The New Order

by padfootjr24

After the events of fifth year Dumbledore decides that the Order needs to make some changes. Changes that will bring them all closer to the enemy than ever before. Please r&r

10. Potter's Raiders

THE NEW ORDER

By

Padfootjr23

Chapter Ten: Potter's Raiders

As Harry decended the stairs on his way to the entrance hall he both mentally berated himself for putting him and others in this position and did his best to convice himself that everything would be alright. When he arrived he found everyone else already waiting though they did not leave for fifteen minutes. While he had them all in one place he decided to hand out their 'gifts'. He removed the box that Dumbledore had sent him and placed it on the floor in front of him before enlarging it. A quick look around showed some very confused expressions and Harry was a little surprised to see both Snape and Tonks already wearing a set of battle robes. It was of no matter however since these were a lot better than anything they could have possibly bought. Without waiting for any questions he opened the box and pulled out one full set of robes. The moment their eyes landed on the material there was a collective gasp and it sounded as if all the air in the room had suddenly been sucked out. Seeing that everyone seemed to be at a loss for words Harry explained.

"I asked Moody to have these made a while back. Dumbledore sent them over with the potions and journels." He explained with a grin. He had told the others about the journels written in parseltongue but the fact that Blaise was a parselmouth was still a carefully guarded secret. Judging by the look on the other order member's faces it was obvious that niether Moody nor Remus had mentioned anything to the rest of the Order except maybe Dumbledore and possibly McGonagall.

"Potter, are those..." Snape began but stopped as he stared at the robes in awe. His look was mirrored by everyone else present.

"Yes they are." He answered happily. "Top of the line battle robes made out of thousand year old Basilisk skin. I understand that they are a great deal stronger than your standard battle robes and are much more durable." Harry explained before he began handing them out. The normally composed potions master was quick to shed his own robes to replace them with the newer ones with a look of awe still on his face. Tonks reacted much the same way though her movements seemed to be slower and more sluggish than usual. After everyone was properly outfitted Harry regained their attention.

"Now before we go i want everyone of you to put consealment charms on your robes so that no one will recognize them if we must go help the Order fight. We must not leave anything behind that would connect us to the Order later on. That would cause an awful lot of trouble for everyone concerned. Which brings us to today. Each one of us will have a portkey that will take us to different locations around Diagon Alley or Knockturn Alley, they will also be able to return you here if you get into serious trouble by simply saying deliver me from evil. They will also allow us to communicate with each other since some of you will be stationed around the area as lookouts. They are charmed so that only you will be able to hear any messages. If you simply tap them twice with your wand they will take you directly inside Borgin and Burkes. And just incase we run into trouble they are designed to pass through anti-portkey wards." Harry ignored everyone's shocked and disbelieving looks and continued. "Just to cover all the bases, if you are stunned or incapasitated in some way it will activate automatically. Dung, I want you, John," Harry said as he pointed to a man in his late thirties with dingy brown hair and worn features. "And Nigel here to make your way to the shop as soon as you arrive and start browsing. I will be stationed outside the Serpant's Lair Pub across the alley. After about three minutes I want you, Dung, to step outside and light your pipe if the shop is empty of other customers." Harry went on to explain what he wanted everyone to do and where to be until it was time for them all to leave.

After charming his robes and raising his hood he tapped his wand to the portkey that he was wearing around his neck, a simple gold chain, he was whisked away in a flash of dizzying color and sound. When his feet slammed into the ground he found himself in a small alley between Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions and, surprisingly enough, Weasley Wizard Weezes. It took him a few moments to get his senses under control but as soon as he did he was off. He ignored everything and everyone around him but was paying just enough attention to know if there was any danger around him. One thing he did notice however was that everyone seemed to be shying away from him and looking at him with suspision and even fear. 'Good, it will keep them away from me.' He concluded but someone else saw him as well and did not seem afraid. In fact he seemed very interested in why he was there. Harry however did not notice him and he quickly cast an invisibility charm and moved to follow after his new curiosity.

After passing several stores Harry came upon the entrance to Knockturn Alley. Without skipping a beat or even a second glance he entered the shadier shopping district. As he moved through the surprisingly crowded streets he had to weave his way passed wizards and witches of the most deplorable kind. Through his entire trip he wanted nothing more than to simply turn around and run back out into Diagon Alley but managed to keep his cool. It was several minutes before he came to his destination and leaned up against the outside wall of the run down looking pub as if he were simply taking a rest after a long day on his feet. From here he had a very good view of Borgin and Burkes as well as people moving in and out. It was not long after he arrived that both Dung and John entered the shop and Nigel probably wasn't far off.

