Posted 6/2/2015

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This is a work of fiction, based on the book series by J.K. Rowling. Neither do I claim ownership nor do I intend to.


Chapter Seventy - The Trap

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Harry could feel Hermione's eyes boring into him, but he took his time thinking about it. "Well, I haven't come up with anything good so far, no. The trouble is, whatever we do, it still comes down to getting Riddle to face us – or me, as it is. He's not one to just walk into battle without a plan. Yes," Harry added, lifting his hand to keep Hermione from interrupting, "he hadn't really planned his appearance in the Ministry, but you know what I mean. Riddle isn't one to show himself unless he thinks he can't lose face. Walking into a battle without feeling sure he can win it? I don't think he would."

"Or it's nothing we should base our strategy on. We need more than a good chance he would," Hermione agreed.

"Making the first attempt the last," Daphne sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I don't like this one bit, you know? Too risky for you, I mean. One wrong step..."

"Ah," Harry said, chuckling, "thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It's not about confidence," she argued, "and you know it. But it all comes down to relying on a single moment of luck or skill on your part. A stray bird flying into the path of whatever you send the Dark Lord's way... And all of that of course requires you actually coming face to face with him instead of him cursing you in the back in the heat of battle."

"Don't worry, I know what you meant. I've seen enough fights to know not to rely too much on chance. Not for something this important. Would Riddle stay and watch as we stormed his stronghold and overpowered his followers? I'm not so sure. I think he'd retreat or send reinforcements. So we're left with either sneaking in –"

"Not impossible," Hermione pointed out. "With Professor Snape's help, we could do that, but..." She drifted off, giving her friend a wry smile.

"Yeah, not a risk we should take either. Us against however many Riddle might have at hand? That's just asking for trouble."

"So it's back to luring him out," Ron grumbled. "We've been going in circles, you know that?"

"I'm aware," Harry replied, forcing himself to not let his annoyance slip into his voice.

"And the only thing that might be enough to make him come is finally killing you," Ron added, shrugging. "Unless you know something we don't, that's all I can think of. Not like cares about any of his followers enough to come to their rescue."

"Lestrange, perhaps?" Hermione mused. "She is his most loyal servant, after all."

"And not one to just stroll down Diagon Alley," Harry said, "and into our waiting arms. And even if she were and she'd be as valuable to Riddle, it'd take a while for the news of her capture to reach her master. By the time he'd show up, we should already have taken her away."

"Unless she puts up a good fight," Ron spoke up. "Lestrange might work."

"Or not," Harry argued. "We'd have to prove enough of a challenge to force her master to come to her rescue in person, not just send reinforcements. That means it has to look as if she's losing, then Riddle needs to learn about that and get moving in time for us to still be around. And all of that hinges on Riddle caring enough about her to come to her. I seriously doubt he would. She's important, and taking her down would send a powerful message, but I don't think it's personal enough to make him come out of hiding. Also, we'd show our hand too soon, I think. Taking her down means showing our skills and making it less likely for Riddle to underestimate us and anyone with us."

"Is anything personal for him?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes. "I mean, we all know he only cares about himself."

"And his image," Hermione added with a nod, turning to Harry, "It's why he wants you dead in the first place – as long as the fabled Boy-Who-Lived is around, Riddle isn't undefeated. If what we heard and know about him, that really got under his skin. The greatest dark lord ever to walk the earth repeatedly thwarted by a mere child? Decades worth of studying the darkest of the dark, and not even able to take you down?"

"I'm aware, yes," Harry chuckled. "His ego's his one flaw we might have a chance of taking advantage of. It's the one thing that might make him abandon his common sense and step out from behind his followers." After a moment, he shrugged. "Well, unless we take down all of his followers first so that we could corner him, but he does have an easier time recruiting than we do. It could take a while until he'd have no choice but to do his work himself. But a cornered beast has its claws, and I can't see him not lashing out. He isn't one to accept defeat gracefully."

"A long, bloody war," Ron groaned. "Just what we need. That or offering you on a silver platter and hope he hasn't learned from his mistakes."

"It does sound like a suicide mission," Hermione sighed.

"We could always abduct his snake," Ron threw in. "Cares more about her than his followers."

Harry pursed his lips. "You've got a point there. Not that bad of an idea, actually. Hmm. Could work. Nagini is pretty dear to him."

"Wouldn't he... err," Hermione wondered, casting a quick glance to Daphne, "suspect something, though? I mean, we know how much she means to him – or we guess, at least – and if we're right, then he knows as well, but he has no reason to know that we know how much she means to him. So if we stole her – assuming here that Professor Snape, who is the logical choice, really, can actually get her – wouldn't we reveal our hand?"

