Chapter 11

… --- …

As Harry was trying to get to sleep Monday evening, Draco and his Father were visiting Mrs. Bulstrode. Voldemort, who was in a serious cash flow pinch, had ordered the Malfoys to collect the monthly tribute a week early.

It was a risky move. Lucius Malfoy's wanted poster was plastered all over the wizarding world, and the old lobbyist was too arrogant to properly conceal his identity. The Polyjuice prostitution operation was located in central London and was frequented by both muggles and wizards alike.

As Lucius worked off a year of Azkaban induced frustration with one of the house employees, Draco was counting the buckets of coins, splitting half with Madam Phyllis Bulstrode and taking the other half that came to 8400 Galleons. A few minutes later Lucius came walking towards the front office adjusting the buttons on his trousers. Draco had divided the gold into sacks of 400 galleons each as he had been instructed.

In an incredibly stupid move, the younger Malfoy had decided to pocket two of the sacks for himself. Unknown to him, each month Madam Bulstrode had been instructed to place an advertisement in the daily Prophet. After they left she sent the owl to the Daily Prophet with the advertisement.

Bulstrode's Social Club – Kings Cross

84 lovely discrete young things waiting to serve your every need.

Open 24 hours BJ,SM,2on1,PJ,Visa,MC OK

… --- …

While Lucius was reacquainting himself with some of the more natural human interactions, Riddle had summoned Pettigrew for two points of business. He examined Wormtail's pensive memory of the wedding attack twice before he saw what he was looking for. Watching from the far side of the Weasley's garden, he was watching in the direction that the shots would be fired from.

Miraculously he did not curse Wormtail into unconsciousness, as it was the second item of business that interested him. "Wormtail have you found where the Death Eaters were taken?"

Wormtail replied, "There was a transport to Azkaban Sunday evening. Perhaps they were taken there."

"What about the Death Eaters who were killed during the attack?"

"I haven't found them yet, Master. I will continue searching for them." As he left the Dark Lord's presence, Pettigrew realized that the possibility of reporting back with the news that all or most of the missing Death Eaters might be dead could be a most painful message to deliver. They clearly needed a win.

… --- …

Riddle's plan was fairly simple - Attack the village of Hogsmede using more or less the same strategy as the wedding. This time Riddle would send in the dementors first and save the experienced Death Eaters to finish off the wounded. They then would sack and pillage the town as a means of increasing his gold supply.

The dementors would attack shortly after dusk on Tuesday night and the Death Eaters would move out of the forest ten minutes later. If some of the men wanted to have their way with some of the villagers, he would have no objection. It cost him nothing and raised morale considerably.

With 175 dementors he could have them attack from all four sides and begin feeding immediately. In the event that one or two of the villagers could cast the Patronus charm, the dementors would still cause considerable mayhem with loss of life. At that point the disorganized stragglers would be easy pickings for the Death Eaters.

As a diversion he would personally launch an attack against Diagon Alley. He had been enraged when the Daily Prophet editorial suggested that individual witches and wizards had a responsibility to participate in their own protection. He had a much easier time when the victims sat frozen in fear waiting in vain for help to arrive to save them.

… --- …

On Tuesday Minerva reviewed the enrollment for the fall term. There had been 460 students enrolled for the previous spring term. 60 students graduated in June even though there hadn't been a ceremony. She had originally received notification that 96 students had been withdrawn by their parents which would badly impact their budget. Another half dozen had become Death Eaters, and 4 students had been killed over the summer break.

Flitwick walked into her office and knocked on the door before entering. "Good morning, Minerva. How does the fall term enrollment look this week?"

"Not good. I have only received 12 acceptances of the 62 offer letters that were sent. If things stand as they are, we will have 306 students enrolled in the fall."

