Harry Potter and the Need for Magical Law Reforms

by Crowlzor

I wrote this partially as a challenge to myself, and simply because I wanted to read it and didn't find any stories like it. a Daphne/Harry fic that strives to keep the characters in line with the books, with NO Weasley bashing, but still took an interest in the what if of unexplored relationships. all with a goal of still arriving at the epilogue.

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Harry

Harry was actually excited about participating in an under-manned prisoner hand off. This was the kind of difference making activity that Harry understood. This was why Kingsley had given Harry a job without requiring N.E.W.T.s. Not because he was apparently some stuffed shirt Lord, not because of his mastery of paperwork behind a desk. Harry knew Defense Against the Dark Arts. For better or worse, it was truly what defined Harry's life. Harry had to resist the urge to hope one of the 14 escaped Death Eaters would attempt to fight. Harry wondered what Robards and Kingsley's plan was.

He didn't have to wait long to find out. As Daphne left with her Father, Kingsley came right up to Harry.

"Walk with me Harry." Kingsley said. Harry fell in next to Kingsley, realizing for the first time that he was now nearly as tall as the Minister.

"That certainly could have gone better today, but I suppose it could have been worse. You can probably tell why I have always asked my brother to fill in for my wizengamot duties. I think I shall have to see if young Percy can replace me in representing our plans in the future."

"Careful Minister, Percy will Kill himself trying to do everything if you let him, but I definitely wish I had a brother who could do this work for me. It's positively mind numbing."

"You do have a bright young bride you could use Harry." Kingsley failed to conceal his smirk.

"Hilarious Kingsley. Seriously though, please tell me this is going to be less frequent in the future!"

"Heh, I have broad reforms in mind Harry. I expect your attendance at the Wizengamot will be every bit as essential as your presence as an Auror will be tonight, for at least the next year."

"Don't say that Kingsley!" Harry groaned. "If it's a year long problem, when Hermione graduates I'm giving her my vote and never stepping back in that chamber outside of Auror duties!"

Kingsley released a rich, deep chuckle. "I understand Harry, but I think you'll find getting out of lordship responsibilities harder than you'd like. Now, before we get official, I do want to ask, what was that today about Irish reforms? I take it the request was related to your discussion with Mr. Finnegan?"

"Yeah, honestly I was almost afraid I'd have to duel him at first. But we talked it out, and he promised me he'd keep out of muggle affairs if I talked to you about magical Ireland getting at least as much independence as muggle Ireland."

"Muggle Ireland is independent? I had no idea. I certainly will have to see about correcting that discrepancy. When did the muggles do it?"

"Uhhh….I wasn't the best in grammar school, but I think it was a while ago, like almost a hundred years? But not the North, that's why the muggle prime minister was worried I suppose."

"Amazing. Next you'll tell me the Muggles got rid of the entire British Empire. I suppose the magical population of Ireland is small enough that if they truly wish to govern themselves, it at least spreads my resources less thinly. I'll definitely have to set up meetings with more than just the Finnegans of course."

"Yeah, I'm sure Seamus would guess that. He said he'd talk to people and bring you a proposal, so look forward to that, I suppose."

At that point, Harry realized they had arrived at the Auror headquarters. He was surprised though to see someone already inside when they passed through the door. Harry thought all the Aurors besides himself were in Australia taking official charge of the escaped death eaters. So his surprise only increased when he recognized who was awaiting them.

"Hiya Harry," greeted Neville Longbottom. Who glanced at the minister and hastily greeted Kingsley as well. "Oh, uh, Hello Minister, Reporting as you asked, uh, I guess."

"Neville?!" Harry half enquired, half greeted. " What are you doing here mate? You alright?" Harry hoped after all he had been through and done, Neville wasn't in trouble.

Kingsley answered Harry's question. "Auror Longbottom here has accepted the same offer I made to you Harry. I heard a lot about the work he did with leading resistance at Hogwarts, and it seems clear to me that He is more than capable of filling his Parent's shoes, even surpassing them"

Neville bashfully grabbed the back of his neck. "I thought for sure my Gran was going to hex Minister Shacklebolt all the way to the continent when she heard he wanted me to not return for a new final year and take my N.E.W.T.s. I think it was only him mentioning mum and dad that got her to turn around. I thought I'd never seen her be so proud after the battle, but now she is apparently gathering the entire extended Longbottom family to throw me a party tonight! Harry, I don't know what I'll say to them all, do you think we could make this….take longer than it actually does so they go home?"