Like in Diagon Alley passers by seemed to take notice and steer clear of him which he was eternally greatful for. As anticipated Nigel arrived just a few minutes after the others and took up his place within the store. Harry was just starting to feel nervous again when Dung came out and lit his pipe. He was very relieved now that the waiting was over and pushed himself up off the wall. However before he could take one step someone stepped in front of him and blocked his path. Looking up Harry was surprised to see the face of Marcus Flint, the former captain of the Slytherin quiditch team. Harry almost blasted the older man out of his way in panic until the man spoke up.

"I'm glad to see that you have finally wised up and saw that you were on the wrong side this entire time Potter..." Before he could utter another word Harry's right hand shot up and he dug his fingers in around the man's throat, just under his chin. with his left he grabbed Flint's wand hand to prevent any retaliation. With a quick jerk he spun around and pinned him to the wall and used it as extran leverage. Flint thought he was a Death Eater, apparently Voldemort was keeping his mouth shut about what really happened with those unspeakables but Harry was surprised that even the Dark Lord could prevent Draco Malfoy from bragging about what he and his father had done to Harry. A quick scan with his new magical eye, that was still hidden under the cloth patch, revealed that Flint had seen through his hood due to the magical lenses in his glasses. Harry let out a growl of frustration for not thinking of such a possibility. He decided to think about it later, he had other things to do after all.

"Despite my resent actions I am not your friend nor am I your ally. I now hold your throat in my hand, If you ever speak to me again you will not get it back." Harry growled before quickly stunning him. "Everyone place masking charms on your hoods." Harry muttered into his portkey as he growled in frustration that he did not think of that before. With masking charms normal magical lenses would be useless although magical eyes, such as Harry's, could still penetrate the hoods. He was crossing the street before Flint's body even hit the ground and made it to the shop's door just as Bill and Snape arrived. All three walked in together and immedietely went to work while Dung remained right outside the door.

"You're up." Harry said to Bill as he pointed towards the door leading into the back room while removing his wand with his other hand. Mr. Borgin looked surprised at first that his shop was full of hooded men but that wore off when Bill made to enter his store room. Before he could say anything though Harry quickly hit him with a powerful stunning spell before leaping over the counter. He plucked a hair out of the man's head and placed it into a thick liquid filled viel that he removed from his robes. Dung had just re-entered the shop and took the potion from Harry and swallowed it all in one disgusting gulp that left the man cringing. Almost immedietely his features began to change as a look of extrem discomfort shined in his eyes. In less than a minute the transformation was complete and Dung had to charm his robes to fit him again.

"Alright, lets go. John, Nigel, stay out here with Dung just incase something goes wrong. With luck this won't take long." Harry instructed as he and Snape dragged Borgin's body into the back room.

XXX

Kingsley Shacklebolt was wondering Diagon Alley early saturday evening for lack of anything better to do when something caught his attention. Someone had just emerged from a small alley between two shops and was walking quickly through the crowded streets. Normally this would not be anything unusual but what struck him as odd was that it was a rather hot a balmy summer evening and the person was wearing some rather heavy rust colored robes and had their hood up. Obviously this person did not want to be recognized. With his interest and suspicions peaked he decided to fallow the man and see if he was up to no good. His suspicions were confirmed somewhat when the unknown wizard entered Knockturn Alley. He stopped to think for a moment before making up his mind to continue his persuit. Not wanting to be recognized himself in such a place, Shacklebolt drew up his own hood and ventured into the darkened Alley.

As he walked, trying to locate the man again, he noted with confusion that he had passed at least three others dressed simularly to the man he was following. When he finally found him again he was leaning up against the Serpent's Lair Pub just as a fimilar face approached him. He had had a few run ins with the Flint family and they were near the top of his most hated people. He could not hear what the two said to each other but obviously Marcus Flint had choosen his words poorly. Despite himself and his need to stay hidden Shacklebolt almost burst into a fit of laughter at seeing what his mark had done to the arrogent young pureblood. This mirth however was buried when his target and three others in simular robes met outside the door to Borgin and Burkes and went inside. He was going to try to get a closer look and hopefully hear what was being said when a few sudden flashes of red light shined within the store.

Normally his insticts would tell him to charge in and fire curses at anything that moved but he knew that he was out numbered by at least four to one against an enemy he knows nothing about. No, in this situation prudance and caution were the correct paths. Deciding to get some back up he apparated directly to Auror Headquarters and rounded up a few men while sending a message to Professor Dumbledore with one of the house elves that worked at the Ministry.

