Blood for Blood:

The plan proceeded without any unforeseen difficulties. Harry looked like he had been sitting casually and he had merely passed on the couch. Petunia's screams and Vernon's shouting echoed as they quickly called the police to deal with the situation. Hermione and Lorna listened in as they were connected to the situation via a bracelet. Remus also gave updates from behind a privacy ward as Petunia played the part of a remorseful woman who wondered if the recently discovered heart condition had claimed his life. Soon enough, the ambulance was in play. The doctor certified the death as natural causes and foul play was eliminated as the man thoroughly examined the boy. He played his part and they carried the body into the ambulance.

Harry was soon clinically dead and on his way to a funeral home. The supplied documents and an Imperius that Remus had cast, had convinced the pathologist that no dissection was necessary, as he had wondered about the orange juice. It was a close call, but now there were no possible hiccups.

"Carl, you know anything about this young man?"

"Only that he was an A-grade student, he jogged around the neighbourhood and loved gardening. A proper young lad indeed. Sadly, he has passed."

"An there are many boys on the streets right now, stabin' each other. Anotha' young grasshopper has left us. Always the good ones, innit?"

Lorna presented herself as a person attached to a funeral home that could offer an ideal package for the coffin and all the other requirements. Petunia cried the entire evening as she explained that the boy was always busy and he studied very hard. He was a good boy and the only child of her long-dead sister. At the funeral home, the individuals were all put under the Imperius by Remus as they merely changed Harry's clothes and they did not use any of the standard chemicals and procedures that were associated with the preparation of a dead body.

Vernon had nothing to say as the arrangements were made for the funeral – there was a trace of happiness on his face. Perhaps the real Vernon was beginning to boil to the surface. After all, his acting was under Harry's compulsion. By Monday morning the invitations had gone out and in attendance were the Singhs and the Grangers. These were the only two families that were known by the public to be linked to Harry Potter, the St. Grogory's genius.

To get the news to Dumbledore, they would wait until Severus Snape arrived.

The funeral happened without much fanfare. Some locals who attended the local church came by merely for curiosity. Priya and Hermione both read tear-jerking speeches after using a more unknown crocodile tear potion that made their faces leak like a dripping faucet. Combined with the neutral look on their faces, it seemed like they were under such anguish, that they were partially in shock. Harry was then put into the ground, six feet under as the tombstone read:

RIP Harry Potter.

July 31st 1999 – June 11th 2010

Beloved son of Lilly Potter and James Potter,

Scholar, Friend and Fighter.

Love lives on, Sleep till eternity.

Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life: John 3:15

To finish things off, as soon as the funeral was finished and the soil had been covered over, Grace merely popped into the box and apparated Harry out to his favourite couch in Peverell manor. Sirius administered the antidote. Harry then opened his eyes, as he examined his environment.

"Urgh – I feel like shit. How did it go?" asked Harry.

"Perfectly as planned. I think there is one final touch. One I suggested."

"Which is?"

Sirius pointed to a container that was slightly smaller than the coffin. In it, was an envelope and a whole collection of rubber dildoes of every size, shape and colour.

"Er? What is this?" Harry asked genuinely confused.

"A message to Lord Voldemort to fuck himself. He will dig up your grave eventually. The letter says that he may use any of the provided implements to ensure that there is a snug fit between any of his orifices and the phallus of his choice. Grace, drop off our greeting card. "

Graze zapped the box in as Harry and Sirius roared in a full belly laugh. This would be their little secret. Sirius had gotten Lorna to get everything organised. Tuesday afternoon as if right on cue, there was another meeting in Dumbledore's office between only himself and Severus Snape. Harry was now eating to compensate for his caloric deficit, and they were listening once again to the conversation.

"Headmaster?"

"Come Severus, let us talk. There is much that I have discovered from my investigations."

"Tell me…..more." The man replied with his signature pauses.

"I asked as Harry Potter's guardian to be provided with anything that would be useful towards providing evidence that Sirius Black was innocent when I visited Gringotts. I explained that there had been new information that had surfaced and that a wizard had been wrongly convicted. I asked that my post of Supreme Mugwump be observed for the request of this information."

