Beta: psycotoo
Disclaimer: Yes its that time again for those of you who actually read this to get a kick out of the redundancy of covering my ass and pointing out that if you haven't read it in the last chapter, I don't own Harry Potter and subsequent characters. I do own several original characters who make an appearance throught this story. Well enough of that. Enjoy the story
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As Mathew was placed in protection at Bakan Prison, fourteen Aurors stood around the perimeter of the Vanguard Estate. A single man stood and turned from the ward he was examining. "We can not enter, there are too many wards. Give us an hour and we might break through." The lead Auror nodded for them to continue.
"I'll return in a moment. Proceed as safety permits." The Aurors all saluted before their leader apparated to the Ministry of Magic. He was breaking rank by going strait to the Minister, but it was her personal request that sent his men to the property.
"What have you found Mr. Dent?" The Minister did not look up from her papers. The Auror smiled at her. To most it would look like the Minister did not care about the information he was about to give. But the younger man knew the signs of her nervousness and the way she handled her quill and the way her eyebrows raised.
"Minister we can not enter. We are still looking for a way in. It is likely someone must have seen us and raised anti-portkey wards. They were not present when we first arrived at the estates perimeter. I have seen some heavy apparation and repelling wards but to be frank, these are damn strong. I think who ever is in control has manipulated the existing wards around the Vanguards' home. They were easily remade to keep them in as well as keep others out."
"Proceed with what ever plans you see fit. Has there been any word about Nymphadora Tonks or Cho Longbottom?"
The man shook his head. Hermione nodded and did not want to think that her husband had most likely disappeared with them. Hermione returned to her papers and continued to fill out the release form of Aurors. "I'll handle your breach of protocol." The young man smiled and nodded before leaving out the door and apparating back to the estate.
Chapter 2 facade
"Wake up sweetie. We both have a long evening ahead of us." The blinds were closed and to the two inside the room it could have easily been early morning rather than late afternoon. Harry Potter's footsteps sounded off the wooden floor and the springs creaked when he sat on the bed next to his wife.
"I rather you come back to bed." Susan sighed happily as she pulled her already dressed husband back into bed. He laughed and kissed her. He ran his hand through her messy hair and kissed her cheek. Susan saw the look in his eyes and sighed. "Must we really get going?" She laced her arms through her husbands and cuddled closely to him.
He kissed her deeply. "I know you need to go speak with the healers at St. Mungos tonight. You should get ready. We still haven't eaten yet. And I want to go in today and talk to Tonks about her trainees. A few are a little iffy. If you know what I mean." Susan grumbled but kissed him before pulling herself out of bed. Harry left her to get dressed and started an early dinner.
0
"Your teacher..." Cyan stood up from her chair at the table and walked over to the young man. The young man had the look of recovering from illness. "And you are?" She prompted.
"Mathew Andrews."
Cyan looked at him while her mind was racing through what might have happened. "The little prophet..." The Aurors took the comment as an insult and raised their wands to the woman. She ignored them and moved her hand to her mouth, silently thinking. "It is starting. There was an assassination attempt on your life. There is a large fight now involving many Aurors. This is leaving Hermione vulnerable." She said it quietly to herself but the Aurors seemed to have forgotten that this woman was no threat to them and were ready to restrain her. Cyan snapped out of her trance and looked to the Aurors who were glaring at her. "Don't just stand there! Your Minister is in danger!" The Aurors looked at each other unsure.
Mathew turned to them. "Go see about Minister Granger. I will be fine here." Mathew's calm voice was all they needed to start moving. The four Aurors ran out of the hall and to the portkey room. Mathew looked at the woman he wanted to call teacher. During her whole reasoning her aura did not shift from the serene colors he saw now. Her aura was warm blue and greens that surrounded her. Mathew thought about what he knew. His mind started speaking before he knew what he said. "You have been working with the Minister for a while now haven't you..." Cyan gave a small smile. The two began walking around each other while slowly assessing their new kinship.