Frowning, Harry thought about it. She did have a point. Reasonably speaking, from Riddle's point of view, the resistance should have no reason to steal Nagini. To the resistance, she should normally be nothing more than a nuisance, but certainly not as important as Harry, Hermione, and Ron assumed she was.

"I think you lost me there," Daphne admitted. "His snake?"

"That's what I meant," Hermione interrupted. "We have no reason to assume she's dear enough to lure him out of hiding. And of course there's the issue of actually getting her to consider."

"Snape can," Ron began before drifting off as he caught on. "Oh. Yeah, that'd give him away."

"And cost us our spy. I'd like to keep as many of them as possible for as long as possible. No need to throw away a potential source like that," Harry agreed. "Not much left except for me, is there?" He chuckled, inwardly acknowledging the poetic aspect of it – in order to defeat the most powerful dark lord in years, Harry had to offer himself as bait for a trap and confrontation that would probably decide the outcome of the war.

"Somehow, I'm feeling like a valiant knight, riding out to face a dragon," he told his friends.

"You already faced a dragon," Ron mused. "You didn't ride to face it –"

"He rode a broom?" Daphne pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"You walked out to face it," Hermione added. "Although you didn't really look much like a knight, I think."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, and I didn't walk into the dragon's lair, and I doubt courageous knights have to deal with quite so much shrieking."

Ron and Hermione laughed, obviously remembering the noise the egg had made, but Daphne looked confused.

"Ah," Harry said, turning to her, "that egg from the first task? It contained a clue about the second one. 'Come seek us where our voice sound,' and 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss'. And 'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back'."

"Weasley?" Daphne asked, her lips twitching. "The 'it' you'd sorely miss? And Hermione for Krum? Hermione? I mean, no offence, but..." She raised her eyebrow.

"I do think they ran out of options for him," Hermione explained. "Viktor's not really that sociable, and putting some possession down there? His broom? His parents might have worked, I guess, but putting an adult down there? Hardly fair."

"Hey," Harry interrupted, "I had to lug up Ron. I had the heaviest hostage of all. And little Delacour for Fleur? Come on, that one hardly counted as extra weight. How was that fair in any way?"

"Wait," Daphne spoke up. "'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back'... You didn't take that seriously, did you?"

"Ron and Hermione've given me enough grief about it already. But it's one thing talking about it here and another when you're stuck down there. The Merpeople really aren't as nice as they might seem. They keep Grindylows as pets, did you know?"

Daphne shook her head, looking quite interested to hear more.

"And I still don't know why they had to carry their tridents while guarding the hostages."

"Intimidation?" Hermione guessed.

"Trust me, when you've swam through the freezing Black Lake just to get there and find you lot tied down and drifting like corpses, you can do without intimidation. You're cold, tired, and just about fed up anyway."

"Well, it was still technically their home town," Hermione reminded him. "I think they do have the right to take measures to stop you from –"

"What, rampaging?" Harry interrupted.

"You're just as alien to them as they are to us," Hermione pointed out.

"Stupid task, really," Harry grumbled. "I could've frozen to death down there."

Daphne cleared her throat. "Still don't know what you meant by shrieking," she pointed out. "You didn't tell me that story."

"Oh, right," Harry said. "Well, that clue was in the egg. A song, sung by the Merpeople, but only under water. Above, it was nothing but a loud shrieking. That caused us some headache until... Well, until Cedric told me how it worked."

Daphne pursed her lips, thinking about something. "So you had to dunk it into water to understand it?"

"And stick the head under water, yes," Harry confirmed. "Whoever came up with that must have been out of their mind. Sending the champions to the bottom of the lake in winter with the spectators staring at the surface?"

"It was a bit boring, yes," Daphne agreed, being the only one who had not been in the lake at the time.

"Those were the days," Ron laughed. "When the worst we had to worry was about getting you past dragons or Merpeople."

"You know," Harry chuckled, "Hagrid told me how much fun I'd have at Hogwarts. He must have forgotten to mention all the crazy things going on."

"Trolls," Hermione began. "And Basilisks."

"Acromantulas," Ron added with a shudder.

"Dementors and Dragons," Harry sighed.

"When Snape was our worst enemy," Ron continued.

"Now you're making me sentimental," Harry replied, smiling. "Simpler times. Ahh."

As Hermione and Ron exchanged amused looks, Harry's eyes became unfocused. Something had occurred to him, something he hadn't considered so far. Yes, looking back, Hogwarts had been something like his first real home, but he wasn't the only one. Riddle had felt a connection to the castle as well. Riddle knew of its importance – the British school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"We're idiots," Harry announced.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, looking quite baffled and a bit affronted.

"We're idiots. We've ignored the most obvious answer. Or I have, if that makes you feel any better." He ran a hand through his hair as half-formed plans flashed in his mind. It felt like a wave of cold water washing away the mud in his head. "Too blind to see what's right in front of us – the answer to our problems and the perfect bait.

