Harry Potter
And the
Last of the Death Eaters
Summary: Harry is now married with five kids and is concentrating on flushing out the last of Voldemort's supporters...but some just refuse to turn their back on evil...
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!
To whoever "thestraltamer" is – I'd just like to thank you for being so nice about my story and for reviewing every chapter! You're a champ! What's your name?
Chapter 4: An Unwelcome Surprise
"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked peering round the door also. "The surprise isn't in the hallway! It's in - " Hermione blinked, and took a good look at the hallway. "Who would do this?" she whispered; staring in horror at the damage.
The hallway was a mess. Documents were spread out all over the floor, precious vases were smashed, photos hanging on the wall were torn and the frames were shattered. As Harry progressed into other rooms of the house he found drawers left open with the contents hanging out as though someone had rummaged through them. The kitchen was the worst though. Cans of food lay open on counters, on the floor and in cupboards. Sauce was smeared on the cupboards; pasta was strewn on the floor; and fruit was ground into the tiles. The floor could not be seen through the mess.
Harry was shocked, how could someone do this? He just stood and stared at what used to be his home. Buried under a thick layer of debris his home was hardly recognisable. Harry stood there, just staring, for a good five minutes before he finally came to his senses.
"Hermione!" He called out.
"We're still outside Harry, is it safe to come in?"
"I don't know, but I need to send an owl to Mr and Mrs Weasley and ask them if they can take care of the kids for a few days. We need them to come and pick them up ASAP; we have to get to the bottom of this."
"Ok, could you send the suitcases down?" Hermione replied, launching into action, "I'll pack some clothes for the kids."
Harry drew out his wand from his front pocket (Professor Moody – a friend and much-respected retired Auror had once told Harry never to put his wand in his back pocket – it was way too easy for the wand to ignite and set his buttocks alight). Remembering this advice Harry had been keeping his wand in his front pocket ever since.
"Accio suitcases!" Harry commanded, flicking his wand expertly. In a few moments the suitcases glided down the stairs and into Harry's hands.
"There you are Hermione," Harry said, carrying them to her. "Be quick." Harry walked back into the house and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.
"Mr and Mrs Weasley," Harry wrote,
Sorry to inconvenience you, but some urgent circumstances here at our house need to be dealt with straight away. It is not safe for the children to be here at this time so could you possibly take the children under your wing for a few days? I'm sorry; I do not have time to explain more now. I will tell you about it as soon as I can. Could you please come ASAP via the Floo Network to pick the children up?
A million thanks in advance,
Harry
P.S Please be quiet when you arrive, I am not certain if the danger is passed.
"There," Harry said, quickly folding the paper. He summoned Hedwig with a whistle.
"Hedwig," he said as she perched on his shoulder, "I need you to deliver this to Mr and Mrs Weasley – it's very important and must be delivered straight away. Don't come back until they've set off to come here and if they don't set off straight away, keep pecking them until they do. Don't peck them hard though; just make sure they come quickly." And with that Hedwig flew out into the night; her white feathers glowing against the dark sky.
"And now we wait," Harry muttered, making his way out to Hermione. "How's the packing going?" He asked her.
"Alright, I've done Jenny's, Gabby's, James', and Oliver's, and I'm just finishing off Lily's now." Hermione replied, pointing her wand at the last empty suitcase. "Pack" she said firmly. Clothes began to fly out the front door and into the suitcase. Once the flow of clothing had ceased, Hermione lowered her wand and closed the suitcase.
"There," she said, "All done. Have you sent Hedwig to the Weasleys yet?"
"Yes, Hedwig's on her way there right now." Harry said.
"Good, do you think the intruder could still be in the house?" Hermione asked.
"To tell the truth, I don't think they are, but I'm just going to check now." Harry replied, walking back into the house and into his study. Harry shook his head in disbelief. His study was just like every other room in the house – a complete mess. He hoped that he would able to find what he was looking for.
