Author's Note:
Wow, thanks for the positive feedback. Makes me happy!
I've had a few moments to think about some of the reviews, so here goes:
Leaps - I'm not making any promises, but I do not anticipate much mush between Harry and Ginny. I am definitely in their camp and predict that they will eventually get together, but eventually is not now, maybe something will happen in this fic, but I'd suspect it's not till the next one that anything really happens. Two things though. First, she'd never, ever become a meek 'yes Harry' type person. She's independent, smarter than heck, and very opinionated. There's a reason her brothers are scared of her. Second, Ron and Hermione are not now, and never will be minor characters. Stay tuned for Chapter 6 (lots of mush, but it is necessary).
Shadow Bandit - Thanks for the tip, fixed that now. Harry's a good person at heart, but faces a lot.
Kateydidnt - good point on scabbers. In my view, the protection never showed up before because no one ever tried anything on him while he was staying with his Aunt. Since the Dementors don't cast spells, I think their magic would get through in OOTP. Once he gets to Hogwarts the protection is gone.
And thanks to all others for the encouragement!
Now, on with the show. Sorry if it gets a little anxious. Not too sorry though. :)
Chapter Five - Attack at Privet Drive
Fortunately Harry did not have to suffer through another ride with the twins. Professor Dumbledore took pity on Harry after taking one quick look at the car and immediately created a portkey for Harry that would take him directly to Harry's room. When the party ended, and all the sweets had been eaten, Harry quickly bundled up all of the gifts that he was taking home with him and thanked the Weasley's for the best birthday he had ever had.
Grabbing hold of the portkey, Harry felt the quick jerk at his navel and collapsed on his bed when he arrived.
- - -
The next day Harry woke up with a bad case of the nerves. After a short conversation with Professor Dumbledore before he left the Weasley's, they had decided that it was going to be his last day working with Mr. Smith, and he dreaded having to say goodbye. Quickly running through his morning routine he bounded out of the house at Privet Drive and started running to the park. When he got there he searched for a while before he finally found Mr. Smith sitting near the weeping willow by the pond.
As Harry approached his friend, Harry saw that he looked quite sad. Concerned Harry debated whether to bother him, when Mr. Smith looked up and smiled at Harry.
"Morning, lad. I hope you had a good time last night." Seeing Harry's automatic smile seemed to lighten Mr. Smith's mood. He reached out a hand and had Harry help pull him up off the ground.
"Well, I hate to start such a glorious day like this, but I'm afraid I have some bad news. This is our last day together," Mr. Smith said. "You see, Harry, I've been called away to another job. I had hoped that I'd never have to go back there, but in these trying times, well, we all do what we must. But I'm sure you know that feeling. Those of us with duties feel the pull of them quite strongly."
Harry wasn't entirely sure what Mr. Smith was referring to, especially his comment about 'trying times.' As far as Harry knew, the muggle world was relatively peaceful as compared to his world. Not wanting to argue with his friend, Harry smiled a bit and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Smith, I'm actually glad to hear you say that, in a way. You see, I was going to have to tell you that today was going to be my last day too. I have to take care of a few things at school this week, and my headmaster told me last night that he wants me to take some extra lessons before the school year starts, so I'm leaving my Aunt's tomorrow morning and won't be back until next summer."
That wasn't entirely true, but Harry wasn't sure how to explain that he had to testify at the trial of Deatheaters and that the charm surrounding him would now last through the summer, regardless of where he stayed. When Professor Dumbledore strongly suggested Harry move in to number 12 Grimmauld Place as opposed to the Burrow, Harry agreed. Dumbledore had also suggested that it would be acceptable for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny move in with Harry during the trials and for the rest of the summer if Harry wished. Mrs. Weasley objected at first, but agreed that it would be for the best when Harry asked her to help clean up the house and that he wanted to spend time with her as well. Harry had learned that Mrs. Weasley had a very difficult time saying no to him right now, and since it was true that he wanted to spend time with her, well it wasn't exactly a fib, was it?
Mr. Smith was busy nodding his head, and Harry was pleased that he wasn't upset. Instead of trying to get any work accomplished, as most of the strenuous labor had already been finished in the previous weeks, the two of them spent the day walking around the park, talking amiably about nothing in particular and enjoying each other's company. Harry hoped it wasn't the last peaceful day of his summer, but with everything that awaited him when he left, he knew it was possible to be the last quiet one for him.
As the day came to an end, Harry gave Mr. Smith a firm handshake and thanked him profusely for everything the kind man had done for him all through the summer.
"Don't mention it, Harry. It was truly my pleasure. Despite what your Aunt may say, you're a good lad, and a fine person. It's been an honor to meet you and I'm glad I was able to help you relax during this summer. The way you talk, I get the sense that you're anticipating another tough year, so I hope you'll have fond memories of our time together. Stay in touch if you ever need anything." Handing Harry a small business card, Harry pocketed it without looking at it and agreed that he'd get in touch if necessary.
Smiling, Harry nodded his head and walked back to his Aunt's house for the last time that summer. As he walked casually towards Privet Drive he slowly became aware of an almost unnatural quiet that seemed to have pervaded the neighborhood. Harry noticed that there were no birds flying about, or dogs barking. The local tomcats weren't conducting their usual evening symphony and the noisy children seemed to be missing.
It was unusual, to say the least. The absence of the normal sounds of a quiet evening pounded at Harry's head. Nervously he reached into his pocket, and grabbed hold of his wand. Eyes darting around, he picked up his pace as he tried to look in every direction without losing sight of his destination.
As he rounded the corner onto Privet Drive, Harry's heart leapt into his throat. There were half a dozen wizards dressed in black robes with white masks surrounding his Aunt's house. Deatheaters were casting spell after spell, curses, jinxes, hexes, and worse, aiming them at the Dursley residence. From his position Harry thought he could see a shimmering glow surround the house and the spells were reflected in multiple directions, blasting neighboring houses, trees, and the road.
Even from this distance he could hear them cursing at each other as they tried to figure out how to make it into the house. He couldn't quite figure out who was there, but he didn't particularly care. All Harry knew was that they were evil and he needed to do something about it.
Hiding behind a nearby house, Harry grabbed his wand firmly, realizing that he was about to get into trouble with the Ministry at a time when he couldn't really afford it.
"Plan or no plan, I can't let these bastards get into the house, they'll kill Aunt Petunia," Harry muttered. Summoning his strength, he fixed his thoughts firmly and cast his first spell in over a month. "Accio whistle."
He waited. Slowly he heard a soft rushing noise and the present from Hagrid came soaring at him. Harry reached out and grabbed it. Hoping against hope, Harry quickly put the whistle to his lips, fervently praying that it wouldn't make a sound the Deatheaters would hear, and he blew.
"Thank Merlin," he thought. "No sound. Now I just have to wait." Fortunately Harry didn't have to wait long. A bright flash exploded in front of him and Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, appeared from the smoke. Fawkes was truly a beautiful bird, and Harry again was amazed at the power that emanated from him.
"Fawkes," he breathed. "I need you to tell Dumbledore that there are Deatheaters here. Six of them. Can you do that? Tell him I need help."
Fawkes gravely looked at Harry and nodded his head. Giving Harry a wink that he was sure Dumbledore had taught the majestic bird, Fawkes jumped into the air and disappeared with another flash of fire.
Knowing that Fawkes wouldn't let him down, Harry felt secure that Dumbledore would come with help. As he peered around the corner to see what was happening, Harry's blood started to boil. The Deatheaters, seemingly giving up hope that they could break down the impenetrable barrier between them and Harry had taken a hostage. They apparently had a good source of information too, because a burly, menacing looking wizard had a hand firmly clamped around Arabella Figg's throat. As the burly wizard struggled with Mrs. Figg to keep her still, the taller leader of the Deatheaters cast a charm on his throat, his voice reverberating through the neighborhood.
"Come out young Harry, or we'll kill this pathetic Squib. We know you have a fondness for freaks and misfits, so come out or she's dead." It was a dark and menacing voice, one that Harry would have sworn he had heard before. He couldn't quite place the voice, but its familiarity nagged at him.
Quickly thinking, Harry decided on a course of action. He picked up a shiny rock and transfigured it into a mirror. He cast a sticking charm on the back and then banished the mirror to a tree near the Deatheater holding Mrs. Figg. He was glad that the wizard was distracted by her struggles and failed to notice the mirror flying toward him.
Aiming very carefully Harry shot a stunning spell at the mirror and it reflected perfectly and hit his target. He fell to the ground with a thump and Mrs. Figg was free. She quickly tried to scramble away before another Deatheater grabbed her, but got tripped up over her captors body. As she fell to the ground, Harry cast another spell, shouting "Accio Mrs. Figg!" at the top of his lungs, and she came zooming towards him.
While this was successful in freeing Mrs. Figg, it also had the unfortunate effect of alerting the other Deatheaters to Harry's presence. As Mrs. Figg soared through the air, the five remaining Deatheaters snapped their heads in his direction and started walking in his direction. Wands at the ready, he heard them whispering to each other and suddenly one of the Deatheaters disapparated with a loud crack.