"The prison was the safest place for you..." Cyan looked at the teen who returned her gaze as an equal.
"You don't have true abilities in Divination..."
"You are not able to live normally with your own abilities..."
They both stopped and stared at each other. The room was silent except for their breathing. They both stood in the open living room until they both turned away at the same moment. Cyan chuckled and Mathew sighed. "This is interesting." Cyan sat on the couch and motioned for her new student to sit across from her.
"I thought so." Mathew smiled widely. It was the first time he felt relaxed around anyone in a long while. Even when he was with Alice and Owen, he was still reserved. There was always something that would play in his mind. A small thought or suggestion poking at the base of his head telling him one thing or another. With this woman there was none of that. When he saw her aura he felt accepted and knew she held no judgment for him or for any of his problems or abilities. The openness of her eyes and mind put the young man at ease more than he felt when looking into Alice's eyes. Mathew looked at his mentor and saw someone who had experienced and handled things he is trying to handle and will handle later on in life. He saw that it's possible to live a life without the need to break his mind or body.
Cyan looked at the boy and felt a connection she had not experienced. One like a parent but only more so. The young man had obviously had some gifts for sight. She had read reports of his minor predictions. His mind was open to her and she understood the anxiety he faced. She smiled at him and offered him something to drink. He gladly accepted water.
Finally, Mathew asked the question he had wondered since she had mentioned it. "Why do you think Minister Weasley would be attacked now?
0
Tonks looked to her left. The small spell on the fireplace turned from a small glowing blue light to a red one signaled a warning that the floo network was disconnected. The group stood in the middle of the reception room on the third floor. The main building was the easiest building to defend but the surrounding ones would be destroyed if the Raiders did not do something.
Ron looked at the fireplace and smiled. The floo was the last thing to be cut off. The Raiders had suspected that a private company might have been moving to attack this estate. When the public announcement was made that the Vanguard family would be housing the Oracle for a few months it was too tempting of a target for abduction or getting rid of another wizard that strengthened the image of Britain. The goal for this attack was likely to be to capture the young prophet, Mathew Andrews. When they found the boy was not there, they immediately had begun to prepare for an attack. It was unlikely that whoever would come was behind the boys absence. The information Cho had received was three hours old and unlikely to have changed since the primary target was not here.
Ron was relieved that the team was able to portkey the last of the Vanguard family before the restrictive wards went up around the building trapping them there. He stood among several books he had made into portkeys which were now useless. He moved out the door and signaled for his sister in law, Katie, to follow him. "Cho, we are getting into position."
Cho waved her hand to signal she heard. She looked at the three other teams in the room. They were quickly organizing their plans over a large map of the property. Cho saw her team and the lady of the estate stand in front of the map while they dissected its defenses. "Are you sure you would like to stay Sir?" Cho asked respectfully.
The burly man smiled at his wife. "I would never abandon my ancestral home." The man was cut off by a sudden explosion. They all ran to the balcony and saw one of the guest houses was destroyed.
"I have no time for arguments. Mr. Vanguard will you please aide Miss Tonks and Mr. Snape in defending the main building while we move ahead to cut them off?" The man nodded. He had heard of the Raiders through his friend Albus Dumbledore but it never crossed his mind how young they were. Many of the men and women who had come to him a short hour ago could not be over twenty eight. And these Raiders had been operating for at least ten years. Albus had said they started their organization while at Hogwarts but it had been decades since he himself had seen a young man or woman their age. Much of his own family was into their third generation. His children seldom had a chance to spend time with their own. Never mind visiting the crass old man who was their father.
The Avant family, now known as Vanguard, had been an active Wizarding family for well over two thousand years. They are the most influential family - the family that had a hand in the formation of the British Empire. They had aided in times of war and stayed neutral in wizarding conflicts that would lessen the worth of the family name. In the family's long history they had never had an attack on their personal estate. The family had at one time a standing army for their defense. Now in the relative peaceful times of the past century they had grown complacent. The solid peace they had experienced for the past several years lulled the family into a sense of security. They had not thought their actions threatening enough to others to warrant an attack.
