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February 9, 1945
Tuesday Afternoon
"How many?" Harry asked.
Corene's smile, bright and wide as it was, fell off of her face not one second after it had appeared. It had done its job in alerting him that there was finally some good fortune — McMacson would be overjoyed too, the two of them together could go out and see to the end of this conflict in large part.
"My father said that there's anywhere from forty to seventy-five, which after your recent arrests and the losses they've gradually taken, should put that number at roughly the halfway point of their overall forces," Corene said to him, a hint of eagerness readable in her tone; it was strange to hear and see her be so expressive.
"You're right, I think. That would be about half of what they have left… it would be massive for the department, for everybody really, if we could handle it," Harry stopped their walking and turned to face Corene, the girl mimicked his action so that they were now looking directly at one another; he pulled her into a hug then, his superior height allowing him to kiss her forehead. "Thank you."
Corene allowed him the embrace, though she barely returned it. "It was owed after my many discussions and sharing of information with Elaine. Her political ambitions are in full swing, as you've more than likely learned by this point."
"I have," Harry agreed. "It's worrying, but I still think she won't be too bad as long as I'm right beside her making sure of it."
"Whilst you might doubt it should push truly ever come to shove, my allegiance would be to you before her. Our shared blood means much and more to me as well as the family at large, but Elaine needs curtailing in a few aspects and that's something only you've proven able to do," Corene pulled back and gave him a once-over appraising look, he took the chance to speak whilst she was doing that.
"Why say all of this now? We're friends, more than just friends and before too long, we'll have a written up and formalised alliance between our families… I would've thought you'd wait to say anything like this until after that happened," Harry asked as Corene finally got them back to moving, only at a slow pace whilst they conversed.
Conversed; Corene didn't immediately answer him. In fact, not only did she avoid immediately answering him, she dragged the moment on and on until nearly one whole minute of silence had passed between them. When that minute finally did come to a halt with her turning to regard him, that usual blank expression on her cocked head, the words in which she spoke weren't the ones he would have thought they'd be.
"I felt as if it was owed to you and that such as assurance was needed before everything begins to evolve rapidly — so much so that I sincerely doubt Elaine's ability to manage it without a large network the likes of which she managed in Hogwarts with my assistance," Corene blinked, her eyes neutral and tone even as she gestured to the door they'd just passed. "The Library of House Carrow is behind that door. In it is stored the entirety of our book collection throughout the centuries and finally, it is full. I aim to read as much as I can and through that, my reason for working under Elaine is no longer half as vital as it used to be now that I'm permitted full access."
"Elaine will expect all of your help to continue, you know," Harry commented with one last fleeting glance at the door before they turned a corner, heading further into the centre of the Carrow family Castle.
"I will continue to assist her so long as it is beneficial to me to do so. That would be an exceptionally fair offer — for you, however, assistance will be provided free of charge so long as you continue to procure chocolates and hold good conversations as you've done thus far," Corene cocked her head at him, her lips slightly raised as her warm hand grabbed the cuff of his. "Allies."
That new deal they were going to be going over may not have been completed just yet, and sure, there were still a few other things they would need to talk about for this familial friendship contract, but Harry thought to hell with it all. He grabbed her hand wholely and smiled at Corene.
"We'll be the sane ones, like always… now how about some hot chocolate? I think the last time we had a heart-to-heart was in front of a fireplace with a nice warm drink."
Corene nodded once. "Acceptable. Agreed."
She summoned her favourite house-elf for a brief bout of bonding before the paperwork pushing began.
February 13, 1945
Saturday Afternoon
"I would like to kiss you. Is that acceptable?" Corene asked him, her eyes more alluring and her typically pale face filled with a pinkish hue as she fluidly prowled towards him.
Harry thought of Elaine briefly, the similarity the two women had with one another especially, but his mind wouldn't work. Corene was beautiful, tall, slender, assertive and a saviour of animals. Her personality was the epitome of perfection, her fluttering eyelashes practically the work of a love deity and those soft lips looked brilliant as they got closer and closer.
When they finally touched his and began to move, their softness against his, he found that she tasted as wonderful and peculiar as he suspected. There was a hint of sweetness as if she'd had a bowl of fruit for breakfast and then there was a taste decidedly more human in nature, more Corene than anything else. He couldn't put his hand on what it was or what it reminded him of, but he found it addicting as he deepened his kiss with her.
