just outside his door. Dudley. Soon they would find Harry, and then . . . he shuddered to think.
He wiped away blood that had begun to drip into his eyes from a deep gash on his head, then jumped as footsteps were again heard on the stairs.
********************************************************
Arthur, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all arrived in the midst of chaos. The night was pitch black, lit only by the curses and hexes flying everywhere. The Death Eaters were relentless, resisting every charge the Aurors made trying to break the line. Without waiting for orders, the Weasley men charged in, throwing curses at any Death Eater they could see.
4 Privet Drive was in view, crawling with Death Eater, and Arthur saw a head of messy black hair peek out the window before ducking back again. Oh gods, Harry was still in there! More Ministry workers were arriving every minute as the word of the attack spread, and the Death Eaters began to tire. Reinforced by Aurors, Bill led a push on the line, and they broke through.
The Light forces ran up the block, dodging and cursing, and made it number 9 before a reinforced line of Death Eaters stopped their advance. Still, the line began to break in more places, and the Dark forces had to withdraw, contracting the circle lest if fall apart entirely.
Abruptly, everyone felt the change in the air as the last protective ward collapsed. Only a few knew what this meant: Harry had lost the final remaining protections his blood relatives provided and had now moved beyond the boundaries of the property. Regardless of what it meant, everyone reacted instantly and Apparated toward the house.
The Weasleys found themselves in the street in front of the house, flanked by Mad-Eye Moody, several Aurors and Albus Dumbledore. They all had their wands trained at a group of Death Eaters directly between them and the house. The leader lifted his head, revealing a dead-white skull face with blazing red snake-like eyes.
It was Voldemort.
As terrible a visage as it was, the worst sight was right behind him. One Death Eater carried in his arms the unconscious and bloody body of Harry Potter.
All this registered in their minds in a split second, for even as they readied their spells, the Dark Lord and all of his minions Disapparated, taking Harry with them. Mocking laughter echoed tauntingly down the now quiet street.
At the Ministry of Magic in London, the Department of Mysteries had set up a special division to instantly detect Death Eater attacks and alert the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to dispatch the Aurors and necessary clean-up.
While it would be extremely more efficient for the Aurors to do this themselves, due to Minister Fudge's refusal to recognize Voldemort's return they were banned from doing so. However the Department of Mysteries is almost autonomous from the Ministry at large, so with a few strings pulled by alert people, this division came into being just a week before.
On this night, the quiet tension in the room suddenly erupted.
"Death Eater activity detected!" "Location? Possible target?' barked the SAC. The assistant rechecked his screen again, itself a new invention, and hoped it was malfunctioning. "4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey . . ." a strangled gulp, "residence of Harry Potter."
A moment of dead silence, then everyone exploded into action, barking orders, checking screens and detectors, and people Apparating everywhere. The news was not good. The initial force of 5 had been reinforced immediately by dozens of Death Eaters, who created a perimeter around the house for a 3 block radius.
The protective wards had somehow collapsed, allowing them to enter the house. Luckily the anti-Apparation barrier was still up, meaning that for now the dark forces were trapped. That was the only bright point, since in the center of the circle of Death Eater lay Harry Potter. The ministry sent out a general call to arms for all departments, scrambling all the forces they could get.
************************************************
At the Burrow, Ron Weasley sat up in his room, still awake despite the late hour, finishing his birthday letter to Harry. His gift had only just arrived that evening, so now Ron was trying to send it with Pig so his friend would receive it that day. He had just signed the letter and addressed the envelope when he heard a screech from the window. With a flurry of feathers, Hedwig soared in, clutching a parchment in her talons and panicking, or as close as an owl can get.
"Hey girl, what's wrong? Is it Harry?" Ron tried to calm the hysterical owl, but knew something was horribly wrong. Hedwig dropped the parchment in his hands, and he glanced over it quickly, noticing first the letter was unfinished, then the small drops and streaks of brownish substance that had sprayed over the letter. On closer inspection, some drops were revealed to be not brown, but red. Blood red.
That was enough to make Ron panic. "Mum! Dad!" he yelled as her ran down the rickety stairs, ignorant of all the ruckus he made and dashed into the kitchen. Sure enough his parents were still up, their quiet chatter ceasing as Ron skidded to a halt. Mrs. Weasley stood and frowned. "Why Ron, what in Merlin's beard is the matter dear?"
Ron panted out "Hedwig . . . letter . . . blood . . . Harry . . . danger," trying to catch his breath and gain some semblance of calm. The rest of the family, woken by his thundering down the stairs and panicked yells, had followed him into the kitchen just in time to catch the last 2 words.