Klamin Vanguard stood on the balcony and waited for the line that these young men and women formed to be breached. There was a thunderous screech and half a dozen trolls crumbled another building. Their clubs decimated walls and support beams. A third building on his right fell and Klamin wondered for the first time in his long life why such a young man would be worth all this. The young Auror named Cho Longbottom had told him that the attacking force was hunting the boy. Klamin had planned on teaching the young man several techniques to aid him in controlling his fits. Harry Potter had spoken to him for the first time in years to ask for help.
It was because the first words that the young man had said was a plea for help that struck Klamin. It was truly troubling that Harry himself was unable to help the boy and the others they found to help Mathew Andrews were of little aid. An old family with limited divination skills may have found ways to aid a boy who has no experience with diviners except for those who would randomly appear in the world was bad enough. But many of those become exceedingly eccentric. Klamin had agreed without much persuasion to aid Harry Potter this one time. Klamin smiled at the memory of Harry's relief. The two had been at odds since Klamin had said his family would not be involved in the minor war with Voldemort. The war itself was pitiful and not worth the time to aid in. Many of the family had agreed since they saw to some extent that the war would end in two years time from the first visit Harry Potter appeared at their door step.
Now that Potter's creation was here in his defense Klamin Vanguard wondered how wise it was to refuse aid. Not that he had regrets. For a man who must accept all of the consequences as is his duty as the head of the family he must never regret. Klamin just wondered had he helped or been more attentive to the threat someone like Voldemort could do, would his own family be in such danger? Unfortunately none of his family foresaw this turn of events. They only recognized their danger moments after the Raiders appeared and had tried to convince them that they needed to leave.
Fifty wizards attacked the household. "Klamin!" The father and householder saw the man named Mr. Snape. "Tonks and I need to try and break down the anti-apparation wards. Will you please tell us if the second line is breached?" Klamin nodded and Mr. Snape left.
The building rocked as another explosion destroyed a fourth building. Klamin stood there and calmly saw his home being attacked. His fist shook and he cursed his own lack of involvement in any kind of armed conflict. He himself knew only a handful of dueling spells from his days as a student. Evelyn was the same. She knew enough for self defense. The two would be ill suited to fight along experienced wizards.
Evelyn took his hand and leaned against him while watching the battle before them. "Do you think the young man is alright?"
Klamin grunted. In truth the carriage never arrived. The young man Mathew should have arrived hours ago. It concerned the old man more when he thought of what these wizards would do to the boy if they find him. "I hope so Evie."
0
Susan appeared at the table and sat down as Harry had finished serving the seasoned pork. Susan gave one look at it before saying. "You shouldn't use magic on something as simple as a meal. You will wear yourself out again." Harry smiled back.
"I have nothing else to do for the next few weeks, so I decided to splurge. Besides I know this is your favorite." Susan grinned at him.
"Thank you." They ate their meal and talked over what they would want to do tomorrow as they slept their whole day away. Susan smiled and muttered something about the wood floors needing polishing. Harry smiled and shook his head. No doubt that was a task he was expected to do. They finished their meal and Harry checked the messages on their answering machine.
Dad, can you pick us up at the leaky cauldron? We don't have any money for floo, they jacked up the price! Can you believe it? I think we need to start carrying our own floo powder now. Talk to you when you come by! Muah!
Harry smiled and called over to Susan. " I guess I am not visiting Tonks, I need to pick up Alice. They raised the taxes on floo travel again and she has no money."
Susan groaned before saying, "she is richer than you are. How is she out of money?" Harry laughed loudly. He erased the message while Susan continued to talk. "Alright. Go and take her out if you two are bored, I know you haven't taken her to a movie in a few months." There was a loud clanging sound in the kitchen before Harry looked over and began to laugh at the scene there.