They had been talking about a future marriage between their houses, perhaps their children should the pair have them and then, somehow, they had gotten to the topic that Harry was still engaged… engaged didn't mean married and with the thoughts still fresh on their wine-addled minds, they began to discuss more intimate matters.
One action led to the next which finally led up to Corene and him snogging as if their lives depended on it. She was softer than Elaine, the latter worked herself sore with exercises whilst Corene didn't and her gentle touches, as well as those exploratory hands, were quite simply far too much for him to bear.
He stood suddenly, reversing their positions and tucking her under h—
Harry awoke with a jolt and found himself at his desk. His dream had been strange, Corene had never quite come across his mind in a romantic way. Not once had he really had a dream about any witch since he'd been back that was quite so desire-filled as that had been, and so he shook his head.
Clearly, the alcohol had gotten to his mind even if he'd drank it the previous evening. That or he was far too eager to see Elaine than he'd thought considering what the two would sometimes find themselves doing.
Again, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and wake up. There wasn't any time for dreaming whilst at work, least of all with that raid that needed to be planned out before they moved as they always did.
Harry called for his secretary and told him that he needed the typical team assembled for one of their weekly surprise training exercises. Such wording kept the group guessing just as much as it kept those not within said group guessing, meaning it was impossible for the lot of them to tell if it truly was some type of Auror drill or an operation — he never announced an operation until after it had happened, lest there be a spy in the Auror Department.
McMacson agreed with Harry that there wasn't and wouldn't be, but Maxis, the man with more experience than the pair of them, truly thought there had to be at the very minimum one person that fed information to Grindelwald's remnants. Everything went too smoothly for the band of criminals otherwise and with that being the case, all of those protocols that were created shortly thereafter, including the one that Harry had just used, came into being.
I'll have to figure out a way to thank Corene and something else to keep Elaine distracted. She won't be happy that I went out again, especially without telling her or the others; only Reinhard and Aster will even know about it for the next few hours.
Whilst the group began to assemble, Harry went about writing up the orders, putting together team rosters that could later be reworked with ad-hoc groups as needed and the equipment that they would take. Enchanted clothing was a must even if there was only a minor chance of it saving somebody's life and potions, there could never be too many with the number of wounded a raid as large as this would likely have.
Merlin, he wished he'd mastered the Elder Wand — Grindelwald's wand — just as much as he wished he'd learned about the stone Elaine had handed over some time ago. Without that book, he dared not mess with either Hallow after reading their history. Seriously, all that he had read typically ended horribly or unhappily, with only the rare tail here and there of some great success belonging to a worthy person.
It'll be fine, you can use it, you should use it.
There in the back of his mind came a voice that represented the darker depths of his mind and whilst always he would see them shoved down back whence they came, this time, he hesitated. Many and more of the Aurors he had chosen for this raid were young, the vast majority of the one-hundred-person team were under thirty years of age whereas Grindelwald's followers tended to be hardened criminals and dreadfully strong warriors. It looked increasingly likely that far too many of those that he had gathered would perish lest he changed the plan this time around.
Pop
Laddy was right before Harry's desk, snapping the man out of his thinking as he turned to regard the small elf. "Laddy," Harry said, "What do you need?"
"Laddy remembered how the master ordered him to tell him if the Mistress returned home while he was at work, sir," Laddy began, only for Harry to raise a hand.
"Elaine's at home, that's unusual of her. It's too early in the day for her to be done with the Ministry… what's she doing, how long's she been doing and please, use as much detail as you can. You've been checking the foods and other consumables throughout the home as I said to, right?" Harry ended up bombarding the small elf for nearly half a minute before he was finished and once he was done, he shook his head.
He was getting ahead of himself, he already had gotten ahead of himself by issuing the command. Decisive action was important and the nest wouldn't last forever… but it could last for one more day. It had to, for there was something that he needed to do before that raid came if he truly wished to care for those who served under him.
"The Mistress Elaine is reading a book sir, one of the ones that the Master Harry had looked at two nights ago, sir. Laddy and the others checked while the Mistress was away. We checked the entirety of the master's home for any magic that wasn't his own, but we found nothing that was harmful, sir," Laddy looked up at Harry with those big, wide, expressive eyes of his. "What would you like Laddy to do sir?"