"And?"

"The Goblins told me that they would decide if their interest was served by validating or invalidating my claims. I waited the better part of two hours before they provided me with a copy of the Potter Will – and this was only a small piece, not the entire thing."

"What did it say?"

"James wrote that if he and Lilly were to perish, that Sirius and Remus were to skin Peter Pettigrew alive. They heard rumours and chose to believe that they were not true. They put their trust in the wrong person. Pettigrew was the secret keeper for their Fidelius charm. The altercation between Sirius and Pettigrew was an attempt to even the score."

"Would that not leave him in trouble? He killed Pettigrew regardless. That is still imprisonment in Azkaban."

"It matters not. The issue is that Sirius Black is Harry's Godfather. He will go after Harry, and Sirius is still a wanted criminal. Perhaps the boy can move out when the matter is settled, but certainly not now. I have to discuss many things as it relates to Lord Voldemort, before any such thing happens. I am posting a watch on his house from tonight. You will go and speak to Petunia later. I want you to verify his condition and speak to him. Tell him that you are an old friend of his mother."

"Is speaking to him necessary? Do I have to speak to the spawn of James Potter?"

Albus suddenly paused and it seemed that the tension in the air increased.

"You would ask that question to me after you carried Sybill's prophecy to Lord Voldemort? Was it not you who relayed the information that resulted in Lord Voldemort interpreting the prophecy to target Lilly? You are responsible. You promised me, Severus! Anything to protect the boy!

The boy is best protected by him continuing to live his life until he is ready. I understand he is brilliant, well-mannered and likes to take a morning run around the neighbourhood every day. Arabella Figg has seen him many times. He has never known his parents, I cannot understand how he will be like James. You will go and speak to the boy. This is final Severus!"

"Very well. Just don't expect me to hug the imbecile. Tonight for 8:00."

It was at this point that Harry's eyes glowed from the anger. Severus Snape had caused his parents to die. He had been a Death Eater. Remus who understood that soon objects would explode, rubbed his back. Harry seemed to regain his composure as he rubbed his temples.

"Gracie, we are going flying so I can clear my head. If we don't do this, I will commit murder tonight, on the Hogwarts compound. We can try to circle England. Fuck air control let them deal with it. Invictus open up the reserve power banks for me, please. I want to go fast tonight."

"Very well grandson. Any other requests?"

"Tell mum, grandpa and grandma I want a word with them. Ask Lorna to be there too."

"Done." The portrait replied.

"We should kill him the little snake! Remus, we should kill him! You should have torn his neck out in Year Six. Lilly and James would still be here with us!" Sirius screamed as he began to pace up and down the workshop.

"Not for us to decide. Harry anything you ask of us we will do. That includes murder. I am not feeling too compassionate right now. I understand now. We can't always be lenient." Remus replied, as his eyes glinted and glowed. The wolf was hungry for prey.

"No – not yet. I have a wonderful idea for him. Since he tore down my world, I will tear down his. I will announce myself to the wizarding world by writing to him first. I will tear down his pureblood ideas, I will burn down the system he likes so much. I will kill all his Death Eater friends. Then I will give him a painful beatdown."

"And if he should move against you?" asked Sirius.

"Instant death. His job is only to observe the situation and not be able to do anything about it. But if he has such a wonderful personality, I might genuinely torture him, before I kill him. And no crucios. No, I will do it the 'muggle' way. We will see."

Harry then strapped up his armour, changed out his power cells and then began floating before cloaking and flying out of the manor. He apparated to Cornwall and began tracing the coastline as he flew. Grace flew as fast as she possibly could as she wanted to give the jetpack competition. As Harry flew at a diminished speed of 250 kph, he thought about his second armour system. His current suit had performed admirably, but the issue was that the straps did a bad number on his skin, and the cold iron brace was uncomfortable. As he flew he considered that maybe he could look into a muscle weave – a suit that fit him like a second skin. Harry had loved the Crysis Nano suit very much but had no idea as to how to approach such a design for force amplification. Could he possibly use muscles salvaged from an animal?