"It's not a reflection on you Minerva. Some…"

McGonagall snapped back harder than she'd intended to. "Of course it is. Enrollment held last year because parents were convinced that Albus would keep everyone safe. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in Britain. Word got out that Potter wasn't planning on returning in the fall and the withdrawal owls came in flocks. At 800 Galleons per student the budget will have to be revised again." Her frustration was getting out of hand.

"Perhaps he'd be willing to make some sort of announcement or have something put into the Prophet or the Quibbler. It would probably be worth 75 students. It might be awkward for you to bring it up. I'll mention it tonight. Speaking of the Quibbler, Luna mentioned that Old Crow set up a Yahoo group. Can you believe it?"

"Coming from her, who knows? Do you think Harry would be willing to help us? He hates publicity."

The diminutive wizard thought for a moment and replied, "True, but sometimes it comes with the mantle of leadership. Have you identified a candidate for the Defense position?"

"No. There hasn't been one applicant."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Yes, but the best person for the job already has the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"Good point. What about someone from the Order?"

"I could ask this evening to see if anyone is interested."

"That's a good idea. I'll take Potter over to the Three Broomsticks for a pint after the meeting."

… --- …

Nick Straighthand was finding running a law enforcement department in times of war to be a very difficult task. He had storerooms full of triplicate form parchment, which would have pleased former Minister Fudge, but only two of the Aurors on the street had body armor, and in both cases it was personal property.

The Cadet training classes were in disarray with the deaths of instructors Dawlish, Wood and Croaker from the Department of Mysteries. Croaker would be next to impossible to replace. Straighthand realized that the department had to have some tactical capability, and realized that he lacked the leadership skills to implement the critically needed changes.

The assessments of the on duty Aurors' actions from the wedding indicated that the Aurors performed no better than the wedding guests and in many cases less so. Of the 34 Death Eaters killed or captured 10 had been brought down by a handful of students, 16 by the adults 4 by the off duty Aurors and only 4 by the on duty Aurors. The most notorious of the Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange had been put down by a muggle

He was coming to realize that he was over his head as the Director of MLE, but his pride would not let him admit it. On the other hand, he had enjoyed his previous job, which mostly entailed filling out forms and making sure other people filled out forms properly. He was good at that. More to the point, he wasn't as likely to get himself killed. It had just recently occurred to him that Death Eaters had murdered his two predecessors. He wasn't a coward, but he realized that he wasn't an inspirational leader or tactician either.

Perhaps he could manage to get out of this job and get his old job back without losing too much face. He pulled out a parchment and quill and began to write.

Dear Minister Abraxan,

It is with the deepest respect that I make the following request. While I appreciate your confidence in me and am very grateful for my recent appointment as Director of Magical Law Enforcement, I believe that my talents are ideally suited to the position that I formerly occupied, Chief Auror Quartermaster. During my tenure at my current position it has become apparent to me that there are other wizards qualified to make Auror assignments, but relatively few with the perspective and tenacity to competently direct the flow of paperwork that is essential for the smooth functioning of any successful organization. For the good of the entire wizarding community I ask that you return me to that indispensable post.

Faithfully yours in service to wizardkind,

Nicholas Straighthand

… --- …

While McGonagall was fretting over enrollments and Straighthand was considering his career choices, at Emma's suggestion Dan had taken Harry out to play a round of golf. It was a healing experience for both of them. Dan was a member at Cottesmore Golf and Country Club and had an easy time making a tee time for the two of them at 9 AM. Dan drove Harry in his BMW and finally felt like he had the tiniest bit of control back into his life when they got in the car and took the M4 motorway back into Crawley.

When Emma had suggested it to Hermione the night before, Hermione had been hesitant, citing all of the things that needed to get done for the Order meeting the next evening. Emma convinced her daughter and ultimately Harry by telling her, "They've been through a horrible ordeal. We all have, but I think Harry needs another man to talk with. I know Dan enjoys his company. Let your dad do this Hermione. He wants to help and giving Harry someone to talk with might be the best for everyone."