Harry let himself think for a few seconds lest he rashly responded to his friend's question and then the answer struck him.
"I'll be coming home shortly after I give them orders for tonight's drills to keep any 'spy' we have guessing," Harry said to Laddy as he quickly began to change his plans for the evening, the majority of them now centred on his home and more importantly, the woman and the wand that were within it.
Laddy smiled, his ears flopping forward as he hugged Harry's left — closer — leg and then he was off with much the same pop as had announced his entrance.
"Merlin," Harry said aloud to himself with a huff. "I need to finish something for a change. I need to take a risk. She always does it and it always works out for her…"
Harry doubled down on his decision and wrote as quickly as he could. Tonight, he was a man possessed.
As a testament to how fast he had become at writing, Harry was finished with nearly three average-sized parchments after thirty minutes of anxiety-ridden work. No sooner than the final word was written, the parchment and quill still exceedingly moist, was Harry in the floo of his office and on his way back to Peverell Manor.
Elaine was home alone, reading a book that was very far removed from anything good and at a time that was incredibly unusual of her. Something was up, his mind felt off and the wand, the raid; he had to seize at the very least one of the two Hallows he possessed. If he didn't do that, more people would die whilst they were supposed to be safe under his careful watch.
That was a large enough motivating factor for him to overcome the thoughts of curses and other nefarious magic being placed on the Elder Wand. Elaine didn't buy the stories that it would see its master killed any more than he did and even if either of them had, he was a Peverell. It was meant for the family he was now a part of, so surely it would work out in the end… that was his hope.
Harry turned the corner that would lead to the staircase and within twenty seconds, he was at the aforementioned stairs. It would be but a minute more until he was where Elaine currently hid away and those sixty seconds went by far too slowly. He nearly sprinted half-a-dozen times, but ultimately, he had thought better of it.
"Ela—" Harry began as he finally made it to the door of her little 'office' that she had made, but when he pushed it open, it was empty.
He wasn't an idiot, he could see that she had clearly been in the room. There was plenty of evidence to put her in it not even ten minutes prior, but she was no longer present. Wherever she had gone off to wasn't on the first floor either, else he would have heard her. That meant she could be even further up, potentially even in the attic or in the very basement of the house.
"Laddy," Harry said, thinking on his feet as he grew impatient and wearier. "Where's Elaine?"
The poor elf had only barely arrived and he wasn't even given the chance to ask what Harry would like before he was bombarded with a question. "Laddy doesn't know, sir. She was up here, but Laddy and the others can find her fast, should Master Harry like them to, sir."
Harry nodded and made a motion with his hand, then, the elf was gone again. It would take seconds for her to be found, slightly more if they moved slower, but Elaine's presence would be revealed to him before too long. In the meantime, however, he reckoned he would take a look at the most recent book she was reading from. As was usual of her, the titles weren't recognised by Harry and the contents delved excessively deep into the theory of magic as a whole even if that wasn't their general topic.
One once-over of the book left on her desk revealed itself to be one similar to the Egypt one she had read the day prior, but this one was apparently about some Chinese technique and magic. All of it was as alien to him as the Egyptian stuff had been, so he didn't really pay it all that much attention, content to wait as the seconds ticked by.
One turned to five, five turned to ten and ten had just about turned to fifteen when Laddy had come back to him with the typical pop.
"Elaine is in the basement cooking in one of the large pots, sir," Laddy said, straight to the point as he beamed up at his wizard.
Harry returned the happy smile that Laddy gave him and patted the smaller being on the top of his head. "Thank you, Laddy," he said to the house-elf. "That's very helpful, really. Please, take a day to yourself this week. Merlin knows you deserve some peace with all you do for us."
Laddy looked terrified at the idea of 'peace' and so he vanished, popping away before Harry turned it into an order. The man, for his part, shrugged it off and started towards the stairs he had only just climbed. Elaine was in the basement, which meant that he too had to go to that dreary place filled with spiders and made of stone; there was a small concrete part that she was using based on her 'cooking' in a large pot, but even the small potions room was tucked behind some spider webs.
It was not three steps towards the exit of the room before Harry stopped and rolled his eyes. He could do exactly what Laddy had done, and so he did. He apparated to the basement door, no longer needing to do all that extra walking. It made him feel like a lazy piece of shite, but he didn't mind that so much.