"Maybe I will have to look into something artificial. Piezoelectric stuff might need investigation," he commented to himself.

Harry continued to fly as the event that would truly punish him arrived on his doorstep. Harry was right – his life had been stable for too long and misfortune had arrived again. However, he would beat the misfortune into the ground with his preparation and confidence.

Agamemnon Cassius had spent many months touring the world. He slowly acquired a taste for doing crime the muggle way, with some magical assistance. He found himself wondering why he had not gotten started earlier, with the rich bounty he had collected as he ran his criminal enterprise.

Cassius had gathered a small gang of people. They were wizards who were in want of an opportunity to practice cruelty, in a more unhinged manner. Many of the men hailed from disparate parts of the world. Cassius quickly got into trading narcotics and black-market weapons. However, his most lucrative venture was the trafficking of young girls and women. There were any number of men who were willing to pay a prize for young unsullied women in their prime. Naturally, Cassius was only too happy to stun unsuspecting witches in remote areas, totally obliviate them and sell them off to the highest bidders, if they were beautiful.

Of course, his men not only required dollars – it was understood that his fellow "black hand" required women "to rightfully see to their needs". The younger women were untouched, but the slightly older women were forced to please the entire gang of men, fully conscious and aware of their dignity being taken from them. The screaming and resistance that the witches put up, always made it more rewarding. And it was not uncommon for an entire group of men to use a witch, or two at a time. Body bind curses were popular after they were put into difficult positions to cause pain.

Cassius had still not gotten over Priya. He had arrived only three days ago in England and was currently planning to make his Manor the primary site for all his future operations. Lord Parkinson was also interested in investing in his 'business' and this had left many of the men indisposed, as they prepared the mansion. There were only two men who were responsible for the surveillance of Priya and they were foreigners. Following her to her home had been difficult with their limited knowledge of the area, and it had been agreed that perhaps she could be cornered at a particular place after they established her routine.

As his operative observed the two young women leaving a restaurant, he called it in, after referencing the picture that had been created from Cassius' pensieve memories. She liked this Thai restaurant, and she had bought lunch yesterday from the establishment. Tonight, it seemed that she was going for dinner. The man who had been disillusioned confirmed the woman's identity and informed Cassius via a phone call. He considered it a sign by Magic itself, that which was supposedly his, had been easy to find. He was a superstitious man and considered such things omens of good luck. Cassius himself came to the scene and waited in an alley, with his other operatives taking up multiple positions. As soon as both Lorna and Priya had stepped out, they began to walk to their favourite apparition spot. As soon as they had walked into the shadow of an alley…

"Stupefy!" they all yelled as multiple spells collided with them and knocked them out.

Priya and Lorna had not walked with their shielding devices, as the decision to go to the Thai restaurant had been a last minute affair. Even then, they were taken by surprise and it was unlikely that they would have reacted in time to toggle the switch. Cassius then dragged them into the alley and quickly threw their cell phones out. The men apparated both of the unconscious women to Cassius Manor. Cassius was quite pleased with how easy the operation had gone. As his henchmen tied both of them up to chairs, his body hummed with excitement. He would break both of them here, and he would keep Priya as his pet. After they were tightly bound, he woke both of them up.

"Finite!"

Priya and Lorna woke up and found themselves tied and gagged. After a temporary period of silence as they began to process the situation and they began to scream. That was when Cassius and his right-hand man slapped both of them at the same time.

"Welcome, Priya Singh to Cassius Manor. For such a long time, since the Hogwarts days I wanted you to myself. For many years I have been looking for you. Finally….I have what is rightfully mine."

He looked at the red-headed Scottish beauty and nodded appreciatively as he barked at one of the henchmen

"Check the ID on the other one. Name?"

"Lorna Findlay." One of the other men answered.

"Ah! I remember you, You, are that crafty mudblood from the common room! My my, what a fantastic catch. I had been trailing both of you in Hogsmeade many years ago. I have finally captured my prey….