Dan rented Harry a set of sticks and showed him the basics. They spent a half hour on the practice putting green, then moved on to the basics of chipping. At the driving range he showed Harry the short irons then moved up to the long irons. Cottesmore was not a long course, so they played a three iron off the tee box and usually ended up in the fairways halfway to the hole.

On the third fairway, Dan said to Harry, "I wanted to thank you for taking care of us last weekend. It got pretty hairy there for a few minutes, but you really kept your head. You're a good man, Harry."

"You too sir. You held things together." Harry was a bit embarrassed by the man's words, yet at the same time delighted to hear the compliment.

Dan patted Harry on the shoulder and replied, "Harry, we've gone to war together and killed on each other's behalf. I think we can be on a first name basis. Please call me Dan. You're up."

Harry hit a five iron, swung too hard skulling the ball as it cut through the grass, hit the pin and the ball bounced back just inches from the hole.

Dan shook his head in wonder and said, "Great shot Harry. That was an ugly shot, but you have a great position. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you got it there as long as it's in."

Dan chipped to the green with the ball flying in a graceful arc and landing about eight feet away. Harry noticed the differences between the sets and commented, "Your club shafts are made of metal, mine are made out of some sort of black material."

Dan replied, "Your set is newer and the shafts are made of a graphite composite. Mine are made of stainless steel. Golf has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. The first clubs used wooden shafts. Actually the very first golf course isn't too far from your school, some 75 miles to the southeast. The very first golf balls were made of leather and filled with goose feathers.

After nine they stopped for the day, had lunch and a few pints. Harry felt completely responsible for the disruption to Hermione's parents' lives. He said, "I'm sorry that things have turned out like they have for you this summer. It's my…"

Dan had been warned that Harry might feel this way, put down his pint glass and said, "Stop Harry. Through luck, quick thinking on Hermione's part, generosity and good planning on your part, I've survived two attacks on my family's lives in the last month and we're here to talk about it over a corned beef sandwich, crisps and a few pints. What exactly are you sorry about? That some nutter decided to go after my family? That we were offered a safe place to go and stay?"

"No."

"Harry, if I miss my next put because a duck quacks while I'm lining up my shot and get distracted, is it your fault that you didn't hunt down the duck before we played?"

"No. I couldn't help that."

"Harry, you and Hermione helped put some men in prison last year. As I understand it, some of them escaped over the weekend. Is that your fault?"

"Dunno. Maybe."

A bit sharper than he intended, Dan snapped back, "That's bull, Harry. You had nothing to do with it. If they go out and attack someone tonight, it is your fault?"

"If I'd…"

Dan was getting frustrated at the teen. "If you what? Were you going to act as their judge and jury and execute them last year?" Seeing Harry shake his head, Dan continued, "You have to distinguish between guilt, responsibility and opportunity. You're not responsible to protect everyone in Britain. If someone is killed tonight you shouldn't feel guilty about it. You won't have had the opportunity to protect them."

"But…"

"Harry, you didn't end your friend's life. Do you blame Hermione for not saving her?"

"No. Of course not."

Dan looked Harry in the eye and replied, "She does. She somehow thinks that she could have done something."

"That's crap. It just happened."

Dan nodded, finished his glass and replied, "Right. It just happened. She couldn't save her and you couldn't either. It just happened. You need to hear your own words, son. Ginny wouldn't want you to feel guilty. You lost your friend Harry. You should feel sad, but you shouldn't feel guilty. Can you distinguish the two?"

"I think so. Thanks."

"OK. Next time we'll talk about investing and using a sand wedge. Moody told me that you always like to pick up the lunch bills, so I'll let you."

Harry smiled broadly and replied, "No worries, Dan. Thanks for a great day." He felt much better.

… --- …

They drove back to Grimmauld Place to find Hermione working furiously at the study table in the library. After the house had been wired for electricity, Dan had gone out and purchased some electrical appliances including a television, a new DVD player, coffee maker and the latest PC; a 90Mhz Pentium II with a 512 MB drive, Windows 95 and the brand new Office 97. To complete it, he purchased a laser printer.