Harry laughed. "Hell Neville, no one understands wanting to avoid something like that more than me. If things go too well tonight, you can stay over with me."

Neville appeared shocked. "Are you sure the Weaseley's would let me? I'm not sure they'd not tell Gran…."

"Nah Neville, I'm moving into a house I own in London. You'd be safe from unwanted partiers there, I promise. And if we are going to be Aurors together, might as well start practicing covering each other's arses, wouldn't you say?"

Harry continued, "Seriously though Neville, Congratulations. I know you deserve this. I wouldn't have trusted anyone else with that task at the battle in that moment, and I know what Kingsley's mission for us tonight and in the next few weeks means to you mate. Good on you." And Harry Grabbed Neville's hand firmly, a smile fully on his face for the first time all day.

"All right," Kingsley interjected, "Let's get focused now. Even with my calling in all available regular Magical Law Enforcement Patrol members, once the Aussies are out of the picture, we are outnumbered. That is before factoring in the possibility that our entry point here in Britain being assaulted by any of the suspected dozens more of at large escapees from the Battle of Hogwarts last week. So I'm not taking any chances. The prisoners are being deprived of their wands, magically as well as physically shackled, and given potions to cause sluggishness. Temporary trace charms are also being placed on them. The three of us will lead efforts to secure the arrival locations, and coordinate with teams Robards is forming in Australia now upon their arrival."

Kingsley paused just long enough to give a look making it clear questions were not going to be taken until he was finished. Harry struggled, but managed to hold his tongue.

"Although I have told many we are taking the prisoners in a single group to Azkaban, this is false information. I realize you and I have a bad history with false information failing Harry, but it's the best I could do with the time and resources I have. I do not intend to reopen Azkaban at all until we have significant reforms in place. I don't want the public at large to know this, so you both have to swear to keep this information in confidence unless I tell you otherwise. Nod if you assent."

They both did so. This was unlike anything Harry had experienced before. Kingsley's past as an Auror, as well as an Order of the Phoenix member was certainly showing its benefits right now. Especially with Kingsley bringing up the disastrous attempt at moving him last summer, he found himself fondly reminiscing about Moody.

Kingsley continued, "I refuse to work with the demetors anymore. We will need to work out other methods of guarding Azkaban in the future. For right now, we will be using two, admittedly hastily retrofitted, temporary prisons. One in the depths of the ministry that has not been used in over a century, and Chief Witch Longbottom has been generous enough to offer the use of her ancestral family castle's dungeon. I will be meeting Robards and the top priority prisoners here, where they shall use a combination of portkeys and temporary Floo network connections. Longbottom, I know this will upset you and your grandmother, but this group will include both Lestrange brothers. I respect you both greatly, but not only are they higher priority prisoners, I would not trust they would make it to trial in your families custody."

Neville spoke up then. "I...I understand. I expect Gran will have the family send you hourly howlers though, so you should be ready for that….sir."

Kingsley dragged his hand across his face briefly before continuing. "I'll try not to throw myself in front of a stunner or deafening spell then. You, Neville, will coordinate with your family to receive six prisoners we will not have space for here. They will be using a similar travel method to what I understand Durmstrang used to visit Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Please apparate at once to the Loch on your family grounds, and ensure the security of transport from the Loch to the dungeons. The head of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol will be commanding the vessel. I'm afraid you will find it difficult to avoid your family by hiding with Harry, afterall" there was just a hint of joviality in Kingsley's eyes as he spoke the last part.

Neville nodded, looked like he wanted to salute, and wound up poking himself in the eye with his wand as he turned on his heel and rushed back towards the ministry apparition point. Harry assumed this meant he was helping Kingsley with the Lestranges. Harry couldn't believe both brothers had escaped the battle alive. Had Rodolphus even paused to mourn his wife? Harry hadn't even thought about the brothers in the whole time since Riddle's return.

Kingsley turned to him as Neville left and Surprised Harry by not instructing him to head to wherever this ministry prison was. "I'm afraid you have either the worst or most boring job Harry. Even with all my efforts so far at cleaning out the Ministry, I do not trust that there will not be an attempt at intercepting the prisoners at Azkaban. If more of the escapees from the battle want to attack, I intend to make them suffer for it. Ron will be escorting five undercover patrolmen. I want you to get there now and arrest anyone who attacks Ron."