Realizing that his advantage of surprise was gone, Harry grabbed at Mrs. Figg and helped her to the ground. Telling her firmly to stay put, he ran in a diagonal away from Mrs. Figg and the Deatheaters. Hoping to stall them long enough to give Dumbledore enough time to arrive, Harry quickly cast several jinxes over his shoulder and kept running. Pleased when he heard at least one of his pursuers curse with pain, Harry ducked behind a tree to watch what they did next.
Quickly coming to a halt several yards away from Harry, the Deatheaters huddled to plot strategy. Two of them stood and disapparated and Harry heard loud pops as they apparated directly behind him. Taking a deep breath, Harry ran in another direction, trying to get them all to follow him again. He ducked as he heard various curses being cast in his direction, and summoned a nearby rake that he saw out of the corner of his eye. Breaking the rake in two, Harry quickly transfigured one end into a sharp dagger. Taking quick aim learned from years of searching for a tiny Snitch, Harry threw the dagger with all of his might at the nearest Deatheater. As the wizards dodged the dangerous object, Harry quickly cast another spell, shouting "Wingardium Leviosa!" and swished his wand. Suddenly he controlled the dagger and sent it plunging viciously into the back of the wizard who had just ducked out of the way. It slurped into the base of the wizard's spine, and Harry heard a sharp crunch as the dagger dug into bone, severing his spinal column.
The agonized scream pleased Harry more than he would have liked to admit, but a savage smile burst out on his face. With another swish, the dagger leapt out of the Deatheater's back with a sickening slosh and Harry sent it soaring toward the chest of another of his enemies. As the wizard dove out of the way, Harry sent the dagger diving deep into his buttocks. Throwing another quick spell, the metal elongated and pushed through the wizard, bursting out of his hip, and digging into the ground, impaling the Deatheater where he lay. Another mischievous smile alighted on Harry's face. He quickly summoned the wands of the fallen wizards and, grabbing the other half of the rake firmly in his hand, he turned to run some more.
But his way was stopped by the last two wizards he had forgotten about as he was busy using the rake to exact some vengeance on his pursuers. The two Deatheaters towered over him, their wands pointed directly at him. The taller one leaned forward and spoke in a deathly calm voice.
"Drop your wand boy, we're not playing games today."
Harry sneered at the idiot in front of him. "Sorry, you'll have to curse me. I'd strongly suggest the Cruciatus. In fact, I really want you to. C'mon, curse me you idiots. You fools."
"We know better than that boy," the leader of this strike spoke with contempt, his voice still naggingly familiar to Harry. "We know what happened to Wormtail."
"Oh please, you lackeys know nothing. Voldemort wouldn't tell you anything important. If he did, you'd be smarter than to show up here. You know Dumbledore is on his way, probably with half a dozen Aurors. You'll be lucky to escape without serious injury, unlike your toadies over there. Pretty soon you'll be surrounded and that half-mudblood, Voldemort, will have lost five more of his simpering rodents, and I'll spend the evening laughing about stabbing one of you fools in the arse."
Harry watched as the two Deatheaters struggled to control their temper. Laughing at their distress, Harry egged them on even more.
"That's right, you probably don't know. Your boss' mother was a witch, but his dad was a Muggle. Bet you didn't know that did you? The vaunted leader of all you stupid fools has dirty blood. How does that make you feel? How do you feel when Voldemort tells you what to do, knowing that his dear old Mum slept with a pathetic, disgusting Muggle? Why, Voldie could have been born a Squib! Imagine that, the most evil man in the century, just a chromosome or two away from being pathetic Squib."
It worked. Harry's words did what he had wanted. The junior Deatheater couldn't control his anger any more. Despite his leader shouting at him to stop, he drew back his wand and thrust it forward, shouting "Crucio!" at Harry. Harry laughed as the air shimmered with a white glow, and again the scent of fresh rain bombarded Harry's senses. As he watched the dreadful curse bounce away from him back at its owner it hit with a satisfying crack as the spell intersected with the Deatheater, sending him into convulsions. Screaming, he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
His companion danced away with disgust, spitting in anger.
"You fool, you idiot. We knew this would happen, we knew that it would bounce back."
"Yeah," interrupted Harry. "But he was too stupid to let me insult his precious little Voldie. Too proud of the filthy, disgusting animal to let a mere teenager insult him. After all, I've already defeated him once, and everyone knows I'm going to do it again. That's got to tick you off just a little, I'd imagine."
"I will not be fooled, Potter," the Deatheater snapped. "I know better. I'm here to deliver this."
The remaining Deatheater threw a small metallic object at Harry. Harry's well-honed Quidditch instincts forced his hand into the air to catch the object, while his mind screamed at him to let it drop. As the object sailed towards him, physical instinct and intellect warred within each other.
Intellect won.
Harry quickly batted the object back at the Deatheater who gasped with surprise. Making yet another mistake, he plucked the object from the air and promptly disappeared with a pop. It was obviously a portkey and Harry shook with relief that he hadn't caught it.
Turning, he surveyed the wreckage of his neighborhood. Four wizards were lying around, one still screaming in agony as the effects of the Cruciatus was still hitting him, two others moaning in agony from their wounds from the transfigured dagger, and the third, back near the Dursley's house, still stunned from Harry's first spell.
Arabella Figg got up from where Harry had told her to stay, and raced over to Harry. Quickly examining him, she breathed a sigh of relief when he was not harmed.
"We'd better clean this up as best we can, Harry. I don't know why Dumbledore isn't here yet, or where the Ministry is, but there'll be hell to pay from both. He'll be furious that you were left unprotected again, but we'll have to deal with the Ministry again. That was a lot of magic you just went through. Fortunately we have evidence this time."
She motioned to all the Deatheaters on the ground and turned to Harry.
"Well, the cat's out of the bag now, pull them all together and let's get them in to my house. I can try and find someone by Floo and figure out why no one is here yet."
Harry agreed with Arabella and quickly threw out a few spells to pull the bodies to him. He first cast several silencing spells to keep the agonized screams from disturbing Mrs. Figg. Harry pointedly did not cease the spell wracking through the body of the wizard who had tried to curse him. Then he floated each of the Deatheaters and pushed them ahead of him with his wand. Harry directed them into Mrs. Figg's house, and dropped them unceremoniously in the living room. Mrs. Figg walked to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and shoved her head into the fire.
After ensuring that none of the wizards were capable of movement, he took each of their wands and quickly broke them individually over his knee. Each wand let off a loud bang and colorful sparks as they were broken. As he broke the last one, the wizard's wand that had tried to hit Harry with the Cruciatus, Harry saw a bigger flash as that dreadful spell finally stopped. The wizard collapsed, inert, on the floor, and Harry saw blood trickling out of his mouth as he gasped for air. Harry grimly stunned the Deatheater, to ensure nothing else happened, and put all the broken wand halves in his pocket.
He finally realized how exhausted he was from the intense affair, and the surge of adrenaline that had powered his movements finished, leaving him weak as he collapsed into a chair. He waited, growing more impatient as Arabella continued to keep her head in the fireplace. After several minutes she resignedly withdrew her head and looked at Harry.
"Well, I finally found someone. I talked with Molly. She and her children are on their way. There was an, incident. But Dumbledore was prepared I guess."
"What do you mean? What kind of incident?" Harry demanded.
"Well, Molly seems to think that You-Know-Who was planning an attempt on Azkaban, he really wanted to rescue Malfoy and the others. When you showed up at your Aunt's did one of them disappear?" Seeing Harry's head nod, she continued.
"Apparently He was hoping you'd use magic and call attention to yourself, pulling Dumbledore and the Ministry off of their track. Molly thinks Dumbledore had a plan, but she didn't know all the details because she missed the last Order meeting planning for your party."
As a flash of guilt shot across Harry's face, Arabella barked out a laughed.
"Don't worry about it boy. Not everyone always knows everything. She wasn't upset, she knew that she didn't know something and didn't want to worry us by speculating. She'll be here soon, apparently she was going to use the twins' car."
Harry's eyes goggled at that, but he didn't say anything. Instead he looked at the prisoners, and sighed when he saw they were all still stunned.
"What should we do about them?" he asked. "Should we send them somewhere? What about Hogwarts? Or the Ministry?"
"Molly said to keep them here. She knows what to do with them, I guess. She said to make sure they stay stunned, but that's it."
Harry nodded reluctantly and sank back into the comfortable seat. Half an hour passed and he heard a loud commotion outside. Grabbing his wand firmly in his hand, he opened the door, prepared to cast several spells simultaneously. He couldn't decide between sighing and laughing when he saw the disastrously painted car that he knew belonged to the twins come careening towards Mrs. Figg's house. With an insanely loud screech the car came to an abrupt stop and the doors flew open. Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny leapt out of the car, all three incredibly green in the face and none walking steadily. The car gave a merry hoot and backed out of the neighborhood on its own accord. It gave one loud blast of its horn and then flitted away from Privet Drive at an impossible speed.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley. Where's the car going?" Harry asked, hoping that normal conversation would help Mrs. Weasley regain her composure.
"Hello dear. The twins put a Homing Charm on it, the car returns to their shop at Diagon Alley. I swear I'll never drive in it again. Unless of course there's another emergency. But even then..." she paused as a final wave of nausea crept along her face. Standing perfectly still, she counted to ten while the unpleasant feeling faded, then smiled grimly at Harry.