"And what, may I ask, are you doing?"
Susan reddened as she tried not to break a soapy dish. She was horrible with house cleaning spells and when it came to soap she was as dangerous as their friend Nymphadora Tonks. "Just trying to learn how to do this sweetie."
Harry walked behind his wife and kissed her neck. "I love you."
Susan leaned into the kiss and sighed out, "I love you too." Harry pulled her from the sink and told her to go change. She was soaked from chest to legs in soapy water. Harry's wife giggled but dried her hands with a dish towel before walking up the stairs to their room.
Susan returned in her professional robes and wrapped her arms around her husband who finished the dishes. "I will be back in a few hours. You two have fun o.k?"
Harry nodded and kissed her again before she floo'ed to St. Mungo's mindful to take an extra amount for the return home.
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Cho dodged several hexes before casting her light flash charm. She spat out some blood that had started to pour into her mouth. She was hit by a unknown curse and knew she was bleeding internally. Cho saw that many of the wizards that were down were quickly pulled to the back and healed. Luna ran to her side and nodded at the movements the attackers were making as well. "Luna, we need to regroup." Luna simply raised her want to herself and the several remaining attackers on the Vanguard estate shifted their aim to Cho's left. Cho saw her image fighting against the wizards who had attacked the manor. Luna pulled her friend Erika to her feet and Cho healed her quickly.
Ron ran next to them and looked at the field around them. Many of the attacking wizards wore blue robes. Each person he felled were as non-descript as the one before them. That in itself caused him to wonder who these men were. The Vanguard family had many friends and few enemies. And of those, none who would attack in such a way. "We need to end this quickly." Ronald Weasley raised his hand to the building that was ready to collapse and shouted loudly as several walls burst into water flooding the attackers and making them loose their footing. To a Raider, everyone shouted stunner after stunner. Luna and her best friend Erika quickly trapped each downed person in an illusion of being in prison.
Ron silently thanked Harry for forcing them all to think of the unorthodox in the middle of a fight. It was clear that these wizards had no imagination when using their spells. They simply fired standard disarming and incapacitating spells at the Raiders.
Several screeches and screams resounded in the air. Ron moved his ring hand to his mouth. "What was that?"
"The trolls are headed your way bro." Ron saw a wall from the house next to him crumble. Three powerful trolls looked down at the red head and growled at him.
Behind him, Ron heard Neville shout a horrified "No!" Each of the raised troll clubs slammed down towards Ron.
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Cyan looked at Mathew in surprise, did he really not know the position the Minister was in? "The Minister is the leader of magical Britain. If she is killed there would be so much chaos that the people of the country wouldn't know what to do. Naturally there is a chain of who becomes the next Minister until an election is ready, but the morale will be severely destroyed and that can easily break the economy again. Several countries want to keep Britain weak."
Mathew was never one to understand politics but the information she was giving was grave. A small voice in his mind said aloud. "There is a cold war between several countries and Britain isn't there?"
Cyan nodded. "You know there had been dozens of assassination attempts on Hermione Granger-Weasley's life."
Mathew nodded. "She has had twelve assassination attempts since she became Minister. It's the record for the office in several countries."
Cyan smiled wearily at the teen. That was not something one should be proud of. "Britain has been on the front lines of conflict for the past century. We have supreme mandate over all decisions dozens of countries make. That in itself would create many enemies."
Mathew had not had his mind working in such a way before and felt the words spoken before he fully grasped at the ideas. "She is a good Minister. She is not just changing Britain she has changed other governments as well."
Cyan nodded. "She would be first to be killed, but if any country wanted to cripple Britain, they would need to kill or at least marginalize the most influential witches and wizards of the country."
Mathew looked at his fingers when he named off names. "Minister Granger, Albus, Harry... and me?"