Harry was amazed by Kingsley's plan. He really was trying to do everything he could with limited resources to act quickly. But Harry couldn't help but notice multiple flaws with the plan.

"Kingsley, won't any potential death eaters be suspicious if I arrive alone, and Ron comes escorting only a few 'prisoners'? And what if you are right about an assault on Azkaban, but they wait a week to do it?"

"For the last point, you will have spent an hour relaxing with Ron, and the patrol members will enjoy their overtime pay. As for the illusion, Robards will be enchanting Weasley's broom, likely as we speak. It will appear he is part of a far larger group. It won't stand up to much scrutiny, but if the Death eaters are as Jumpy as I suspect they will be, it should be enough to lure them in for you to engage. If you do, I want a messenger patronus as soon as you can safely send one."

"Uh, Kingsley, I can produce a patronus no problem, but I had never seen the talking ones till you used it to warn us last summer. I don't know the spell, sir."

"That part is actually relatively simple, you just have to weave in the intended message and recipient into the memory you are using to cast the patronus. Go ahead and try with me now. The range should work within the British Isles easily." Kingsley took a step back to give Harry space for casting.

Harry's go to memory for his patronus had been kissing Ginny for over a year now, but the idea of working in Kingsley and a message to that memory…. So instead he decided to try to work in a message and Kingsley into his old memory of pride and love for his father.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry could actually feel the slightly weaker Patronus, but a stag still burst forth from his wand, trotted up to Kingsley, and Harry heard his own, hesitant, voice coming from it.

"Er...Testing, testing, did it work?"

Kingsley chuckled and answered, "See, you've got it down in one try. It works best if you keep messages short and simple. So if you absolutely must call for help, probably just the number of assailants and a call of 'help' sent to me should suffice."

Harry was still not quite sure he liked this plan. "Kingsley, I don't even know where Azkaban is! And as capable as Ron and I are, I don't really like the possibility of deliberately being outnumbered in a fight."

Kingsley's answer was surprisingly dismissive. "The exact location is actually a state secret. But there is a fireplace in the Auror office that connects only to a small hut on the coast. Take your broom and if you fly North by Northeast, you shouldn't be able to miss it. Now, I must get going. Good luck Harry. Give Ron my best."

With that, Kingsley left Harry alone in the Auror office. Harry realized that he actually didn't know where his firebolt was, or if it had survived the escape from Privet Drive last year. Kingsley really hadn't thought this plan through, and Harry considered himself something of an expert on half cocked plans.

Harry hoped there was a broom somewhere either in the office or at this cabin he was supposed to travel to. If not, Ron was going to be in serious trouble if Kingsley's suspicions proved true. Harry searched every unlocked drawer and cabinet in the office for a few minutes, which didn't take very long since so few weren't locked tighter than Harry was willing to try to break. Finally with a last effort he tried a general summoning charm for any broom and came up empty.

With a sigh, Harry went to his own desk and retrieved his invisibility cloak he had only just stored the previous day, as well as a few other items he thought he may need. Maybe Ron would be using the same fireplace to approach the prison and Harry could just catch a ride when Ron and his team came through. Of course that left yet another annoying flaw in Kingsley's plan smacking Harry in the face with how obvious a flaw it was. Harry had found the fireplace and floo powder easily enough, but he realized he had no idea where this cabin was to call out when he used the powder. Harry really didn't feel like getting stranded at some unknown wrong address again.

Harry sat at his desk for a minute and tried to think through his options. Kingsley wasn't stupid, he wouldn't tell Harry to do something impossible. Harry just had to think. Think! The best Harry could come up with is the answer must be something Kingsley would consider so obvious as to not require mentioning. The only answer that Harry could guess at was that the thing to call into the fire would be Azkaban, and hopefully a broom would be waiting for him.

Several minutes later, Harry was proud of himself when that turned out to be exactly the case. He emerged on his arse, in what looked like a small cabin. There were two very confused looking ministry officials. Harry hoped they weren't secret death eaters, but just in case, while they were still searching or who had emerged from the fire, he cast two quick disarming spells from under his cloak, before revealing himself.