XXX

Harry and Snape dumped Borgin's unconscious body against the wall in the store room, where the others had dumped the bodies of two stunned customers, and closed the door behind them. Bill was standing in the center of the room pointing is wand in various locations while chanting in some obscure dialect that niether Snape nor Harry could understand. As Bill worked the other two removed several different trunks from their pockets and enlarged them before kicking open the lids. Though they looked quite ordinary each trunk was charmed to accomodate twice the load that one would think by just looking at it.

"Potter," Snape began uncertainly and with a hint of respect. "How were you able to create portkeys that can pass through wards? To my knowledge not even Albus can pull that off." As Harry searched the shelves lining the walls for anything useful he thought about simply lying to the potions master but in the end he decided to endulge him. Snape for his part was a bit put out that Harry would not answer him, in fact he appeared to simply ignore him altogether. He was about to just go about his business when Harry spoke.

"Those journels from the Chamber of Secrets didn't just contain Hogwarts daily buisness and Slytherin's insane ramblings. A few days ago I came across one that was entirely different. Its not surprising really, after all with so many books they can't all be simple business records. Inside I found what appeared to be many complicated spells. Almost as complicated and hard to cast as the Patronus Charm. After realizing what I had I simply flipped through the rest of the journels to see if there were any more. There were infact seven such books. Three of them written by Methina herself just after she finished developing the written parseltongue language. Anyway Slytherin recorded many spells as well and portkey creation was one of them. Apparently these parseltongue spells are stronger than normal for some reason. That is why portkeys created this way cannot be contained by standard wards." Harry explained as he walked around grabbing things off the shelves and throwing them into various trunks. Snape for his part was staring at Harry with his mouth hanging open. He had heard of Voldemort trying to develope spells that incorparated pareltongue but he was never able to make it work. He was now very grateful that he had obviously not found those particular journels while he was a student. His attention was obviously more centered around the basilisk.

"I've got it." Bill exclaimed just as Snape was shaking off his thoughts and turning back to his work. Both he and Harry turned towards the oldest Weasley sibling just as a trap door in the center of the floor was opening up.

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed as they all approached the newly revealed opening. Do to lack of light the three could not see passed the first four or five steps leading down. Concentrating hard on what he wanted Harry adjusted his magical eye to see through both the darkness below them as well as his blindfold. Even with this added advantage he could see next to nothing that lay below. Only a dirt floor and a few broken crates. With a softly whispered word the end of Harry's wand lit up and he began to decend the stairs with both Bill and Snape right behind him. As he got closer to the bottom shadows fled away from the light of his wand allowing the others to see what had been hidden in the dark. When they reached the floor none of them could supress a shudder at the intense feel of dark magic that was all around them. Looking around the room Harry had a hard time recognizing many items though he had been studying up on dark objects. Snape and Bill on the other hand seemed to know a great deal.

"My god!" Snape gasped as he quickly approached a shelf that was standing against the opposite wall. On the shelf was a crystal ball that seemed to have thick black smoke swirling around inside it. "This, this is a mind sphere." At Harry's confused look Bill leaned forward and whispered into his hear.

"A mind sphere is used to break into someone's mind. It takes someone with a good working knowledge of legilimency to operate and for that reason alone it is only used against those that are extensively trained in occlumency since they can usually do it on their own." Harry nodded in understanding before turning his attention back to the job at hand. Looking around the hidden cellar appeared to be about the same size as the front room of the shop upstairs. The room itself was more like a hole in the ground with dirt walls and floor. The shelves were packed full with ancient tomes and scrolls, potions and sinister looking objects. One thing in particular caught Harry's attention. Sitting on a table across the room was a large tank with a very familar looking reptile. He began making his way over to the tank when Bill suddenly grabbed him and spun him around.

"Harry don't. Thats a basilisk." Bill exclaimed loudly as he shielded his own eyes. The commotion brought Snape's attention away from the mind sphere and he quickly diverted his eyes as well. If the situation had not been as serious Harry would have found it amusing.

"It's not a basilisk Bill, it's an angulari." He corrected as he turned back to the tank after ducking under Bill's arm. Bill was not quite sure if Harry was right but he was damn sure what his mother would do to him if he let anything happen to Harry so he turned himself around and followed after him while still not looking at the tank.

"Are you sure Harry, I mean it certainly looks like one?"