The stunned silence that followed was broken when Ron began relating the tale of Hedwig's dramatic arrival and then showed them the letter. The white face of his father confirmed his fears that something was horribly wrong with his best friend. He wanted, no, needed to know what. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, the fireplace crackled and a head appeared.
"Sorry to bother you so late Arthur, but we have an emergency. Death Eater attack at 4 Privet Drive. Everyone possible is being called up immediately. Apparate about a quarter mile away, the single remaining ward prevents getting closer that way. Oh, and bring your sons too." With that, the head vanished with a "snap!"
The whole family sat there shocked and pale-faced, then Arthur rose and motioned Bill, Charlie and Percy to follow him. He kissed Molly goodbye, muttered "We'll return later," then all 4 men disappeared with a "pop." Ron sank down in a chair, his legs unable to support him any longer as his world twisted around a few more times. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were on the brink of tears, but joined the remaining family members as they surrounded him, not speaking, just comforting and supporting even as their own worry for Harry escalated.
******************************************************
Voldemort was not happy. He had personally come to oversee the kidnapping of the Potter boy, yet now they were trapped, surrounded and unable to Apparate. The idiots in the advance force had tripped the magic barriers too soon, alerting the Ministry to their activities and drawing the Aurors.
Right now, though, all his Death Eaters had to do was maintain their perimeter and fight defensively. The hard part would be trying to escape past the barrier in the midst of the ever-increasing Light forces, but only after he had the boy.
The Dark Lord stalked toward the besieged house, preparing to claim his prize.
******************************************************
Harry stirred at the sound of the door crashing open downstairs, then came fully awake with Petunia's screams. Disoriented and in tremendous pain, he tried to determine what was going on, when he heard a cold voice say "Crucio!" and Petunia's shrieks increased. Harry's breath caught in his throat. Death Eaters.
The adrenaline rush cleared his head enough to get him moving. Not particularly caring about possible expulsion, but concentrating on survival, he rolled painfully off the bed and crawled towards his upended trunk. He snatched up his wand with his unbroken hand and booby-trapped the stairs with a few Hurling hexes and various charms he knew, then magically sealed the door shut. He would have loved to try to take out a few of those Dark idiots right now, but knew that since he was almost too weak and in too much pain to stand at the moment, that wasn't a viable option.
Never one to sit still and wait for trouble to come to him, Harry dragged himself towards the window; he needed to see what was going on. Peeking out his window, he observed the flashing lights of curses being thrown down the block. More and more black-robed figures were converging on his house. A full-scale war waged just down the block, and Harry was trapped.
His scar blazed with pain, and he ducked out of sight instinctively just as Voldemort himself came into view. It was so much worse than he had thought. Apprehensively he listened as the aunt's screams were joined by another just outside his door. Dudley. Soon they would find Harry, and then . . . he shuddered to think.
He wiped away blood that had begun to drip into his eyes from a deep gash on his head, then jumped as footsteps were again heard on the stairs.
********************************************************
Arthur, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all arrived in the midst of chaos. The night was pitch black, lit only by the curses and hexes flying everywhere. The Death Eaters were relentless, resisting every charge the Aurors made trying to break the line. Without waiting for orders, the Weasley men charged in, throwing curses at any Death Eater they could see.
4 Privet Drive was in view, crawling with Death Eater, and Arthur saw a head of messy black hair peek out the window before ducking back again. Oh gods, Harry was still in there! More Ministry workers were arriving every minute as the word of the attack spread, and the Death Eaters began to tire. Reinforced by Aurors, Bill led a push on the line, and they broke through.
The Light forces ran up the block, dodging and cursing, and made it number 9 before a reinforced line of Death Eaters stopped their advance. Still, the line began to break in more places, and the Dark forces had to withdraw, contracting the circle lest if fall apart entirely.
Abruptly, everyone felt the change in the air as the last protective ward collapsed. Only a few knew what this meant: Harry had lost the final remaining protections his blood relatives provided and had now moved beyond the boundaries of the property. Regardless of what it meant, everyone reacted instantly and Apparated toward the house.
The Weasleys found themselves in the street in front of the house, flanked by Mad-Eye Moody, several Aurors and Albus Dumbledore. They all had their wands trained at a group of Death Eaters directly between them and the house. The leader lifted his head, revealing a dead-white skull face with blazing red snake-like eyes.
It was Voldemort.
As terrible a visage as it was, the worst sight was right behind him. One Death Eater carried in his arms the unconscious and bloody body of Harry Potter.
All this registered in their minds in a split second, for even as they readied their spells, the Dark Lord and all of his minions Disapparated, taking Harry with them. Mocking laughter echoed tauntingly down the now quiet street.