Chapter Six
Sunday June 16
Sunday morning Harry awoke with a start. The young phoenix had returned. Hedwig looked on with interest as Harry greeted the new arrival. "Hello girl. Are you looking for a place to stay?"
The phoenix trilled an affirmative response. Harry said, "I'll get you a really nice perch this morning. Will you be all right staying by Hedwig in the mean time?"
The phoenix let out another affirmative trill. By this time, Emma and Hermione had come up to see what was making the heartening song.
"Harry what's that beautiful bird?" asked Emma, obviously mesmerized by the bird.
"G'morning Emma," said Harry, who was obviously pleased with the birds presence. "She's a phoenix. She came to me last night."
Emma looked at her carefully, amazed at the coloring. "We never saw anything like that when we first took Hermione into Diagon Alley for school supplies. Where would you buy one?"
Hermione said, "You could never buy one, Mum. A phoenix chooses a witch or wizard to stay with. This one just came to Harry last night when we were at the castle. Only a few witches or wizards have had phoenixes bond with them – Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Godric Gryffindor, Agrippa, Circe … and Harry." She looked at him strangely.
"Amazing," said Dan who had come up to see what everyone was talking about.
"Harry, what are you going to call her?" asked Emma.
"Dunno," said Harry.
Hermione suggested, "How about Brigid? She was a Celtic goddess of inspiration and healing." The young phoenix trilled at the name.
"We'll go get you a perch after breakfast," said Harry. "Winky?"
"Breakfast is ready, Harry Potter sir." The little elf looked up at him hopefully.
Harry looked at her and said, "Thank you Winky. We'll be down in ten minutes."
She beamed at him, and then popped away.
… --- …
"It's them coin collector bandits, officer. I'm sure of it." The barmaid was doing her best to keep her voice low on the telephone.
"OK, Ma'am. We'll send a patrol over right away."
Putting down the telephone, she returned to their table and said, "How about some more coffee or tea, gentlemen? Maybe a pint to start the day?"
"Not today," said the older one. "We must be on our way. How much do we owe you?"
"Seven quid. I'll bring you your bill in just a moment," she said, hoping to stall them for another few minutes.
Draco winged to Snape, "Why can't I keep track of the money? I was doing fine."
"You ordered more than we had funds for the last time we went out, and caused another disturbance. These coins have nowhere near the value of a galleon. We don't want to get…"
"Hands up, gentlemen, and you won't have any trouble." The officer and his partner were looking at the two with some disdain, having a hard time connecting the two apparent losers in front of them with the reported armed robbers.
"Don't do anything, Draco," hissed Snape. Malfoy nodded, both hands in plain sight, but he had his wand in his wrist holster, ready for instant use if needed.
"How can we help you, Officer?" said Snape politely. He was exercising a much better grasp of the situation than Malfoy.
"You two need to come with us," said the partner.
"Yes sir," said Snape. "We need to pay for our breakfast first. We'll just be a moment." Snape pulled seven of the one pound coins out of his pocket and handed them to the server.
The officer led the two into the back of the police car, and went back in to join his partner taking a statement from the pub server.
A moment later they returned to the car to find it empty, both back doors still locked. They never heard a disillusioned Snape hiss Obliviate, eliminating any memory of the two. The video camera mounted in the front of the police cruiser would clearly show the two being led to the car, though neither officer had any recollection of the two men. By Monday, their photographs would be printed be in every newspaper in Britain.
Back at their hideout home, Snape berated Malfoy, saying, "Conjure something yourself next time if you don't like my cooking. You could have gotten us arrested or forced a fight that we don't need."
Malfoy said, "Your cooking tastes like shite. Is it one of your ingredients?"
At that moment, they felt the Dark Mark burn on their left forearms and forgot their verbal feud. Homing in on the source, they apparated to the back garden at the home where Voldemort was staying.
As they apparated and formed a circle around the Dark Lord. Riddle was pleased to see Snape and Malfoy together, but noticed that neither one looked very good. In all there were forty wizards and a few witches in the circle. However well more than half were new recruits, some since Dumbledore's murder. Malfoy nodded at Zabini, Nott and Millicent Bulstrode, who were standing in the center without masks.
Riddle turned around to look at each of them then began. "Welcome Death Eaters. The fortunes of war and planning have been on our side lately." He handed them each money bags with several thousand Galleons. Continuing he said, "Two of our number managed to remove a great obstacle from our paths by eliminating the mudblood loving fool, Albus Dumbledore. Draco, Severus, please come forward."