"Gringotts, Hogwarts, the Ministry. Those are the most important institutions in Magical Britain. Riddle's got all three of them to some degree. The Ministry's following his orders – for now, that is; until we've wrestled it from him. Gringotts is working alongside them; maybe the goblins are just waiting for the right time to fight back, but that doesn't matter right now. But Hogwarts? Riddle can't afford to lose that one. Imagine the resistance stealing it right under his... Well, imagine us recapture Hogwarts. He'd have to do something about it."

Hermione raised her hand to stop his enthusiasm. "Recapture Hogwarts. Recapture Hogwarts? How? Do you want to storm the castle and just throw every Death Eater out? Chase them away?"

"Well, yes," Harry argued, not quite seeing her point. "Except no. I don't mean storming the castle. True, Riddle's got a couple of his followers in the castle. Some of the student body will probably try to fight us. But can you see McGonagall or Flitwick just twiddling their thumbs while we fight our way inside? Can you see the students just shrugging and not doing anything? If we show up and round up the Death Eaters, take Hogwarts, don't you think some of them would stand up and fight? Riddle's got his people there? Well, so do we. We'll take the castle – we know enough about the secret passageways to get wherever we want in a heartbeat. We'll get whoever wants to join us from the resistance, storm in and secure it for our side. A major blow against Riddle and a major win for us."

"Until the Dark Lord will send his own to retake it," Daphne pointed out. "That's a horrible plan. The perfect bait? Hardly."

"Well, maybe not perfect, but it'll do. Retaking Hogwarts from the dreaded Resistance? No, I think he'd come in person. I know he'd come. Stealing one of the three pillars of society from him? Can you see him just going on as before? Also, if we're as quick about it as I think, by the time the Death Eaters'll show up, we'll have the protections of the castle under our control, which means the castle will be ours – a stronghold of our own, especially if we manage to bring our allies in. McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick? They'll know exactly what to do to secure the castle. Even if they don't know now, they can prepare – assuming we give them reason to."

"Still, Hogwarts is a school," Ron spoke up, frowning. "You can't expect the students to fight for us."

"Not all of them, no. But we do have allies there that can't contribute to any major fight where they are right now. Smuggling them out to bolster our numbers is also no option, and I doubt many would answer our call to arms anyway. But if we bring the fight to them...

"Quite frankly, if we can't free Hogwarts, then I don't think we have any chance of pushing the Death Eaters back. At Hogwarts, we have an army waiting for us. Joining forces with whatever Neville, Luna, and Ginny can get together will be more than what we can field elsewhere. Pretty much everyone on our side is familiar with the castle. And Riddle? It'll really get under his skin if we do steal one of his trophies."

"You want to turn a school into a battleground," Hermione reminded him. "And put hundreds of school children in the line of fire."

"Well, no," Harry argued. "We were searching for a bait. A freed Hogwarts is a bait Riddle shouldn't be able to resist, but to get there, he has to lead or send whatever he has over the grounds. Anyone who doesn't want to fight doesn't have to, but those that do will have an easier time joining our efforts on the grounds than, I don't know. Elsewhere. We'll fortify the castle and the Death Eaters will be trapped outside on the grounds. With Hogwarts as bait, all we have to do is put us in Riddle's way. That and finding something to deal with his army of followers, but come on, that's at least a start."

Daphne laughed. "Okay, that's a good one. Meeting them out in the open?" Her laughter died in her throat when no one joined her, and she glanced around nervously.

"You want to fight him out on the grounds of Hogwarts," Ron dead-panned. "And use the lives of our friends and family as part of your gamble? You think you have a fighting chance against him like that? Out in the open? Even sneaking into his hiding place has better odds than that, don't you think? Us against his Death Eaters? Schoolchildren against ruthless killers?"

"Well, we wanted something that would lure Riddle out of hiding. Losing Hogwarts should do just that. Losing Hogwarts is losing face. That's not something he can allow to stand any longer than absolutely necessary. Moreover, it's something he will want to make an example of to show everyone what happens to those who resist. It'll get under his skin, of that I have no doubt. He'll want to see it himself, I'm sure, and trust no one's strength more than his own to bring us down. We wanted bait, we got our bait, I say. He'll come to a fight we planned for. No one said we'd go in unarmed. No one said we couldn't prepare some nasty surprises for them. After all, we know where and when it'll happen. Now all we need is some means to take out dozens of Death Eaters and their sympathizers a quickly as possible. Surely we can come up with something, right, Hermione?"

"You think?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we put our minds to it, I'm sure we can fill in the details," he replied.

"Details like dozens of Death Eaters?" Ron said, leaning forward.