Hermione was busy preparing agendas, spreadsheets and lists of assignments for the meeting and had just hit the print button when Harry walked in the room. Looking up, she said, "Oh, hi Harry. I wasn't expecting you back for another hour or so. Did you finish early?"

"Hi. Dan gave me a few lessons then we played nine holes and had lunch. He may have mentioned that I'd done quite enough damage to the course for one day."

'Dan? It must have gone better than I'd guessed.' Hermione gave Harry a curious smile and asked, "Did you have fun?"

"Really quite a bit. We walked and talked a lot as we played. Maybe he'll take me again."

Hermione was surprised by Harry's obvious sincerity. She hated the game. "I don't think you need to worry about that. He plays several rounds a week. You really enjoyed it?"

"Loads. Have you played?"

"He took mum and me a few times the last few years. Mum's OK with it. I think its dreadful boring, but I'm really glad that you had a good time. You needed to get out."

"It was good. We played the Griffin course. Maybe we can play the Phoenix course next time."

Hermione frowned and asked, "Are you sure that it was a muggle club? I never thought about the names before this moment."

"Dunno. I didn't see anyone I knew. I could ask Bill Weasley to check on it. What are you working on?"

Hoping that he'd ask, she replied, "I listed some ideas for agenda for the meeting tonight to help you along with a listing of the committees. Have you thought about which group you might want to have the new members fit into?"

"I thought I'd explain them and let them decide which one they might like to fit into. The groups really don't have to be the same size, do they?"

"Well no, but…" It was apparent that she thought they should be as nearly the same size as possible.

"I can't really see forcing Ernie Prang into the research group just to make the numbers even."

Realizing that Harry had a point in regards to the nearly blind bus driver she replied, "You're right. I also think we need to talk about the wedding, be certain that as many people as possible can cast a Patronus and think about how to strengthen our position with the new Minister of Magic."

"The Order is a secret Militia. I don't think it can have an official position within the Ministry. They can know about us and tolerate us, but they can't recognize us. I'm having lunch with Minister Abraxan tomorrow. I'm trying to see what we can do to help Ron."

"Thanks Harry…" She wasn't certain about her personal friendship for the lanky redhead, but didn't want to see him suffer.

… --- …

After all the new members had been voted in, Harry began the meeting on time. "Good evening. Welcome new members. Welcome back everyone else. There are several things that we should discuss and work on this evening. First, a number of the members were involved with the combined Death Eater and dementor attack that took place at the Weasley wedding ceremony last Saturday."

As about half of the Order had been guests at the wedding; it made sense to bring it up so everyone knew the same facts. "The best numbers that we have indicate that there were 45 Death Eaters involved in the attack. I think it's OK to assume that Voldemort sent everyone that he had at us. 34 of those Death Eaters were either killed or captured."

Tonks cut in, "Excuse me Harry, all 34 of the Death Eaters are dead. 15 were sent to the Ministry holding cells. 3 of those died of wounds before they were processed. The other 12 were given trials, convicted and sent through the veil on Sunday."

Harry asked, "Were their deaths reported anywhere?"

Tonks thought for a moment and said, "No."

"We should treat that as confidential information. Thank you Tonks." Everyone breathed a sigh or relief. It was hard enough fighting a Death Eater, but few wanted to fight the same one over and over, and it was apparent that the prison system wasn't really secure.

Harry continued, marveling at the statistics that Hermione had put together for him. "Unfortunately of the 320 wedding guests and a handful of Ministry Aurors who were on duty, the light side suffered 101 deaths and about 75 injuries primarily due to the follow-on attack from several hundred dementors. A substantial number of those killed or injured were guests of the Delacours. Order member Ginny Weasley was murdered by one of the dementors as were most of those killed. Order member Ron Weasley was arrested for the death of MLE Director Connie Hammer."