Both men came forward and knelt before the Dark Lord.
"Draco, you executed a difficult plan. You now have full Death Eater status. Rise."
Draco rose and bowed his head slightly to Voldemort who nodded back.
"Severus, you completed the task for Draco. Let it be known that you have joined Bella and Wormtail in my inner circle." Snape bowed deeply to Riddle who tapped his shoulder with his wand as if knighting him.
He continued. "In four weeks time we will launch an attack against the Ministry officials. That muggle loving fool Arthur Weasley's son will be marrying a part human. The ceremony will be held at the Burrow. I expect that the Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, most of the department heads, the traitorous Hogwarts professors, and several hundred guests will be there."
On the surface the plan didn't look very promising. Forty-five Death Eaters, mostly half-trained against two to three hundred armed witches and wizards and at least a dozen Aurors. No one said anything, hoping for the rest of the plan to be announced.
"To even the odds and create panic, I will be bringing in two hundred Dementors. We will attempt to set up anti-apparation wards over the property to minimize the possibility of escape. I want you to initially focus on attacking Potter, Scrimgeour, Hammer, and the Hogwarts staff for the first ten seconds, then parry with them until the dementors can begin to consume the witches and wizards. "
"To create a diversion, Bella has arranged to have an attack at Potter's mudblood friend Granger tonight and another house raid a week before the wedding. I don't want to lose any Death Eaters at these house raids. Get in, seal and torch the house, fire the Mark and get out. Bella will announce the selections after I am finished."
He noticed quite a few of the new recruits looking excited at the possibility of the raid. He continued. "If we achieve the level of success that I anticipate with the attack at the Weasley wedding, I expect that we will be in a position to liberate our fellow Death Eaters who are awaiting us at Azkaban."
Voldemort looked out at the hungry Death Eaters. Wormtail had found useful information and Bella had turned a good lead into the potential to massacre the opposition in a single afternoon. No longer concerned about Snape's true loyalty, he could announce his plans much earlier and create more complex plans with the individuals assigned to different roles.
"I also expect that several of the goblins from Gringotts will be in attendance. Under no circumstances are they to be targeted." He did not wish to alienate the goblins further than he needed to
With Scrimgeour out of the way, Voldemort was certain that he could gain control of the Ministry and his renew his sources of galleons. With the unavailability of the account that Lucius had been managing and the ministry theft of Borgin's account, Bulstrode's account was being depleted rapidly. He would need to correct the situation before the end of the year.
… --- …
Bella had selected ten of the newest recruits to be on the Granger raid. Her plan was to apparate to the home slightly after midnight and group up with the Death Eaters. She would have two pairs of two recruits stand guard on either end of the street. The other six would circle the house and cast the Colloportus charm, sealing the doors and windows, while she cast an anti-apparation ward on the structure designed to prevent the occupants from escaping. They would then fire the house by simultaneously casting Incendio charms. If everything went as planned, the time on the property would be less than thirty seconds.
Bella liked using that method because it was almost as terrifying for any witches or wizards who might come onto the scene as it was for the occupants. She selected a different set of new Death Eaters for the raid at the Creevey brothers' home.
… --- …
As Lestrange was explaining her plan, Voldemort found Bulstrode and asked, "What is the account balance Stephen?"
"A million one hundred thousand, Master. How may I serve you?"
"Bring me two hundred thousand galleons by late evening." Riddle never even considered the possibility that Bulstrode might be stealing from him, but he always let the overly large man become nervous anyway as he looked at him.
"As you command, Master."
"Leave now. I have others to speak to."
… --- …
Mrs. Weasley saw a gnome in the back garden and called Ron and Ginny to come out and de-gnome it. A twig was out of place and she told Ron to trim the entire hedge when he was done.
Ron said, "Mum, we were going to go visit Harry and help him with one of his rooms."
His protests fell of deaf ears. "If they start coming back, they'll infest the whole garden and we'll never have them cleaned out in time for the wedding. Harry won't mind if you go visit him later in the afternoon. Ginny can leave after you're done with the gnomes."
"Why doesn't she have Phlegm go and charm the gnomes away?" muttered Ginny. "If they're anything like you Ron, she could offer to kiss them once and they'd follow her anywhere."
Ron's face turned redder than it already was. He still hadn't developed much immunity around Bill's fiancé. He tossed the gnome that had bitten Wormtail over the hedge. He said, "Tell Harry I'll be there by two."
Ginny finished getting changed and took the floo to Harry's home.
