Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or plots, but I do
however own my original characters, which may or may not be appearing in
abundance in this fic. I am making no money off of this, otherwise it
wouldn't be on here.
Harry grinned at his godfather, whom was currently clutching at him as if for dear life.
"Sirius, it is good to see you. The same to you, Remus," He said, smiling towards the more reserved, but no less happy, older man.
Remus smiled towards him, with untold amounts of relief flowing through his heart and mind. "You had our hearts broken, Harry."
Harry laughed, and hugged Sirius tightly, then stood and did the same to Remus. Sirius and Remus' expression were ones of profound joy and relief; Rarely were these expressions seen over the past many years. Frown lines were easily discernable on both their faces, they'd each grown a lot grayer over the years, Remus now almost completely gray headed. They looked haggard, as if rotting from the inside out. But instead of dull eyes, devoid of life, they shown with extreme happiness, brimming with tears, giving a look of underwater lights.
"Miss Granger," It was Snape that spoke up. "Would you be so kind as to set some extra chairs...we have much to discuss, and may as well be comfortable for the duration of Potter's tale."
Hermione nodded and strode into the dining room, coming back with a pair of chairs in hand. She sat them down in front of the fireplace, across from Harry's chair, and moved the other chairs already in the room next to them. Snape took a seat, followed by Hermione. A moment later, Remus joined them, after once again telling Harry how much he was missed. Lastly, Harry moved Sirius over to his chair, and gently pushed him into it. Sirius was in tears, pure joyous tears. Harry then stepped back to his chair, and sat down in it. Looking across to the four people sitting opposite him, he sat silent.
"Well?" It was Snape again.
Harry smiled, and sat back, preparing to begin his tale. "My apologies, I was contemplating where to begin."
"Eight years ago, when Angelina and the muggle family was killed." It was Remus, that time.
Harry nodded, and steepled his hands against his nose, thumbs under his chin. "As I'm sure you all know, Angelina and I had a rather heated argument on the night that she left Hogwarts...I was warning her about the possibility of it being a trap, but she wouldn't listen," Harry paused, taking a breath and looking at his captivated audience. "Shortly after she boarded the Express, I was knocked out, physically that is. Lucius Malfoy took my wand, and delivered it to Voldemort, who used it to kill Angelina and the muggles. The wand was returned to me, and I was awakened. You all know the story from there."
They nodded, but Snape had a curious look on his face.
"How do you know all this if you were unconscious at the time?"
Harry smiled slightly, and answered. "The knowledge came to me earlier today."
"How?" The others in the room chorused.
Harry looked at them all in turn, and thought. "Before I go into it, I need you to answer some questions for me."
"Like what?" Hermione asked.
"What is the 'Order of the Lion', for one?"
Remus, Sirius, Snape, and Hermione all looked at each other. It was Remus that spoke up, "How do you know about the Order?" He looked at Harry in confusion.
"I was in Diagon Ally, and overheard a man mention that you inducted a certain 'Thomas Finwell' into it." Harry answered.
"Who spoke of this? Who was with him? Where?" Remus fired off the questions quickly, with barely restrainted anger in his voice.
"He was about my height, graying hair. Beard to the top of his chest-- "
Remus cut him off with a wave, "Jonathon Timmerly. He was no doubt with his cousins, they're all trustworthy. Did anyone else overhear this?"
"No, it was only me." Harry replied.
"That batty old fool should not be discussing these things in public. He needs to be suspended!" Snape hissed in a very angry tone.
"Easy, Severus. We need to hear the rest of what happened, before jumping to hand out punishments." Remus replied. "Continue, Harry."
Harry nodded, and gave them a detailed account of what happened, what he overheard, and everything related to it.
When he finished, Remus, Sirius, and Hermione looked satisfied. Snape still looked fit to kill, but a bit less so than before.
"So..." Harry trailed off, looking expectantly at the others.
It was Remus to reply, once again. "The Order of the Lion is a secret order devoted to proving your innocence, and fighting Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic. Hermione is our record keeper, so she can give you all the information." He motioned for her to speak.
Hermione cleared her throat, and began speaking from memory. "We currently have thirty-one members, and fifteen more applicants that are under guard of a remote security spell that will stop them from betraying us. The four of us, and two others are also active members in the Order of the Phoenix, and we currently also have three members in Voldemort's Death Eater corps, spying for us. Professor Snape is one of them, the other two are James Figglesbee, and Robert McCannon."
Hermione looked at Harry to see if he had any questions. He silently motioned for her to continue.
Hermione cleared her throat, and resumed speaking. "Two of our members are Unspeakables from the Ministry of Magic, and we have six members that are high ranking officials in foriegn Wizarding governments. Two from Sweden, one from Romania, two from France, and one from America."