From that point on, it was but a few cleaning charms and a door until he found himself looking at a busily working Elaine. She was hovering over two cauldrons, the workspace between the two covered in textbooks, ingredients and a large knife, but there wasn't any level of worry or stress as she worked. As difficult as he knew it was, Elaine expertly brewed two cauldrons full of two mystery potions at the same time.
He didn't distract her until ten minutes later and she didn't notice him until then either; combat wasn't the only thing he'd learned from her, after all.
"Harry," Elaine greeted, her hair clinging to her sweaty face as she finally undid the knot keeping it tied up behind her.
"Hey," he returned, finally stepping completely into the room and taking a full look around. She had cleaned it up, sorted up a myriad of ingredients on the shelf meant for them and made the place larger than it previously had been. "You've been busy, I see."
She smiled at him as she sauntered over, her clothes stained in various places and noticeably wet, but neither he nor she minded as she closed in to hug him. "Very busy. You'll have to join me one of these days. I can promise you that it would be nearly as good a bonding time as killing Grindelwald, only enjoyable far more than once."
He blinked at her, but he couldn't deny that she was speaking the truth. Grindelwald deserved his death, every moment of it, and that was one thing the two would always agree on. If only Harry could recall the vision at will… he wagered he'd enjoy seeing the dark lord killed over and over again.
"What're you doing, exactly?" Harry gestured around the room and over to the two cauldrons that were coming to a rolling boil. "This isn't from one of those books, is it?"
Elaine shook her head, one eyebrow raised as she pulled back to look at him. "On the left is a potion meant for blood-replenishing and on the left, one that'll be for handling pain whilst also working to encourage healing. I've been preparing them in the event that either of us gets hurt. Should I wish to create a potion out of one of those books, I would do so away and in a field — their recipes and how they work are foreign to me, I'd not risk this historic home for the sake of my curiosity."
That's another strangely thoughtful, polite thought for her to have.
"I see… thank you. If you were serious too, I wouldn't mind helping you, so where'd you leave off?" Harry rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and started forward, expecting Elaine to stop him, but she didn't.
She smiled happily, grabbed his hand and started to explain where she had left off in either of the potions brewing. Elaine seemed genuinely thankful for the time together and happier still that she could continue to teach him; that had always been a goal of hers and one of the few things they had kept up doing since the very start of them knowing one another.
He doubted it would ever change.
Elaine rolled her in the bed so that she could face him. "It was very enjoyable working with you today. It reminded me of Hogwarts, only now I can do whatever I'd like with you, whenever I'd care to."
"That's an interesting point of view, but yeah, it was strangely fun," Harry said with a chuckle at her statement, though he didn't decline it. "I didn't think it could be all that enjoyable. I've never really cared for potion-making."
"It's an incredibly handy skill to have and one I suggest you master as quickly as you can. Do remember the frequency in which I call you my equal and the many reasons that rings true beyond my boundless love for you, darling — if we're going to truly be equals, you'll need to keep up beyond combat and transfiguration."
He snorted. "Give me a few more years and you'll be the one that needs to catch up with me when it comes to a duel," Harry grinned when she raised both eyebrows at him and seeing her in a good mood tonight, he figured now was the perfect time to tell her about what he would be doing tomorrow. "I think tomorrow we'll see just how much a difference that Elder Wand makes too."
Elaine sat up in bed and turned to look down at him. "You're going on another raid?"
Harry nodded without removing his head from its spot on a stack of comfortable pillows. "Yeah. I'll be leading an attack on the second nest we've found — about half of all of Grindelwald's remaining followers should be inside of it. That'll be huge for me, which means it'll be huge for us and we'll finally have some idea of how powerful the elder wand is. I know, I know, I'll still use my original when we're together but I'd be better off with this one when I'm alone."
"Aster and Reinhard," Elaine began, only for Harry to cut her off with a shake of his head.
"Nope," He said with a shrug and grin up at her, his hand settling atop her closer thigh. "They don't know when we'll be going or what we'll be doing until an hour before it happens. We have to keep it all a secret or else they'll be warned. You don't have to wor—"
Elaine crawled atop him so that her body was covering his. "I don't want you going out to fight. It's no longer necessary that you risk yourself, especially with you in as risky a position as you currently are."
"I'm in no more danger than you are," Harry said back to her confidently. "We're a team, we're almost always together, but this is something I have to do."