My men are going to take turns breaking in your fuckhole. Such pretty hair. As for you Priya – I am going to make you watch the entire thing. After you cry for your friend, I am going to stretch your brown tight cunt personally. Don't worry it will be fun. Then you will bear my child and be my favourite concubine. We got rid of the cell phones, no GPS to track you. This house had every type of ward in existence.

Don't worry, you might come to love me in time."

As the panic set in, Morgana's charms activated. Suddenly, everyone who owned a chain or a wristband, understood immediately that both Priya and Lorna were in grave, life threatening danger. Hermione immediately ran to her father and yelled loudly and hysterically:

"Dad! Aunty Priya and Lorna are in trouble. To the workshop right now! Bring your gun! WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THE AUTHORITIES!"

William did not bother to answer as he grabbed his gun and vambrace, as he strapped everything up. Meanwhile, Hermione in full alert mode barked:

"Whootsy and Bootsy get Aunty's parents at Peverell Manor. Now!"

Jean came running as she understood the situation immediately. Before anything else occurred, Grace popped in, almost as if he could feel the urgency. She could tell that Priya's and Lorna's magic was screaming for help. The Granger family all held hands, and Grace transported them to the Peverell workshop.

"Moony! Aunty Priya and Aunty Lorna are in trouble! Invictus get the drone ready! Harry will be here just…."

Harry apparated in, understanding the severity of the situation. Remus strapped on his vambrace, took his pistol and then quickly provided William with a spare communicator from the table. Remus was thankful that Harry had made extras. Invictus had the drone floating already above the crowd.

"Everyone cloak. Grace bring us somewhere close to mum's position." barked Harry, with his voice now icy cold and his eyes gleaming. Harry was angry as a dragon and he had made up his mind.

No Mercy.

Grace had dropped them at the beginning of a courtyard, far from any other warm bodies in the area.

"Gramps, take the night vision camera for a spin. Send the feed to my left arm display."

William and Remus observed the feed. There were about forty men, all armed with assault rifles in the main courtyard. There were also men in the building, but the number remained a good guess. From Harry's rough guess, all of the men in the yard possessed AK-47s. William gently put his hand on Harry's back, as he understood that dealing with situations on the fly was not his speciality. He then took command of the operation:

"Invictus, take the drone to one of the windows. The one where the light is coming from" asked William. Invictus slowly went across the courtyard and settled in front of an open window, where Priya and Lorna were tied up. Invictus hovered the drone, as it stayed cloaked.

"Uncle William, what do we do? Grace can go in under the cloak and apparate them out. What after that?" Harry asked, as he was unsure how to deal with a situation like this, where he had not gotten time to plan anything.

"Easy Harry. Breathe. Grace, use the invisibility on your harness up and go into the room quietly. Hop into the room, walk on your feet like a parrot and sit close enough to them. As soon as it is safe, you apparate the both of them. Don't get too close, we don't want your invisibility field to cover their body parts and tip you off. From there we will attack the men in the room with the drone. Remus and I will box them in and clear out the yard. This will keep them uncoordinated with multiple scattered engagements."

Hermione had been listening and began taking immediate action. She then in a cold detached voice communicated:

"Priming the Fiendfyre Beam weapon. Targeting the man's head. Tell me when to fire." repeated Hermione over the comms.

"Good Girl. Keep the gun steady. Let me just confirm our plan, hold the camera steady…." replied William, as he understood the magnitude of what he was asking Hermione to do. He was asking his daughter to kill so that Harry's loved ones would survive. Invictus was very mindful of this too, as he operated the flight control systems. He knew what was coming next, for both of his grandchildren.

Grace flew to the window and gently landed on the windowsill, invisible under the cloak. She hopped down and began walking on the floor as she dodged the various boots. She told herself "Parrot mode, parrot mode, tiny steps, tiny steps, I am a parrot, be a parrot," as she skipped around and got into position. She slowly climbed up the back of the chair. Grace proceeded not to move any further as Lorna and Priya would partially fall into the invisibility field, and their heads would disappear first. William continued to explain to Harry, the sequence of events:

"Alright, we can box them in. Remus and I will work as a two-man team under the cloak and pick off the left and right sides. Remus, you move to the other side behind the trees, keep in contact with me on the comms. We are going to hit them with guerrilla styled tactics as they cant see us under the cloak."