"Blimey were'd you come fr-…. It's bleedin Harry Potter, it is! Micky, look, it's Harry Potter, scar and all! What are you doin' comin' through the Auror fireplace 'n blastin' away our wands?" one of them looked like they couldn't be more than 5 years older than Harry himself, though he didn't recognize them. The one who had spoken was tall, gangly and bespectacled. If it wasn't for having blonde hair, Harry supposed he would look similar in a life where he had never discovered quidditch.

The other person was the opposite, he looked to be middle aged, short, pudgy, with a drastically receding hairline. Harry was reminded of the old muggle actors, Laurel and Hardy looking at the two of them. The older one, 'Micky' Harry supposed, was trying to inch towards his wand, but Harry flicked his wrist and sent the wand well out of reach.

"Yeah, I see that it's Harry Potter, or at least someone who looks like him Robbie. Some top secret guards we made, huh? First guy to come through in months and we get taken apart like squibs. So, how do we know you're really Potter then?"

Now Harry was confused. If he wasn't himself, what would the two of them do without their wands? "I think I should be asking who the two of you are. The Minister didn't tell me to expect anyone here, but I am looking for rogue death eaters, so, is that you?" Harry really hoped he looked more threatening than he felt.

The tall one, Robbie?, was the first to answer. "Hah! As if we'd side with those nutters. Not exactly a great boss for a couple mediocre muggleborns like the two of us, are they? But that still don't say nuthin' bout how you got through that fireplace. Thickness ain't no Secret Keeper, he shouldn't be able to tell you the Secret."

The other one, Micky, slapped Robbie upside the head, and berated him, "What did I do to get stuck with such an idiot partner? Only an Auror coulda told Potter how to get here, so Thickness must not be Minister anymore. Who is it boy? We're both kept pretty out of the loop out here."

Harry wasn't sure what to say, but he knew he still was in a hurry, so he tried to explain as fast as he could while he looked around the room he had emerged into. There was no visible door, no windows, it seemed to be a single room, sparsely furnished, yet very messy. He was going to have to figure out the way out from one of these two, he supposed.

"Yeah, uh, we beat Riddle and the Death Eaters in a big fight last week. Kingsley Shacklebolt's minister now, and I'm an Auror. I take it wherever this is, it is protected by the Fidelius Charm? Well if Kingsley's a Secret Keeper, He told me to take the fireplace and broom to Azkaban. So I don't suppose you have a broom I could use, do you?"

After a few minutes of dealing with Robbie and Micky's burst of shocked and overjoyed reactions, Harry finally understood the situation and let them reclaim their wands. It was apparently part of the security for Azkaban. A Double Fidelius Charm, where only these two knew the actual location of the prison, and only Aurors and the Minister of Magic knew of them. Since Thickness became Minister by the assasination of Scrimgeour, only the Aurors knew, and they didn't tell. The secret keepers in the cottage were apparently replaced every ten years, and these two had just begun their deployment when Fudge was Sacked. The pay was apparently considered the best in the Ministry, but they couldn't use it at all until after their ten years were over and new guards replaced them, with the spell being recast with the new secret keepers. Food was apparently automatically delivered by house elf magic of some kind neither man understood.

"Right, Mr. Harry Potter, to get to Azkaban, you gotta take one of our storage brooms here," and with this what Harry had mistaken for a lumpy couch was revealed to be a chest with a blanket and some pillows tossed over it was opened up, and Harry was given a half moth eaten Cleansweep broom by Robbie. "You'll have to fly straight up, then once you get out the top, level off right away and go Immediately East."

"But the Minister told me to go North by Northeast by broom…." Harry responded.

"Well he ain't a Secret Keeper, is he? Giving wrong directions is part of the Charm. Thought you said you were familiar with the spell, don't you know nuffink?" was the answer from Robbie.

"By the way, I'm not sure how they are doing it, but another Auror, my friend Ron Weasley and some Magical Law Enforcement Squad wizards are supposed to be coming from Australia any minute now, so I guess be on the lookout for them and tell Ron you saw me?"

Not waiting to hear their response, Harry kicked off and suddenly saw the Window at the top of the roof, which was somehow much higher up than Harry had realized when he first arrived. The window opened before Harry, and he obeyed the instructions he had been given. Flying with his invisibility cloak on was already annoyingly difficult, but Harry was now determined to buy a new firebolt at the first opportunity. It crushed his heart to think another connection to Sirius had been lost with his Firebolt, but Harry tried to stay focused. Though that was easier said than done when he also realized he needed to return to Gringotts. Harry didn't think it was known that it was Ron, Hermione, and him who had broken in, but he was still nervous about testing the Goblins so soon.