"I suppose you've made up your mind and I'm very aware of difficult it is to change short of blackmail or other activities," Elaine said, staring into his eyes with her darker ones. "You'll be fine — we both know as much and I've ascertained it. When you return, do find me, I'd love the information and you'd deserve a celebration."
Harry snorted at her final words. He was aware of how much she enjoyed hearing about or enacting violence. Harry wouldn't forget that very simple trait of hers nor the type of reward she classified as a celebration… she could hear all about what happened, but he still wouldn't be eating or drinking anything she made for him; it still didn't make sense on account of her having eaten the same food and drink from the very same cup that he had.
I'll find out, Harry assured himself as Elaine tucked into his chest, her wand on the bedside table. She's gotten worse at lying and tomorrow, I could have her repeat the steps she'd used in making it. I'll ask to see it out of curiosity, she loves teaching me, and then we'll see the notes she would have written for the recipe.
Harry fell asleep shortly after he concocted that little plan of is, but that wasn't the end of an interesting night.
He opened his eyes after what felt like a second had passed of them being closed. When he did that, there wasn't any familiar setting in sight; Elaine wasn't present, nor were any of his house-elves, his sheets or anything vaguely familiar of his Peverell life. Instead, Harry was adrift in a sea of whiteness, the ground before him as continuous as the sky above.
"Hello?" Harry called out, the setting strangely familiar even if he couldn't quite recall what everything was.
There was nothing in response. Not one sound, word or echo of his voice. For all he knew he was entirely alone, and then, as simple as anything ever could be, there were two feet behind him. He turned to see the person, but whoever it was had been quicker as they seized his hand.
Darkness greeted him in response to their touch and when he looked towards the face of the person, or where their face would be, he saw nought but an outline. There was nothing visible beyond that, not even the clothes that they wore.
"You've done much since last we spoke, haven't you?" Came the voice that he finally recalled and had a name for; Mortem.
He swallowed and looked directly at where her eyes would be. "I've done what I could, however I could and it's led me to where I currently am. I don't know if this is the right path, you won't share anything with me — all I want to know is that I'm doing what I was supposed to."
"The event in which you were brought to stop has not yet come to pass. Others that led to it have happened, others have not that should have and more are set to happen, potentially, depending on the future you carve out alongside those you've chosen to walk with," Mortem said to him, her tone even throughout the entirety of her speaking.
Harry shouldn't have been that surprised, he figured if she was a deity or whatever, controlling your emotions couldn't be the most difficult sort of thing to master.
"If I ask a question, will you answer it truthfully? One's all I'm asking for… you said we made a deal, but I can't remember it. Give me one chance, won't you?" Harry was practically pleading and the limit of one question was horrible, though likely the only shot he had.
'Ask," Mortem said after a short pause, one in which her figure seemed to shift many a time before it settled again into that vaguely familiar and undistinguishable shape.
"Is Grindelwald dead and gone, or will I have to deal with him again?" Harry asked; he nearly asked if Elaine had done something to him back in his office, but Merlin, he felt like that would have been a waste of the chance he'd just been given.
"He's as whole as you are, and when you understand what that means, you'll know the answer to the question that you asked," Mortem stepped towards him and brought a hand up, it was soft, cold, feminine and pale; this was the first time he was able to make out any of her qualities. "Return. This will be the last we speak until your time's come."
He tried to fight it, but Harry was pulled from the realm of dreams and into the real world to the sound of chipping birds.
February 14, 1945
Sunday Morning
When he finally rose from the bed nearly twenty minutes after he had woken up thanks to those damned birds, Harry noticed that Elaine, for a change, was still deep in her slumber. Seldomly did he wake before she did and whenever that happened, he found it very enjoyable. It wasn't due to her being unable to speak or anything of that nature, but how cute she looked whilst sleeping.
Elaine was dangerous, temperamental and wildly unpredictable, but during the time in which she was asleep, she looked angelic. He wished she could act half as innocent as she looked, then he shook his head and made to get up for the day.
When he returned in the evening, it would be after a battle… should he return. No, no Harry would return, he had to. If he were killed, Mortem would have nobody to see her machinations through and whilst he wasn't thrilled that it was his job at the moment, he at least felt somewhat safe knowing she had to look out for his wellbeing.
I'll come home, celebrate with her, wake up early in the morning to peer through her notes now that I know she uses the basement and then we'll make that 'Muggle' ingredient-using potion together. We'll see just what's in it then.