"Exactly. Riddle against the united armies of Hogwarts, the Resistance, and whatever we can come up with. If we can't win that one, then what battle can we win?"

"That's a pretty big gamble there," Hermione warned, but judging by her thoughtful look, he seemed to have gotten through to her.


"So, that's the last of them," Weasley announced, dropping the last mattress on a make-shift bed and looking over the three rows. "You sure you don't want to add some pillows or something? I wouldn't want to sleep on those things right now."

"Not everyone's sharing your high standards of comfort," Harry replied, chuckling. "Don't worry, if we hear any complaints, we can always look into blankets and pillows and whatever our prisoners may ask for. I doubt they will, though. We'll see soon anyway. I think Hermione's getting ready to leave, so... I'd better pack up as well." With that, he left through the door.

Prison, Daphne mouthed, quite shocked. Thirty-something prisoners-to-be, how did Harry and Hermione plan to do that? And more importantly, while she knew they wanted to take some prisoners soon, she had thought they were talking about a few, not dozens.

A moment later, Weasley shook off his confusion and possibly shock and stormed after Harry, followed by Daphne. It was still rather odd to leave the expanded room with the size of a hall and step out of a closet in one of the unused bedrooms. While Daphne was well-aware of expansion charms and their use for human-sized spaces, she couldn't remember hearing about people hiding rooms of similar size in pieces of furniture. Then again, when she had been brought in to help, Hermione and Harry had hinted at having met someone doing just that, but both had refused to elaborate on it, claiming it to be someone else's secret.

"Wait," Weasley shouted after his friend, "today? Now?"

"Sure," Harry replied, shrugging. "No need to delay. Clear sky and all, why wait?"

"And all those beds? I thought you were talking about maybe a handful or something. That's over thirty beds in there! Just how many do you think you can catch? And more importantly, I thought we'd keep them somewhere safe. That," he waved at the closet, "is nowhere near safe!"

"It'll do," Harry assured him. "We don't need locked doors or guards, really." His eyes drifting into the distance, he pursed his lips. "Well, I guess we could drop them somewhere deep. Something like a hundred feet, cushioning charms down there. Every few days a few loafs of bread or something, but this is safer."

"Safer?" Daphne spoke up. "I agree with Weasley, that's hardly safe in any way. What's to stop them from getting up and walking out?"

"I thought this was for when we'd start our counter-attack or something," Weasley added. "Lowering their numbers before things get out of control?"

"That's the idea, but Hermione and I are ready to strike now. Why wait? If we lower their numbers now, they'll have to recruit again. It'll force them to send out fresh and inexperienced troops sooner or later. And they'll have to explain how they managed to lose dozens of their helpers. Would you want to work for someone like that? Plus, it'll take a bit of pressure off of Muggleborns and our side. Without the Snatchers, they'll be forced to stretch whatever troops they do have thinner, possibly creating gaps for people to slip through or get organized."

Daphne looked between the two young men. For once, she had to agree with Weasley – she hadn't known Hermione and Harry wanted to act already. "You mean you want to attack them now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You said you wouldn't need a real prison, but how do you plan to keep them from escaping? Tying them down?"

"And there's no need for that either," Harry assured them. "Besides, we'd have to make sure no one could wiggle free or use wandless magic to free themselves or one of their comrades. No, Hermione and I have this plan –"

"Oh, this'll be great," Weasley scoffed. "A plan to – What, keep dozens of prisoners peaceful and quiet?"

"Asleep, actually," Harry told him. "Once they're captured, they'll be doused with potions to keep them from waking up until we want them to. Let's say one potion every two days – and there are many potions that work reliably for longer than that – and about a minute for each prisoner, then we're talking about less than an hour every two days for dosing and basic checks on their health. Think we can do that much? I do, and so does Hermione. And if we switch to something that lasts longer, it'll be even less each day."

"That's... fine, that should work, I guess," Weasley grumbled. "Not perfect, but... yeah."

"But you'll still need to capture them," Daphne pointed out. "What, you two against the Snatchers? You're good, I'll admit, but –"

"We held our own against Aurors," Harry reminded them.

"You hadn't planned for it, though," Daphne argued, daring him to disagree. He did have a tendency to take big risks, which partially explained his success.

"Doesn't matter, though," Harry said, shrugging. "Hermione and I were busy working out the details until recently, but –"

"Details again? Details like the two of you fighting against any Snatcher you come across?"

"Any Snatcher that answers our call," Hermione corrected, stepping out of the nearby bathroom. "They'll come to us; we don't plan to go looking for them. But don't worry, Ron. We know what we're doing, took precautions, planned ahead and prepared. It's less of a risk than it may sound like."