Sirius Black cut in on the comm. "Remus, the Black anti-apparition ward, cast it."

"Nullum hominem effugium, corporis captionem" Remus said, as he let the Fenrir out into his wand. The magic slowly formed a barely transparent bubble over the entire property. With the darkened clouds and the absence of moonlight, nobody noticed anything. Nobody was getting out, tonight.

"They won't be able to apparate out William" answered Remus.

William nodded and he continued:

"Excellent. Harry, give me your rifle. Give me the lethal setting. I will pick them off. Your job is to go in and use your hands. You are going to charge to the upper ledge and work your way through the building from the top floor downwards. Your job is to smash into them at full speed. And don't hold back on the hand-to-hand. You are letting everything loose tonight.

Full force. To kill.

Take out any position that might be used as a vertical vantage point. Then you will move to the backyard when those hostiles are clear. Be careful. Hermione, you got the muppet targeted?"

"I think so dad, but the laser beam is not on. Wait..."

Hermione gulped down her reflex sharpening potion.

"Alright. Tell me when to shoot him. I have you, trust me, dad."

"Alright, sweetie. Go loud as soon as they are home."

Priya and Lorna were crying, as they hoped that Harry would find them quickly. Priya remembered the discussion at the table that night. Harry had insisted that when you were fighting for your life, you could not spare anyone. Now, she even felt a sense of anger, because tonight his cruelty would be justified. The boy had been proven right. Now, she was hoping that her son was not coming to negotiate. She hoped that he was coming to do the unspeakable – coming to kill with impunity. Suddenly they both heard Grace, as she made a single chirp.

"Ewe!"

Priya and Lorna realised that Grace was right at the back of them. Harry was already here. Priya and Lorna understood that the entire compound was filled with dead men, who were temporarily breathing for now. Cassius began to panic, as he heard the noise.

"Check her for a second phone….she has one in her pocket!" he yelled, as he mistook Grace's chirp for a ringtone.

Cassius then took the gag off Priya, and then threatened between clenched teeth… "You think you are so clever, I am…."

Both of the women suddenly disappeared in a flash of lightning. Priya and Lorna were now in Peverell Mansion and Sirius took a knife and began cutting the ropes off the chairs.

"We got them, dad!" Hermione replied and before William could fully process the statement, Harry had disappeared and off in the distance there was a cloud of red that was now splattered across the wall, that was visible in the moonlight. Harry was already screaming at the top of his voice, as he began to push enough magic into his hands and legs to crush and mangle bodies on impact.

"Go loud! Now!" William commanded.

Hermione put a hole through the henchman's head with the Fiendfyre beam. Invictus slowly lifted the drone, as they used the beam like a scalpel to cut the man's head in half. Hermione, with her reflexes sharpened, switched to the bolt mode and flicked the targeting laser on as she began to expertly swing the gun around. She obliterated all the men into submission, as the FiendFyre burned complete holes through their bodies. Those who were not directly hit and not already dead had to deal with terrible burns as the plasma boiled the skin off the men. This was the first time that the weapon had been fired at people, and the beam and the shotgun blasts were hot enough to cut through tissue like like butter.

Suddenly Cassius began to feel a chill. It was impossible to disappear that suddenly. Did she have a house-elf? Was this a bad omen? As he wondered such things, his contemplation was answered appropriately.

"Hammer them Mione, let the fuckfaces eat FiendFyre. Gentlemen, Hermione already has six kills, and I hope you catch up?" Invictus replied over the comms as he flipped the drone and weaved out of the way while Hermione used Bombardas, Baubilliouses, and many other Potter and Peverell custom spells that had been tuned for maximum explosions and destruction. The drone was truly getting a workout, as they cycled through every spell to obliterate any object that was being used as cover.