Harry's mind was completely and utterly focused on that little list of his that he went through much of the morning the same as a robot would from Muggle comics and films. Before he knew it thanks to the automatic mode his body had just been in, he was ready and dressed for work with a hardy breakfast in his stomach. He had eaten three and a half plates full of delicious food from his kitchens, something told him that he'd need the energy.
"Good morning Deputy Director Peverell," Greeted his typical morning… no, this person was somebody new.
"Good morning…" Harry trailed off as he shot the young man an expectant look.
"Junior Auror Clarence, sir," the young man said with a respectable bow. "I was temporarily assigned here while your typical secretary takes the day off on account of health issues. Director McMacson was the one who gave approval and sought me out, he's been in for nearly two hours."
That was all that Harry needed to hear and so with a wave to the slightly older bloke who was seated behind a desk, he tore off in the direction of Director McMacson's office. There would be hell to pay come soon enough and the two needed to make sure they were on the right track. It wouldn't do if news broke of the attack before it was launched, nor if anybody else knew just who exactly would be joining them.
The last thing we need is the rest of them getting words from the inside and going to help their friends. I don't fancy our odds in that fight, not with all the new people that would be joining for this raid.
Harry pulled a sour-looking face and very quickly washed it away as he burst through the door to McMacson's office. "Sandra, I'm here for Mac. He's in and good, yeah?"
Sandra, a middle-aged woman that was especially polite, nodded her head and smiled at Harry as she gestured for him to enter McMacson's office. "He's fine sweetie, do please get him to work, if you would. I'm still waiting for signatures on seventy-two documents."
Ouch… the bastard, I've already signed those weeks ago…
Harry shook his head and gave one last smile at the world woman as he exited the room. He'd be having words with McMacson when they were back and if there were still both alive. Oh definitely, the two of them would most assuredly be having words about this administrative work.
"Mac," Harry greeted as he pushed through the entrance of the older man's office. "Everything's ready, I just need to give the word. You're good to go, right? Maxis' plan looked good and you didn't want to change any of it?"
"He's done a good job so far, so we'll go with what he wrote up. It's one of the reasons I've seen him raised as far as he has — you've done the same with that Rosier kid, haven't you? He's already a Senior Auror if I hear correctly," Mac stopped and began to put on some form of enchanted clothing or armour; whatever it was looked absolutely ridiculous.
"Aster's good with strategy-type stuff. I plan on having him lead a portion of the Auror forces come the end of the year. I bet he'll do pretty good too, it's not like he can do worse with some of our current guys," Harry pulled open the door as the two walked out and once he was in the central room, he gave the signal.
Aurors around the entire department shifted gears to preparation mode as nearly half of those present were on the list or meant to work with somebody on that list. As the dozens of their fellow Aurors scurried about, preparing as fast as they possibly could, Harry looked over at Mac for one last comment.
"With any luck, this will be the last one of these raids that we'll have to do for quite some time. Let's just hope it goes well."
Harry was in position at the far East of the property with nearly ten Aurors, two of whom were Aster and Reinhard, the lads both equally as persistent that they fight alongside him. There were three other teams at the other directional points surrounding the property too; one had McMacson and ten others, while the other two had the remaining bulk of the Auror Forces and were meant to act as the main points of contact.
If everything went well, his party as well as McMacson's would slip into the rotten Muggle building that they sheltered in unmolested, and then they could really get to work. All of those who had been injured during raids would be arrested and any person found on the premisises would be a suspected follower of Grindelwald and find themselves in a similar set of cuffs.
Really, anybody here would be getting dealt with until they figured out who they were. It felt slightly dirty, but it was necessary, very necessary.
"How much longer?" Harry asked when he turned to look over at Aster, the silence and darkness of the night getting to him as they waited for the signal.
"Two minutes and twenty-one seconds by my calculations," Aster answered as he risked a glance at the building before them. "Very soon, and everybody here is already set. As soon as we hear the fighting and see the fire, we'll be sprinting in just like the plan said we would. I doubt they'll be able to handle it from all sides, they won't know how to split, who we are or what's happening."
Harry nodded, especially when he heard the ending. "That's very good. We don't want them to know that it's the Ministry until this whole thing is over. If they found out, they'd be far more apt to kill any prisoners they've kept alive just to spite us… it never fails to amaze me just how many enemies the lot of them have."