Harry looked surprised at this, but before he could raise any questions, Sirius cut him off. "A lot more people think you're innocent, than you know of, Harry," He smiled. "The Ministry has, unfortunately, done well in shutting up the part of the populace that still supports you. As you somewhat overheard from Timmerly and his group, the Ministry has a sort of Gestapo force now...one of their primary missions being to prevent, and stop public dissent...one of those topics they deem as dissent, is publically believing your innocence." His voice took on a sadder note, and a definite shadow passed across his features as he paused. "More than a couple of our friends and your supporters have gone missing after holding a rally, petitioning for a retrial for you."
Harry was shell shocked at this information, and was not able to form any coherent speech, or thought. He thus remained silent, waiting for someone to continue.
"The Minister of Security is a bad man," It was Remus that continued speaking, "we have no evidence, but we firmly believe that he's involved, or has been involved, in several high operation crime syndicates throughout both wizarding and muggle Europe and Asia." Remus took out a file with several individual sheets of parchment in it, and scanned over it to refresh his memory on the current topic. "One of our very respectable sources from Asia has heard rumors that Malaston once operated a magical creature slave trade in the Hong Kong underground. More rumors from our source in the Romanian Ministry suggest that he was the driving force behind the attempted political coup several years back. That lead to a near full scale civil war in Romania, before it was managed to be put out. The group that attempted the coup, Knights of Morgana, were destroyed in a very...convenient manner, as they were pinned down in their fortress. It just blew up, killing everyone in it. A very strange occurance, seeing that the Knights were still fighting back when the explosion occurred. This destroyed any possible connections and evidence that could be made between them and Malaston." Remus finally stopped speaking, and motioned for someone else to take up the story. It was Hermione again.
"Shortly after this, the wizarding world was in chaos...wizarding governments from around the world sent in their forces to help stop the coup, and many were killed. The initial coup attempt was stopped, but the Knights continued their fight, gaining thousands of supporters from around the world, swayed by promises of riches and power. They were strong enough to rival Voldemort at their height, but luckily their greed kept them allying. The resulting war that happened lasted for about a month, with battles being fought every day. The Romanians ended up losing almost two hundred soldiers. The British Ministry sent two Auror divisions to assist, consisting of almost a thousand Aurors. They were ambushed upon their arrival, and lost nearly a hundred men right off the bat before they were able to disapparate to safety. They ended up losing two hundred and ninety Aurors before the war stopped. France took the worst beating of all, and lost two complete divisions of their soldiers. They had the unfortunate fate of being portkeyed into a valley in the Carpathian mountain range. Somehow, the Knights knew about their arrival, and started a massive rockslide from the surrounding mountains as they arrived. Six hundred of them died in that ambush. The other four hundred died in combat in the following weeks. Other nations including Sweden, Bulgaria, Russia, Japan, Australia, the United States, Egypt, and Germany, lost a combined total of twelve hundred soldiers." Hermione paused and took several moments to gather herself before continuing the story, "The wizarding world was in chaos, nobody had heard of such a massive loss of life since Grindelwald was at large. This was when we believe Malaston decided to cut his losses...the Knights were being steadily driven back into the mountains, and the leaders were holed up in their fortress. Malaston triggered a fail safe device, destroying them and any connection to him, and came to Britain. He used his money and influence to buy his way into the Ministry...it was exceptionally easy, due to the widespread panic and irrationality of everyone. Shortly after, he made his way to Minister of Security, and has been gaining more power, taking more liberties with his position, every year." Hermione finally stopped, and took a deep breath.
Harry took this moment to look at the others in the room. They were nodding, agreeing with what she had said.
Harry asked the first question that came to mind. "What are you doing to stop him?"
Surprisingly, it was Snape that answered. "We've been putting out bimonthly newsletters, voicing our suspicions. Unfortunately, Malaston's Gestapo is a lot quicker than the rest of the Ministry at responding to threats. Whenever they begin to be circulated, a team arrives and breaks it up, confiscating the letters. Some people manage to get ahold of them, but they're taken in under suspicions of helping to spread enemy propeganda. Now, people are afraid to even pick up a letter when it appears. People are afraid of Malaston, but unfortunately, they also believe in him. He's slowly, over the years, helped strengthen the sense that any moment could be their last, and that he's the one that can provide them security. They don't seem to care that they're sacrificing essential freedoms for this..."safety"." He spat out the last word as though it was a curse.
Harry nodded in realization, before another question came to mind. "How did you circulate the newsletters without being caught?"
"A well used invisibility cloak, a couple charms to make people look the other way, and a levitating charm." Sirius provided the answer.
"Now," Hermione began with a hint of impatience in her voice. "You tell us everything."
Harry gazed thoughtfully at her, earning a few confused looks from the others in the room. Sirius happened to think that he was gazing lovingly at her. Before anyone could question him, he began speaking.
"Yesterday, while in Azkaban, I recieved a package..." He trailed off, knowing that he would be questioned about the package.
Sure enough, Remus raised a question. "What package?"
"It was a book, labelled 'The International Compendium of Wizengamot Decrees'. Frankly, I thought it looked quite boring. But...I was struck with the idea that maybe it came from one of you, and had put a hiding charm on it. So I spoke the password that it always was with you three, Prongs, and the mask faded away. I was left with 'Sacrifices and Rituals to Appease the Gods'." At this, Hermione gasped violently.