"I understand that you've had another active day? My heart almost stopped when I looked up at the clock. Oddly it only flitted to 'Mortal Peril' for a few moments. For the most part it was locked on 'In Battle' and you made a new face appear that read 'Dreadfully Pissed Off.' I've never seen that happen, but you are extraordinary aren't you?" she said. "Well, can't be helped. Can't be helped. Dumbledore was worried about this, but said you'd be able to take care of yourself if we weren't around. He was confident, as he always is. I can't say he wasn't right of course, but you are still so young. We should have thought of something. Oh my!"
Mrs. Weasley kept speaking as Harry led her into Mrs. Figg's house and stopped abruptly when she saw the mangled bodies lying on the floor. Stepping over them she waved her wand and cast several quick spells. Metallic ropes shot out of her wand, binding each Deatheater up in tight chains. Gags and blindfolds came out next, tying themselves around each of the dark wizards, and finally she cast anti-apparition jinxes on them. "Not as powerful as Dumbledore could do, mind you, but he taught us the basics."
Turning to Harry, she looked at him with a difference in her eyes. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that Mrs. Weasley was looking at him differently than she ever had before. It wasn't quite fear and it wasn't quite awe, but it was not entirely pleasant. Shaking it off Harry looked at the motherly woman and offered a small smile.
"Erm, thanks for coming. I'm sorry to be a bother," he said before Ron interrupted.
"Sorry? You're bloody sorry? Four Deatheaters are lying in a mealy pulp on the floor, and you did it yourself, mind you, and you're sorry? You should be bloody proud mate. You staved 'em off, again. Alone this time. How's that possible? They can't be that incompetent?"
Harry flashed his best friend a grin but looked out of the corner of his eye. When he realized that Mrs. Weasley wasn't truly upset with him, he looked at her straight on. Whatever the look she had given him before was, it had disappeared, and now she looked at him with love, concern, and a fierce pride. Encouraged by her small smile and nod, he started to tell them what had happened.
Interrupted at points by all three Weasleys, and occasionally by Mrs. Figg, Harry made it most of the way through the story.
"I don't understand what happened when he threw the Cruciatus at you, Harry," Mrs. Weasley interrupted at that point of the story. "What happened?"
"Erm, I don't really know. The same thing that had happened with Wormtail, I suppose. It was like a shield of some kind. I heard a soft murmuring of music or voices, I could smell something pleasant, and then the spell shot back at the idiot who cast it. He was caught in it for a long time, too. I don't think it stopped until I broke his wand a few minutes ago."
"What do you mean, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked again. "No one could cast a Cruciatus for that long. What sustained it?"
"Dumbledore said that spells thrown at me would rebound and be multiplied, unless I ended it before hand. I, erm, didn't want to end it, so I left him alone."
"He was being hit by that for over 20 minutes? A full curse, without let- up? That's, um, wow."
"He deserved it," Harry said flatly. "They threatened Mrs. Figg. They threatened me. I didn't do it intentionally, but I wasn't going to let him off easy. Shows them to choose to follow Voldemort."
Everyone in the room paled at his name, but Ron and Ginny were nodding their heads in agreement. Mrs. Weasley saw this and sighed, but didn't say anything to Harry. Instead she reached out to him and grabbed him up in one of her patented hugs.
"Well, I'm relieved that you are safe, and that Arabella is okay. Dumbledore should be here soon, and he'll take care of everything."
***
Unfortunately Mrs. Weasley was wrong. After an hour had passed, and Mrs. Weasley grew increasingly distressed, she started pacing by the window.
"There's such a mess out there, and so many people had to see. We just can't wait for the Ministry. We have to start cleaning this up. There'll be hell to pay, but that's the way the world is nowadays."
Squaring her shoulders she moved to the front door, only to be interrupted by Harry.
"Mrs. Weasley, let me help? Please? I made this mess, I'd like to help clean it up."
"Harry dear, you are not responsible-" she started to speak, but Harry interrupted her.
"I know, I know. But I still did this, and I have to help clean it up. Trust me, it's important, and maybe it will help with the Ministry."
Sighing, Mrs. Weasley reluctantly agreed. She turned to examine the unconscious Deatheaters and motioned to Ron and Ginny.
"If they so much as move, call for help. Harry and I will be outside and we'll run back immediately."
"But Mum, we want to help too!" Ron begged, with Ginny nodding her head in agreement.
"Nonsense, you can't use Harry's excuse of being in a life threatening situation. The Minister would only be too happy to expel you because of your father and your friendship with Harry. We have to be smart, and safe. Watch these men and let us know if they start to awaken."
Her tone of voice brooked no opposition, and Ron and Ginny nodded their heads, throwing somewhat dirty looks at the Deatheaters, obviously hoping that they'd wake up a little so Ron and Ginny could inflict some personal damage.
Mrs. Weasley marched Harry out of the house and started examining the damage. Deciding on a course of action, she directed Harry to starting cleaning and repairing the damage from the reflected spells and started going house to house, wiping the memory of the muggles who had unfortunately seen too much. It was tiring work, and the two of them kept at it for over an hour, still without sign or spell from the Ministry or Professor Dumbledore.
Finally, as Harry was repairing the last of the obvious destruction, he heard a loud pop of several wizards appear behind him. Whirling around he was startled to see Percy and several older wizards brandishing their wands at him, obviously distressed about something.
Calmly, Harry slowly relaxed and stopped pointing his wand at the newly arrived group. He immediately regretted that when Percy withdrew an official parchment from his robes and started speaking in a pompous voice.
"Harry Potter you are accused of performing underage magic to an extraordinary level. The Ministry has recorded over one hundred spells being performed by you in the past several hours, many of them of complex and sophisticated means that cannot be explained by accident or to secure your life.
"The Minister of Magic has ordered the confiscation of your wand and your immediate arrest and transportation to the Ministry headquarters where you will be tried immediately.
"Please hand over your wand and submit to these officials from the Office of the Minister."
Harry knew for a certainty that his hand on the clock back at the Burrow was certain to read a new measure of 'Inordinately, Incredibly, Amazingly Dreadfully Pissed Off' and he was scared to imagine what Mrs. Weasley's face was pointing to. Her anger was palpable, and it hit Harry like a tidal wave. She had just finished wiping the memory of the last muggles to have seen the battle when she saw Percy and the Ministry wizards appear. Walking over she had heard her child's speech and started fuming.
Then she got mad.
She placed herself directly in between Percy and Harry, shielding Harry from any spells, but allowing him to see the confrontation.
"Excuse me?" she said in terribly cold voice. "You've come to arrest Harry for saving his life? Saving Arabella Figg's life? Protecting the muggles that live here? Helping me clean up the mess after we waited for the Ministry to arrive? Did you think it would be good to leave the detritus of a magical battle lying about? Should we have left them their memories, so they could pass on what they had witnessed? What exactly was his crime other than doing what must be done?"
Percy paled at the dreadful fury emanating from his mother. But steadfastly he remained true to his chosen duty.
"This has nothing to do with you Mother. Please stand aside or I'll be forced to arrest you as well for interfering with Ministry business."
Mrs. Weasley stared wordlessly at her son. She could not imagine having this confrontation with any of her other children, couldn't quite believe that she was having it with Percy. She had always tried to defend his obsession with the rules. She had always been proud of his dedication to duty. When he had been made Prefect, she knew it was a proud day for him, recognition of his adherence to the rules. As Head Boy he had proudly administered the rules and she was overjoyed for him when he joined the Ministry.
Despite their estrangement over the past year, she knew he was doing what he thought right. She knew that he was trying to abide by the rules, and enforce them as best he knew how. But she was deeply, bitterly disappointed in him.
"You silly, foolish, bureaucrat," she whispered. "It is obvious by the amount of magic still in the air that there was a battle. If you saw the spells that Harry was casting, you know something unusual was going on. Did you come investigate immediately? No. Did you come as soon as it was over? No. You waited until he was casting simple cleaning and repairing spells. And if you had an ounce of brains at that Ministry of yours, you would have known that something unusual was afoot. Where is Dumbledore? Where is your father? He should have been summoned when Harry transfigured the rake. Why didn't you call his office? This is clearly within his jurisdiction.
"No, you're afraid. I understand. These are scary times. And your boss is terrified. No one respects him, his power is almost entirely gone. Except for the power you bureaucrats give him. You are so terrified of losing your positions that you seem to fail to recognize that the very world is at risk. And so you continue to heckle and pester this poor boy that has done nothing but fight evil from the time he was born. Without your vaunted support. With constant attack by the Ministry who is supposed to help keep us all safe.
"You will not arrest Harry. You will not detain Harry. And you certainly will not take his wand. His very life, all of our lives depend on his ability, his magic, his future. I will not stand idly by as you try to destroy that, without knowing what you are doing.
"Stop this foolishness now, Percy."
As she finished her statement Percy and the other Ministry were outraged. She had mocked them, belittled them, and interfered with their mission. They were under orders from the Minister himself, and by Merlin they would complete their mission.
Raising their wands in unison, their arms shot forward. Speaking as one, they all shouted "Stupefy!" directly at Mrs. Weasley's chest, planning on knocking her unconscious for a week or more.
As the beams shot towards her, she gasped in surprise, terrified at what was about to happen, distraught at her child's actions. That much magic wouldn't merely stun her, it could kill her.
