Chapter 19: Part 2
(Happy Friday the 13th! A.S. Leif)
When Harry woke up the next morning, around six am, he immediately went home and took a shower. After getting dressed, having a quick breakfast, and thanking Salazar again, he returned to Hogwarts and managed to arrive at the entrance to the workroom just as the others were getting there.
Today was the most challenging for Harry, Splikvin assigned him a set of potions that he recognized to be above NEWT level. He didn't mention it though, figuring she'd either forgotten or given them to him on purpose, to test his ability further. And I thought we couldn't afford mistakes, he thought with grim humor as he measured out the crushed beetle legs.
A few times Harry noticed Snape watching him, a slightly surprised look on his face; Harry fought hard not to smirk. When lunch came, Snape asked about it. "You haven't learned the last set of potions in class, where did you?"
Harry shrugged, "Over the last summer I practiced—a lot. Surprised?"
"No," Snape said immediately, Harry hid a grin.
Finally, at lunch, the patients were able to go back to St. Mungos—unfortunately there were twenty people who never did. There were very few extra potions, and the ones that were left went to St. Mungos. Harry and Hermione helped the professors to restock Hogwarts' regular supply until dinner.
An Order meeting occurred the following day, Draco had a message that wasn't to Harry's liking. "He's planning to send a group to get your girlfriend Harry, to get Alex," he said bluntly, Harry didn't blush at the statement, but paled. "She's been too much of a trouble in his opinion, and he thinks it's time she was dealt with. Around midnight is my guess, just about everyone is busy until then."
Harry started to get up, Remus put a hand on his shoulder. "We will go get her first Tallon, don't worry."
Harry settled back down, but was unable to pay attention to the rest of the meeting.
At six that evening, Harry, Mr. Weasley, Snape, and Remus left for Blurnof's Eyestore—it was empty. Harry dashed up the stairs, and knocked on Alex's door. No one answered. "Alex?" he called, "Alex! Are you there?" He knocked once more, then opened the door. He looked around, but didn't find her.
"What are you doing here?" Mr. Blurnof's voice asked.
Harry turned around, "Where's Alex?" he asked.
"At a friend's house, in muggle London," Blurnof answered, "Why? What's wrong?"
"Voldemort," Harry answered, "Where's the house she's at?"
His eyes widened, "A few blocks from the park, house number forty seven. I'll show you." The large man jogged down the stairs, startling the others. He unlocked a cabinet and pulled out a small paperweight, "Portkey to the safe house," he explained, "Meet me at the park."
Harry nodded and the man dissaperated, "See you there," he told the others, and teleported immediately.
Mr. Blurnof was standing next to one of the trees, and began to walk once he saw them come. Harry wanted to straight out run, but he knew drawing attention to them would be worse. Voldemort might already have someone watching this area. I wonder if he knows she's not at the store, Harry thought, his throat tight.
The sun set as they walked, and the street lamps came on. Had it been a different situation, Harry would have smiled at Snape, Remus, and Mr. Weasley dressed as muggles, but as it was, Harry barely noticed.
Mr. Blurnof took out a cell phone as they stopped at a corner, he dialed a number and waited. "Hello, Joel? Listen, I'm afraid I'll have to pick Alex up a little early. Yes, I am sorry about the short notice. Could you have her ready in a few minutes? Ten? Alright, I'll be there shortly, thanks." He hung up, and looked at Harry, "Alex will be ready soon. Are you sure that she's-" Several cracks sounded cutting the man off, screams followed after, tearing violently through the air.
"Damn! They're early!" Harry snarled, and ran up to the house, Mr. Blurnof close on his heels. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Harry cursed when alohamora didn't work. He turned into a chimera and knocked it down.
A sudden rush of cold air met him, and the name of the source popped into his head: dementors. "Expecto patronum!" Mr. Blurnof shouted, a large bear shot out of his wand and ran at the hooded figures. Harry saw the five Death Eaters in the room, and unleashed his magic. A stream of fire appeared in his hand and lashed out at them, catching their robes on fire.