"You didn't!" She whispered.
"I did." Harry confirmed.
"What did you do?" Sirius inquired.
"He made a blood sacrifice!" Hermione shrieked. This was followed by much commotion from the other three; Sirius and Remus shouting incoherently, Snape lost his usual scornful manner and was hissing about the stupidity of the Potter bloodline.
"You mentioned Naylajaratim before, which god is that?" Hermione screamed to be heard over the din. This quieted down Sirius and Remus, but Snape continued his hissing.
"Vengeance." Harry answered calmly.
"Stupid boy, do you have any idea how dangerous this is, how much risk you're at, invoking the power of a vegeance god?" Snape seethed.
Harry, becoming amused by their reactions, chuckled lightly before answering. "I find him to be quite personable."
"You met him?" Hermione gaped. Harry looked at the others, and saw them gaping as well.
"Yes. After I made the initial drawing of blood, and began speaking the incantation, I was transported to the ethereal realm, where I met him. There, I learned that a long ways down my line, a Potter also invoked his power. We're the only ones to do so in the last seven thousand years."
"How could you do this? What would compel you to do this? You could've died!" Sirius yelled, emotionally wrecked from the stressful day.
Harry shot out of his chair in the blink of an eye, amazing everyone in the room by his speed and agility, they backed away slightly when they saw his eyes had gone black and electricity flickered across the whites. "What compelled me? You want to know what compelled me to want to break out of Azkaban? I spent eight years there as an innocent man, reliving my parents' death every couple minutes, reliving Cedric's death every couple minutes, and viewing and reliving the horrors that Voldemort was committing throughout the time I was there. Frankly, I could not have cared less if I died, I just wanted to try and do something to get the hell out of there."
The others in the room remained silent as he forced himself to calm back down. His eyes lightened to their normal green color, and the electricity faded away. Also, the lights in the room ceased flickering and the temperature raised back to normal. Neither of which Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and Snape had noticed occuring.
"That is what compelled me to do this." Harry quietly added, sinking back into his chair.
"I'm sorry, Harry." Sirius softly apologized.
Harry nodded his forgiveness.
"What else--"
Harry cut Hermione off with a sharp hand gesture, "Somebody's coming. She bares no hostile intent, but I don't recognize her aura." He swiftly got to his feet again and looked towards the door just as it burst open and a woman came striding in.
Harry quickly changed his appearance before she took notice of him, and power was palpable as it drew around him. He raised his right arm and the woman flew backwards into a wall with an surprised scream, sticking there as Harry strode towards her. The other occupants of the room were terrified of this display of raw, yet controlled power. Their hair stood out from static electricity, and the temperature of the room had dropped again by a very noticeable margin. The lights in the room dimmed, and Harry seemed to be walking on air as he moved closer to the terrified, shocked woman who was still pinned against the wall with invisible shackles. The fire in the fireplace was extenguished, and they could see the whites of his eyes glowing a terrible electrifying blue, flickering with energy. They surrounded irises that were such a deep shade of black, that they appeared to be able to suck light into them, similar to a black hole. They saw this through a reflection in a convienently located mirror, but it was nothing compared to the reality of looking straight at him, as the woman currently was. She began to scream in terror, but Harry was quick to silence her by moving a finger in her direction. She quite suddenly found her vocal chords to be uncooperative. He glided closer to her, and raised his arm. She raised further up the wall, tears escaping her eyes.
Remus was the first to regain his ability to think, and bounded across the room to Harry, screaming all the way, "Harry, no! That's Tonks!" He reached Harry and began frantically pulling at him. "She's one of us dammit, put her down!" He screamed into Harry's ear. Harry nodded fractionally, and lowered his arm, slowly dropping Tonks to the floor. He released his hold on her vocal chords, and she began sobbing deliriously, while curling into a ball.
By this time, Sirius and Hermione also recovered, and had rushed to Tonks' side. Snape went to Harry and pulled him into another room, away from the broken down Auror.
"Are you bloody insane, Potter? You nearly gave the girl a heart attack!" Snape yelled at him as he closed the door to a bedroom.
Harry dropped his disguised and drew up to his full size, coming eye to eye with the professor. His aura, however, made him seem a foot taller to Snape, who fell back in momentary fear and surprise.
Harry ripped his shirt off, revealing a heavily muscled torso and arms covered with ceremonial tattoos that were currently glowing a shade of midnight blue.
"Don't you fucking test me, Snape, I am in no mood to be trifled with." He growled, his voice, seeming to Snape, resonating from the depths of Hell. His eyes had lost not of their power, and his appearance was made even more fear-inspiring by the glowing tattoos, and his magical aura that made him seem like a giant.