Cyan smiled. "Yes." It was not lost on her the authority the boy exuded when he was speaking to the aurors. Mathew must had followed the same thoughts as he looked around the room and realized that he was sitting alone with a convicted criminal in a cell made to be lived in for the occupants whole life. Mathew squirmed in his seat a moment but finally became comfortable and looked back at the woman sitting across from him.
"Why do you think that Albus or Harry would not have been targeted first?"
Cyan snorted. "Albus Dumbledore is Albus Dumbledore. And do you honestly think that Harry would been an easy target? He single handedly placed down my army..." Cyan looked at the boys shocked face.
"You don't know..."
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So this is it. Ron did not even have the chance to blink before he knew he was about to die. Troll clubs... of all the things, it had to be troll clubs. He eyed the first club in its decent and made no move to dodge. It would be useless as the other two clubs behind the first would have hit him either way he escaped. Ron was startled out of his revere when a silver shield surrounded him. Three loud thuds met the shield. Ron looked to his right and saw Aurors flooding the court yards. Leading them were two young Aurors. One was followed by a silver bear and the other had glowing silver eyes. The female Auror with silver eyes pointed her wand at the dome and it suddenly reversed and surrounded the Trolls. The three heavy monstrosities were pressed against the ground and were unable to move.
Bruce Dent pointed his hand towards the deeper side of the court yard. "Secure the down wizards. Medical, proceed and aid Auror Longbottom and the defenders."
Pamela Johnson helped Ron to his feet. "Are you alright?" Ron nodded dumbly as he picked up his wand that had fallen to the ground and back to the other trolls who were literally making their own paths through the buildings to them.
"Mind if I help with these?" He gestured to the half dozen trolls that had cleared the building in front of them. They roared at the sight of the other downed trolls.
Bruce smiled at the Quidditch coach. "By all means, Pam here isn't even supposed to be helping. She is still in training."
Pam swore at him but Ron caught the easy laughter. "I'll handle defense if you two can concentrate on attacking." The female Auror said. Ron nodded and raised his wand.
Bruce stood next to him and said quietly. "Integrate" The silver bear next to him disappeared and Ron recognized the silver quality in their eyes. It suddenly struck him that these two were Harry's students several years ago.
The Trolls were next to them in seconds and were rebounding their clubs off of the shield that appeared around them. Pam flinched slightly from each hit but remained fine. Ron concentrated before he shouted. "Solasis!" Lightning burst from his wand and traveled down one of the clubs and shocked the Trolls hand. Several more trolls appeared through the paths the previous trolls made.
Bruce lowered his wand and clapped and held his hands together. The Auror then knelt and placed his hands on the ground. The ground suddenly fissured releasing super heated air at the trolls. Many of the trolls back and writhed in pain from the sudden scalding air.
Ron felt a pang of jealousy from the spell but quickly ignored it while banishing clubs directly at the trolls who were still standing. After three minutes fourteen trolls were sprawled in front of the two wizards and witch. "We need to check on the others." Ron did not bother to say anything else before running to sounds of spells that came from deeper into the estate. Pam and Bruce followed behind him.
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"You don't know about Harry Potter having been under a curse."
Cyan's shocked face reflected Mathews. "How? When?"
"I wouldn't have known about it if Harry hadn't told me himself, but it was a final curse by Voldemort. I don't know the details but I do know that right after your arrest, he performed a ritual that sealed off the curse. Right now he is rather vulnerable."
Cyan took in the new information. It never occurred to her that Harry Potter might have been disabled in some way. She looked to her student eager for answers for her to play out her scenarios. "How weak?"
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Ron, Bruce and Pam stopped at the inner court yard and sighed. The Aurors and the Raiders had out numbered the attackers now and there were several small fights that quickly ended on the other side of the compound. Other wizards nearby began to plan repairing charms on the lesser damaged buildings and the medical staff were attending the wounded attackers. More Aurors continued to apparate in and secure the grounds while talking to head of the house. Ron ran up to Tonks and Severus and gave a victorious smile.