"That's what happens when you focus on expansionism and ideals instead of people. Grindelwald dealt with anybody who he thought of as an enemy, and unfortunately enough for him, that meant everybody that didn't consider him a god, was an enemy. It didn't quite happen that way, but you understand just how hated he is due to the innumerable number of attacks he's led," Aster took a breath and looked about ready to continue speaking, but he stopped when he saw something appear over the house.
There was one very bright light and then, violence.
Dozens upon dozens of spells lit up the dark night sky as they shot back and forth. You could hear impacts of bodies hitting the floor, explosions from spells such as bombarda or similar and as Harry raced towards the building with his group in tow, one could taste the metal on the air.
It had only just started and there were already unmoving figures littering the ground from both sides. It was madness, he hated war, he hated corrupt politicians and most of all, he hated Grindelwald. The prick was dead and he had better stay that way if he knew what was good for him.
"Keep it up," Harry heard Aster urge behind him, the latter of the two likely encouraging Reinhard or another slow runner within their little group.
Harry looked over his shoulder when he began to hear the huffing and pubbing of a tell-tale tired Reiner. "Alright?" he called back in a hushed tone to the larger boy, only receiving a thumbs-up in response.
With that non-verbal acknowledgement passing him by, Harry and the group that was right behind him finally found themselves at the single large Muggle building. The entrance was closed, though that wasn't much of an issue, and so the eleven Aurors went inside. On the backside of the house that Mac and his forces were meant to enter through, the door remained visibly closed to them. That didn't bode well, but this had been prepared for. They would split once more and Harry alone had gotten to decide the groups.
He, Aster, Reinhard and an older man from Canada named Kevin would be clearing the basement whilst the other seven members of their raiding team would clear the first floor. Neither the first group nor the second were meant to split apart again, however, and so that meant when either team searched a room, all of them would be nearby.
"Entrance is over here," Kevin called quietly to the other three, his wand trained on the door. "We going quick or are we going to give the Director a few minutes to catch up with us?"
Immediately, Harry shook his head. "We can't afford to wait for him any more than he could afford to wait for us if our positions were reversed. This battle isn't won yet, there are still more than a few people inside as long as our count's right — we need to do our part in getting all of their captives to safety, then and only then will we join the fight."
Kevin nodded and with the other three right behind him, he opened the door at the same time he moved away from it. Aster, Reinhard and Harry were all ready with shield charms up and spells on the tips of their wands, but nobody had been hidden behind the door waiting for them.
With one last look cast behind him at the rest of the group he had picked for himself, Harry nodded for the three he had chosen to begin descending the staircase that would soon see them in the basement of the home. He still felt horrible about the last raid, the one that had seen one of those with him killed and the other still missing, but he couldn't let him get in the way of what he was currently doing.
If he let it, more would die.
"Nothing," Aster whispered to him, receiving the very same word from Reinhard who had gotten it from Kevin, the leader of the four as they went through the maze-like caves underneath the home.
Harry looked around, impressed at their work as they continued.
"It's mad," Aster whispered to him of his own volition, nodding at how many offshoots there were. "They must have spent days down here making this whole labyrinth. It almost feels like I'm in one of the books my sister read to me when I was younger — it ended with them making a new friend though, so I don't think it'll continue to be the same for much longer.
As a reaction to Aster's words, Harry winced. He too doubted that it would end with them making any new friends, but he didn't doubt that before too much longer, there would be a fight… something… anything. It had to open up eventually.
"Three passages," Reinhard whispered gruffly after Kevin had said the same thing; Reinhard was loud enough this time around that it wasn't necessary for Aster to repeat the much larger boy.
Harry pointed at Aster, then he pointed over his own shoulder. "Watch behind us, tell Reinhard to do the same. I'm going to speak with Kevin and come up with a new game plan here," Harry said to the shorter boy as he wiggled past Reinhard until he was right beside Kevin. "What're you thinking?"
"One of these ways smells better than the other two, fresher too, which means it likely leads us out and into the forest. Every little lair like this has something similar, it's a private way in and out, which means it's also likely that a lot of them have come and go without us noticing," Kevin continued to speak, but Harry had already stopped listening.