Hermione just then ran into the room, stopping short when she saw Harry standing over Snape, who was backed up against her bed, cowering. She gasped when the saw the presence that Harry was giving, but managed to control her fear enough to approach him. "Harry, you have to calm down. Tonks is one of us, and she needs our help now."
Harry broke his gaze from Snape and faced Hermione. "Take me to her." He ordered.
Hermione nodded, and took Harry's hand, pulling him behind her as she went back to Tonks, who was still sobbing and holding herself in a ball. Nothing that Remus or Sirius could do was working to calm her down.
"What did you do to her? Tonks is one of the strongest willed witches that I know, she shouldn't be affected this bad." Hermione quietly asked.
"I attacked her mind." Harry answered, while crouching next to Tonks, moving Remus and Sirius out of the way. He placed his hand over her forehead, and a feeling of peace came over the room. Tonks slowly stopped sobbing, and opened her eyes. She fearfully looked at Harry, and drew up to her knees, eye to eye with him. Harry smiled at her, and she carefully returned it. He rubbed her shoulder and moved to stand up, but before he could rise she had thrown her arms around him and drew him tightly into a hug.
"It's good to have you back, Harry." She cheerfully stated.
Harry laughed and returned the hug, "Good to see you too, Tonks." He stood up and helped her to her feet.
Snape had by now recovered his composure and entered the room. He looked surprised to see Tonks appearing as her normal cheerful self, when she was completely broken a mere three minutes earlier. He figured it had something to do with Harry's newly found...powers. He was right.
"Again, I'm sorry, Tonks. I didn't know it was you, though I probably should've, had I noticed your appearance..." Harry trailed off, looking her up and down. She currently had shoulder length purple colored hair, and red eyes. She stood around five-feet, three inches, and had a slim figure with curves in all the right places. She wore a leather bodysuit that accentuated said curves, and had high heeled leather boots, that added a few inches to her height, putting her around Hermione's height of five-six. Harry thought she looked rather hot, and winked lasciviously at her.
She blew him a kiss and turned to the others in the room, noticing them gaping somewhat surprisedly at her. "What?"
They shook their heads and looked away, seeming embarassed to be caught gaping.
Tonks shrugged, "Anyway, I came here straight from Magic Evolution, a rather...risque club," She added for Harry's benefit, "Hence the clothing," She added again, jabbing Harry in the chest with a finger. "Malfoy was there with his harem, and I managed to overhear him talking with Nott. There's a raid on schedule for tomorrow night. They're going to hit the Ministry's galleon train as it's leaving London. There's going to be around seven hundred and fifty thousand galleons aboard, going to the Ministry bases in York, Glasgow, and Dublin. It'll be guarded by two teams of Aurors, twelve each, and a team of regular guards."
Remus looked surprised. "Only thirty six guards? Malfoy will attack with at least three times that number, maybe more."
"There was originally supposed to be four teams of Aurors, and three teams of guards, but Azkaban's destruction, and the fear that Voldemort will carry out a wave of follow up attacks, has spread our manpower quite thin. The timing is quite fortunate for Malfoy." Tonks replied.
They continued talking about the Ministry's manpower issues for the next couple minutes, with Sirius and Snape joining in as well. Hermione watched Harry quietly get up and leave the room, unnoticed by the Auror and three other men. She followed him, and ended up in the kitchen.
"Harry?" She tentatively asked.
He turned towards her, "Yes?"
"Are you alright?"
"Of course. Just looking for something to drink."
They were interrupted when Harry overheard Sirius ask, "Shall we attack them or not?" Harry strode back into the sitting room, to see what the discussion was.
"Who are you going to attack?" He inquired.
Sirius looked up at him, seeming surprised that he was entering the room. "The galleon train. We're running low on money...I'm still a wanted man, so my vault is closed off, so we can't get money from there. We figure that with Malfoy's forces attacking and distracting the guards, we can slip in and portkey away with the money."
Harry looked to be contemplating something for the next few seconds, before answering. "I can get into Gringotts, and get to the vaults. We wouldn't need to risk personnel by getting into a three way battle, that way."
Hermione looked scandalized. "How can you get into Gringotts? They have the tightest security of anything in the world! I've spent days reading on them, trying to figure out a way to sneak in. It's impossible!"
"You don't have the power of a god in your grasp." Harry simply replied.
That silenced everyone's arguments, as they just looked at him.
"I can get into Gringotts," He continued, "And down into the vaults. Once there, I can collect any money that's needed, and return safely."
They remained silent.
"Okay then," He said, rubbing his hands, a grin making its way onto his face. "Let me get dressed, conjure a few choice items, and I'll be on my way."
This startled everyone into action, with protests springing from everyone, and several mentions of 'idiot Potter' from Snape. They were silenced again when Harry disapparated. The silence was broken when Hermione screached that apparation was impossible within Hogwarts.
Harry returned a few seconds later, wearing a black jumpsuit, and carrying two leather sacks that looked to be big enough to comfortably hold an average sized man within. Hermione thought he looked like a nightmarish Santa Claus, but without the beard and weight.