"Yes I'm sure. An angulari looks almost exactly like a basilisk except they don't get nearly as big and they have a thin red stripe on the top of their heads. They are extremely venomous though." When both Bill and Snape turned to look at Harry like he had two heads he explained. "After Mr. Weasley was attacked by Voldemort's snake Nagini last year i did a bit of research on magical snakes. The Monster book of Monsters had a very large section dedicated to snakes so it was very helpful." He said in an offhand manner as he looked down at the nonmoving serpant. Thinking that he could take care of himself the other two men turned back to their tasks. Harry was about to speak to the snake when a whispered voice came through on his portkey.

XXX

Both Tonks and Blaise were stationed a few blocks away from each other just inside of Knockturn Alley and at the moment both women were intensely bored. If it weren't for the fact that they were surrounded by possible Death Eaters both might have fallen asleep do to their lack of sleep recently. Despite having nothing to do Tonks had to admit that Harry's plan was going well so far despite his aggrivation when telling everyone to cast masking charms on their hoods. For a few moments she, like the others, were confused but it quickly came to her. Someone must have seen through his hood and recognized him. Obviously, from the lack of action so far, the problem had been taken care of so no worries.

Despite possible Death Eaters Tonks was about to fall asleep anyway when she noticed several people making their way into the alley. Taking a closer looked she sucked in a deep breath when she recognized the tall figure of Kingsley Shacklebolt leading a team of Aurors. She quickly composed herself however as they drew closer and tried to make herself seem insignificant. As the group passed Shackebolt's eyes lingered on her for several seconds before his attention was turned back to the path ahead of him.

XXX

"Sixteen Aurors lead by Shackebolt just entered the alley. And I have a pretty good idea where they're headed." Harry heard Tonks say just as he was preparing to speak with the snake.

"Shit!" Harry swore as he ran back to the stairs and climbed back up. When he got there he through all of the trunks that were still up there down into the cellar. "Fill those up as much as you can then portkey out of here. We'll buy you as much time as we can, and take that snake with you." And without waiting for an answer he slammed the trap door down and made his way to the door.

"Aurors just passed me. They will reach your position in about two minutes." Blaise informed them. Harry knew that the four of them left upstairs couldn't fight off sixteen Aurors on their own, at least not without hurting them. And especially not with an Auror as powerful as Shacklebolt leading them. After some quick thinking Harry decided that they just had to buy a little time.

"Alright everyone, activate your portkeys and get over here." Almost immedietely the other fourteen members of their group suddenly appeared in the middle of the shop with wands drawn. Harry quickly waved the new arrivels into the back room and quietly shut the door again leaving Dung and the two others alone once again.

XXX

Professor Dumbledore was strolling around the school grounds when Shacklebolt's messanger found him near the edge of the forest. He was a bit startled by the urgency that showed on the small creature's face when she arrived and he began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. After handing the letter to the Headmaster the elf disapeared with a pop. He carefully opened the letter and his eyes immedietely went wide. As he rushed back up to the castle he tried to figure out why the Death Eaters would want to attack Borgin and Burkes. After all Mr. Borgin had always been an asset to Dark wizards. Just as he was moving through the main doors it hit him. It wasn't the Death Eaters, it was Harry. Now Dumbledore was left with a difficult decision. Would he go to knockturn Alley with the back up Kingsley asked for and risk exposing Harry or possibly capturing him. Or will he try to ignore the message and stay at the school. Both choices had it's good points and very bad points. In the end he decided that the best option would be to go but to purposely arrive late to give Harry and the others the time to escape. With his plan in mind he walked to his office at a sadate pace where he would wait for a few minutes before making his way to the Great Hall as if he had just recieved the message.

XXX

It was not long before they could hear the shop door open and the echoing footsteps of several people moving around. Using his magical eye Harry confirmed that it was indeed Shacklebolt and he was very grateful that he decided to pull everyone back to the store. At least this way if it came to a fight there would be even numbers.

"Ah, Auror Shacklebolt." 'Borgin' greeted in a false cheery voice. "To would do I owe the honor of this visit?" Kingsley for his part ignored the man and instead looked around for the unknown wizards that he had seen enter the store. When he spotted the two men leaning against the far wall he slowly made his way towards them as he remained on his guard while his fellow Aurors spread out around the store.

"You, who are you?" He asked suspiciously as he kept his hand close to his wand. He could tell that both individuals had masking charms on their hoods and that only hightend his suspicions.

"My name is Even Coverson and this is my brother Christopher." John lyed smoothly while making no movement to remove his hood.

"If I may ask, why are you both wearing such heavy cloaks on an evening such as this?"

