Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 22 – Surprises
Within two weeks, all the rare ingredients for Polyjuice Potion had arrived, and Hermione started brewing it in one of the rooms at Potter Manor. They decided to make as much as possible in case they needed more later. According to their book, Polyjuice lasted a year after being brewed. Plans for Hermione's surprise party, most of which they kept from Ron as well, were in progress. They were afraid he might slip and tell her something while they were snogging, so they only told him the date so he could get a gift.
Harry let the Order of the Phoenix know that he needed to find where Voldemort was, although he was pretty sure it wouldn't help. Until they could find a known Death Eater and follow him or her to Voldemort's hideout, they had no idea where to look. That is, until one afternoon, two weeks after they started brewing the potion, when they got both lucky and unlucky.
Harry, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and Petunia were sitting outside under the pavilion, planning who to invite to Hermione's party while Hermione and Ron (who swore he would not drink any alcoholic beverage during the trip) were getting some more supplies they thought would be useful for their mission if they ever found Voldemort's hideout.
"I'm just glad we can finally be there," commented Mrs. Granger. "Do you realize we haven't seen Hermione on her birthday since she started at Hogwarts?"
Ginny looked at the middle-aged couple. "That must be hard. I've always been with my family on my birthdays, even the one where everyone forgot."
"Everyone forgot one of your birthdays?" asked Petunia.
"Yeah. Two years ago. It was the day before Harry's trial and everyone was worried about that while trying to convince Harry that they weren't."
"Yes, I remember. Vernon was hoping they'd throw you in prison," she responded looking at her nephew.
"Well, that's what that idiot Fudge would've wanted. His assistant Umbridge, who belongs in Azkaban by the way, is the one who sent the Dementors after me. It wasn't Voldemort after all. They just wanted to put me on trial for underage magic. Imagine if I hadn't been able to drive them away. They'd have destroyed me, Dudley, and whoever else they ran across."
Petunia paled. "I-It was the Ministry of Magic that sent them?"
"Yes," replied Ginny. "But she's still working for the…"
"Ahhh!" shouted Harry as he fell off the bench, his right hand holding his scar.
Harry was no longer looking at his family and friends. He was looking at a person wearing a Death Eater outfit. Harry was feeling ecstatic as he looked at his servant. "How many?" he asked.
A nervous man's voice that sounded strangely familiar came from behind the mask. "Ten, master, including my father."
Fury filled Harry as he pointed his wand at the worthless servant in front of him. "Crucio!" After about thirty seconds, he put his wand down. The Death Eater was lying on the floor, still shaking. "Ten? Thanks to Potter and his associates, there are dozens in that place! Without the Dementors it should've been an easy victory! What happened?"
"The…the aurors…"
"Crucio!" Harry shouted at the still-shaking young man. As he listened to the screaming, he got bored and walked over to the window, carefully keeping his wand pointed at the writhing figure on the floor. He finally lifted his wand. "Tell them to meet me here in three weeks. I'll have instructions for them. In the mean time, they need to stay out of sight."
"Y-Yes, master."
"Now, get out of my sight before I decide that your usefulness has come to an end."
The servant got up, scrambled to the door, and opened it wide. He walked out, closing the door carefully before disappearing behind it. Harry muttered to himself, "Yes, I'll wait here for those pathetic fools to come. With only ten more, I'll have to modify my plans."
"HARRY!" shouted several voices at once.
The raven-haired man found himself on the ground outside Potter Manor, with several people surrounding him. He realized that his hand was on his scar, so he put it down. His wife looked at him with concern in her eyes. "I don't think I have to ask what happened. Are you all right?"
At that moment, he realized that he was covered with sweat and breathing hard. "F-Fine."
Ginny sighed. "Did…did you learn anything?"
"Oh," he replied, "Bad news. Apparently ten Death Eaters were broken out of Azkaban."
"What?"
"Yes. One of them was the father of the one who told me, I mean, Voldemort." He paused for a few seconds. "I think…I think it was Draco I was, I mean, he, was talking to."
Ginny paled at the name of the man responsible for the worst year in her life. "You mean Lucius Malfoy has escaped?"
"If I was seeing the truth."
"We should tell the Order. They can find out if it's true. I think it is, since I can't imagine why he'd want you to see that. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you could see where he is?"