The passage of time slowed down, the beams of the spells crept slowly toward her, threatening to send her into oblivion when the brave young boy behind her did the most unexpected thing. With his wiry strength and quick reflexes, he dove in front of Mrs. Weasley and let the beams intersect with him. There was a phenomenally brilliant flash of light. Then equally amazing darkness.
***
Harry slowly emerged from a fog where his eyes were blurred and unable to focus. He realized that he was missing his glasses and somehow was in a bed. As he stirred in the bed, he heard a soft rustle and he heard Ginny's voice speaking quietly.
"Relax Harry. Hold on a moment. Mum, Mum, he's awake."
With a startled exclamation Harry was suddenly grasped in another firm hug from Mrs. Weasley. He wryly thought that she might eventually hit him with a sticking charm to keep him in her embrace. After several moments she let him go, and quietly handed him his glasses. Putting them on, he looked around the room, and recognized it as the room he shared with Ron at 12 Grimmauld Place.
As he tried to sit up again, Mrs. Weasley gave him a helping hand and propped him up with several recently fluffed pillows. As he looked about the room he realized that the entire Weasley family was there, minus Percy of course, along with Remus Lupin and Professor Dumbledore.
"What happened? How'd I get here?" he asked. "The last thing I remember was diving in front of Mrs. Weasley, there was a great flash of light, and now I'm here."
Harry was surprised at the chuckles that greeted his confusion. Looking from face to face, he couldn't understand what was funny.
"Harry, I'll begin at the end, though there is much to discuss, about the other events today" started Professor Dumbledore. "You see, your mother's protection is not just for Dark wizards. Oh no, it is from any spell with hostile effect. When you selflessly dove in front of the oncoming spells, you triggered the protection and the spells were directed back at their owners. Unfortunately, in your haste, you didn't aim particularly well. The flash of light of the spells being rebounded momentarily blinded you as well, for there were many spells being sent in your direction, and you landed quite, ah, badly and knocked yourself out.
"Fortunately I had finished our business at Azkaban and the Ministry, and was able to apparate to your side just as you fell. Seeing as you managed to stun young Percy and his compatriots from the Ministry, I merely sent them back to the Ministry, somewhat unceremoniously I'll admit, and brought you here, to your new home. You simply needed rest, something which you need more of in abundance."
When Dumbledore had mentioned Percy's name the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. Ron had started muttering to himself, Fred and George pounded their fists menacingly in their hands, and Bill and Charlie gave each other knowing, determined looks. Mr. Weasley sighed bitterly and his eyes flashed fire, while Mrs. Weasley simply pretended that she hadn't heard anything. It was Ginny that really scared Harry. The look of inarticulate fury, and sorrow, mixed savagely on her face, and Harry knew that he would do what he could to make Percy regret causing her that much anguish.
Returning his attention to Professor Dumbledore, he saw that his headmaster looked rather tired. There were scorch marks on his robes, and Harry saw a splattering of blood on his knuckles. Slowly looking around the room, Harry realized that Lupin was in a similar state, as were Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George.
"Professor what happened? Why didn't you come? Did Fawkes reach you? What happened to the Aurors? What about Azkaban? And how did the Ministry decide to arrest me?" he demanded.
"Patience, Harry, patience. I will tell you all in good time. Where to begin? Ah, yes, I had learned that Voldemort had planned on freeing Lucius and Peter, and several others of his followers at Azkaban. Not so much out of any loyalty, mind you, but simply because he needs the supporters. So, he attempted to distract my attention, and that of the Ministry, by attacking you again, and hopefully forcing you to perform some magic.
"I'll say he almost was able to do both. But fortunately I was made aware of his plans, and made my own. Those Aurors who are smarter than others at the Ministry were convinced to conduct a security inspection of Azkaban. We have already managed to remove the Dementors from their role as guards, so Kingsley spontaneously decided to conduct a review of the security of the installation. As a precautionary measure he brought a good number of Aurors with him.
"Around the same time that Kingsley arrived at the prison, a party of Deatheaters appeared at your Aunt's home. While they were ostensibly only supposed to gain your attention and force you to panic, they failed to account for your predilection to thwarting their plans. When you made your presence known to them, one of them returned to Voldemort to inform him that you had already cast some spells, and that the Ministry would presumably be pursuing you shortly.
"At that time Voldemort sent most of his followers to attack Azkaban, presuming that it would be poorly defended and that his forces would be able to take over the island easily. He did not count on the Aurors being there. As soon as they arrived, Kingsley made me aware of the situation. I contacted Madam Bones and encouraged her to ignore your indiscretion for the moment and send her law enforcement professionals to Azkaban. Fortunately she complied with my request.
"I accompanied her to support Kingsley and the Aurors, along with Remus, Arthur, William, Charles, Fred, and George and we found ourselves in a full fledged battle. Apparently Voldemort was quite intent on rescuing Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Pettigrew, not realizing that I had the two of them moved to a more secure location that very morning. The Deatheaters fought quite valiantly, and most of them managed to escape, but fortunately they did not release any of the other prisoners."
"It was brilliant, Harry," interrupted Fred. George concurred. "He was amazing," pointing at their former headmaster, "casting dozens of spells, knocking them down with ease. One of them thought to act as if he was stunned, hoping that the headmaster would just step over him. As he did, the death eater sat up and aimed his wand. Dumbledore didn't even glance, he just socked him in the jaw with his fist. It was brilliant!"
Professor Dumbledore let out a small chuckle, his eyes flashing with mirth.
"Thank you boys, but please let me continue. After we stopped the fighting at Azkaban, Madam Bones was made aware of a disturbance at her office. Apparently Minister Fudge was more concerned about your actions than the attempted takeover of Azkaban. He had sent several people forcibly into Madam Bones' office and recorded the numerous spells you cast while defeating your own attack squad of Voldemort's followers.
"Unfortunately, Madam Bones and I arrived just after the party of Ministry officials appeared at your Aunt's home, otherwise we would have intervened. I tried to persuade the Minister to drop all charges, but he refuses to do so."
"Good," spat Harry. "We're having this out once and for all. You know my plans, Professor. I had intended on waiting until the shareholder meeting, but now, let's go to trial. You're still on the Wizengamut, correct?"
Nodding his head, Professor Dumbledore looked gravely at Harry.
"Are you sure Harry? This is very risky, your plan could backfire."
"Professor, if he wants to charge me with the crime of defending my life, then let him. If he wants to truth to come out, that he didn't do anything to prevent Deatheaters from attacking me, that he sent that stupid git to arrest me, that they almost killed Mrs. Weasley in the process, that he is ignoring the battle at Azkaban, well, let's let it all out in the public.
"I can have an attorney and my own witnesses, right? And the media can't be kept out, right? They're invited. Let's make this a big public spectacle. Let Fudge think he's going to win before I pull the carpet out from underneath him."
Seething, Harry bitterly spat out those last words. He was sick of the interference of Fudge's Ministry and knew he would win.
"Fine Harry, we'll proceed as you request. I'll schedule your trial for the end of the week. That should confuse Fudge quite a bit. I'm still planning on conducting those other trials this week, but the Ministry can't interfere at this point."
"Well, I still want to testify, if you need it."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, it should help us for your trial as well. Now if you'll excuse me I have a few other matters to take care of."
"Wait Professor, I have one more question, erm, actually two. If you knew about the attack on Azkaban, why didn't your respond when Fawkes brought you my message? Or when the protection charm alerted you that I had been attacked?"
"Well, Harry, after our last conversation, and after witnessing your abilities at the Ministry in June, I decided that I could afford to come to your assistance after I had secured the prison. I knew the charm was effective and I took that chance. I'm sorry if you were worried, but I simply had no other choice."
Pleased with Professor Dumbledore's statement, and his faith in Harry, Harry relaxed back into the pillow. "Oh, Professor, one more question. What would have happened if I had grabbed the portkey?"
Professor Dumbledore had turned to leave the room when Harry asked the seemingly innocuous question. He stopped abruptly and spun towards Harry. His eyes flashed fire as he struggled to control the anger that flashed across his face. Very slowly he looked Harry in the eye.
"Excuse me, Harry? What portkey?" he asked with a stillness that immediately made Harry wish he hadn't brought it up.
"The portkey the Deatheater threw at me. It was small and shiny, looked almost like a Snitch, but not quite. I didn't know what it was when he threw it at me and I almost caught it, but thought better of it and hit it back at him. He grabbed it and disappeared. It had to be a portkey, right?"
The calm fury that emanated in waves from the powerful wizard rattled Harry's teeth. The Weasley family wisely stepped back from the angry wizard, giving him as much room as they could possibly give him.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Harry. Please repeat that to me, and give me every detail you can recall." He spoke with a calmness that was unnatural considering the sparks of anger that skittered across the room.
Harry repeated the events of what had happened, as well as the details that he could recall about the portkey. As he finished, Dumbledore gravely nodded his head and thanked Harry.
"I will need to think about this, I will need to think about this a great deal. I will explain in the fullness of time. But first I must investigate what happened."
"Professor, why are you so upset about this? What makes this so important?" Harry pressed. "You told me I was not going to be kept away from information that was important to me."
With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore looked out the window for several moments before responding. Wearily he looked Harry directly in the eye.
"The leader of that party of Deatheaters is known to you, Harry. It was Professor Snape."