If they knew that they were being watched, if they even suspected it, they could have sent people out through this passage to look for the 'spies' if they existed. Since they very much did exist and the numbers had already placed the remnants at nearly sixty from the Muggle entrance…
"We go forward as quickly as we can, see if anybody needs us and as soon as this is clear, we leave — I'm talking one minute or two minutes at the most here guys, we can't waste any time right now," Harry started forward, leading the group in the event that traps were set for them as he sprinted down the central passage.
It grew thinner and thinner, the air thicker and thicker all the while the other three spoke in hushed tones behind them. When the tunnel came to an abrupt end and Harry ruled out any hidden caves or passages short of masterful magic, he caught a brief portion of Aster's response to Kevin.
"... to leave as quickly as possible, this could be a trap."
Harry agreed, but since they were here, he had to ensure there weren't any captives that would be left behind. McMacson was still up above, likely leading the Aurors against all of the remnant forces in a victory, but who knew if and how long that would last?
"You're right," Harry said as he started off whence they came in a dead sprint, speaking loudly now that the battle was waging overhead and louder than it previously had, incredible explosive spells joining the earlier screams and shaking of the ground. "This could be a trap and if it is, we've fallen for it. That doesn't mean we can't accomplish our goals — we can save whoever's here, steal from the thieves themselves and get rid of a lot of them with some well-placed spells. This way!"
Aster, Reinhard and Kevin stayed on Harry's arse as the young man raced down the only path they didn't know anything about. It was the only one of the three that was steep and that simple world didn't accurately describe the steepness; it was wicked, enough so that you had to use your hands on the walls or else you'd fall to the very base of it… which looked like it went on for dozens and dozens of meters.
When the four finally did manage to make it down, the sounds of battle still waging above them as loud and often as ever, they saw five doors. All of them were wooden and with locks on them, none of them seemed large and most importantly, it didn't seem as if anybody was down here with them.
There was an incredibly easy way to tell, however, and it was a spell he had caught Hermione reading what now felt like years ago. "Homenum Revelio," Harry said aloud, using it in the underground 'home' of sorts.
It worked. It worked perfectly and Merlin, there were a lot of people down there with them; Harry, his three companions, and perhaps three dozen other people were all throughout the little cave system. When he shared that information with the three that had come with him, they were very eager to leave, even Reinhard, as those numbers would mean that skill didn't mean all that much.
All it took was that one lucky spell and it was over.
"We need to make sure they're evil before we do anything too barmy," Harry whispered, firm and unwavering as he moved a step further into the main sort of room that lead into all of the others.
"If they're evil, we're fucked, Pev," Aster said anxiously as he cast a glance up the cave they'd come down. "We should go, at least a couple of us. I don't think all four of us trying to scramble up here at the same time will be a very smart idea if we're being chased by people who know this place a lot better than we ever will."
Kevin nodded. "He's right, we'll mean trouble even if we're trying to help — Deputy Director, you should go back with Rosier, I'll take Lestrange and we'll take the gander that you want."
Harry wanted to argue, but when even Reinhard agreed, he gave up and nodded. He didn't quite get his way, but if those people were civilians, they would be led right on up by the others. As long as that happened, it was fine.
"Just be quick, we need to move," Harry said those words and the two bigger men were off, with Aster pulling on his arm as the smaller boy made to lead him up and away from the depths of the cave system.
"That doesn't sound good," Aster commented when they heard an especially loud explosion go off. "We don't use those spells for risk of collateral damage in these big engagements, that's written in the Auror textbook on page one-hundred and ninety-four, specifically section seven dash two."
Harry knew that, but some of the others still chose not to abide by it, especially the Head Auror. "We don't know anything just yet, it still sounds like everything's happening just as much as it previously was. It'll just be a f—"
There was another explosion, this time from the direction of the house instead of above or near their current location. It sounded quieter on account of its distance and got them looking towards where they'd come from, and Merlin, that had been especially helpful. If that noise hadn't come, Harry wouldn't have been able to raise up his shield charm in time for the spell to reflect harmlessly off of it.
He or Aster would have died and speaking of Aster, the boy was only just looking at him. "Good reflexes," Aster said as he cast his own shield and began to wave his wand in a manner Harry recognised meant a transfiguration of some sort was coming. "I didn't even hear them coming."
Harry found that odd, but he was in no place to comment as he fired back a spell of his own at the three cloaked individuals moving towards them, wands raised and his sigil on their cloaks.