Harry lifted out the top right hand drawer on his desk and set it down on the floor, on top of various things that the intruder had thrown there. Harry reached behind the place where the drawer had been. His fingers brushed over the latch for the secret compartment. He quickly opened it and drew out the piece of parchment that he was looking for.
Pulling out his wand Harry whispered the password; "Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs!" and tapped the parchment with the tip of his wand. As the words began to appear on the page, Harry remembered a similar map that he used to have when he was at Hogwarts. That map had been made by his father and his father's friends when they were at school and Harry had used it to sneak around the school at night without being caught. The map showed where every single person was in the Hogwarts grounds and castle. It had been very useful. It was called the Marauder's Map and Harry's father's friends were nicknamed Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Wormtail had been the one who betrayed Harry's parents to Lord Voldemort.
When Harry finished school, he had asked Lupin, Harry's father's friend also known as Moony, to make him another map. This one showed Harry and Hermione's home and every person in it. If there was an intruder still in this house, Harry would soon know.
"Hmmm," Harry murmured, looking carefully at the map. He saw the little label saying "Harry Potter" in the study, and the labels for the rest of his family he could see were just outside the front door. "Nope," Harry said to himself, "There's no intruder here now." Harry sighed with relief; they were in no immediate danger. Making his way back out to Hermione he said "Don't worry, the coast is clear, the intruder is no longer here."
"Good," Hermione replied, the relief she felt displayed openly on her face. "Maybe we should go and wait for Mr and Mrs Weasley by the fireplace."
"Good idea," Harry said, scooping up the sleeping Lily into his arms and carrying her inside. He was soon joined by Hermione and the others.
Soon Mr and Mrs Weasley appeared in the flames. Stepping out of the fireplace Mr Weasley strode over to Harry.
"What's going on?" he asked worriedly.
"Take a look around," Harry said, "This was how we found the house when we got back."
Mr and Mrs Weasley gasped at the same time.
"The house is a wreck!" Mrs Weasley whispered in shock.
"You're telling me!" Hermione replied.
"Who could have done this?" Mr Weasley asked.
"We don't know yet, but believe me, I plan on finding out. Is it alright if you take the kids for a few days while we sort this out?" Harry asked.
"Why, of course, it's no trouble." Mrs Weasley answered. "We can take them for as long as you need." She said.
"Oh that would be lovely," Hermione said gratefully, "you're a gem Mrs Weasley, a real gem."
"Oh don't be silly dear; I just do my bit to help others." Mrs Weasley replied.
"We'll be in touch," Mr Weasley said to Harry, "Let us know what you find out." Turning to Mrs Weasley he said "Well, I think an adult should be with each child who uses the Floo Network. They're far too tired to be able to speak the address clearly, and I'll never forget when you ended up in Knockturn Alley Harry."
"Indeed," Mrs Weasley agreed. "Although I'm afraid it may be impossible. We all know that only one adult and one child can fit in the fireplace at one time. And if we're to be with each child then 3 of the children would be left without an escort."
"Well," said Hermione, "If Harry secures the house then Harry and I could escort some of the kids and then return here once you've all arrived safely."
"What a brilliant idea," said Mrs Weasley, "You're still the brainy one Hermione dear. The only problem is, there'd still be one child left without an escort. However seeing as I'm quite a short and small old lady I think I could get away with taking two children if it was the youngest two. So why don't I take Lily and Oliver, Arthur here will take James, Harry you take Gabby, and Hermione will take Jenny. Does that sound like it would work?"
"Yes, I think you're the brainy one Mrs Weasley!" Hermione said.
"Oh no love, definitely not!" said Mrs Weasley, unable to hide the pleased and proud smile on her face. "Now now, come Lily, come Oliver, hold Mrs Weasley's hands." She continued, beckoning to Lily and Oliver. "Arthur dear, do throw a pinch of Floo powder in for me – I have my hands full at the moment." Mr Weasley threw a pinch of the red and gold powder into the fire. The flames leapt up as Mrs Weasley stepped into them with Lily and Oliver. "The Burrow," she said clearly and they disappeared in a flash of red and gold fire.