Wow, thanks for the positive feedback. Makes me happy!
I've had a few moments to think about some of the reviews, so here goes:
Leaps - I'm not making any promises, but I do not anticipate much mush between Harry and Ginny. I am definitely in their camp and predict that they will eventually get together, but eventually is not now, maybe something will happen in this fic, but I'd suspect it's not till the next one that anything really happens. Two things though. First, she'd never, ever become a meek 'yes Harry' type person. She's independent, smarter than heck, and very opinionated. There's a reason her brothers are scared of her. Second, Ron and Hermione are not now, and never will be minor characters. Stay tuned for Chapter 6 (lots of mush, but it is necessary).
Shadow Bandit - Thanks for the tip, fixed that now. Harry's a good person at heart, but faces a lot.
Kateydidnt - good point on scabbers. In my view, the protection never showed up before because no one ever tried anything on him while he was staying with his Aunt. Since the Dementors don't cast spells, I think their magic would get through in OOTP. Once he gets to Hogwarts the protection is gone.
And thanks to all others for the encouragement!
Now, on with the show. Sorry if it gets a little anxious. Not too sorry though. :)
Chapter Five - Attack at Privet Drive
Fortunately Harry did not have to suffer through another ride with the twins. Professor Dumbledore took pity on Harry after taking one quick look at the car and immediately created a portkey for Harry that would take him directly to Harry's room. When the party ended, and all the sweets had been eaten, Harry quickly bundled up all of the gifts that he was taking home with him and thanked the Weasley's for the best birthday he had ever had.
Grabbing hold of the portkey, Harry felt the quick jerk at his navel and collapsed on his bed when he arrived.
- - -
The next day Harry woke up with a bad case of the nerves. After a short conversation with Professor Dumbledore before he left the Weasley's, they had decided that it was going to be his last day working with Mr. Smith, and he dreaded having to say goodbye. Quickly running through his morning routine he bounded out of the house at Privet Drive and started running to the park. When he got there he searched for a while before he finally found Mr. Smith sitting near the weeping willow by the pond.
As Harry approached his friend, Harry saw that he looked quite sad. Concerned Harry debated whether to bother him, when Mr. Smith looked up and smiled at Harry.
"Morning, lad. I hope you had a good time last night." Seeing Harry's automatic smile seemed to lighten Mr. Smith's mood. He reached out a hand and had Harry help pull him up off the ground.
"Well, I hate to start such a glorious day like this, but I'm afraid I have some bad news. This is our last day together," Mr. Smith said. "You see, Harry, I've been called away to another job. I had hoped that I'd never have to go back there, but in these trying times, well, we all do what we must. But I'm sure you know that feeling. Those of us with duties feel the pull of them quite strongly."
Harry wasn't entirely sure what Mr. Smith was referring to, especially his comment about 'trying times.' As far as Harry knew, the muggle world was relatively peaceful as compared to his world. Not wanting to argue with his friend, Harry smiled a bit and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Smith, I'm actually glad to hear you say that, in a way. You see, I was going to have to tell you that today was going to be my last day too. I have to take care of a few things at school this week, and my headmaster told me last night that he wants me to take some extra lessons before the school year starts, so I'm leaving my Aunt's tomorrow morning and won't be back until next summer."
That wasn't entirely true, but Harry wasn't sure how to explain that he had to testify at the trial of Deatheaters and that the charm surrounding him would now last through the summer, regardless of where he stayed. When Professor Dumbledore strongly suggested Harry move in to number 12 Grimmauld Place as opposed to the Burrow, Harry agreed. Dumbledore had also suggested that it would be acceptable for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny move in with Harry during the trials and for the rest of the summer if Harry wished. Mrs. Weasley objected at first, but agreed that it would be for the best when Harry asked her to help clean up the house and that he wanted to spend time with her as well. Harry had learned that Mrs. Weasley had a very difficult time saying no to him right now, and since it was true that he wanted to spend time with her, well it wasn't exactly a fib, was it?
Mr. Smith was busy nodding his head, and Harry was pleased that he wasn't upset. Instead of trying to get any work accomplished, as most of the strenuous labor had already been finished in the previous weeks, the two of them spent the day walking around the park, talking amiably about nothing in particular and enjoying each other's company. Harry hoped it wasn't the last peaceful day of his summer, but with everything that awaited him when he left, he knew it was possible to be the last quiet one for him.
As the day came to an end, Harry gave Mr. Smith a firm handshake and thanked him profusely for everything the kind man had done for him all through the summer.
"Don't mention it, Harry. It was truly my pleasure. Despite what your Aunt may say, you're a good lad, and a fine person. It's been an honor to meet you and I'm glad I was able to help you relax during this summer. The way you talk, I get the sense that you're anticipating another tough year, so I hope you'll have fond memories of our time together. Stay in touch if you ever need anything." Handing Harry a small business card, Harry pocketed it without looking at it and agreed that he'd get in touch if necessary.
Smiling, Harry nodded his head and walked back to his Aunt's house for the last time that summer. As he walked casually towards Privet Drive he slowly became aware of an almost unnatural quiet that seemed to have pervaded the neighborhood. Harry noticed that there were no birds flying about, or dogs barking. The local tomcats weren't conducting their usual evening symphony and the noisy children seemed to be missing.
It was unusual, to say the least. The absence of the normal sounds of a quiet evening pounded at Harry's head. Nervously he reached into his pocket, and grabbed hold of his wand. Eyes darting around, he picked up his pace as he tried to look in every direction without losing sight of his destination.
As he rounded the corner onto Privet Drive, Harry's heart leapt into his throat. There were half a dozen wizards dressed in black robes with white masks surrounding his Aunt's house. Deatheaters were casting spell after spell, curses, jinxes, hexes, and worse, aiming them at the Dursley residence. From his position Harry thought he could see a shimmering glow surround the house and the spells were reflected in multiple directions, blasting neighboring houses, trees, and the road.
Even from this distance he could hear them cursing at each other as they tried to figure out how to make it into the house. He couldn't quite figure out who was there, but he didn't particularly care. All Harry knew was that they were evil and he needed to do something about it.
Hiding behind a nearby house, Harry grabbed his wand firmly, realizing that he was about to get into trouble with the Ministry at a time when he couldn't really afford it.
"Plan or no plan, I can't let these bastards get into the house, they'll kill Aunt Petunia," Harry muttered. Summoning his strength, he fixed his thoughts firmly and cast his first spell in over a month. "Accio whistle."
He waited. Slowly he heard a soft rushing noise and the present from Hagrid came soaring at him. Harry reached out and grabbed it. Hoping against hope, Harry quickly put the whistle to his lips, fervently praying that it wouldn't make a sound the Deatheaters would hear, and he blew.
"Thank Merlin," he thought. "No sound. Now I just have to wait." Fortunately Harry didn't have to wait long. A bright flash exploded in front of him and Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, appeared from the smoke. Fawkes was truly a beautiful bird, and Harry again was amazed at the power that emanated from him.
"Fawkes," he breathed. "I need you to tell Dumbledore that there are Deatheaters here. Six of them. Can you do that? Tell him I need help."
Fawkes gravely looked at Harry and nodded his head. Giving Harry a wink that he was sure Dumbledore had taught the majestic bird, Fawkes jumped into the air and disappeared with another flash of fire.
Knowing that Fawkes wouldn't let him down, Harry felt secure that Dumbledore would come with help. As he peered around the corner to see what was happening, Harry's blood started to boil. The Deatheaters, seemingly giving up hope that they could break down the impenetrable barrier between them and Harry had taken a hostage. They apparently had a good source of information too, because a burly, menacing looking wizard had a hand firmly clamped around Arabella Figg's throat. As the burly wizard struggled with Mrs. Figg to keep her still, the taller leader of the Deatheaters cast a charm on his throat, his voice reverberating through the neighborhood.
"Come out young Harry, or we'll kill this pathetic Squib. We know you have a fondness for freaks and misfits, so come out or she's dead." It was a dark and menacing voice, one that Harry would have sworn he had heard before. He couldn't quite place the voice, but its familiarity nagged at him.
Quickly thinking, Harry decided on a course of action. He picked up a shiny rock and transfigured it into a mirror. He cast a sticking charm on the back and then banished the mirror to a tree near the Deatheater holding Mrs. Figg. He was glad that the wizard was distracted by her struggles and failed to notice the mirror flying toward him.
Aiming very carefully Harry shot a stunning spell at the mirror and it reflected perfectly and hit his target. He fell to the ground with a thump and Mrs. Figg was free. She quickly tried to scramble away before another Deatheater grabbed her, but got tripped up over her captors body. As she fell to the ground, Harry cast another spell, shouting "Accio Mrs. Figg!" at the top of his lungs, and she came zooming towards him.
While this was successful in freeing Mrs. Figg, it also had the unfortunate effect of alerting the other Deatheaters to Harry's presence. As Mrs. Figg soared through the air, the five remaining Deatheaters snapped their heads in his direction and started walking in his direction. Wands at the ready, he heard them whispering to each other and suddenly one of the Deatheaters disapparated with a loud crack.