"Both my brother and I, as well as my father and a few uncles, suffer from Nocternum sickness. Sunlight and the rediation it spreads will kill us very quickly and very painfully, so when going out during the day we must make sure that we are completely covered." Nigel explained as he lifted his gloved hand. Shacklebolt looked at the two men through narrow eyes before turning to make his way over to Borgin. He clearly did not believe the two men but could not risk the possibility that they may be telling the truth only to kill them when removing their hoods to confirm their identity.

"So, was there anything that I could do for you mister Auror man. Would you care for a book on the fight for the equality of all magical creatures, or a bottle of chilled firewhiskey perhaps?" 'Borgin' asked in an innocent voice.

"Do shut up." Shacklebolt snapped in annoyance. He was just about to go search the back room when a sudden familar scent caught his attention. An overpowering smell of tabacoo and firewhiskey. He looked around wildly for a moment trying to find the source of the smell but it was no where in sight. Then a sudden thought struck him. Wipping his head back around towards the counter his eyes went wide as he serveyed the shop owner.

"Fletcher!" Kingsley exclaimed as he kept his sharp eyes on his fellow Order member. Dung for his part did not give anything away with his expression but he didn't deny it either.

On the otherside of the door Harry's mind shut down for a moment when Dung's name was mentioned. It took no time at all to shake it off but when he turned his attention back to the seen in the other room he saw a few Aurors reaching for their wands. 'Shit.' He swore to himself in anger before turning around to face the others.

"On the count of three we're going to storm through this door and launch a hail of stunning spells at everything that moves. If you have to use more powerful spells do so but try not to hurt them to much." Harry whispered to them and when they all nodded in understanding he began to count down from three on his fingers. When his last finger went down he threw the door open and everyone charged through, throwing spells as soon as they had someone in sight. The Aurors, who were either pointing their wands at Dung or the other two, were shocked at this sudden appearence and due to this four went down stunned almost immedietely. Quicker than Harry would have liked the Auror's training kicked in and began firing curses of their own. Kingsley wasted no time and simply stunned Dung before turning his wand to meet the new threat. In his haste he did not notice Dung's unconscious body disappear as his portkey activated. Using the speed that had developed from years of avoiding Dudley when 'Harry hunting', Harry crossed the room in a flash and turned over the large hard wooden cabinet that he had taken refuge in during the summer of his second year. Using the peice of furniture as cover he launched a series of disarming and banishing charms that were made stronger by the tempremental nature of his new wand. Despite the presence of many other fighters the Aurors seemed to have noticed the power Harry had and tried focus on him believing that he was the leader of this group.

Kingsley dove behind the front counter just as one of Harry's banishing charms came screaming by him. Instead of hitting the skilled Auror the curse slammed into the wall above the counter with such a force that a small hole was blown out and morter and plaster rained down on the crouching man. After the rain of debrie had subsided Kingsley looked up at the damage and breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to get out of the way. 'Damn he's good.' He thought to himself with reluctance before sending an explosion hex at the cabinet Harry was hiding behind.

As he fired spell after spell Harry kept scanning the room and watching as members of both groups went down. The irritating fact of this was that when an Auror was stuned or locked in a body bind their collegues would simply revive them while members of Harry's group were being whisked away by their portkeys the moment they went down. That was something he would definitly have to remember for the future. After stunning another man some rather eratic movement caught his attention off near the front counter. In a less hostile enviorment it would almost seem comical but instead it just left him confused and worried.

Shacklebolt was dueling with a member of Harry's team and while the older Auror appeared to be in top form the other fighter clearly was not as they stumbled around and their curses were no where near their mark. Using his eye to see through the masking charm on their hood he was surprised to see that it was Tonks because normally she was one of the strongest duelists in their group. Before he could find an answer however Tonks' shield came crashing down after a heavy blow from a disarming curse and she fell to the ground not long after. As Kingsley approached Tonks Harry jumped up from his cover to prevent him from removing her hood. With a strong wave and jerk of his wand he sent a very powerful banishing charm at the man. With his eyes wide open he was just able to dive out of the way before being hit but in that time Tonks' body had vanished indicated that she had apparently passed out which confused Harry greatly since he did not see her get hit by any curses. By this time it was down to just Harry and four other of his men while the Aurors still had seven able fighters. The others had been stunned and revived so many times that it was a risk to their health to do it again.

When his curse missed Kingsley and impacted the wall Harry had to jump back behind the cabinet to prevent from getting hit by all of the flying shrapnal that blasted out of the wall. After a few moments he poked his head back up just in time to see an explosion hex coming right at him.