After Harry had been flying over the choppy North Sea for what felt like fifteen minutes, a thick mist began to form, and the temperature started to plummet. Harry quickly cast warming charms on himself, and got ready to cast a Patronus at the first sign of a dementor. Harry definitely could sense their presence. He was starting to hear the screams in his head, the weight of his guilt for all those who died protecting him. He saw the first Dementor flying up to him only a moment later, and as he fired off his Patronus, not only did it drive away the dementor, but cleared the fog.

Harry could see Azkaban, in all it's misery and loneliness. Jutting out of the thrashing waters, gray and jagged walls stretched to heights Harry hadn't expected. And worst of all...hundreds, perhaps thousands of Dementors swarming all around. Harry quickly fired off a dozen more charms. It was as though an entire stampede of stags were rampaging through the air. Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to be subtle if he had to fire off charms every ten seconds to keep dementors at bay. Harry decided it was time to push past just driving the dementors away and see about actually reducing the number of the foul Dark creatures.

It took him an additional 5 minutes of near constant casting, but he had actually seen his Stags consume hundreds of the dementors before they finally retreated and were driven away. Harry was left emotionally and physically drained, but he knew he couldn't slow down now. Ron could be here any minute. Harry wondered if there were addictive properties to the pepper-up potion, and hoped they weren't severe if so as he downed the small vial he had bright with him. Harry was certainly going through the stock in the Auror office quickly, as much as he hated to admit it, brewing his own was probably going to be a necessity in the near future. Hopefully it would be more manageable than back when Snape was breathing down his throat.

After taking a few breaths, Harry pulled out his mirror and whispered for Ron. "Ron, Ron are you there?"

"Yeah mate, Ready to go when you are. How bad are the dementors? I dunno if I can maintain the illusion on my broom Robards just had me cast, and fire off a bunch of patronus charms at the same time."

"Weasley! Gimme that thing!" barked the voice of the mentioned Robards. Harry saw Robard's mustachioed face glaring back at him. "Potter, what's that shimmer? Got an invisibility cloak have you? Well that's just peachy, hope you realize it's useless against Dementors."

"Yes, sir, I've already destroyed or driven off all the dementors. I uh, have a lot of experience with them."

Harry saw Robards' eyes blink rapidly in what could only be surprise. "What, all of them? They've been breeding like mad, too! Bugger defeating You-Know-Who, THAT'S a feat impressive enough to earn you a spot on my force with Weasley here. I'm sending him through to you with his team in five minutes, so you should have twenty to thirty minutes until they arrive depending on the competence of the current Gatekeepers. I want you to confirm the absence of occupants on the whole Isle by then."

"Shacklebolt ordered the place cleared out yesterday, since all remaining prisoners were victims of the death eaters being fed to the dementors. The explicit plan was to refill it after retrying those actually guilty of breaking the laws, in addition to our new 'guests' here" Robards kicked near him and Harry heard a muffled grunt that was surely one of the bound Death Eaters being extradited. "If these shits do have friends expecting them, they likely are escapees who can break the protections on the island, and will be there either already, or very soon. So keep your wits about you and apprehend any and all unauthorized individuals on the isle in the next hour and a half. We will begin our operations here as soon as we are finished talking, so know it will be some minutes before we can arrive as back-up if you call for it. Good luck Auror. Try not to die."

Harry pocketed the mirror, and set about patrolling the skies under his cloak, using a variation on old quidditch maneuvers. It struck Harry at times like how useful Moody's eye must have been for an Auror. Harry wasn't looking to replace his own eye, but he wondered if it could be possible to enchant his glasses one day to mimic the powerful object. Until that day, Harry hoped he was remembering the spell Hermione had cast last year at Grimmauld correctly.

"Homenum Revelio!" he cast, and was pleased when he felt the twinge of a spell casting from his wand. Harry had to pat himself on the back, he was two for two on nailing a spell on the first try today. Harry was almost saddened he wasn't getting the opportunity to actually impress teachers and get top marks on his N.E.W.T.s this year. Harry wondered if this success was a residual effect of mastering the Elder Wand, relief from ridding himself of the horcrux inside of him, some combination of both, or just a bunch of coincidences.