Realizing that his advantage of surprise was gone, Harry grabbed at Mrs. Figg and helped her to the ground. Telling her firmly to stay put, he ran in a diagonal away from Mrs. Figg and the Deatheaters. Hoping to stall them long enough to give Dumbledore enough time to arrive, Harry quickly cast several jinxes over his shoulder and kept running. Pleased when he heard at least one of his pursuers curse with pain, Harry ducked behind a tree to watch what they did next.
Quickly coming to a halt several yards away from Harry, the Deatheaters huddled to plot strategy. Two of them stood and disapparated and Harry heard loud pops as they apparated directly behind him. Taking a deep breath, Harry ran in another direction, trying to get them all to follow him again. He ducked as he heard various curses being cast in his direction, and summoned a nearby rake that he saw out of the corner of his eye. Breaking the rake in two, Harry quickly transfigured one end into a sharp dagger. Taking quick aim learned from years of searching for a tiny Snitch, Harry threw the dagger with all of his might at the nearest Deatheater. As the wizards dodged the dangerous object, Harry quickly cast another spell, shouting "Wingardium Leviosa!" and swished his wand. Suddenly he controlled the dagger and sent it plunging viciously into the back of the wizard who had just ducked out of the way. It slurped into the base of the wizard's spine, and Harry heard a sharp crunch as the dagger dug into bone, severing his spinal column.
The agonized scream pleased Harry more than he would have liked to admit, but a savage smile burst out on his face. With another swish, the dagger leapt out of the Deatheater's back with a sickening slosh and Harry sent it soaring toward the chest of another of his enemies. As the wizard dove out of the way, Harry sent the dagger diving deep into his buttocks. Throwing another quick spell, the metal elongated and pushed through the wizard, bursting out of his hip, and digging into the ground, impaling the Deatheater where he lay. Another mischievous smile alighted on Harry's face. He quickly summoned the wands of the fallen wizards and, grabbing the other half of the rake firmly in his hand, he turned to run some more.
But his way was stopped by the last two wizards he had forgotten about as he was busy using the rake to exact some vengeance on his pursuers. The two Deatheaters towered over him, their wands pointed directly at him. The taller one leaned forward and spoke in a deathly calm voice.
"Drop your wand boy, we're not playing games today."
Harry sneered at the idiot in front of him. "Sorry, you'll have to curse me. I'd strongly suggest the Cruciatus. In fact, I really want you to. C'mon, curse me you idiots. You fools."
"We know better than that boy," the leader of this strike spoke with contempt, his voice still naggingly familiar to Harry. "We know what happened to Wormtail."
"Oh please, you lackeys know nothing. Voldemort wouldn't tell you anything important. If he did, you'd be smarter than to show up here. You know Dumbledore is on his way, probably with half a dozen Aurors. You'll be lucky to escape without serious injury, unlike your toadies over there. Pretty soon you'll be surrounded and that half-mudblood, Voldemort, will have lost five more of his simpering rodents, and I'll spend the evening laughing about stabbing one of you fools in the arse."
Harry watched as the two Deatheaters struggled to control their temper. Laughing at their distress, Harry egged them on even more.
"That's right, you probably don't know. Your boss' mother was a witch, but his dad was a Muggle. Bet you didn't know that did you? The vaunted leader of all you stupid fools has dirty blood. How does that make you feel? How do you feel when Voldemort tells you what to do, knowing that his dear old Mum slept with a pathetic, disgusting Muggle? Why, Voldie could have been born a Squib! Imagine that, the most evil man in the century, just a chromosome or two away from being pathetic Squib."
It worked. Harry's words did what he had wanted. The junior Deatheater couldn't control his anger any more. Despite his leader shouting at him to stop, he drew back his wand and thrust it forward, shouting "Crucio!" at Harry. Harry laughed as the air shimmered with a white glow, and again the scent of fresh rain bombarded Harry's senses. As he watched the dreadful curse bounce away from him back at its owner it hit with a satisfying crack as the spell intersected with the Deatheater, sending him into convulsions. Screaming, he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
His companion danced away with disgust, spitting in anger.
"You fool, you idiot. We knew this would happen, we knew that it would bounce back."
"Yeah," interrupted Harry. "But he was too stupid to let me insult his precious little Voldie. Too proud of the filthy, disgusting animal to let a mere teenager insult him. After all, I've already defeated him once, and everyone knows I'm going to do it again. That's got to tick you off just a little, I'd imagine."
"I will not be fooled, Potter," the Deatheater snapped. "I know better. I'm here to deliver this."
The remaining Deatheater threw a small metallic object at Harry. Harry's well-honed Quidditch instincts forced his hand into the air to catch the object, while his mind screamed at him to let it drop. As the object sailed towards him, physical instinct and intellect warred within each other.
Intellect won.
Harry quickly batted the object back at the Deatheater who gasped with surprise. Making yet another mistake, he plucked the object from the air and promptly disappeared with a pop. It was obviously a portkey and Harry shook with relief that he hadn't caught it.
Turning, he surveyed the wreckage of his neighborhood. Four wizards were lying around, one still screaming in agony as the effects of the Cruciatus was still hitting him, two others moaning in agony from their wounds from the transfigured dagger, and the third, back near the Dursley's house, still stunned from Harry's first spell.
Arabella Figg got up from where Harry had told her to stay, and raced over to Harry. Quickly examining him, she breathed a sigh of relief when he was not harmed.
"We'd better clean this up as best we can, Harry. I don't know why Dumbledore isn't here yet, or where the Ministry is, but there'll be hell to pay from both. He'll be furious that you were left unprotected again, but we'll have to deal with the Ministry again. That was a lot of magic you just went through. Fortunately we have evidence this time."
She motioned to all the Deatheaters on the ground and turned to Harry.
"Well, the cat's out of the bag now, pull them all together and let's get them in to my house. I can try and find someone by Floo and figure out why no one is here yet."
Harry agreed with Arabella and quickly threw out a few spells to pull the bodies to him. He first cast several silencing spells to keep the agonized screams from disturbing Mrs. Figg. Harry pointedly did not cease the spell wracking through the body of the wizard who had tried to curse him. Then he floated each of the Deatheaters and pushed them ahead of him with his wand. Harry directed them into Mrs. Figg's house, and dropped them unceremoniously in the living room. Mrs. Figg walked to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and shoved her head into the fire.
After ensuring that none of the wizards were capable of movement, he took each of their wands and quickly broke them individually over his knee. Each wand let off a loud bang and colorful sparks as they were broken. As he broke the last one, the wizard's wand that had tried to hit Harry with the Cruciatus, Harry saw a bigger flash as that dreadful spell finally stopped. The wizard collapsed, inert, on the floor, and Harry saw blood trickling out of his mouth as he gasped for air. Harry grimly stunned the Deatheater, to ensure nothing else happened, and put all the broken wand halves in his pocket.
He finally realized how exhausted he was from the intense affair, and the surge of adrenaline that had powered his movements finished, leaving him weak as he collapsed into a chair. He waited, growing more impatient as Arabella continued to keep her head in the fireplace. After several minutes she resignedly withdrew her head and looked at Harry.
"Well, I finally found someone. I talked with Molly. She and her children are on their way. There was an, incident. But Dumbledore was prepared I guess."
"What do you mean? What kind of incident?" Harry demanded.
"Well, Molly seems to think that You-Know-Who was planning an attempt on Azkaban, he really wanted to rescue Malfoy and the others. When you showed up at your Aunt's did one of them disappear?" Seeing Harry's head nod, she continued.
"Apparently He was hoping you'd use magic and call attention to yourself, pulling Dumbledore and the Ministry off of their track. Molly thinks Dumbledore had a plan, but she didn't know all the details because she missed the last Order meeting planning for your party."
As a flash of guilt shot across Harry's face, Arabella barked out a laughed.
"Don't worry about it boy. Not everyone always knows everything. She wasn't upset, she knew that she didn't know something and didn't want to worry us by speculating. She'll be here soon, apparently she was going to use the twins' car."
Harry's eyes goggled at that, but he didn't say anything. Instead he looked at the prisoners, and sighed when he saw they were all still stunned.
"What should we do about them?" he asked. "Should we send them somewhere? What about Hogwarts? Or the Ministry?"
"Molly said to keep them here. She knows what to do with them, I guess. She said to make sure they stay stunned, but that's it."
Harry nodded reluctantly and sank back into the comfortable seat. Half an hour passed and he heard a loud commotion outside. Grabbing his wand firmly in his hand, he opened the door, prepared to cast several spells simultaneously. He couldn't decide between sighing and laughing when he saw the disastrously painted car that he knew belonged to the twins come careening towards Mrs. Figg's house. With an insanely loud screech the car came to an abrupt stop and the doors flew open. Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny leapt out of the car, all three incredibly green in the face and none walking steadily. The car gave a merry hoot and backed out of the neighborhood on its own accord. It gave one loud blast of its horn and then flitted away from Privet Drive at an impossible speed.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley. Where's the car going?" Harry asked, hoping that normal conversation would help Mrs. Weasley regain her composure.
"Hello dear. The twins put a Homing Charm on it, the car returns to their shop at Diagon Alley. I swear I'll never drive in it again. Unless of course there's another emergency. But even then..." she paused as a final wave of nausea crept along her face. Standing perfectly still, she counted to ten while the unpleasant feeling faded, then smiled grimly at Harry.