… --- …
Stephen Bulstrode had practiced the transaction and hoped to be at the bank no more than ten minutes including the cart rides. He reached the apparation point in Knockturn alley and carried the large case with him. He made his way to the shortest teller line and handed the goblin his key. He never noticed the dark haired teen standing in the next line as the goblin said, "This way Mr. Bulstrode."
Harry looked at the case that Bulstrode was carrying and recognized it as being identical to the case that Borgin had been carrying. After Bulstrode got into the cart Harry went out and thought hard about his new phoenix friend, Brigid. In a flash she appeared. Stroking the beautiful bird, Harry said, "Brigid, will you please get this to Tonks immediately? It's very important."
Brigid bowed her head, fluttered into the air for a moment, and vanished in a burst of flame.
A minute passed, then another, then another without Tonks appearing. Harry was certain that Bulstrode must be on his way back up. He was pretty sure that Bulstrode would have someone watching his back once he got outside the bank.
Another minute passed and Harry made up his mind. He drew his wand and concealed it in his sleeve and walked into the bank. As he was walking up the lobby, Bulstrode was walking out. There was another wizard at his side that Harry didn't recognize.
Hoping against hope that he'd remain lucky, Harry fired a stunner and hit Bulstrode squarely in the chest. The other wizard had been alert and fired back a jet of purple light at Harry who rolled to the side and fired again and grazed the other wizard.
At that moment, Aurors Tonks, Alyx and Dawlish burst into the door. Dawlish said, "Nobody move. Ministry Aurors."
The other wizard took another shot at Harry, and missed. The green jet hit Dawlish who immediately went down. Harry fired a Reducto curse and the man flew backwards in a giant splatter of blood.
Alyx tried to help Dawlish as Tonks ran to the other wizard. Harry went to Bulstrode and kicked his wand over to the side.
As Harry reached Bulstrode, another team of Aurors along with Director Hammer ran to the scene. The Goblin guards sealed the doorway.
Alyx hadn't even graduated from the Auror Academy yet. She was only three years older than Harry, and was a second year cadet. Dawlish had been giving her a lesson on battlefield evasion tactics when Tonks had burst in the classroom looking for immediate help. In ten seconds, she had learned a life lesson that would last her entire career – never lose concentration in a firefight.
The other Aurors immediately restunned Bulstrode as Hammer pulled Harry into one of the conference rooms. Sitting him down in one of the chairs she closed the door and without a trace of a smile said, "Explain yourself, Mr. Potter."
Harry immediately realized that he was in a much different situation than he had been in with Borgin. He hadn't been accompanied by an Auror and was completely on his own. From one perspective he had simply drawn his wand on a wizard in a completely unprovoked attack. He placed his wand on the table and pushed it to Director Hammer.
She looked at his wand, and at his blood splattered robes and said, "Speak." She didn't want to arrest Potter, but needed some answers, and needed them now.
There was a knock on the door. Hammer opened the door, walked out for a moment closing the door behind her to get a report from the investigating Aurors. Three minutes later she walked back into the room, followed by Tonks, Minister Scrimgeour and Auror Trainee Alyx.
They all sat down, and a Goblin brought in tea. Hammer poured each of them a cup and said, in a much less threatening voice, "Please tell us what happened Harry. You aren't in any kind of trouble." She ran her fingers along his wand and handed it back to him.
Harry said, "I was in line at the counter and a man walked up to the next counter. I happened to look over at him because he was in the next line and the teller mentioned that his name was Mr. Bulstrode. I know that his daughter is a big Voldemort supporter. Then I noticed that he had the identical carrying case that Mr. Borgin had been carrying when he was taking all of that gold out of the bank."
Harry took a breath and continued. "I got out of line and ran outside. I called for my phoenix to help me get a message to Auror Tonks as soon as possible. I waited as long as I could then went back into the bank. Mr. Bulstrode was about to leave. I fired a stunner at him. The man that was walking by him fired a purple spell back at me. I dodged it, and fired a stunner at him. I didn't hit him squarely. He fired a killing curse at me and missed. I hit him pretty hard with a Reducto blast. The next thing I knew, Aurors were coming up. The only other thing I did before you found me was kick Bulstrode's wand away from his reach."
Hammer asked, "Auror Tonks, do you have anything to add?"
Tonks shook her head and replied, "Not much Director. I was down in the Auror gym when I saw a phoenix flash and drop me a note." Tonks handed the note to Hammer to look at.
Tonks,
I need help now.