Alex's dragon patronous appeared, then vanished, but that would mean… "Expecto Patronum!" Harry bellowed, recalling his worst memories. The Challenger emerged from his wand, and was soon joined by Snape's thestral and Remus' phoenix. They surrounded the Guardians, herding them into a corner of the room. Quickly Harry shot a string of curses at the Death Eaters, using flaming hexes, ice storm jinxes, and the bat bogey hex to full extent. One Death Eater managed to curse Alex with the Cruciatus before Harry lost it. He exploded with air, knocking the Death Eaters out the windows and into the alley behind the house. Only when Mr. Blurnof had portkeyed himself and Alex away did Harry follow, flames in his eyes.
The Death Eaters scrambled to their feet and ran, Harry chased after with the others shouting for him to stop. Tallon fired curse after curse at the fleeing warlocks, never giving them a second to return fire. But he finally came to his senses when Remus' shouts of warning registered in his ears. The Death Eaters had run all the way down the alley, to a dead end. Harry took a step back as more Death Eaters appeared. Inwardly, he cursed himself—he gone right into their trap.
There were roughly seventeen of them, against the four of them; not good odds. The Death Eaters instantly put up anchoring wards on the area, along with anti-dissaperation wards and also wards to stop the use of portkeys. Wonderful, Harry thought as they spread out. His adrenaline had started to fall, but he hoped it would pick back up, and quick.
The Death Eaters easily surrounded them, shooting hexes nonstop. Harry blocked them easily, trying to liquefy the ground while staying safe—not easy. Their animagus forms saw much use, but they weren't able to get out. Then, several Death Eaters went flying as something large hit them from behind. The screech of tires followed, and a Harry saw a black car skid to a stop. The doors opened, and a fireball curse erupted out at the Death Eaters. "Get in!" the driver called. The four Order members didn't hesitate.
Harry slid smoothly into the back seat, firing one last jinx before he closed the door. Once everyone was in, the car sped off. The Death Eaters disappeared form view quickly as the car steered expertly through the streets, taking corners a bit too sharply for Remus' comfort. Harry blinked—the driver was Splikvin.
"Are they following us?" Mr. Weasley panted, trying to buckle himself in.
Splikvin looked through the review mirror, "Yes, on brooms."
"Will they catch us?" Harry asked.
She smirked, "They can try." The car sped up as they reached a highway, Harry often checked to look for the Death Eaters. His lenses let him see their blurry forms, the size of dots.
Splikvin got off the highway after a few minutes, slowing down as she drove into a muggle neighborhood. She drove into the driveway of house number two-thousand-twenty-nine and stopped the car, allowing them to get out. She gave a key to Snape, "Go inside, I'll be back in a little bit. I have to hide the car; they put a tracking charm on it." They went up to the door and she drove off. I hope the Death Eaters don't destroy it, Harry thought suddenly, it's a pretty nice car. He then followed the others into the house. Snape checked inside the doorway, then led them in and locked the door behind him.
"Can you see anything?" Mr. Weasley asked. Harry automatically felt for a light switch, found one, and turned on the lights. He was surprised that Splikvin would have electricity in her house—it looked a lot like a muggle home.
Its walls were light green, dark blue, and tan in the living room, dining room, and kitchen—respectively; each room had muggle appliances. Mr. Weasley looked like he couldn't have been happier. Snape sat down and stared out the window, Remus took another seat, and Harry remained standing while watching Mr. Weasley explore. Something rubbed against his ankles, causing Tallon to look down—it was Sevvie. The young cat meowed, so Harry scratched him behind the ears for a few moments. Satisfied, Sevvie left and trotted over to Snape and sat on the professor's lap.
A few minutes of awkward silence later, a bat flew out of the fireplace and turned into Splikvin. She cleaned the soot off her robes and walked over to the front door. She cut a small line in her hand with a knife and put the bleeding hand on the doorknob. "What are you doing?" Remus asked.
"Reactivating the wards." Splikvin replied as a soft glow of white light appeared, then faded. Sevvie meowed again and trotted over to his food bowl. Splikvin sighed, "I'm getting to it." She flicked her wand and cat food appeared. "Happy?" she asked sarcastically, Sevvie didn't reply. Splikvin then noticed that the four of them were watching her. "What?" the older wizards remained silent, but Harry couldn't keep in a question.