"I understand that you've had another active day? My heart almost stopped when I looked up at the clock. Oddly it only flitted to 'Mortal Peril' for a few moments. For the most part it was locked on 'In Battle' and you made a new face appear that read 'Dreadfully Pissed Off.' I've never seen that happen, but you are extraordinary aren't you?" she said. "Well, can't be helped. Can't be helped. Dumbledore was worried about this, but said you'd be able to take care of yourself if we weren't around. He was confident, as he always is. I can't say he wasn't right of course, but you are still so young. We should have thought of something. Oh my!"
Mrs. Weasley kept speaking as Harry led her into Mrs. Figg's house and stopped abruptly when she saw the mangled bodies lying on the floor. Stepping over them she waved her wand and cast several quick spells. Metallic ropes shot out of her wand, binding each Deatheater up in tight chains. Gags and blindfolds came out next, tying themselves around each of the dark wizards, and finally she cast anti-apparition jinxes on them. "Not as powerful as Dumbledore could do, mind you, but he taught us the basics."
Turning to Harry, she looked at him with a difference in her eyes. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that Mrs. Weasley was looking at him differently than she ever had before. It wasn't quite fear and it wasn't quite awe, but it was not entirely pleasant. Shaking it off Harry looked at the motherly woman and offered a small smile.
"Erm, thanks for coming. I'm sorry to be a bother," he said before Ron interrupted.
"Sorry? You're bloody sorry? Four Deatheaters are lying in a mealy pulp on the floor, and you did it yourself, mind you, and you're sorry? You should be bloody proud mate. You staved 'em off, again. Alone this time. How's that possible? They can't be that incompetent?"
Harry flashed his best friend a grin but looked out of the corner of his eye. When he realized that Mrs. Weasley wasn't truly upset with him, he looked at her straight on. Whatever the look she had given him before was, it had disappeared, and now she looked at him with love, concern, and a fierce pride. Encouraged by her small smile and nod, he started to tell them what had happened.
Interrupted at points by all three Weasleys, and occasionally by Mrs. Figg, Harry made it most of the way through the story.
"I don't understand what happened when he threw the Cruciatus at you, Harry," Mrs. Weasley interrupted at that point of the story. "What happened?"
"Erm, I don't really know. The same thing that had happened with Wormtail, I suppose. It was like a shield of some kind. I heard a soft murmuring of music or voices, I could smell something pleasant, and then the spell shot back at the idiot who cast it. He was caught in it for a long time, too. I don't think it stopped until I broke his wand a few minutes ago."
"What do you mean, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked again. "No one could cast a Cruciatus for that long. What sustained it?"
"Dumbledore said that spells thrown at me would rebound and be multiplied, unless I ended it before hand. I, erm, didn't want to end it, so I left him alone."
"He was being hit by that for over 20 minutes? A full curse, without let- up? That's, um, wow."
"He deserved it," Harry said flatly. "They threatened Mrs. Figg. They threatened me. I didn't do it intentionally, but I wasn't going to let him off easy. Shows them to choose to follow Voldemort."
Everyone in the room paled at his name, but Ron and Ginny were nodding their heads in agreement. Mrs. Weasley saw this and sighed, but didn't say anything to Harry. Instead she reached out to him and grabbed him up in one of her patented hugs.
"Well, I'm relieved that you are safe, and that Arabella is okay. Dumbledore should be here soon, and he'll take care of everything."
***
Unfortunately Mrs. Weasley was wrong. After an hour had passed, and Mrs. Weasley grew increasingly distressed, she started pacing by the window.
"There's such a mess out there, and so many people had to see. We just can't wait for the Ministry. We have to start cleaning this up. There'll be hell to pay, but that's the way the world is nowadays."
Squaring her shoulders she moved to the front door, only to be interrupted by Harry.
"Mrs. Weasley, let me help? Please? I made this mess, I'd like to help clean it up."
"Harry dear, you are not responsible-" she started to speak, but Harry interrupted her.
"I know, I know. But I still did this, and I have to help clean it up. Trust me, it's important, and maybe it will help with the Ministry."
Sighing, Mrs. Weasley reluctantly agreed. She turned to examine the unconscious Deatheaters and motioned to Ron and Ginny.
"If they so much as move, call for help. Harry and I will be outside and we'll run back immediately."
"But Mum, we want to help too!" Ron begged, with Ginny nodding her head in agreement.
"Nonsense, you can't use Harry's excuse of being in a life threatening situation. The Minister would only be too happy to expel you because of your father and your friendship with Harry. We have to be smart, and safe. Watch these men and let us know if they start to awaken."
Her tone of voice brooked no opposition, and Ron and Ginny nodded their heads, throwing somewhat dirty looks at the Deatheaters, obviously hoping that they'd wake up a little so Ron and Ginny could inflict some personal damage.
Mrs. Weasley marched Harry out of the house and started examining the damage. Deciding on a course of action, she directed Harry to starting cleaning and repairing the damage from the reflected spells and started going house to house, wiping the memory of the muggles who had unfortunately seen too much. It was tiring work, and the two of them kept at it for over an hour, still without sign or spell from the Ministry or Professor Dumbledore.
Finally, as Harry was repairing the last of the obvious destruction, he heard a loud pop of several wizards appear behind him. Whirling around he was startled to see Percy and several older wizards brandishing their wands at him, obviously distressed about something.
Calmly, Harry slowly relaxed and stopped pointing his wand at the newly arrived group. He immediately regretted that when Percy withdrew an official parchment from his robes and started speaking in a pompous voice.
"Harry Potter you are accused of performing underage magic to an extraordinary level. The Ministry has recorded over one hundred spells being performed by you in the past several hours, many of them of complex and sophisticated means that cannot be explained by accident or to secure your life.
"The Minister of Magic has ordered the confiscation of your wand and your immediate arrest and transportation to the Ministry headquarters where you will be tried immediately.
"Please hand over your wand and submit to these officials from the Office of the Minister."
Harry knew for a certainty that his hand on the clock back at the Burrow was certain to read a new measure of 'Inordinately, Incredibly, Amazingly Dreadfully Pissed Off' and he was scared to imagine what Mrs. Weasley's face was pointing to. Her anger was palpable, and it hit Harry like a tidal wave. She had just finished wiping the memory of the last muggles to have seen the battle when she saw Percy and the Ministry wizards appear. Walking over she had heard her child's speech and started fuming.
Then she got mad.
She placed herself directly in between Percy and Harry, shielding Harry from any spells, but allowing him to see the confrontation.
"Excuse me?" she said in terribly cold voice. "You've come to arrest Harry for saving his life? Saving Arabella Figg's life? Protecting the muggles that live here? Helping me clean up the mess after we waited for the Ministry to arrive? Did you think it would be good to leave the detritus of a magical battle lying about? Should we have left them their memories, so they could pass on what they had witnessed? What exactly was his crime other than doing what must be done?"
Percy paled at the dreadful fury emanating from his mother. But steadfastly he remained true to his chosen duty.
"This has nothing to do with you Mother. Please stand aside or I'll be forced to arrest you as well for interfering with Ministry business."
Mrs. Weasley stared wordlessly at her son. She could not imagine having this confrontation with any of her other children, couldn't quite believe that she was having it with Percy. She had always tried to defend his obsession with the rules. She had always been proud of his dedication to duty. When he had been made Prefect, she knew it was a proud day for him, recognition of his adherence to the rules. As Head Boy he had proudly administered the rules and she was overjoyed for him when he joined the Ministry.
Despite their estrangement over the past year, she knew he was doing what he thought right. She knew that he was trying to abide by the rules, and enforce them as best he knew how. But she was deeply, bitterly disappointed in him.
"You silly, foolish, bureaucrat," she whispered. "It is obvious by the amount of magic still in the air that there was a battle. If you saw the spells that Harry was casting, you know something unusual was going on. Did you come investigate immediately? No. Did you come as soon as it was over? No. You waited until he was casting simple cleaning and repairing spells. And if you had an ounce of brains at that Ministry of yours, you would have known that something unusual was afoot. Where is Dumbledore? Where is your father? He should have been summoned when Harry transfigured the rake. Why didn't you call his office? This is clearly within his jurisdiction.
"No, you're afraid. I understand. These are scary times. And your boss is terrified. No one respects him, his power is almost entirely gone. Except for the power you bureaucrats give him. You are so terrified of losing your positions that you seem to fail to recognize that the very world is at risk. And so you continue to heckle and pester this poor boy that has done nothing but fight evil from the time he was born. Without your vaunted support. With constant attack by the Ministry who is supposed to help keep us all safe.
"You will not arrest Harry. You will not detain Harry. And you certainly will not take his wand. His very life, all of our lives depend on his ability, his magic, his future. I will not stand idly by as you try to destroy that, without knowing what you are doing.
"Stop this foolishness now, Percy."
As she finished her statement Percy and the other Ministry were outraged. She had mocked them, belittled them, and interfered with their mission. They were under orders from the Minister himself, and by Merlin they would complete their mission.
Raising their wands in unison, their arms shot forward. Speaking as one, they all shouted "Stupefy!" directly at Mrs. Weasley's chest, planning on knocking her unconscious for a week or more.
As the beams shot towards her, she gasped in surprise, terrified at what was about to happen, distraught at her child's actions. That much magic wouldn't merely stun her, it could kill her.