Harry purposely avoided looking at either Molly or Arthur as he continued reading the names that Hermione had provided for him. He was aware how brutally painful the conversation must be for them. It was ripping at his heart too.

Hestia asked, "What's likely to happen to Ron?"

Moody replied, "I've seen a dozen of these cases in my years and was the investigator in half of them. The answer is, it varies. There is a minimum sentencing requirement in the wrongful death of an Auror that was put in place after the first war as a means of forcing a sentence on those scum who killed an Auror then claimed that they were under the Imperius curse. In this case, there is no doubt in my mind that Weasley just fired without aiming and hit the wrong person. Most likely he'll be sentenced to 20 years in Azkaban. If he has the Minister's ear, he could get his wand snapped, memory modified and sent out of the country to live as a muggle. In my experience, if he is found responsible, the Wizengamot will follow the sentence recommended by the Minister." At least three people in the Order had seen Ron fire the explosive blast into Hammer.

"Arthur stood and asked, Harry, you've spoken with the new Minister. What do you think?" He was nearly desperate for a solution that might save his son.

Harry replied, "I think she's a reasonable person. I'm supposed to have lunch with her tomorrow in her office. My concern is Ron's ability to survive if the dementors are returned to guard duty at Azkaban."

Moody nodded and said, "Good point. Most people didn't last their second year. If it gets filled up with Death Eaters again, he won't stand a chance, dementors or not."

Molly was visibly weeping, but didn't say anything. Arthur asked, "Harry, you're his best friend. What do you suggest?"

Harry thought for a moment. He'd planned an answer assuming that this question might come up. He replied, "Arthur, it's not my decision to make. I was told that Sirius lasted longer than most in Azkaban. He told me that he was able to maintain his sanity because he knew that he'd been falsely imprisoned and because he could turn himself into a dog for long periods at a time. Ron wouldn't have either of those advantages. If he had the chance, I'd hope that he could be free to live a normal life even if it meant leaving the country and all memories of the wizarding world behind."

Kingsley added, "Molly wouldn't you feel better knowing that your son was living a normal life even without magic than hoping that he'd somehow be able to last another night in prison, even if that meant that you couldn't see him? He could be in high school in Sydney or Brisbane to start the fall term."

Moody replied, "It's moot. He won't be given a choice unless Potter can get him off the hook. What else is on the agenda?" The old Auror was never known for finesse.

Harry replied, "Just a few things. For the new members, we have three sub-groups if you want the opportunity to get more involved. There's the research group that Hermione leads. They also help by being able to provide first aid in the event of an attack as well as being able to defend themselves. Several of the injured guests owe their lives to Luna and Arabella for the treatment that they received before being sent to St. Mungo's. There's a search team that also doubles as a backup fighting team. Remus leads that group. Finally there is the fighting group led by Alastor."

Harry let everyone have a moment to find the groups that they wanted to be in. Then he concluded, saying, "Last but not least, let's practice the Patronus charm once. The incantation is Expecto Patronum. It requires that you think your happiest thought as you are casting it." Harry recalled kissing Ginny on the train. His Patronus flew out bright silver but quickly faded.

About half of the group was able to cast a fully formed Patronus. Among them was Cadet Alyx whose horse form shined brightly. It was a nice way to end the meeting. Moody said, "The fighting team will be meeting immediately afterwards at the Three Broomsticks."

Aberforth gave Moody a strange look.

Moody replied, "I prefer to drink out of a glass that's been washed this decade."

Aberforth replied, "What's the difference? You drink out of your flask anyway and stick someone else with the tab for your dinners. I've got a good room in the back. It's nice and private."

Moody shrugged and began walking out the door. Harry picked up the Gryffindor sword that he'd brought and put it back in the hard sided shotgun case that he'd picked up in London.