"Harry, Hermione," Daphne spoke up. "We're just worried, you know? This is a bit unexpected. I thought you'd get some of your friends to help you or something. Professor Moody, for example. Together with him, you can –"

"Yeah," Weasley agreed with pursed lips and a sidelong glance. "What about back-up, eh? Moody might help. Or Tonks or Lupin. You don't need to rush it, do you?"

"But we don't need back-up," Harry replied. "And more people would probably just increase the risk, now that I think about it. The more credible a threat we seem, the more likely it is that someone will attack first and ask later. Or worse, flee before we can stop them."

For a moment, Daphne saw the two of them storming into the operation centre of the Snatchers. Two wands against however many were waiting for them... but surely neither Harry nor Hermione would be so foolish? Surely they had some sort of brilliant secret to their success?

"To be fair, someone will attack sooner or later anyway," Hermione reminded him. "Assuming they're briefed beforehand, of course. Sooner or later, someone will notice all the teams sent out have vanished without a trace."

"That'll raise suspicions, yes, and it's only a question of time until they run out of Snatchers, I know," Harry added, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"See, even she's not convinced it's a good idea," Weasley said, grinning in triumph.

"It is a good idea," Hermione disagreed. "Just because we're aware of the footfalls doesn't make it any worse. And since we know what to expect, we took precautions. Eventually, they'll send something more dangerous than Snatchers, yes, but we know they will and planned for that as well. And as long as they send humanoids, we'll still deal with them with little trouble."

"Is that supposed to allay our fears?" Daphne sighed, rubbing her eyes. "'Oh, we'll probably won't much trouble there, so everything's fine'? That's not –"

"Come on," Weasley interrupted. "Just wait for Moody or someone else. The Snatchers won't suddenly disappear if you don't go after them immediately, and you'll stand a better chance if you've got some back-up."

"Disappear? Ah, no, that'd be too much to hope for," Harry sighed. "They'll need to be dealt with one way or another. But I've already said it – the more we'll have with us, the higher the risk of someone getting away. Apparation, for example. And then what? They'll raise the alarm and our plan'll fall through. And we can't be sure whoever joins us won't make us wait until we'll have a small army coming with us. We don't need one. We can do it on our own, without them stepping on our toes. And more importantly, once Hermione and I have proven our skills and earned a bit of respect, the resistance will be more willing to trust us. I don't need them second-guessing every little step. I need them to give me enough space to do what I have to do. Or do you expect Lupin to let me meet Riddle in a one-on-one? Nah, he'd never allow it. It's an argument I can do without. Mind you, today'll be collecting people, nothing more. Nothing to really show what we can do, but that's not what I want Lupin or Moody to know. Better to keep them in the dark and have them think we took the Snatchers down in a straight-up fight."

"And you expect them to just come with you instead? To drop their wands and not fight you? Or try to escape?" Weasley scoffed. "As if."

"Actually," Hermione told him, "that's about exactly what they'll do. Drop their wands, stop fighting, wait to be collected. Ron, we're not about to duel them into submission. What do you taking us for?"

Weasley looked pointedly to Harry.

"Well," she amended, "what do you take me for, then? Do you think I'd go along if it were about picking a fight?"

"Isn't that what you'll do? You two against the Snatchers? What, storming their stronghold or something?"

"No," Harry said in a calm voice. "We'll go someplace in the wilderness and call them to us. If the Snatchers go wherever Riddle's chosen name is said –"

"A trap," Daphne finished the thought, nodding slowly. "It makes sense, but they'll still come to arrest you."

"A trap with you as the bait," Weasley pointed out. "With you making yourself a target. What if something does go wrong? What if you made some mistake? Too much confidence? What was that you told us last week? One spell is all it takes? Well, isn't this the same? Who's to say they won't curse you the moment they'll arrive? Cast first and ask later?"

"Nothing will go wrong, Ron," Hermione tried to tell him, but he brushed her aside. "Harry and I will simply hide behind a barrier. Any spell they do send our way won't hit us."

"But what if –" Weasley began.

"Will you let it go?" Harry groaned. "I know you're worried, but we did put a lot thought into it. We played it through dozens of times. We know what we're doing. We don't need the Order stepping on our toes all the way or worse, be a hindrance and argue with us over every little thing."

"Err, Harry?" Daphne spoke up, stepping forward.

"Not you too," he grumbled. "I get it. You –"

"Ah, no," she interrupted, smiling lop-sidedly. "I just meant... Well, you said you don't want your allies to stop you or slow you down or something. Fine, I'll take your word on that even if you haven't told us how you plan on dealing with the Snatchers. But you could take us with you. Two additional wands you claim you won't need in case something does go wrong."

"But –" Harry began before Hermione stepped to his side.