The passage of time slowed down, the beams of the spells crept slowly toward her, threatening to send her into oblivion when the brave young boy behind her did the most unexpected thing. With his wiry strength and quick reflexes, he dove in front of Mrs. Weasley and let the beams intersect with him. There was a phenomenally brilliant flash of light. Then equally amazing darkness.
***
Harry slowly emerged from a fog where his eyes were blurred and unable to focus. He realized that he was missing his glasses and somehow was in a bed. As he stirred in the bed, he heard a soft rustle and he heard Ginny's voice speaking quietly.
"Relax Harry. Hold on a moment. Mum, Mum, he's awake."
With a startled exclamation Harry was suddenly grasped in another firm hug from Mrs. Weasley. He wryly thought that she might eventually hit him with a sticking charm to keep him in her embrace. After several moments she let him go, and quietly handed him his glasses. Putting them on, he looked around the room, and recognized it as the room he shared with Ron at 12 Grimmauld Place.
As he tried to sit up again, Mrs. Weasley gave him a helping hand and propped him up with several recently fluffed pillows. As he looked about the room he realized that the entire Weasley family was there, minus Percy of course, along with Remus Lupin and Professor Dumbledore.
"What happened? How'd I get here?" he asked. "The last thing I remember was diving in front of Mrs. Weasley, there was a great flash of light, and now I'm here."
Harry was surprised at the chuckles that greeted his confusion. Looking from face to face, he couldn't understand what was funny.
"Harry, I'll begin at the end, though there is much to discuss, about the other events today" started Professor Dumbledore. "You see, your mother's protection is not just for Dark wizards. Oh no, it is from any spell with hostile effect. When you selflessly dove in front of the oncoming spells, you triggered the protection and the spells were directed back at their owners. Unfortunately, in your haste, you didn't aim particularly well. The flash of light of the spells being rebounded momentarily blinded you as well, for there were many spells being sent in your direction, and you landed quite, ah, badly and knocked yourself out.
"Fortunately I had finished our business at Azkaban and the Ministry, and was able to apparate to your side just as you fell. Seeing as you managed to stun young Percy and his compatriots from the Ministry, I merely sent them back to the Ministry, somewhat unceremoniously I'll admit, and brought you here, to your new home. You simply needed rest, something which you need more of in abundance."
When Dumbledore had mentioned Percy's name the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. Ron had started muttering to himself, Fred and George pounded their fists menacingly in their hands, and Bill and Charlie gave each other knowing, determined looks. Mr. Weasley sighed bitterly and his eyes flashed fire, while Mrs. Weasley simply pretended that she hadn't heard anything. It was Ginny that really scared Harry. The look of inarticulate fury, and sorrow, mixed savagely on her face, and Harry knew that he would do what he could to make Percy regret causing her that much anguish.
Returning his attention to Professor Dumbledore, he saw that his headmaster looked rather tired. There were scorch marks on his robes, and Harry saw a splattering of blood on his knuckles. Slowly looking around the room, Harry realized that Lupin was in a similar state, as were Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George.
"Professor what happened? Why didn't you come? Did Fawkes reach you? What happened to the Aurors? What about Azkaban? And how did the Ministry decide to arrest me?" he demanded.
"Patience, Harry, patience. I will tell you all in good time. Where to begin? Ah, yes, I had learned that Voldemort had planned on freeing Lucius and Peter, and several others of his followers at Azkaban. Not so much out of any loyalty, mind you, but simply because he needs the supporters. So, he attempted to distract my attention, and that of the Ministry, by attacking you again, and hopefully forcing you to perform some magic.
"I'll say he almost was able to do both. But fortunately I was made aware of his plans, and made my own. Those Aurors who are smarter than others at the Ministry were convinced to conduct a security inspection of Azkaban. We have already managed to remove the Dementors from their role as guards, so Kingsley spontaneously decided to conduct a review of the security of the installation. As a precautionary measure he brought a good number of Aurors with him.
"Around the same time that Kingsley arrived at the prison, a party of Deatheaters appeared at your Aunt's home. While they were ostensibly only supposed to gain your attention and force you to panic, they failed to account for your predilection to thwarting their plans. When you made your presence known to them, one of them returned to Voldemort to inform him that you had already cast some spells, and that the Ministry would presumably be pursuing you shortly.
"At that time Voldemort sent most of his followers to attack Azkaban, presuming that it would be poorly defended and that his forces would be able to take over the island easily. He did not count on the Aurors being there. As soon as they arrived, Kingsley made me aware of the situation. I contacted Madam Bones and encouraged her to ignore your indiscretion for the moment and send her law enforcement professionals to Azkaban. Fortunately she complied with my request.
"I accompanied her to support Kingsley and the Aurors, along with Remus, Arthur, William, Charles, Fred, and George and we found ourselves in a full fledged battle. Apparently Voldemort was quite intent on rescuing Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Pettigrew, not realizing that I had the two of them moved to a more secure location that very morning. The Deatheaters fought quite valiantly, and most of them managed to escape, but fortunately they did not release any of the other prisoners."
"It was brilliant, Harry," interrupted Fred. George concurred. "He was amazing," pointing at their former headmaster, "casting dozens of spells, knocking them down with ease. One of them thought to act as if he was stunned, hoping that the headmaster would just step over him. As he did, the death eater sat up and aimed his wand. Dumbledore didn't even glance, he just socked him in the jaw with his fist. It was brilliant!"
Professor Dumbledore let out a small chuckle, his eyes flashing with mirth.
"Thank you boys, but please let me continue. After we stopped the fighting at Azkaban, Madam Bones was made aware of a disturbance at her office. Apparently Minister Fudge was more concerned about your actions than the attempted takeover of Azkaban. He had sent several people forcibly into Madam Bones' office and recorded the numerous spells you cast while defeating your own attack squad of Voldemort's followers.
"Unfortunately, Madam Bones and I arrived just after the party of Ministry officials appeared at your Aunt's home, otherwise we would have intervened. I tried to persuade the Minister to drop all charges, but he refuses to do so."
"Good," spat Harry. "We're having this out once and for all. You know my plans, Professor. I had intended on waiting until the shareholder meeting, but now, let's go to trial. You're still on the Wizengamut, correct?"
Nodding his head, Professor Dumbledore looked gravely at Harry.
"Are you sure Harry? This is very risky, your plan could backfire."
"Professor, if he wants to charge me with the crime of defending my life, then let him. If he wants to truth to come out, that he didn't do anything to prevent Deatheaters from attacking me, that he sent that stupid git to arrest me, that they almost killed Mrs. Weasley in the process, that he is ignoring the battle at Azkaban, well, let's let it all out in the public.
"I can have an attorney and my own witnesses, right? And the media can't be kept out, right? They're invited. Let's make this a big public spectacle. Let Fudge think he's going to win before I pull the carpet out from underneath him."
Seething, Harry bitterly spat out those last words. He was sick of the interference of Fudge's Ministry and knew he would win.
"Fine Harry, we'll proceed as you request. I'll schedule your trial for the end of the week. That should confuse Fudge quite a bit. I'm still planning on conducting those other trials this week, but the Ministry can't interfere at this point."
"Well, I still want to testify, if you need it."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, it should help us for your trial as well. Now if you'll excuse me I have a few other matters to take care of."
"Wait Professor, I have one more question, erm, actually two. If you knew about the attack on Azkaban, why didn't your respond when Fawkes brought you my message? Or when the protection charm alerted you that I had been attacked?"
"Well, Harry, after our last conversation, and after witnessing your abilities at the Ministry in June, I decided that I could afford to come to your assistance after I had secured the prison. I knew the charm was effective and I took that chance. I'm sorry if you were worried, but I simply had no other choice."
Pleased with Professor Dumbledore's statement, and his faith in Harry, Harry relaxed back into the pillow. "Oh, Professor, one more question. What would have happened if I had grabbed the portkey?"
Professor Dumbledore had turned to leave the room when Harry asked the seemingly innocuous question. He stopped abruptly and spun towards Harry. His eyes flashed fire as he struggled to control the anger that flashed across his face. Very slowly he looked Harry in the eye.
"Excuse me, Harry? What portkey?" he asked with a stillness that immediately made Harry wish he hadn't brought it up.
"The portkey the Deatheater threw at me. It was small and shiny, looked almost like a Snitch, but not quite. I didn't know what it was when he threw it at me and I almost caught it, but thought better of it and hit it back at him. He grabbed it and disappeared. It had to be a portkey, right?"
The calm fury that emanated in waves from the powerful wizard rattled Harry's teeth. The Weasley family wisely stepped back from the angry wizard, giving him as much room as they could possibly give him.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Harry. Please repeat that to me, and give me every detail you can recall." He spoke with a calmness that was unnatural considering the sparks of anger that skittered across the room.
Harry repeated the events of what had happened, as well as the details that he could recall about the portkey. As he finished, Dumbledore gravely nodded his head and thanked Harry.
"I will need to think about this, I will need to think about this a great deal. I will explain in the fullness of time. But first I must investigate what happened."
"Professor, why are you so upset about this? What makes this so important?" Harry pressed. "You told me I was not going to be kept away from information that was important to me."
With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore looked out the window for several moments before responding. Wearily he looked Harry directly in the eye.
"The leader of that party of Deatheaters is known to you, Harry. It was Professor Snape."