Harry closed his eyes in concentration. "I remember looking outside the window and the door, but I don't remember what was out there. I'm sorry." He put his head down in defeat.
"Don't be sorry. Use your pensieve," countered Ginny, with a smirk.
About an hour later, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione (who'd gotten back), were standing outside Harry's pensieve. They'd flooed Lupin about the vision, and after he'd checked with a few other contacts to confirm the breakout, he'd flooed them back, confirming that it was a true vision. Harry had now just placed the memory of it in the pensieve he'd inherited from Dumbledore.
They watched the scene unfold, looking around for clues of the location. They were now able to confirm the voice of the Death Eater as Draco Malfoy. Hermione insisted they walk through the doorway, which they did. Hermione was in the lead. Most of the outside was completely dark, but they could clearly see what was visible from the window. Hermione exclaimed excitedly, "It's a street sign!" as she ran toward a sign. She reached it and read it, smiling broadly. "I know where they are!"
Harry grinned. "And where they'll be for the next three weeks."
Plans were made to stake out that location as soon as the Polyjuice Potion was completed. Since this was Voldemort's lair, they didn't think it would be a good idea to visit there until they were ready. They would watch the place while disillusioned and wait for a death eater to show up. Hermione had memorized everything Voldemort wrote about what had happened at the location they were searching for.
Apart from their morning training, the days were relatively peaceful at Potter Manor, and they each seemed to lead into the next, and one day Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were on their way back inside the house after having a two on two Quidditch match that Harry, Ron, and Ginny had insisted on, despite Hermione's protests. When they got back inside, they found that the house was full of guests who shouted, "SURPRISE!" once the four of them had gotten inside.
"What?" asked Hermione, "is going on?"
"Your early birthday party," answered Harry with a grin.
Hermione seemed to be fighting a huge grin from forming on her face as she turned toward Ron. "You knew about this?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I knew they were doing it, but they didn't tell me any details, you know. They, er, thought if I knew too much I might, y'know, accidentally slip."
Hermione allowed herself to smile broadly. "A wise precaution." She looked around to see everyone who was there. Naturally, her parents and Petunia were there. Most of the Weasley family (all but Percy and Charlie), along with Neville, Luna, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid and McGonagall.
Harry commented, "Knowing how you feel about it, I gave the house elves the day off, so Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley cooked everything with involuntarily help from various Weasley men." Harry was, of course, referring to Molly and Fleur.
"Thank you," said Hermione earnestly.
"Eet waz no trouble," replied Fleur.
"A pleasure!" declared Molly, grabbing Hermione and pulling her into a fierce hug. After releasing Hermione, Molly went to Ron, Ginny, and Harry, giving each of them a hug.
Fred walked up to Hermione and pointed his wand at her. She immediately felt something on her head. She took it off immediately and turned to Ron. "Did that do…anything to me?"
"No," answered Ron honestly, so she put the hat back on and proceeded to enjoy the party.
They had lunch outside under the pavilion and played various games, although they didn't have a food fight, much to the twins' displeasure. Hermione then opened the many gifts that had been brought, mostly books, although Ron gave her a small bottle of expensive perfume. The twins gave a fireworks display just before the party ended. At the same moment that the filibuster fireworks went off, the party hat Hermione had been wearing flew up twenty feet into the air and exploded, giving a beautiful display of different-colored light. Hermione thanked everyone for coming, and especially thanked the planners of the party.
The next day, the morning workout was interrupted by a knock at the door to the exercise room. They were actually in the middle of a duel. Harry looked over at the door, opening himself up to being hexed by his wife. Fortunately, she'd only been sending the full body-bind at him, although coming from her it did send him flying across the room stiff as a board.
Ginny ran to where her husband was lying face-down while Hermione answered the door. "I'm sorry," she said as she released him from the hex.
"No, no," replied Harry. "That's good. Interruptions can occur during a fight. In fact, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to have random noises start coming during our duels." Ginny helped him up, and he kissed her quickly to show he wasn't mad. They then turned to see who had knocked at the door.
The Grangers and Petunia were now standing in the room looking very grave. Petunia spoke. "We just got a floo call from Mr. Weasley. Percy was just attacked by death eaters and is now in St. Mungo's. They're not sure if he'll live."
Chapter end