Harry charged into the rooms on the second floor and began moving from person to person as he splattered the men. Their organs liquified under the intense sudden g-forces that were applied to their body. He put his entire core into the processes and often went for the skulls with his sword. He charged into a room and saw four men helping themselves to women who were tied up on a bed. Loud music was being played and they had not heard the gunshots.

Harry's blood boiled as he roared "Familicus Magicus!"

Harry guided the intent of the family magic.

"Strengthen my hand, my bones, my ligaments, my body, so that I may bring justice to the scum in this place. Give me full use of my bodily strength" he thought to himself. The four men had all cast the Avada Kedavra at him, in the momentary second while Harry felt the House Magic taking root. The women believed that it was the end of the new person, who had suddenly apparated into the room. That was until the spells hit Harry's armour, vaporized some of the titanium and merely left some respectable but non-penetrative craters.

Harry had called the Peverell Battle Magic forward – and the magic sensing that he was powerful and that he sought to protect the weak, surged forward finding his discipline, strength, commitment and this morality worthy. Harry's eyes glowed so brightly they could be seen through the helmet as he punched the man and his head exploded. He then put away the sword, as he floated the other man with a clenched hand and tossed him into the wall, as a wet squelch was heard. Then he felt his magic come to an utter apex as he tensed his hand and clawed his fingers before he threw something in the direction of another man who was reaching for a pistol.

Harry was surprised when a thick bolt of lightning left his hand.

The bolt of lightning hit the man and he tried to fight off the pain. Harry weaved the lightning around his fist and charged into the man. His entire body was now in separate piles of red guts. He cleared out all the men as he snapped their necks, ripped their spines out of their necks and smashed their heads into the concrete. The instincts of the Peverell battle magic took over, and he began to target that which was most vulnerable. The magic did not feel the least bit resistant, and he did not feel any need to hesitate.

While Harry was cleaning the house out systematically on the second floor and the back of the manor, Hermione continued to bombard Cassius with FiendFyre bolts, as he hid behind a counter and attempted to hit the invisible drone with every dark curse he had at his disposal. Of course, he only managed to miss and then he was shot in the arm through the cupboard, as the thin wood could not withstand the plasma that was reigning down on him.

It had not gone unnoticed as Priya, Lorna and Sirius had confirmed that Harry's armour could stop the legendary Avada Kedavra. Before they could fully process the achievement, William and Remus were now communicating over the earbuds as the kill box did its work.

Outside, William's old training kicked into full force as he lined up small groups of shots and executed them perfectly. After hitting all the targets, he moved to another location before repeating the process. Remus on the other hand with the practice he had gotten, cleared the men that were in William's way. They operated under invisibility, and it seemed like the boogeyman was out there in the courtyard. By the time an energy bolt had left the barrel of the weapons, the target was already dead.

Cassius like many of the other men tried to apparate out but someone had placed an anti-apparition ward. He could hear the gunfire going off outside, but as the AK-47 fire diminished, he began to realise that multiple people were present. He attempted to lunge for a door on the other side of the room when a steel boot kicked him in the head and he went unconscious.

Harry took his wand out and levitated Cassius on a chair. After a full body bind curse was executed, before he took Cassius' wand and snapped it. Hermione realised that Harry had the man at his mercy, and she manoeuvred the drone outside and begin working backwards the last two men were hiding behind a ledge and were preparing an RPG.

"PEW-PEW-PEW

Pause.

"PEW-PEW-PEW"

"Dad the house is clear."

"Good, that was the last set there. We are coming to the main entrance. We will uncloak when we arrive." William and Remus arrived in the room and saw that Harry had captured the man.

"Harry fly around and check with your eyes for people. Use your mage sight?" William commented.

"I worked through every room and even the back of the house. They are all dead. I called the full force of the family magic. I can see through the walls partially. No men anywhere on the compound. There are a lot of women here. Looks like human trafficking. They are in pretty bad shape."

"What do we do with this one. He looks like the ringleader," commented Sirius, as he observed the situation from Harry's shoulder cam.