"Oh shit." He gasped as he threw himself out of the way and stumbled away from the cabinet just before it exploded. As peices of wood, large and small alike, flew through the air Aurors and Harry's men alike were forced to drop to the ground or take cover to prevent themselves from getting shredded. However Harry wasn't fast enough and as a result ended up with a large chunk of wood lodged into the back of his left shoulder. Grunting in pain Harry pulled himself back up to his feet only to be thrown with incredable force back into the wall by a powerful bludgioning curse. Thanks to the strength of his battle robes he wasn't severly injured but he was still bruised pretty bad and the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He had no idea how long he layed there but when he was able to sit up and lean against the wall for support the rest of his people were gone and the only Aurors left standing was a very beat up Kingsley and another man that Harry did not know. Both men were looking at Harry in undisguised shock.

"POTTER!" Kingsley exclaimed as he spat Harry's name as if it were something foul. For a moment Harry was confused until he brought his hand up to his head and realized that his hood had fallen back. When his hand touched nothing but hair Harry groaned to himself. When both men raised their wands once again Harry quietly whispered the password to the portkey and disappeared in a flash much to Shackledolt's fury. The last thing Harry saw before disapearing was Professor Dumbledore rushing into the shop being followed by many other Order members.

XXX

When Harry's body slammed into the floor of the entry hall of his home it did nothing to help the aching mucsles and joints he was now sporting not to mention his killer headach. After a few minutes he was able to shake off most of the pain and look around to see if everyone else was alright. Both Snape and Bill, who were not involved in the fighting were moving around the small croud that was either sitting or standing around the hall healing what injuries they could while others that seemed to be fine with the exception of a few bumps and bruises were moving some of their more worn members up the stairs and into their rooms to rest. For the most part Harry was content to just sit there for the rest of eternity if it meant that he didn't have to move any more so that is just what he dicided to do. That is until Bill approached him.

"Harry, are you alright?" He asked with concern as he crouched down beside his younger friend.

"Yeah Bill, I'm fine. Just sore as hell. Kingsley packs one hell of a pounch." He hissed as he tried to work the kinks out of his back.

"That he does." Bill responded with a laugh. "The first dueling tournement I ever won I had to go against him in the final round. Obviously I won but that match was pure hell I'll tell you."

"Was anyone seriously wounded?" Harry asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"No, not really. just a bunch of bruises, broken bones and a few burns. However Tonks appears to be suffering from exhaustion for some reason. When she arrived here they couldn't find any wounds on her but she was out cold and they couldn't wake her up. When Snape and I got back he forced a dreamless sleep potion down her throat and had her taken to her room. Hopefully she will be fine by tommrow." He explained and Harry realized that that was probably why she was stumbling around the shop while she was dueling Kingsley. After thinking for a moment he decided that he had to talk to her in the morning to find out what was going on. They had avoided each other since he found her in his bed four days before and something was obviously going on. Of course thinking about that got him thinking about Blaise as well. Struck with a sudden suspicion Harry had Bill help him to stand up and then asked if he knew where Blaise was. Bill was obviously confused but told him that she was in the sitting room. Noticing the wound on Harry's shoulder Bill quickly healed it the best he could. Nodding his thanks Harry left the hall looking for his Slytherin friend.

He found her just where Bill said she was. She was sitting in a high backed armchair just staring into the fire that was roaring in the fireplace yet it gave off no heat. He was a little surprised that she gave no indication that she knew he was there. Usually she was well aware of all of her surroundings. Harry slowly lowered his aching body down into the chair opposite her and just watched. He was a bit disturbed to see a haunted and almost lost look in eyes and it brought out a fierce desire to protect her. Looking a bit closer he caught traces of magic around her face and he had a bad feeling what it was from. He slowly took his wand out of the wand holster on his wrist and pointed it at the girl.

"Finite Incantatem." He whispered. Almost immedietely several glamour charms were removed leaving Blaise looking almost nothing like the girl she usually is. Her eyes were dull and glassy with dark circles around them and it stood out much more since her skin was much paler than usual. Her face almost seemed to sag from stress and lack of sleep. In short she looked like hell. Harry stared at her in shock for several minutes until it was Blaise herself that broke the silence.