Gringotts.
Harry
Tonks continued. "I looked in the canteen and the classroom for some help. I asked Senior Auror Dawlish and Cadet Alyx to immediately come with me to Gringotts. We apparated to the steps of the bank and ran in the door. Dawlish announced us as Aurors. He was hit with the killing curse that Harry referenced about the same time that I witnessed Harry disable the attacker. Cadet Alyx checked on Dawlish and I verified that the second attacker was disabled. He died a minute later. I checked his arm. He was wearing the Mark. I checked the other wizard that Harry had stunned. He also had the Mark on his arm. He is currently being held in the next room. Here is the case that he was carrying, Director. Harry almost certainly stopped another money courier."
Scrimgeour looked like Christmas had come early. This would be very good press for him, even if an Auror had been killed.
Hammer asked, "Cadet Alyx, do you have anything to add?"
"No Director. Senior Auror Dawlish was dead when I checked on him. I couldn't do anything to help him." Her face was red from tears and she looked badly shaken by the action.
There was a knock on the door.
It was Bill Weasley. "Director, I'm Bill Weasley, curse breaker for Gringotts. If you don't object, I'd like to examine that case before it is opened. We have reason to believe that Stephen Bulstrode may have spelled it when he was in the vaults. You and your party may wish to leave the room for your own safety. The choice is certainly yours."
Scrimgeour, Tonks and Cadet Alyx led Harry out of the room. Two more goblins walked into the room to help Bill. Harry noticed that the bodies of Dawlish and the other man were being removed. He felt sick. He had killed a man. He slumped to the floor and a moment later threw up, retching until his stomach was empty, and still was heaving. Hammer walked up to the other Aurors, gave them instructions and walked over to talk with the goblin bank officials.
… --- …
Ten minutes later Weasley and the Goblins walked out of the conference room. Bill looked at Harry and the young Auror slumped on the floor with Tonks sitting by them, but couldn't say anything. He had to report to his own bosses.
Scrimgeour and Hammer went into the other conference room. A minute later two beefy looking Aurors had Bulstrode on his feet, frog marching him toward the tunnel carts.
An hour later they were back at Ministry Headquarters with the remaining nine hundred thousand galleons from the vault as well as a completed count of the satchel that remarkably contained two hundred thousand Galleons. What they didn't know was that over the course of a weekend they had effectively bankrupted Voldemort. At that moment, the Dark Lord barely had enough gold on hand to make the payroll for the next month.
… --- …
Harry had originally gone to Diagon alley with Ginny, Hermione and Emma Granger. He had left them at the Magical Menagerie "for ten minutes, tops" to run to Gringotts to sign a paper.
Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty, with no sign of Harry. The women left the perch that they had picked out at the store to go and check on Harry. Emma wasn't worried until they got to Gringotts to find the doors sealed, with Aurors and goblin guards standing outside. Neither Ginny nor Hermione recognized any of the Aurors, and none of them looked to be in the mood to give out information.
Five minutes later, the door opened and two covered bodies were carried out on stretchers to be portkeyed back to the ministry morgue. By now a crowd had gathered outside the bank and the women began to panic. It was obvious that some tragedy had occurred in the bank and each of them silently knew that it somehow involved Harry.
Five minutes later, Scrimgeour opened the door and went out with two of the Aurous. A reporter from the Daily Prophet asked him what happened.
Scrimgeour said, "Mr. Harry Potter helped Ministry Aurors uncover another money laundering scheme that Lord Voldemort had set up years ago. A substantial amount of gold is being seized. A Ministry Auror was killed attempting to arrest the two Death Eaters. One Death Eater was killed and another taken into custody. The Ministry is saddened by the loss of one of our Aurors who was killed in the line of duty. The names will be released later this afternoon. The ministry wishes to formally thank Mr. Potter for his part in bringing these two criminals to justice. Unfortunately there isn't time for individual questions right now. Good day."
After Scrimgeour finished, Tonks, Hammer and a half dozen Aurors escorted Harry out of the building. Tonks saw Ginny and the others and waved them over. "We need to take Harry to the Ministry for about an hour. You can either meet us there or back at Harry's home."
Naturally the three women walked to the Ministry building and were shown to the lobby outside the Department of Magical law enforcement. After sitting on the wooden bench for a few minutes, they were met by Arthur, Fred, George and finally Percy. He was carrying a tray of tea and said importantly, "Minister Scrimgeour asked me to bring this out to you. They're inside meeting with Mr. Potter."