"I'll be back shortly." Was all that he said, before disapparating away again, leaving them in stunned silence.
Harry grinned at his godfather, whom was currently clutching at him as if for dear life.
"Sirius, it is good to see you. The same to you, Remus," He said, smiling towards the more reserved, but no less happy, older man.
Remus smiled towards him, with untold amounts of relief flowing through his heart and mind. "You had our hearts broken, Harry."
Harry laughed, and hugged Sirius tightly, then stood and did the same to Remus. Sirius and Remus' expression were ones of profound joy and relief; Rarely were these expressions seen over the past many years. Frown lines were easily discernable on both their faces, they'd each grown a lot grayer over the years, Remus now almost completely gray headed. They looked haggard, as if rotting from the inside out. But instead of dull eyes, devoid of life, they shown with extreme happiness, brimming with tears, giving a look of underwater lights.
"Miss Granger," It was Snape that spoke up. "Would you be so kind as to set some extra chairs...we have much to discuss, and may as well be comfortable for the duration of Potter's tale."
Hermione nodded and strode into the dining room, coming back with a pair of chairs in hand. She sat them down in front of the fireplace, across from Harry's chair, and moved the other chairs already in the room next to them. Snape took a seat, followed by Hermione. A moment later, Remus joined them, after once again telling Harry how much he was missed. Lastly, Harry moved Sirius over to his chair, and gently pushed him into it. Sirius was in tears, pure joyous tears. Harry then stepped back to his chair, and sat down in it. Looking across to the four people sitting opposite him, he sat silent.
"Well?" It was Snape again.
Harry smiled, and sat back, preparing to begin his tale. "My apologies, I was contemplating where to begin."
"Eight years ago, when Angelina and the muggle family was killed." It was Remus, that time.
Harry nodded, and steepled his hands against his nose, thumbs under his chin. "As I'm sure you all know, Angelina and I had a rather heated argument on the night that she left Hogwarts...I was warning her about the possibility of it being a trap, but she wouldn't listen," Harry paused, taking a breath and looking at his captivated audience. "Shortly after she boarded the Express, I was knocked out, physically that is. Lucius Malfoy took my wand, and delivered it to Voldemort, who used it to kill Angelina and the muggles. The wand was returned to me, and I was awakened. You all know the story from there."
They nodded, but Snape had a curious look on his face.
"How do you know all this if you were unconscious at the time?"
Harry smiled slightly, and answered. "The knowledge came to me earlier today."
"How?" The others in the room chorused.
Harry looked at them all in turn, and thought. "Before I go into it, I need you to answer some questions for me."
"Like what?" Hermione asked.
"What is the 'Order of the Lion', for one?"
Remus, Sirius, Snape, and Hermione all looked at each other. It was Remus that spoke up, "How do you know about the Order?" He looked at Harry in confusion.
"I was in Diagon Ally, and overheard a man mention that you inducted a certain 'Thomas Finwell' into it." Harry answered.
"Who spoke of this? Who was with him? Where?" Remus fired off the questions quickly, with barely restrainted anger in his voice.
"He was about my height, graying hair. Beard to the top of his chest-- "
Remus cut him off with a wave, "Jonathon Timmerly. He was no doubt with his cousins, they're all trustworthy. Did anyone else overhear this?"
"No, it was only me." Harry replied.
"That batty old fool should not be discussing these things in public. He needs to be suspended!" Snape hissed in a very angry tone.
"Easy, Severus. We need to hear the rest of what happened, before jumping to hand out punishments." Remus replied. "Continue, Harry."
Harry nodded, and gave them a detailed account of what happened, what he overheard, and everything related to it.
When he finished, Remus, Sirius, and Hermione looked satisfied. Snape still looked fit to kill, but a bit less so than before.
"So..." Harry trailed off, looking expectantly at the others.
It was Remus to reply, once again. "The Order of the Lion is a secret order devoted to proving your innocence, and fighting Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic. Hermione is our record keeper, so she can give you all the information." He motioned for her to speak.
Hermione cleared her throat, and began speaking from memory. "We currently have thirty-one members, and fifteen more applicants that are under guard of a remote security spell that will stop them from betraying us. The four of us, and two others are also active members in the Order of the Phoenix, and we currently also have three members in Voldemort's Death Eater corps, spying for us. Professor Snape is one of them, the other two are James Figglesbee, and Robert McCannon."
Hermione looked at Harry to see if he had any questions. He silently motioned for her to continue.
Hermione cleared her throat, and resumed speaking. "Two of our members are Unspeakables from the Ministry of Magic, and we have six members that are high ranking officials in foriegn Wizarding governments. Two from Sweden, one from Romania, two from France, and one from America."
Harry looked surprised at this, but before he could raise any questions, Sirius cut him off. "A lot more people think you're innocent, than you know of, Harry," He smiled. "The Ministry has, unfortunately, done well in shutting up the part of the populace that still supports you. As you somewhat overheard from Timmerly and his group, the Ministry has a sort of Gestapo force now...one of their primary missions being to prevent, and stop public dissent...one of those topics they deem as dissent, is publically believing your innocence." His voice took on a sadder note, and a definite shadow passed across his features as he paused. "More than a couple of our friends and your supporters have gone missing after holding a rally, petitioning for a retrial for you."