Harry was still worried the trap would be too obvious now that he had purged the dementors, so he decided to try some complicated Transfiguration on the rapidly dissipating fog. He wasn't sure it was the best job, but in a moment, the fog had reached it's prior soup-like quality and quantity, and dementor shaped shadows were listlessly floating in and out of the fog. It should work at a surface level, but Harry knew no spell to mimic the feeling that should come from such a place. There was certainly plenty of residual oppressive atmosphere, from seeping into the air, water, and stone for centuries, Harry was sure. Hopefully it at least worked well enough to lure in any death eaters close enough to catch in Kingsley's trap.

Harry decided to maintain his current pattern, and recast the spell, trying to test this new talent he was noticing by going for silent casting, every couple minutes. Right on schedule, he confirmed he had indeed been successfully casting the spell when he felt a ping and saw what he could only describe as a brilliant red aura flying from the same direction he had approached from. It was quickly followed by five more, so Harry assumed this was Ron and his team.

Another five minutes later, Harry cast the spell again, and noticed seven new red auras flying in what was definitely an interception path from the west. Damn, thought Harry. Kingsley had been right afterall. In the fog, Harry was sure Ron and his team wouldn't see the attackers until they were on top of them. Kingsley's tactics of sending Harry ahead looked brilliant now. Harry knew this had terrible implications if they could time their attack so precisely. Someone very close to Robards or Kingsley had to be an informer. Harry thought it was unlikely any of Ron's team were, as it shouldn't have been possible for them to send any kind of signal without Ron noticing. Yet, as Harry prepared to ambush the ambushers, He made a mental note to be ready in case one of the patrol members proved to be a traitor afterall.

Just before the assaulters were in spell casting range, as Ron and his team went through the motions of casting patronus charms at Harry's false dementors as they reached the walls of Azkaban. Harry noted with pride that only Ron, whose face Harry could now make out, had produced a corporeal Patronus. Harry was very suspicious when he saw one of the team didn't produce anything at all. Harry had always been told what a difficult spell it was to cast, but a member of law enforcement should be capable, Harry thought. If there was a traitor, Harry's bet was on that member.

Harry's spell finding the ambushers had unintentionally dispelled the illusion of the additional prisoners and guards, but the fog was so thick, Harry thought it may not be a problem. Speaking of the fog, Harry thought it had outlived its usefulness with how close the attackers now were.

With a small flick of his wand, Harry dispelled the fog and his false dementors, and cast two quick stunners, watching two of the attackers plummet fifty feet to the nearest surface just as they had raised their own wands. Ron reacted quickly and fired off a stunner followed by a knockback jinx after that spell was blocked, sending a third attacker clear from his broom. Harry was about to shoot a stunner at a fourth who was dueling two of the patrol members when his fear about the fifth member proved true. He fired off a shield just as the person in question attempted to attack Ron from behind. The wind caught his cloak and finally revealed him, and he was in the aerial fight in full.

In the end, it took 20 minutes of hard flying and dueling, but all the assaulters were subdued, at the cost of only two of Ron's team taking relatively minor injuries. It turned out the traitor from Ron's team had been a sympathizer of the old regime, and had been wearing a medallion that the attacking death eaters had been able to receive a signal from for their assault. Harry was nervous that additional assaults may come if the death eaters had truly expected the entire extradition force to be here, until he considered the possibility that they had assumed the dementors would still be at Azkaban in force and join them as they had previously.

After the hour Kingsley had ordered, Harry and Ron organized transporting of the new prisoners back to the ministry. It turned out the attackers included two full marked death eaters, Crabbe and Goyle senior. Ron revealed that Goyle himself had been among those Ron had captured in Australia, and now assumed this was his father's attempt at rescuing his idiot son. Harry had a good laugh as Ron explained how it had actually been Goyle who had tipped Robads off to the secret entrance into the safe house the Aurors had used to make their assault so successful, by believing Robards when he claimed to be another death eater refugee of the battle.

Harry was congratulated by Robards and Kingsley, who reported they had encountered no difficulties with their operations, and had heard from the Longbottoms that all went smoothly there as well. Kingsley pledged to dig deer to ensure there were no other traitors in the law enforcement patrol, and asked Harry to keep that secret for now. Ron had to return immediately to comply with Australian port key regulations, so after a brief embrace, Ron hastily returned back to Australia.