"Well, we prepared for it," she told Daphne, glancing every-so-often to Weasley to check whether he was offended by her choice of words. Standing so close, Daphne thought she saw something lurking in Hermione's eyes that she couldn't quite place. "We know what we do –"

"And we won't be in your way," Daphne promised. "But I wouldn't mind getting out for once, and Weasley did have a point – plans can go wrong. Nott was a failure. Umbridge didn't go quite as you imagined it. Sure, you managed to get out of trouble, but... Well, you can't fault us for worrying, can you? Or for wanting to be there and help you? Better to stand around idly than to sit here waiting for your return."

After a moment of silence, Hermione pulled Harry aside. Daphne watched them whisper among themselves for a bit before Harry sighed.

"Fine," he told them. "Fine. You want to come with us? Fine. Put on something sturdy, pack up and then we'll leave in ten minutes. If you're late, don't expect us to wait. And while we're out, you'll do what we tell you to. That's not negotiable." He locked eyes with Daphne first.

His look lacked the warmth she'd grown accustomed to, but it did get his meaning across. Daphne nodded curtly, intent on not disappointing either Harry or Hermione.

Harry checked with Weasley next, who looked away with a nod of his own.

"Well then," Hermione announced. "You heard him. Ten minutes."

Daphne didn't need to be told twice. She ran to her room, and after a short pause for silent celebration, searched her belongings until she found a pair of pants and a pullover she thought would do nicely for the outing ahead.

When she arrived in the hallway downstairs, she found Weasley standing off to the side, glaring at the door. Part of her wondered whether she should suggest leaving him behind as a sort of punishment for his moody behaviour earlier, but knew better than to try. Weasley would just see it as further proof of her supposed evil nature; Harry and Hermione were probably in no mood to discuss it, and found it ultimately didn't matter either way. As long as he didn't attack Daphne, Weasley could join them for all she cared. Hadn't she argued in his favour as much as hers? Hadn't it been her to talk of two additional wands?

Harry sent her a smile; Hermione nodded curtly.

"Disguises," Harry called out.

Before long, neither of the four was recognizable any more. Hermione had given herself impressive cheekbones and cropped, grey hair that added to the wrinkled, old skin and sharp eyes to make her look in her fifties. Harry had changed his hair to brown and straight and given himself a thinner face. Weasley had managed curly muttonchops and eyebrows as well as a goatee which, judging from his glances, Harry was tempted to copy. Daphne hadn't managed any change to her left eye and chosen to darken her hair until it was a shimmering black.

"All right," Harry called out. "We'll apparate from spot to spot Hermione and I have chosen beforehand. Once we arrive, Hermione will set up some wards while I'll secure our position. You'll keep close," he told both Daphne and Weasley. "Once the Snatchers arrive, Hermione will activate the anti-Apparition wards to stop them from leaving. Lure them in, keep them there. Once that's done, I'll sic our secret weapon on them – snakes. Lots and lots of snakes." He allowed himself a grin.

Daphne felt both relieved and anxious. Harry and Hermione using snakes made sense and was actually fairly clever – very few people could control them like Harry could. She began to understand why she had seen him with snakes occasionally. It had to have been test runs to see just how much control he actually had. With that piece of he plan, she also understood why Harry and Hermione weren't all that worried. If their plan really consisted of ordering snakes to attack their enemies, then they would indeed not have to fear any fight. On the other hand, it would also mean watching the Snatchers get attacked by snakes – not that pleasant of a thought – on orders issued in the weird snake language that had a menacing undertone to it and was so alien to human ears that Harry could just as well tell jokes in it without her understanding him.

Weasley looked thoroughly impressed, snorting as he too seemed to have understood the plan.

"They're supposed to be venomous, so be careful not to step on them or anything. There's a reason we stay behind the wall for the most time. Hermione found a kind that kills unless the antivenom is given within a few minutes. Hermione and I both have some of the antivenom, so we'll make sure our prisoners-to-be don't die. Antivenom, healing the wounds, that kind of thing. Any enemy who's smart enough to take countermeasures we'll simply down the usual way, but this being wizards, it's highly unlikely they'd even know what to do.

"Once our prisoners are downed, I'll order the snakes to keep away. Once the Snatchers are stabilized," Harry added, "we'll collect the bodies in the handy bags."

Hermione lifted an unassuming sack that Daphne guessed had been extended on the inside.

"Since we'll be busy, I guess that's something for you to do. Just pick them up and throw them in. If you want, you can use magic, of course. Once that's done, we pack up and leave for the next spot," Harry continued. "While we could stay in the same place, we think it's better if we don't. It'll cause an investigation either way, and if we stay in place, we let them know it's just one group as opposed to possibly more than one. This way, they might suspect it's just us, but they won't know for sure. It's like troops walking in line to hide their strength, Hermione told me."

Seeing the confused looks of Weasley and Daphne, he shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Muggle thing, walking into battle. Just know we'll move when we're done here.