Arthur asked, "Percy, what happened?"
Percy said, "Mr. Potter was somehow involved in the death of a Ministry Senior Auror and a Death Eater. I think he was probably a witness and is being questioned. I have other important business to attend to. Good afternoon to you." With that, he left as if to go meet with the Queen.
"Prat," muttered Fred
"I say he's closer to a Rat's Arse at the moment," replied George. Hermione and Ginny snickered, thinking that the prankster's assessment was probably right.
Tonks came out a minute later. She told them what had happened, handing Emma a brushed aluminum case. "Please hold this for Harry. What had you originally come for today?" asked Tonks.
"A perch for Harry's new phoenix," replied Hermione. "We forgot all about it".
"We'll go get it," said Fred and George. "We'll bring it to Harry's place in ten minutes."
Tonks continued, "Harry killed a man today, and he's understandably broken up over it."
Emma asked, "Is he facing any legal issues? Dan and I might be able to…"
Tonks smiled sadly, and said, "No. He stopped a second money courier for Voldemort in as many days. That case you're carrying is his reward gold."
Emma said, "Not to pry, but it felt like the case was empty."
Tonks took out her wand, told Emma to place the case on the floor, and took off the lightening charm. She said, "Now try it."
Emma couldn't move the case. It weighed over two hundred pounds! Tonks recharmed the case. "Emma said, "The ministry must be very grateful for his help." Tonks nodded.
Ignoring her mum's apparent fascination with Harry's briefcase Hermione asked, "Aren't there counselors who would be assigned in a case like this?"
"Tonks replied, "No. The Wizarding world is way behind the rest of the population in that regard. I need to go back in now."
Emma nodded as Tonks left and said, "This isn't an isolated incident. So many of the victims and participants are teenagers."
Hermione replied, "Susan Bones cried for weeks last term. People just avoided her rather than doing anything constructive to help."
A few minutes Harry came out and said, "Let's go home now." Arthur patted Harry on the back and said, "Molly and I will bring over dinner for you tonight, Harry. We're all thankful that you weren't injured."
Harry nodded weakly and replied, "Thanks, Mr. Weasley."
Emma said, "We should go now. 'We'll see you later, Arthur." Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Emma were escorted out of the building and to Emma's car.
… --- …
Scrimgeour incorrectly assumed that they had captured two of many account couriers that Voldemort was using to move his money. As such, he believed the Death Eaters to be numbered in the hundreds rather than the fifty that Voldemort truly had. Scrimgeour had done nothing to improve relations with the goblins and as such, they had no reason to co-operate by helping him find any of Voldemort's other vaults.
Scrimgeour felt like he needed Potter now more than ever. In truth, Harry had publicly done more to aid the war effort than all of the rest of the Ministry combined. Potter had originally refused the two hundred thousand Galleons that Scrimgeour had given him as a reward. Only after he had told Potter that Dawlish had no living relatives and Potter had designated half of the gold to go to a victims' relief fund would he agree to accept the other half.
Potter initially refused to have his photo taken, but had agreed to after Scrimgeour promised him that Stan Shunpike would be released within the hour. Seeing an opportunity to right a wrong, Harry immediately had agreed, and several photos were taken. They were slowly creating an informal working relationship.
… --- …
It was a quiet ride back to Grimmauld Place. The only sound came from Emma's CD player. When they got back, Emma asked Harry where he wanted his case put away.
As he was climbing the stairs to go to his room, he said, "Just put it in the library, please." He went to his room and quietly closed the door behind him.
Emma put the aluminum case in the library and was shocked to see five other identical cases arranged in a neat little row.
An hour later Harry was still in his room crying into his pillow. He had killed a man. He was a murderer. No one could ever love him, or look at him the same way again. He hurt so badly that he never noticed Ginny come into the room and curl up beside him. Later when he had quieted down, she nuzzled his neck with her nose, and the smallest of smiles crept onto his face as he looked into her bright eyes.
She softly said the words that he so desperately needed to hear. "I don't hate you Harry. No one here thinks badly of you. I love you." She made certain to maintain some sort of skin to skin contact, touching his cheek or his face, so he wouldn't slip back into one of his pools of depression. He stopped sinking, and his breathing evened out. A few hours later, she nudged him and asked, "Are you ready to get up now? Dinner's almost ready. Go take a shower and be back down in ten minutes." She kissed his cheek and gave him a gentle squeeze. "OK?"
Harry nodded as she got up. The shower did feel good. When he got out of the bathroom, Harry noticed that Ginny had set a pair of comfortable jeans and one of his shirts that she liked best on his bed for him.