Harry would have to catch up with Hermione and Ron later, but first, He wanted supper, and had to get that copy of that book Hermione had asked him for. This had been a long, frustrating day, and it exhausted Harry to consider it wasn't even over yet, since Daphne would be waiting for him to summon her to Grimmauld.

Despite all that, however, Harry was filled with a strong feeling of pride for what Ron and he had just achieved. They had already proven Kingsley correct to hire them. Fewer dark wizards were going to hurt people because of actions Harry had taken. All the terribleness of this week was feeling far more worthwhile now.

After a few minutes cleaning himself up after the battle and packing away his desk, trying not to eye the mountain of paperwork on his desk with complete horror, Harry went to the records department to get Hermione's requested copy. Another few minutes later, copy in hand to place in Harry's bag at home to send to Hermione, Harry arrived at the apparition point to head home to Grimmauld. Even that thought left Harry feeling good. He had a home.

As he arrived on the street, glad to see no muggles shocked at his appearing out of thin air. He hoped that Daphne didn't run into a problem with that, hopefully once she was inside it wouldn't be a worry in the future. Hopefully Kreacher could bring Daphne right up to the front door.

Inside, Harry was greeted by Kreacher, who informed him supper would be ready momentarily.

"Thanks, Kreacher, could you do me a favor real quick? Go to Greengrass manor and retrieve Daphne Greengrass. Bring her to the front door so I can let her past the wards. She told me you should be able to find her here." and Harry handed over the paper Daphne had given him. "Thanks Kreacher, and sorry to take you from finishing supper, I'll keep it from burning while you are gone."

"No, Master Harry, Kreacher has supper well in hand, Kreacher will finish up here and then do as Master Harry has requested." Kreacher responded.

Harry quickly sent Hermione the copy she had asked for, and found Kreacher had actually just pulled a delicious looking roast beef from the oven that was currently resting, surrounded by potatoes clearly soaked with beef juices. Harry was very excited about this meal, and saw his help was very much not needed. Only a moment later, Kreacher shooed Harry out of the kitchen so he could finish preparing Harry's supper, and told Harry to step outside the house Harry could let Daphne inside the house once Kreacher had retrieved her. A thought suddenly struck Harry, and his good mood soured slightly.

"Damn!" He muttered to himself.

"Is something wrong Master Harry? Kreacher thought Master Harry liked roast beef and potatoes. Should Kreacher make something else for Master's supper?"

"No. No, Kreacher. You're fine, I'm actually really excited about supper, it smells and looks brilliant! I'm just upset that Daphne will be our first guest before Ginny or any of my friends. I'll be fine. By the way, being called 'Master' makes me uncomfortable, please, Just Harry, or if you absolutely must be formal. If Hermione heard you calling me master all the time, she'd probably hex me to the moon."

"Kreacher will do as Mast-Harry Potter has requested, though he finds it queer to do so, he does. Kreacher hears and will serve. But Harry Potter must now let his guest into the house before a muggle sees her. Trust Kreacher, he will ensure supper is to Harry Potter's preferences."

"Thanks Kreacher." Harry said as he left the elf to his work in the Kitchen. Harry headed back out onto the sidewalk to wait. Only a second later, Daphne and Kreacher appeared with a *CRACK*

"Oh, Harry! That's quite unnerving, isn't it? I haven't traveled by house elf apparition before. It seems even more disorienting than normal apparition." She greeted him. There was another *CRACK* as Kreacher left, Harry presumed returning to set up supper.

"Yeah, just wait until I tell you that I currently live at Number twelve, Grimmauld Place." Harry watched her face as he remembered the first time the house appeared to force its way into existence before his eyes. It was nice to know that even the usually unshakeable pure blood Daphne could be shocked by all the madness Harry was constantly surrounded by.

Harry was about to motion for her to head into the house when there was a loud *CRACK* Harry recognized as elf apparition, and he turned to see Kreacher and, to his immense surprise, Ginny. Ginny at first looked confused, then Harry saw recognition as she noticed, Harry, followed by anger as she noticed Daphne. Harry didn't know why Kreacher had suddenly brought Ginny, but it was clear neither she, nor Daphne were pleased to see the other, as both simultaneously exclaimed with fury.

"WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?!"

"WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?!"

So much for a pleasant supper, Harry supposed.