"Sooner or later, they'll send something other than Snatchers. It's bound to happen, either once they run out of Snatchers on duty or become suspicious of the sudden spike of rebels saying the name."

"With none of the teams returning," Hermione added.

"Well, yes, with none of them returning from their missions," Harry agreed. "So stay sharp, and once we're dealing with someone other than Snatchers, we'll deal with them. The snakes should still work, so no worries there. After that, we'll stop and return here. In any case, keep your eyes open and be ready to leave at the drop of a hat. These here," he held up two silver pins, "are Portkeys in case everything goes wrong. They're meant as an emergency measure, so no joking around with them. They're password-protected." He handed them out. "It's Ice Cream. I don't expect us to be talking much about that. So, for the first spot –"

"Harry, you go first with Ron. Daphne," Hermione called out, patting herself down as if searching for something, "mind coming with me?"

Too surprised to refuse, Daphne merely nodded, watching as Harry took an equally dumbstruck Weasley and led him out the door. With a quiet Pop!, they vanished from the top-most step of the house.

"Didn't want to go with Weasley?" Daphne asked, following Hermione's lead out of the door. It felt good to be out in the open again, even it was just outside the front door.

"Sorry," Hermione said, sending Daphne an apologetic smile that didn't reach her eyes. "You'll have time to be pressed up against Harry soon enough, but this is work. Can't have either of you distracted, can I? Hold on to my arm, please."

"I know how –" Daphne began, rolling her eyes as she grabbed the offered arm. A sudden pull dragged her into a tight tube, pressed tight for a moment before she landed on a grassy clearing some-place green.

"Made it okay, I see," Harry greeted them. "I've already instructed the snakes to wait for more instructions, so it's your turn now, Hermione."

"Yes, yes," she replied, pulling out a satchel from a pocket of her jacket. "Get them out, please?" she said to Daphne, passing her the bag.

It turned out to be a number of river stones that had been marked with runes of some kind. Daphne guessed they were part of the wards Hermione was meant to put up. Harry meanwhile busied himself with conjuring a wall around their group.

"Hold them high," Hermione explained, pulling a walking stick from another pocket. "Right. Harry, get the snakes ready to spread around."

With one swift movement, she planted the stick in the ground. Almost at once, the stones in Daphne's hands left, flying in a high arc and landing in somewhere in the clearing around them.

Her face must have given away how impressed she was. Hermione sent Daphne a smile, shrugging, failing to suppress a hint of smugness.

Harry tapped the wall around them with his wand, and with a shimmer, it vanished from view.

"Right. Well," he turned to the empty clearing, taking a deep breath.

If she hadn't known about it, his sudden hissing would have given Daphne quite a shock, but she still felt uneasy hearing him speak Parseltongue, and more-so knowing he was giving instructions to snakes. There was a difference between understanding the idea and witnessing it. A small part of her was distracted by a strange mix of envy and hurt at seeing a part of Harry she would never understand. It made him seem inhuman – a beast wearing a human face.

The snakes, Daphne realized as she watched the dirt on the ground move by invisible forces, weren't hiding in the undergrowth, but seemed to be surrounding them – a unknown number of invisible, poisonous snakes. For a moment, Daphne felt pity for whoever would answer Harry's call.

"Ready," Harry announced, looking at a nodding Hermione who held a smooth, black stone in her left hand and her wand hidden in her right sleeve.

Hastily, Daphne followed her example, feeling slightly foolish for not thinking of it sooner.

"Don't let them see it," Harry warned them. "We don't want them attacking us. We want them to think they have the upper hand." After one look at his friends at his side, Harry murmured, "Can't believe how long I've wanted to do it again," before straightening up and shouting, "Voldemort!"

The sudden hush of nervous anticipation fell around them, only interrupted by a flock of birds flying off from the trees.

"They're taking their time," Harry commented as if talking about the weather. "I mean, if we were serious about this –"

He stopped himself; around them, people arrived with the popping noises of apparition. Four, six Snatchers surrounded them, wands drawn and pointing at Harry. It took all the strength Daphne had left to not lift her own and cause a fight, but she knew she couldn't fight. Any of her spells would sizzle out against the wall, giving away its existence.

Weasley glanced around nervously, his wand raised and ready to defend himself, but his stance showed it was mostly stubbornness, not the hope of victory that made him act. Hermione had turned to keep an eye on a group of two Snatchers while Daphne twisted and turned, having no problem looking very nervous.

"Wands down!" one of the Snatchers, a short, broad-shouldered man with almost no neck but a huge nose, shouted. "You're under arrest!"

"Hermione?" Harry murmured.

Daphne heard more than she saw how something hit the ground at Hermione's feet, but there was no mistaking the slight shiver that ran up her body.

"Done," Hermione replied equally quiet.