"Wipe that idiotic grin off your face, Weasley." Ron laughed and shook the charming man's hand. It was a good day. Ron's twin brothers Fred and George tackled him. They all laughed, glad that they were all ok. Luna was followed by her team and Neville smiled at his wife. The Raiders slowly gathered near Klamin Vanguard and the man was surprised that they all looked to him for direction.
Klamin himself began to speak to several Aurors of the events that had transpired. "My friends and I were suddenly alarmed to see that one of the outer staff halls had crumbled. We promptly defended my home."
The Auror looked at the man skeptically. He eyed the wizards and witches behind the master of the estate but merely nodded and wrote it down. Cho and Neville walked to Klamin as the Auror left. "Thank you for covering for us."
"It is the least I could do. I..." The air was filled with sudden clacking noises. The group turned to the prisoners and to a man they all disappeared.
An Auror who saw them quickly raised her hand and a silver sphere circled one man. His body tried to disappear but did not.
"The trolls are gone too!" Tonks and Severus had heard the call from their left down the courts outer ring and nodded to the other Raiders. Nymphadora Tonks and Cho Longbottom were senior Aurors. They walked to the prisoner and nodded to the girl they recognized as Pamela Johnson.
"Thank you Miss Johnson." Cho smiled reassuringly at the young Auror. She smiled weakly in return. She knew she really shouldn't have been there.
Tonks knelt in front of the only prisoner and cast several spells until she reached into his mouth and pulled out a tooth. She disabled the portkey and sealed it in a bag. "Have Investigation see where this portkey goes." Pam broke the sphere around the man and took the portkey.
Cho stopped her as she walked by. "And Pam?" The girl slowed for a second dreading what the head Auror was about to say. "Good job. You are going to make a fine full fledged Auror." Pam smiled widely and ran to several other Aurors to escort her back to the main office.
Cho turned back to Tonks who was looking at her with a large impish smile. "What?"
"You big softie."
Cho laughed quietly and turned back to the scene that had held them there for the past three hours. "I got a report saying that Mathew Andrews was taken to the Ministry after sensing he was in danger. He is in a secure location. The Minister was fine as well. As soon as the young oracle thought of it, he ordered the Aurors guarding him to make sure the Minister was safe."
Tonks snorted. She had only met the young man a few times herself and that was before he was famous. She looked at the buildings that were slowly being reconstructed. "It doesn't make sense. This was too short of a battle for the information you obtained."
"You are right, there should have been an attack force twice this size here. While it was nice to have everyone here, I don't think I would have mobilized the whole Raiders if the attack force was small. We would have hand an easier time bottle necking them to attack a small defending force than a sprawled one."
Tonks understood. "So if they weren't here was there another target?" Both women felt unsettled at the thought.
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Harry Potter pulled his station wagon into the parking lot a block away from the leaky cauldron. He walked calmly wondering what was going to do with his daughter. He was not sure if she was bringing others over and was beginning to plan on what to cook for their dinner or if they had already eaten. He entered the leaky cauldron and smiled at Tom. The toothless bartender smiled back. The patrons ignored Harry Potter while he stood in the form of James Dursley. He went to the bar and leaned forward to Tom.
"Have you seen my daughter around?"
Tom laughed loudly and pointed outside. "She said that she would return quickly. I think she had forgotten something." Harry smiled and proceeded outside the back door and pressed the bricks to enter Diagon Alley. Harry Potter had only a fraction of the power he once possessed but it was still enough to find his daughter quickly. He saw her run down the alley and he waved his hand to her as she ran toward him. She smiled as she slowed down.