"So now you know." She said in a quiet almost weezing voice.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Harry asked in a very concerned tone. Blaise finally turned to look at Harry and almost immedietely he wished she hadn't. A direct view of her eyes showed much more than just a lost look. They showed pain and self loathing. Her eyes began to water up as she tried to speak but she just couldn't get the words out. Harry was out of his chair in a flash and pulled the distruaght girl into a hug as he tried to comfort her. Even he was surprised by his actions since he had never really done anything like that before, not even for Hermione when she was upset. Due to groing up with the Dursleys he just wasn't used to physical contact with people in a comforting way. After a few moments he helped her to stand up and led her up the stairs and into her room. As he left to get some Dreamless sleep potion, Blaise changed her cloths and crawled into bed. In no time at all Snape was barraling through the door with the potion clutched tightly in his fist and an almost paniced look on his face with Harry following quietly after him. Blaise tried to speak but both Snape and Harry urged her to just get some rest and they could talk in the morning when she was feeling better. Out numbered, she decided to follow their wishes and took the potion.

Know that Snape would want to speak with him, Harry remained outside of Blaise's room for almost an hour while he sat with his daughter. When he finally emerged he had his face set once again in that cold mask that is so common among Slytherins.

"Mr. Potter, may I speak with you for a moment?" Harry looked momentarily caught off gaurd by the almost polite tone but he could tell that it was not a request so he simply nodded and led the older man to his office that was connected to his room. Having no desire to seem as if he were in charge he passed by his desk and instead sat down in one of the large arm chairs off to the side of the room.

"What do you know about this?" He asked immedietely after sitting down. Since it was his daughter's health they were talking about Harry decided not to beat around the bush or fudge facts since he in fact knew very little.

"In truth sir I have no idea what is going on. Now i understand that as a parent what I am about to say will probably upset you but I simply ask that you listen to what I have to say." Snape's eyes narrowed in suspicion as Harry said this but he nodded just the same. "Alright, four days ago when I woke up I found Tonks sleeping in my bed with me. At first I thought something might have happened but quickly disguarded the idea. In short I had no idea what she was doing there but decided to ask her about it later. When I turned to get out of bed on the otherside I found Blaise asleep as well. Suffice to say that at that point I was near to having a heart attack so I just jumped out of bed and took off. I had no idea what the two of them were doing there and in all honesty it worried me. Since then we have been avoiding each other fairly effectively. But now we have both Tonks and Blaise laid up with exhaustion and for some reason I think it may be connected. But like I already said, nothing happened between us. The two of them just seemed to show up while I was asleep." While listening to Harry Snape's hands were gripping the arms of his chair in a vice like grip and his face looked absolutely furious. Harry was actually starting to get a bit worried when the man started taking a few deep breaths and seemed to calm down abit.

"Was that the only time this happened?" He asked in a cool voice.

"I think it is but I could be wrong."

"Fine, I believe that you are being truthful and that you didn't do anything unseemly towards my daughter. I take it you have no idea why either of them were there?"

"No sir. I could probably come up with a few theories but I must admit that when it comes to women I usually draw a blank." Unless his eyes were mistaken Harry saw a goast of a smile cross the man's lips. Since niether had anything else to say to the other they both headed off to bed and hoped that Blaise or Tonks could explain a few things when they woke up

XXX

"Where the hell were you? I sent you that message over an hour ago." Kingsley yelled as he paced back and forth in Dumbledore's office.

"I do appologize but when your messenger found me I was quiet a ways from my office and it took me a while to gather enough people. But it seems now that we must find out what Borgin was hiding in his shop to warrent an attack from the Death Eaters." Albus smoothly changed the subject from his lack of support and it did the trick as Kingsley spun around to face him.

"It wasn't the Death Eaters, I was Potter and a large group of others." He shouted out and Dumbledore did his best to look shocked.

"Harry? Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. The little bastard nearly killed me with the most powerful banishing charm I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure Snape and the others were with him as well but he seems to have gained some more support and they are much more skilled than your typical Death Eater."

"Well you and your men certainly gave them something to think about." Dumbledore said, trying to sound upbeat about what the Aurors were able to do but Kingsley only got even angrier.

"No, we didn't." He growled as he started pacing again.

"What do you mean?" Albus asked with genuine confusion.

"That fight was only to buy time. We found a secret store room in the back that had been completely cleared out. Potter and the others were fighting while they had someone else down there packing everything up. Those men could have killed most of us at any time but it seems they were merely playing with us, using simple spells but still doing a lot of damage with them. Each time one of their people went down they were taken away by some sort of portkey that can go through our wards. They were constantly losing men while we were reviving ours yet we were still hard pressed."

"Why would they do that? If they could defeat you then why go through that." Albus thought out loud.