Harry was shell shocked at this information, and was not able to form any coherent speech, or thought. He thus remained silent, waiting for someone to continue.
"The Minister of Security is a bad man," It was Remus that continued speaking, "we have no evidence, but we firmly believe that he's involved, or has been involved, in several high operation crime syndicates throughout both wizarding and muggle Europe and Asia." Remus took out a file with several individual sheets of parchment in it, and scanned over it to refresh his memory on the current topic. "One of our very respectable sources from Asia has heard rumors that Malaston once operated a magical creature slave trade in the Hong Kong underground. More rumors from our source in the Romanian Ministry suggest that he was the driving force behind the attempted political coup several years back. That lead to a near full scale civil war in Romania, before it was managed to be put out. The group that attempted the coup, Knights of Morgana, were destroyed in a very...convenient manner, as they were pinned down in their fortress. It just blew up, killing everyone in it. A very strange occurance, seeing that the Knights were still fighting back when the explosion occurred. This destroyed any possible connections and evidence that could be made between them and Malaston." Remus finally stopped speaking, and motioned for someone else to take up the story. It was Hermione again.
"Shortly after this, the wizarding world was in chaos...wizarding governments from around the world sent in their forces to help stop the coup, and many were killed. The initial coup attempt was stopped, but the Knights continued their fight, gaining thousands of supporters from around the world, swayed by promises of riches and power. They were strong enough to rival Voldemort at their height, but luckily their greed kept them allying. The resulting war that happened lasted for about a month, with battles being fought every day. The Romanians ended up losing almost two hundred soldiers. The British Ministry sent two Auror divisions to assist, consisting of almost a thousand Aurors. They were ambushed upon their arrival, and lost nearly a hundred men right off the bat before they were able to disapparate to safety. They ended up losing two hundred and ninety Aurors before the war stopped. France took the worst beating of all, and lost two complete divisions of their soldiers. They had the unfortunate fate of being portkeyed into a valley in the Carpathian mountain range. Somehow, the Knights knew about their arrival, and started a massive rockslide from the surrounding mountains as they arrived. Six hundred of them died in that ambush. The other four hundred died in combat in the following weeks. Other nations including Sweden, Bulgaria, Russia, Japan, Australia, the United States, Egypt, and Germany, lost a combined total of twelve hundred soldiers." Hermione paused and took several moments to gather herself before continuing the story, "The wizarding world was in chaos, nobody had heard of such a massive loss of life since Grindelwald was at large. This was when we believe Malaston decided to cut his losses...the Knights were being steadily driven back into the mountains, and the leaders were holed up in their fortress. Malaston triggered a fail safe device, destroying them and any connection to him, and came to Britain. He used his money and influence to buy his way into the Ministry...it was exceptionally easy, due to the widespread panic and irrationality of everyone. Shortly after, he made his way to Minister of Security, and has been gaining more power, taking more liberties with his position, every year." Hermione finally stopped, and took a deep breath.
Harry took this moment to look at the others in the room. They were nodding, agreeing with what she had said.
Harry asked the first question that came to mind. "What are you doing to stop him?"
Surprisingly, it was Snape that answered. "We've been putting out bimonthly newsletters, voicing our suspicions. Unfortunately, Malaston's Gestapo is a lot quicker than the rest of the Ministry at responding to threats. Whenever they begin to be circulated, a team arrives and breaks it up, confiscating the letters. Some people manage to get ahold of them, but they're taken in under suspicions of helping to spread enemy propeganda. Now, people are afraid to even pick up a letter when it appears. People are afraid of Malaston, but unfortunately, they also believe in him. He's slowly, over the years, helped strengthen the sense that any moment could be their last, and that he's the one that can provide them security. They don't seem to care that they're sacrificing essential freedoms for this..."safety"." He spat out the last word as though it was a curse.
Harry nodded in realization, before another question came to mind. "How did you circulate the newsletters without being caught?"
"A well used invisibility cloak, a couple charms to make people look the other way, and a levitating charm." Sirius provided the answer.
"Now," Hermione began with a hint of impatience in her voice. "You tell us everything."
Harry gazed thoughtfully at her, earning a few confused looks from the others in the room. Sirius happened to think that he was gazing lovingly at her. Before anyone could question him, he began speaking.
"Yesterday, while in Azkaban, I recieved a package..." He trailed off, knowing that he would be questioned about the package.
Sure enough, Remus raised a question. "What package?"
"It was a book, labelled 'The International Compendium of Wizengamot Decrees'. Frankly, I thought it looked quite boring. But...I was struck with the idea that maybe it came from one of you, and had put a hiding charm on it. So I spoke the password that it always was with you three, Prongs, and the mask faded away. I was left with 'Sacrifices and Rituals to Appease the Gods'." At this, Hermione gasped violently.