"Hey dad. Sorry about that. I wanted to get mom a chocolate frog. There is a new card with her in it and wanted to play the odds." Harry smiled. His wife Susan was a field medic during the 'second war' as it was called now, after Voldemort's resurrection. She had helped with many projects at St. Mungos on many magical diseases and had been recognized publicly a few years ago for her service during the war. It was enough for her to be famous in her own right and it had bothered her as much as Harry's fame used to bother him.
"That's fine sweetie, is it just you?" Alice nodded and the two started heading for the Leaky Cauldron and then to Harry's car. "I take it that your shopping today was good?"
Alice laughed. "It was great until we decided that we wanted to go home. Owen got a ride from his dad already, but with four galleons for floo I believe he is thinking of getting his drivers license. I think I should look into it too. This is ridiculous with how controlled transportation is getting."
Harry silently agreed with her. Almost all public places have forbidden apparation on their grounds and many apparation points have been dismantled. The only reliable means of transportation would be by muggle transport or by floo. Unfortunately many floo powder manufacturers have raised the price of floo powder by over fifty times. The Ministry has done some thing to regulate the price, but people would rather pay the high prices than remove the apparation wards that ensured safety in their villages and plazas.
Many students who were old enough to apparate no longer apply as they are unable to apparate to public domains. Portkey was still a high commodity and far more expensive than floo ever would be. This left for witches and wizards to either pay the high prices or apparate a distance away and walk to the town of their choice. Many chose to simply pay the high prices rather than walk.
Harry smiled to himself. "I think I am going to start to give you a muggle allowance so you could afford the metro. I don't know if I want you to drive up here every time you want to save money."
Alice laughed but nodded. The two began to walk around the corner and into the alley where Harry had parked the car. Harry placed his hand on her shoulder as many wizards apparated around them. Harry gripped his daughters shoulder and felt his body jolt with magic. Harry muttered under his breath. "Anti-Apparation wards."
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Mathew looked at the person he called teacher and thought of the actions Harry had done up till now. In truth, Mathew himself never knew how weakened Harry Potter was now that he had sealed off a part of himself. "I am not sure... But he has never demonstrated his summoning magic. Now that I think about it, I don't believe he has been in a fight since your attack on Hogwarts."
Cyan processed the information. She closed her eyes and thought of the dozens of scenarios. She berated herself for never picking up on the signs Hermione had given her dozens of times when she spoke about Harry Potter's safety. "If he was unable to fight using summonings, he is still an impressive fighter. But this information that a weakened Harry is walking among us is very confidential information. How would anyone find out about it?"
Mathew closed his eyes and thought of the things he had seen in his mind and a memory of a personal teacher appeared in his mind. Mathew groaned. "I was the leak. I had not learned Occlumency when this one tutor had come to visit. I would often get warnings about this teacher but largely ignored them. He had been helping me a lot for that point with my headaches. But now that I think about it, he must have just worn my mind out for me to not feel them. Crap."
Cyan placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We know now. That is what is important. Go find an Auror. I can't leave this room." Mathew stood and ran out the door. Cyan could not see any auras but could feel the guilt come off the young man in layers. She silently hoped he would forgive himself.
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"Who are you?" Harry received dozens of wands raised in answer. Alice looked at her father who raised both his hands outward. She pulled her wand and concentrated. Alice squinted her eyes before they turned silver. A silver gorilla appeared next to her only to growl at the wizards that had encircled the father and daughter.
Harry had not been in a fight for a long time and suddenly felt anxious. The wizards were numerous. He clenched his out stretched fists and felt the little magic he had in his body remold. Every ounce of idle magic was refocused on the coming battle. He did not know how long he could fight for, only that his daughter was in danger. With a sarcastic grin, Harry looked at his daughter. "I got the ones on the left."
Alice smiled back and gave a mock whine as the first attacking curse flew towards them. "But there are more wizards on the left."
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A/N: alright! No previews this time around as I am literally flying by the seat of my pants. You can blame star wars episode 3 for this almost not making deadline today, but with this chapter done I think I have a good momentum going for the next few chapters.