… --- …
While the two had been napping, Molly had walked up the stairs to check on them. Unable to find anything inappropriate with their behavior, and feeling so much love for the young man, she let them be. Having her daughter hopelessly in love with Harry Potter wasn't really new or unexpected. She was delighted that Harry seemed to have feelings toward her Ginny in return.
At the same time, her greatest fear remained that one of her children or their loved ones would be claimed by the war. The war had struck at so many of her friends' homes. Molly was ever grateful that she had remained lucky.
Covering both of them with a light quilt, she smiled to herself and went downstairs to start dinner.
… --- …
Dinner was generally quiet. Tonks and Lupin, Dan and Emma, Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Molly and Arthur each held individual conversations. None of them could really find the words that were so hard to say.
After dinner Tonks left for a moment and returned with Auror Cadet Alyx. Alyx greeted the Grangers, and said, "Hello Hermione. It's good to see you again."
Hermione smiled at the former Ravenclaw who was three years older than her. They had studied together from time to time, and had remained friendly since Hermione's first year. Hermione said, "It's good to see you again, Alyx. How have you been?"
Alyx's winsome smile disappeared and she replied, "I was called on an emergency assignment today at Gringotts. One of my instructors was killed. Harry saved us."
Hermione hugged the young woman with the glistening blue eyes and said, "He does that kind of thing. You get used to it after a while. I'm glad you weren't hurt."
Alyx's voice was anything but steady. "Hermione, I was so scared. We had walked into Gringotts a moment earlier and Instructor Dawlish just fell over. Harry stopped the other Death Eater a few seconds later. I'd never seen a man hit by the killing curse before. He didn't even have time to close his eyes. I was so scared, I was sure I would be next." She walked over to Harry, gave him a hug, and said, "Thanks Harry. I owe you my life."
Arthur and Ginny piped in, "Us too."
Harry looked down at his feet and replied, "I just did what had to be done. I was really scared too." She was still holding him. Hermione and Ginny exchanged knowing glances at each other over Harry's obvious embarrassment. Alyx was a very healthy young woman.
Ron came in with a bucket of butterbeer bottles. He stared awestruck at Alyx, still hovering by Harry and said, "Bustybeer anyone?"
Tonks whacked Ron on the back of the head and said, "That will be so expensive, my dear. You will pay and pay over that slip." Then she smiled at the stricken teen, took several bottles from him, and handed them out to Alyx, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny.
They had a better evening together than any of them would have guessed. Together they kept Harry out of a funk and kept away Alyx's nightmares. Tonks left about eleven to take Alyx back home.
Before she left, Alyx went up to Harry and said, "Thanks again, Harry. You're a good man."
Harry replied, "I'm glad that you're safe Alyx. I'll see you later."
"Goodnight Alyx," said Hermione and Ginny.
… --- …
At midnight, the Death Eaters assembled at the park near the Granger house. As by clockwork, Flint and another new recruit, Ratin, broke off to stand at one end of the street while two others went to the other. The lights on in the home indicated that the residents were still up. Silently the six Death Eaters circled the house and waited for Lestrange to give the signal. Lestrange took almost a minute to cast the anti-apparation charm around the home. When she finished, a blue crackle of light like static electricity shot around the home. There was no change in the lights inside, so Lestrange assumed that they hadn't been seen.
She raised her arm, giving the signal for the recruits to begin sealing the home. Nott and Zabini called "Coloportus" in an overly loud school classroom voice. Their words seemed to reverberate through the night air. Apparently they hadn't been paying attention when Snape had taught his students to cast silently.
Next door a dog began barking in the back yard, and a yard light went on in the neighbor's back garden. Bella knew that they had mere seconds to complete their task without engaging the neighbors. "Incendio, Incendio." Within seconds, a dozen individual fires had been started at the doors of the house and along the roofline.
"Leave now," said Bellatrix as she cast the Dark Mark into the sky above the flaming home.
The Death Eaters began to disapparate or in some cases pull portkeys from their robes if they could not yet apparate away from the home.
In the darkness none of them saw Moody cast tracking charms on two of the Death Eaters before they left.
The raid had taken nearly three minutes.
… --- …
A/Ns
Has anyone read a good story on killing Dementors? They seem like nasty creatures. I don't want to use the golden Patronus.
Is Riddle's snake a boa or some other type?
Crescent Moon by JazzyGeorgie is a fun read that isn't widely known.