"Right, Hermione, you and Jenny go next," instructed Harry.
"Ok, come on Jenny," said Hermione, taking Jenny's hand with her left hand and grabbing a pinch of Floo Powder with her right. "The Burrow," she said as she and Jenny stepped into the flames and promptly vanished.
"Alright, off you go Mr Weasley. Hold his hand James." Soon only Harry and Gabby were left standing in the living room.
"Alright pumpkin," Harry said. "Let me just quickly lock all the windows and doors in the house." He took his wand from his pocket. "Villam securio" Harry said waving the wand in an up-down motion.
"Ok," Harry said, taking a small amount of the Floo Powder. "We're ready to go." And he threw the powder into the fire. He was just about to step in with Gabby when she cried –
"Oh daddy, wait! I forgot my book that I'm reading – I'll die if I can't read it for days!"
"Oh what a nuisance," Harry said, "I wish you'd told me that before I went and wasted the Floo Powder. Alright then, where's this book of yours?"
"Oh it's just upstairs in my room," Gabby replied, running quickly towards the stairs.
"Hold your horses," Harry said, "I'd better come with you – who knows what the intruder has done upstairs." So Harry and Gabby made their way upstairs quickly and carefully. The books in Gabby's bookcase were strewn all over the floor.
"I'll just find it quickly Daddy," said Gabby, searching for the book.
"You need to hurry Gabby, or the others will think something has happened to us."
"Ok, ok, I'll be quick," said Gabby, still looking.
"Honey if you haven't found the book in ten seconds we're going to have to go anyway."
"Hang on, hang on,"
"Ten, nine, eight," Harry counted as Gabby continued to search for the book.
"Seven, six, five, four," Gabby sped up, turning each book over to look at the cover frantically now.
"Three…two…"
"I've got it!" said Gabby triumphantly, standing up and holding the book high above her head and doing a little victory dance.
"That's wonderful! Now we really need to go," said Harry.
They ran downstairs quickly to find Hermione standing in the living room.
"Where have you two been? We were beginning to get worried so I came back to look for you! Don't you ever do that again!" Hermione scolded, hands on hips.
"It's my fault mummy," said Gabby guiltily, "I wanted to go and get my book, but I couldn't find it. It's not dad's fault at all!"
"Hmmph!" said Hermione. "Well come along I'd better take you to Mr and Mrs Weasley's." And with that, she grabbed a sprinkle of Floo Powder, threw it in the flames, grabbed Gabby's hand and suitcase and they were gone.
"Be good Gabby!" Harry said.
While he waited for Hermione to return, he decided to send an owl to the International Magical Office of Law at the Ministry so that they could send a Magical Law Enforcement Patrol out. He also sent an owl to the Auror headquarters explaining what had happened. After he had sent Hedwig and Hermione's owl Fraltie off with the letters he decided to survey the damage upstairs. Making his way into his bedroom he found the contents of his and Hermione's wardrobe lying all over the floor and the wardrobe door was torn of its hinges.
"Repairo!" Harry said, pointing his wand at the door. The wardrobe door was fixed immediately. Then Harry turned to survey the rest of the room. It was all just like the rest of the house – things all over the floor. But then Harry caught sight of the bed.
"Harry! I'm back!" came Hermione's voice from downstairs.
"Ok, uh, Hermione you might want to come up and have a look at this!" Harry replied. "I'm in our bedroom." Footsteps were heard on the stairs and then Hermione came into the room and stood next to Harry.
"What is it Harry?"
Harry pointed at the bed.
"Oh my....." whispered Hermione.
A/N Please please review!!!!! ooo what has happened? I won't update til i have 20 reviews in total! so get reviewing!