Hermione said, "The research group will meet in the library." In addition to the Horcruxes, she also wanted to research if another sword might work on dementors.

Remus said, "The search group will meet in this room. Seeing the disappointed looks, Remus added, "There's been a change of venue. We'll meet at the Hog's Head pub in ten minutes."

There were many nods of approval. They followed Moody's group out the door.

Harry was pleased to see that Cadet Alyx had joined the fighting group along with Lee Jordan and Parvati. Looking behind him he could see that, Ernie Prang, Ernie Macmillan, Lavender, Justin, Roger, Hooch and Vector had joined Remus' group.

… --- …

Remus had an uneasy feeling as he walked with the others to the Hog's Head. He couldn't place it, but his werewolf senses had him on high alert. The feeling didn't go away at they reached the door of the pub. The bartender gave them the key to the back room which contained 15 chairs and was about as clean as the bar rags. Remus bought a round for the group and they settled in. He enjoyed the leadership role and enjoyed having enough gold to be able to treat for beers.

After everyone sat down on the dingy chairs Remus said, "There is little to do tonight regarding the Horcruxes. Hermione's group hasn't come up with any new leads on the other Horcruxes."

He continued. "I would like to mention that Harry was able to destroy some of the dementors using his Gryffindor sword. Should we find ourselves in that position again and Harry happens to have his remarkable sword with him, we might want to try and drive the dementors towards him using the Patronus charm."

Ernie and Lavender weren't sure of that idea and Ernie asked, "Professor, er Remus, I heard that Harry drove all of the dementors away last week. I doubt that they'd come back so soon."

Arthur shook his head and sadly said, "Ernie, Lavender, I only hope that you never have to witness anything so terrible in your life. They only need a few seconds to suck… to do their deed. Please don't underestimate them. They're…" He never got to finish his thought.

Screams could be heard from outside the window.

… --- …

While the dementors were gathering around the village of Hogsmede, Tom Riddle went on a five-minute killing spree beginning in the Leaky Cauldron. As Tom was at the Order meeting his long time assistant, Nob was behind the bar, saw Voldemort walk in and had the good sense to immediately duck down into the beer cellar. His uncharacteristically quick thinking saved his life.

Riddle left four dead in the pub and immediately went to the office of the Daily Prophet. The only three people at that time of night were Cheryl Whiteheart, a self-styled Rita Skeeter wannabe, and the two printers.

"Crucio." Whiteheart went out like a light screaming in agony. In an act of either extreme bravery or absolute stupidity Gordon and Dundee fired stunners at the intruder, not knowing that they were firing at Lord Voldemort himself.

Riddle put a full-body bind on Gordon and an instant later cast "Imperio" on Dundee. A moment later, Riddle revived Whiteheart and said, "You will get quite a story this evening." He handed Whiteheart the camera that was on her desk and said, "Watch this." A moment later Dundee picked up the ink-spreading blade that was in the ink bucket and slit his workmate of 22 years' throat with it. Riddle had Whiteheart take several photos of the dying man, himself and the man who had just killed his friend then told the shaking witch to sit down.

As calmly as if he were ordering dinner, Riddle told Whiteheart, "You will tell that sniveling editor Reggie McDonald that defying me is a very unhealthy practice. Can you do that?"

The terrified reported nodded. She was scared witless and expected Dundee or herself to be murdered at any moment. Instead, Riddle recast the body binding spell immobilizing both of them and calmly walked out the door. He took his time walking to Ollivander's old shop then cast the killing curse at a young wizard who happened to be walking down the street at the wrong time. Riddle cast the Dark Mark over the Daily Prophet building and waited until he heard the tell tale sound of Aurors apparating in. He cast the killing curse at one of the Aurors and enveloped a cloud of smoke around himself before disappearing. As planned the Aurors would spend the next twenty minutes searching the alley for a wizard who was already gone. By the time they were certain that he was gone, Hogsmede would be sacked.

… --- …