"Why do you live in a muggle house?"
Splikvin hesitated, "I'm not exactly a normal pureblood," she muttered, "I couldn't live at Durmstrang, so I lived at a muggle orphanage in Bulgaria. I worked at a muggle cinema during the summers, to pay for my tuition-" she smiled bitterly, "Actually, I'm still paying for the last year. But anyway, I lived in the orphanage until I was eighteen, I left immediately on my birthday; it was—too much like home for comfort." Harry noticed that Snape flinched slightly, making him wonder what their home had been like.
"I'd grown used to living like a muggle," Splikvin continued, "So-" she waved a hand at the room, "I still do. Besides, a muggle home is the last place someone would look for me, pureblood or no." She looked up in time to see Mr. Weasley fiddling with the stereo. "Don't push-" Her warning was too late and Mr. Weasley pushed the on button.
Extremely loud music burst through the speakers, breaking the quiet of the house. Splikvin hastily picked up a remote and turned it off, wincing. Harry bit back a laugh.
"I advise you not to do that again Arthur," Snape saiddryly as they removed their hands from over their ears. "Why, might I ask, did you have it so loud?"
"Sevvie messes with the controls," she replied, "Why did you have to get me a cat?" Snape only smirked in reply.
They stayed at Splikvin's house that night, being too tired to really go anywhere. Harry had wanted to see how Alex was doing, but then Moony reminded him that she was at a safe house with Mr. Blurnof, and that they had no idea where that was. Harry grudgingly saw the reason behind it, and slept on a bed conjured for him in the study. He grinned slightly when he saw a computer in there too. Splikvin really had grown up as a muggle.
The next morning came bright, early, hot—and noisy. Mr. Weasley had found the television set in the cabinet in the living room, and curiosity had him pressing random buttons at six in the morning, one of which happened to be the volume; no body was exactly happy with him that morning.
After breakfast, they returned to Headquarters, where Tallon and Moony found several anxious people waiting for them. Sirius had to take a calming draught, followed by a sleeping potion. Harry couldn't really understand why he'd been that worried. Mrs. Weasley was another of the more worried, but a quick check up on them had her satisfied.
An Auror class followed their return, and Harry once again dueled Splikvin. After a while she disarmed him, and tossed him back his wand. "You're not leaving until you beat me." She told him, "I know you can Harry, you just have to know that."
Tallon rubbed his head. "But I can't beat you, you're too fast."
She crossed her arms, "If that's not a bunch of crap I don't know what is." He starred at her. "Harry, you can face about thirty-five Death Eaters and win, I can face about twenty and come out alive, most likely injured somewhat. If you think thirty-five people combined are slower than one, you're brain is smaller than I thought. All you need is just one trick, and you can beat me. Or are you going to keep letting me beat you; in all honesty, it's getting boring."
Harry felt annoyance rise in him, he stood. "Fine, let's go again."
She nodded, "Begin on three, and anything goes."
For 'anything goes' Harry used his elemental magic. He hurled fire at her, blinded her with lightning, and shook the ground beneath her. Splikvin used her animagus forms to escape most of them; her vampire form was the one she used most often. Harry noticed this and split a part of his mind off from the rest, focusing on two things at once. While he continued to hurl elements at her, he summoned wind behind him, and slowly turned it into a mass of swirling force. He was finishing it up when she said, "Legilimens!"
Harry was actually thrown backwards by the force; it hurt ten times as much as when Snape did it. The pain caused him to loose his grip on the winds behind him, but it jumped over him and charged at Splikvin. She was caught up in it and repeatedly slammed against the barriers that had been placed, then the link to Harry's mind was gone.
Tallon stood up, shaking and gasping for breath. He calmed the wind down when he saw her still being thrown against the wall. Her wand dropped and she fell to the ground. "Professor?" he croaked, afraid he'd seriously harmed her.
She stirred, then rolled over onto all fours; and—she laughed. "Much better Harry," she said with a grin as she looked up at him, "Much better."
Harry found that he himself was grinning, and offered her a hand up. "Again?" he asked mockingly, she only laughed harder.
Coming Up:
The-Boy-Who-Lived
When Hell Freezes Over
Then:
Bring Back the Wards