"Wands down!" the broad-shouldered man repeated.

Harry stepped forward, straightening up. Almost all wands turned towards him as he seemed to grow before Daphne's eyes. There was no mistaking that he was easily the most dangerous of their little group.

"Welcome," he announced, spreading his arms.

Despite his words, there was no friendliness or ease about him, but an intimidating aura of power. Harry looked very sure of himself, and it couldn't have been clearer that he had no shred of fear of the Snatchers around him. It was him, Harry, who controlled the situation, and it was by his grace no one had gotten hurt so far. This was someone, Daphne could see, that no one could ignore or brush aside. This was someone who could face dragons, trolls, and Basilisks – someone would willingly go against the most powerful dark wizard in centuries.

Harry folded his hands, apparently enjoying the confusion of the Snatchers around him. "You are now my prisoners. Surrender," he announced, "or face the consequences."

The leader sneered, lifting his wand. "Take them," he ordered. A shower of spells flashed through the clearing, but they sizzled out against the invisible barrier just as Harry had planned.

He hissed, the unnatural sound of Parseltongue filling the air.

The snakes struck. Shouts echoed, shocked Snatchers whirled around, trying to find their assailants, but to no avail. A ash-blonde witch fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding leg. A bald wizard with an overbite stumbled, flinging a curse at the ground. The broad-shouldered man cursed violently, recognizing the situation he had led his group into, but it was too late to stop it.

Daphne watched, paling, as the Snatchers were overwhelmed and fell. Weasley couldn't help but stare. Hermione was already busy pulling out Muggle knick-knacks Daphne supposed were for the treatment of the prisoners. Harry stood tall, proud, and smiling as he watched his plan succeed. One by one, the Snatchers stopped moving, overpowered and prey to Harry's trap.

Harry hissed again and turned to his friends.

"Right," he told them, waving his wand around, "time to clean up. Ron, you go with Hermione; Daphne, you follow me. Once we give the okay, just bag them."

Slightly dazed, Daphne accepted the bag Hermione wordlessly handed her. She followed Harry as he passed where the invisible wall had been, watched as he did something Muggle with a bottle of antivenom and some small glass object with a needle at the end. A small part of her wanted to ask about it, but Daphne was too dazed to care. Whatever it was, it seemed to work; Harry seemed to know how to use it and heal the bites inflicted.

Before long, all the bodies had been collected. Harry walked a few feet away, dropping a bag of his own and hissing to the unseen snakes. Daphne guessed he had ordered them into his bag, but didn't want to watch. Instead, she turned to Hermione who had returned to the walking stick and the black stone she had dropped earlier. With a swift movement, she pulled the stick out of the ground. The stones that had scattered around the clearing jumped back into the air, flying in a high arc straight to Hermione. It reminded Daphne of the time when Harry had made his notes fly from the wall in his room and sort themselves on his table with nothing but a wave of his hand.

So it had been nothing more than some fancy magic to impress people, Daphne thought. Hermione and Harry had created a portable ward – likely anti-apparition and anti-Portkey – as part of their plan and little more than an afterthought. Daphne couldn't remember ever hearing of something similar and guessed it might be unique. Was it another of their applications of Muggle knowledge to magic? If they invented something like that for nothing more than convenience, where would they stop?

Their assassinations came to mind. Had they come up with something similarly ingenious? Was that the power of Muggle inventiveness that had Harry and Hermione look down on witches and wizards and their lack of imagination all those months ago? And watching his plan come to fruition, she was reminded of his outrageous plan for the final battle. She had dismissed it as him oversimplifying it, but she wasn't quite so sure anymore that he wouldn't try meeting the Dark Lord's forces in open battle on the grounds of Hogwarts. But surely Harry knew better than to try that? Even if the secret of his success was doing exactly what everyone wouldn't dare, he still recognized the impossible, didn't he?

"All right," Harry announced, "all packed up. Time to leave this place. Let's see how many teams of Snatchers they'll send before they'll wise up."

The answer, Daphne learned over the next two hours, was four. Each time, Harry's snakes had no trouble defeating the enemies. Each time, Harry and Hermione prepared their prisoners. Each time, they followed the same steps so that, when at last a group of Aurors came and started cursing without a warning, Daphne felt numb as they too succumbed to the venomous bites.

Harry had triumphed, and as much as she was impressed, Daphne felt she understood him less than before. As much as she felt drawn to him, she also wasn't sure she knew him as well as she thought.


What a pain to get done. Why did I think a fight against invisible snakes would be a sight to see? There are times when I wish I could go back and knock some sense into past Me. Then again, once you've not seen snakes bite one group of Snatchers into submission, it gets a bit repetetive after that.

Harry and Hermione scoffed at magicals' ignorance for Muggle means in chapter 48.