"I don't know but the way they were doing it, it was almost like they were using this raid as a training tool for their fighters." When Kingsley said this Dumbledore almost let out a laugh. The man just got knocked around by people that were doing their level best not to severly injure him and his men so he writes it off with some illogical theory.

XXX

When Harry woke up the next morning it was still quite early and his body was very stiff and still incrediably sore. He wanted nothing more than to stay in bed but decided that he should get up to get something to eat since he hadn't eaten since luch the day before. Walking through the quiet house he figured he was the first one up and considering what happened last night he wasn't the least bit surprised. When he entered the kitchen he had to surpress a chuckle when he saw Twinkle already in there with his breakfast ready. How the house elf seemed to know where he was and what he wanted all the time he would never know but if it made her and the other elves happy who was he to argue. After thanking Twinkle and sitting down to eat Harry saw something he hadn't seen in a while and his mood was quickly elevated. Flying through the window was none other than Hedwig, who he hadn't seen since before he was captured by the Death Eaters. She landed on his shoulder and gave his ear an affectionate nip before clamping her beak down hard on it as if scolding him for leaving her behind.

"OWW! I'm sorry Hedwig but I wasn't exactly in any condition to remind them to bring you along." Harry said as he rubbed his sore ear that was now bleeding a little bit. The bird's attitude seemed to change almost immedietely and hooted as if in an apology before flying back to him and pointing out the paper that was laying on the table that she had delivered. Harry was confused for a moment since Hedwig knew that he didn't like the Daily Prophet so why would she bring it. Picking up the paper and unfolding it he quickly figured out why as his eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

POTTER'S RAIDERS?

By

Christine Shakes

As all of our readers know from recent events Harry Potter seemed to have joined forces with You-Know-Who. With the brutal murders of twelve Unspeakables he shredded the trust and expectations of the entire magical world. But now it seems that he has chosen a different path, a path where he takes orders from no one.

Last night Harry Potter led an attack against a shop in Knockturn Alley that has been suspected of aquiring dark and illegal merchendice for dark wizards such as Death Eaters and possibly the Dark Lord himself. As many of you would suspect this shop is indeed Borgin and Burkes. It is unknown what was contained in the store that attracte Potter's attention but if it was being held for the Dark Lord than the public has a reason to worry. When a team of Aurors arrived a large scale magical duel erupted within the shop that left fifteen Aurors hospitalized with sever injuries and magical exhaustion. Reports from witnesses that watched the fight throught the windows say that the Aurors were outclassed in nearly every way when it came to power and skill but were able to hold on because the injured 'Raiders' would be portkeyed away leaving their commrades a man short. But if this is indeed true than we must seriously question the skill and compotense of the Aurors and the Ministry in defending the population against both You-Know-Who and Harry Potter. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has always had a good track record when fighting Death Eaters but it seems that Harry Potter trains his men and women far better than the Dark Lord. If Potter can hold his own against an entire team of Aurors with just a few other strong fighters than what are we supposed to do when he begins launching large scale attacks against the wizarding population. Or worse, joins his fighters with the Death Eaters.

It is unknown when the Ministry is going to speak out about this new threat but many are calling for Minister Fudge to act now. With Harry Potter's popularity despite his crimes and his capabilities he could have wizards and witches flocking to him. It has not been confirmed yet but since they were his accomplices for the murder s of the Unspeakables it is highly likely that former Hogwarts professor and Death Eater Severus Snape, former Auror Nymphadora Tonks, and former Hogwarts student Blaise Zabini are members of this new faction. Witnesses say that another man was identified at the scene but his name has yet to be released.

"Oh shit." Harry groaned as he through the paper across the room. The artical went on and on and on for three whole pages with several side articals refering to Harry's life and his 'decent into darkness'. For a brief moment a smile crept across Harry's face at the thought of what Snape would say when he found out that he was now refered to as one of Harry's followers. However his amusement didn't last long as he thought about the consequences of a new 'faction' as the artical called it poping up. With him being a suspected Death Eater the Ministry would be after him for sure but their attention would still be focused on Voldemort as well. Now however Fudge will probably divide his forces to try to combate both of these threats. However with them believing that Harry is now some new Dark Lord Fudge will certainly be pressured to expand the training for new Aurors and other law enforcment personel. Just the thought of all the ups and downs was really giving Harry a headach.

TBC

I appologize but I had a hard time writting that artical for the Daily Prophet I think it is terrible so if you think it sucks then you are not alone. However I hope you like the rest of the chapter and I wait for your reviews and questions. ta ta.