"You didn't!" She whispered.
"I did." Harry confirmed.
"What did you do?" Sirius inquired.
"He made a blood sacrifice!" Hermione shrieked. This was followed by much commotion from the other three; Sirius and Remus shouting incoherently, Snape lost his usual scornful manner and was hissing about the stupidity of the Potter bloodline.
"You mentioned Naylajaratim before, which god is that?" Hermione screamed to be heard over the din. This quieted down Sirius and Remus, but Snape continued his hissing.
"Vengeance." Harry answered calmly.
"Stupid boy, do you have any idea how dangerous this is, how much risk you're at, invoking the power of a vegeance god?" Snape seethed.
Harry, becoming amused by their reactions, chuckled lightly before answering. "I find him to be quite personable."
"You met him?" Hermione gaped. Harry looked at the others, and saw them gaping as well.
"Yes. After I made the initial drawing of blood, and began speaking the incantation, I was transported to the ethereal realm, where I met him. There, I learned that a long ways down my line, a Potter also invoked his power. We're the only ones to do so in the last seven thousand years."
"How could you do this? What would compel you to do this? You could've died!" Sirius yelled, emotionally wrecked from the stressful day.
Harry shot out of his chair in the blink of an eye, amazing everyone in the room by his speed and agility, they backed away slightly when they saw his eyes had gone black and electricity flickered across the whites. "What compelled me? You want to know what compelled me to want to break out of Azkaban? I spent eight years there as an innocent man, reliving my parents' death every couple minutes, reliving Cedric's death every couple minutes, and viewing and reliving the horrors that Voldemort was committing throughout the time I was there. Frankly, I could not have cared less if I died, I just wanted to try and do something to get the hell out of there."
The others in the room remained silent as he forced himself to calm back down. His eyes lightened to their normal green color, and the electricity faded away. Also, the lights in the room ceased flickering and the temperature raised back to normal. Neither of which Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and Snape had noticed occuring.
"That is what compelled me to do this." Harry quietly added, sinking back into his chair.
"I'm sorry, Harry." Sirius softly apologized.
Harry nodded his forgiveness.
"What else--"
Harry cut Hermione off with a sharp hand gesture, "Somebody's coming. She bares no hostile intent, but I don't recognize her aura." He swiftly got to his feet again and looked towards the door just as it burst open and a woman came striding in.
Harry quickly changed his appearance before she took notice of him, and power was palpable as it drew around him. He raised his right arm and the woman flew backwards into a wall with an surprised scream, sticking there as Harry strode towards her. The other occupants of the room were terrified of this display of raw, yet controlled power. Their hair stood out from static electricity, and the temperature of the room had dropped again by a very noticeable margin. The lights in the room dimmed, and Harry seemed to be walking on air as he moved closer to the terrified, shocked woman who was still pinned against the wall with invisible shackles. The fire in the fireplace was extenguished, and they could see the whites of his eyes glowing a terrible electrifying blue, flickering with energy. They surrounded irises that were such a deep shade of black, that they appeared to be able to suck light into them, similar to a black hole. They saw this through a reflection in a convienently located mirror, but it was nothing compared to the reality of looking straight at him, as the woman currently was. She began to scream in terror, but Harry was quick to silence her by moving a finger in her direction. She quite suddenly found her vocal chords to be uncooperative. He glided closer to her, and raised his arm. She raised further up the wall, tears escaping her eyes.
Remus was the first to regain his ability to think, and bounded across the room to Harry, screaming all the way, "Harry, no! That's Tonks!" He reached Harry and began frantically pulling at him. "She's one of us dammit, put her down!" He screamed into Harry's ear. Harry nodded fractionally, and lowered his arm, slowly dropping Tonks to the floor. He released his hold on her vocal chords, and she began sobbing deliriously, while curling into a ball.
By this time, Sirius and Hermione also recovered, and had rushed to Tonks' side. Snape went to Harry and pulled him into another room, away from the broken down Auror.
"Are you bloody insane, Potter? You nearly gave the girl a heart attack!" Snape yelled at him as he closed the door to a bedroom.
Harry dropped his disguised and drew up to his full size, coming eye to eye with the professor. His aura, however, made him seem a foot taller to Snape, who fell back in momentary fear and surprise.
Harry ripped his shirt off, revealing a heavily muscled torso and arms covered with ceremonial tattoos that were currently glowing a shade of midnight blue.
"Don't you fucking test me, Snape, I am in no mood to be trifled with." He growled, his voice, seeming to Snape, resonating from the depths of Hell. His eyes had lost not of their power, and his appearance was made even more fear-inspiring by the glowing tattoos, and his magical aura that made him seem like a giant.
Hermione just then ran into the room, stopping short when she saw Harry standing over Snape, who was backed up against her bed, cowering. She gasped when the saw the presence that Harry was giving, but managed to control her fear enough to approach him. "Harry, you have to calm down. Tonks is one of us, and she needs our help now."
Harry broke his gaze from Snape and faced Hermione. "Take me to her." He ordered.
Hermione nodded, and took Harry's hand, pulling him behind her as she went back to Tonks, who was still sobbing and holding herself in a ball. Nothing that Remus or Sirius could do was working to calm her down.
"What did you do to her? Tonks is one of the strongest willed witches that I know, she shouldn't be affected this bad." Hermione quietly asked.
"I attacked her mind." Harry answered, while crouching next to Tonks, moving Remus and Sirius out of the way. He placed his hand over her forehead, and a feeling of peace came over the room. Tonks slowly stopped sobbing, and opened her eyes. She fearfully looked at Harry, and drew up to her knees, eye to eye with him. Harry smiled at her, and she carefully returned it. He rubbed her shoulder and moved to stand up, but before he could rise she had thrown her arms around him and drew him tightly into a hug.
"It's good to have you back, Harry." She cheerfully stated.
Harry laughed and returned the hug, "Good to see you too, Tonks." He stood up and helped her to her feet.
Snape had by now recovered his composure and entered the room. He looked surprised to see Tonks appearing as her normal cheerful self, when she was completely broken a mere three minutes earlier. He figured it had something to do with Harry's newly found...powers. He was right.
"Again, I'm sorry, Tonks. I didn't know it was you, though I probably should've, had I noticed your appearance..." Harry trailed off, looking her up and down. She currently had shoulder length purple colored hair, and red eyes. She stood around five-feet, three inches, and had a slim figure with curves in all the right places. She wore a leather bodysuit that accentuated said curves, and had high heeled leather boots, that added a few inches to her height, putting her around Hermione's height of five-six. Harry thought she looked rather hot, and winked lasciviously at her.
She blew him a kiss and turned to the others in the room, noticing them gaping somewhat surprisedly at her. "What?"
They shook their heads and looked away, seeming embarassed to be caught gaping.
Tonks shrugged, "Anyway, I came here straight from Magic Evolution, a rather...risque club," She added for Harry's benefit, "Hence the clothing," She added again, jabbing Harry in the chest with a finger. "Malfoy was there with his harem, and I managed to overhear him talking with Nott. There's a raid on schedule for tomorrow night. They're going to hit the Ministry's galleon train as it's leaving London. There's going to be around seven hundred and fifty thousand galleons aboard, going to the Ministry bases in York, Glasgow, and Dublin. It'll be guarded by two teams of Aurors, twelve each, and a team of regular guards."
Remus looked surprised. "Only thirty six guards? Malfoy will attack with at least three times that number, maybe more."
"There was originally supposed to be four teams of Aurors, and three teams of guards, but Azkaban's destruction, and the fear that Voldemort will carry out a wave of follow up attacks, has spread our manpower quite thin. The timing is quite fortunate for Malfoy." Tonks replied.
They continued talking about the Ministry's manpower issues for the next couple minutes, with Sirius and Snape joining in as well. Hermione watched Harry quietly get up and leave the room, unnoticed by the Auror and three other men. She followed him, and ended up in the kitchen.
"Harry?" She tentatively asked.
He turned towards her, "Yes?"
"Are you alright?"
"Of course. Just looking for something to drink."
They were interrupted when Harry overheard Sirius ask, "Shall we attack them or not?" Harry strode back into the sitting room, to see what the discussion was.
"Who are you going to attack?" He inquired.
Sirius looked up at him, seeming surprised that he was entering the room. "The galleon train. We're running low on money...I'm still a wanted man, so my vault is closed off, so we can't get money from there. We figure that with Malfoy's forces attacking and distracting the guards, we can slip in and portkey away with the money."
Harry looked to be contemplating something for the next few seconds, before answering. "I can get into Gringotts, and get to the vaults. We wouldn't need to risk personnel by getting into a three way battle, that way."
Hermione looked scandalized. "How can you get into Gringotts? They have the tightest security of anything in the world! I've spent days reading on them, trying to figure out a way to sneak in. It's impossible!"
"You don't have the power of a god in your grasp." Harry simply replied.
That silenced everyone's arguments, as they just looked at him.
"I can get into Gringotts," He continued, "And down into the vaults. Once there, I can collect any money that's needed, and return safely."
They remained silent.
"Okay then," He said, rubbing his hands, a grin making its way onto his face. "Let me get dressed, conjure a few choice items, and I'll be on my way."
This startled everyone into action, with protests springing from everyone, and several mentions of 'idiot Potter' from Snape. They were silenced again when Harry disapparated. The silence was broken when Hermione screached that apparation was impossible within Hogwarts.
Harry returned a few seconds later, wearing a black jumpsuit, and carrying two leather sacks that looked to be big enough to comfortably hold an average sized man within. Hermione thought he looked like a nightmarish Santa Claus, but without the beard and weight.
"I'll be back shortly." Was all that he said, before disapparating away again, leaving them in stunned silence.