"Simple," replied Harry and he emptied a large Medi-Spray canister that was attached to his armour. Harry then formed his mind into a spike and pounded the man's mental barrier. He ripped the memories out of Cassius's head and he directed them to the canister. He rooted around and slowly a continuous stream of white wisps began to flow. Harry continued for at least half-hour as Remus and William silently watched. Remus explained the process, as William gulped. Harry was figuratively ripping his brain apart, memory by memory. When Harry was done, Cassius barely looked like a husk, and all semblance of his intelligence was gone. He was just a vegetable now. No matter. Harry then snapped his neck in a quick flash. He then looked on at William and Remus:

"They were running weapon smuggling operation too. Before we call the Aurors, we are taking every scrap of their gear. Mom, I need you and Lorna back here. Remus will accompany you. There are at least eighty women here. It is much to ask, but these women had their innocence and their decency taken away. It is safe, I splattered all the vermin."

"Coming. We don't have our wands though." Priya replied.

"Remus will look after you. Your wands are here. He took them as trophies. Glamour before you arrive."

Lorna and Priya appeared to find the man slumped. Harry had killed him. He walked slowly to his mother and hugged her. He then hugged Lorna and Priya began to cry.

"It isn't fair you and Hermione had to make this sacrifice. Yet all of you saved the day again. My precious boy, why does pain have to follow you so?"

Harry who had taken off his helmet, seemed to relax as his eyes dimmed back to normality. Now his eyes were kind. There were long tears on his face now. William, who remembered his first kill, gently put his hand on the boy's back.

"I don't know. But I am proud to bear the pain – if the women here will find solace tonight. I would gladly suffer it again. I did my duty – the way your Arjuna had to do his. The way my Lord Jesus Christ commanded me to protect the meek, so I did what was asked. Let us not forget Mione rose beautifully to the occasion too. Can you remember the discussion at the table, last Christmas? What if I wasn't prepared? No, I am glad I disobeyed. Look at where we are now. I had to do this tonight…."

"I hate this. I hate when you are right! You are always right and it is generally annoying. But tonight son, my heart bleeds for you and Hermione." Priya replied, resignedly.

You there Teethsie?" Harry asked hoarsely.

A small demure voice answered. The confidence and the bravado were missing now:

"Yes, I am. It isn't nice to feel what I feel now, but we had to do it. We will be okay."

"Sweetie, we will talk when we get home. Harry and I are going to see what might be useful to us. Good job. You did the right thing. Sometimes, justice has a cost." William consoled her.

As everyone else glamoured their faces, Remus worked specifically on William's appearance. Then they slowly brought all the women into the main room, after they were made decent. There were at least eighty women of all different ages. Some of them began to sob – these people had killed their captors and they were being removed from the denigrating existence that they had to suffer. The dead body of Agamemnon had not been moved, and it had been left on display for the authorities who would arrive later. Some of them watched on in amazement, at the battle armour and the weapons that Harry carried. They had seen easily the most powerful Wizard in their entire life, reign fury upon the wrongdoers. There was much reverence in their eyes. Harry was glad that his helmet was on, as he could not bear to look at them.

It was a reminder that there were worse things than living in a cupboard.

That was when Sirius Black apparated in with Grace, holding one of Harry's spare wands. The elves had arrived, with hot tea, sandwiches and blankets. More importantly, Sirius was with Andromeda Tonks. Both of them were glamoured and the elves wore oversized hoodies. It looked like items that had been salvaged from everyone's wardrobes and their faces were blurred. This had to be Hermione's work, but then she never missed anything.

"Hey Mione, nice work on the disguises," Harry said, as he hoped the casual talk could help to cope with the magnitude of what they had done.

"Thanks. They won't be able to trace any of our faces."

Sirius then barked "Familicus Magicus" and Herald appeared. He then yelled:

"Herald…..Patrol the perimeter! Alert me via my ring of intruders or Aurors. And if you find any of the scum here in or around the house who are returning to the compound, kill without mercy!"

Andromeda Tonks had been roused from her sleep to find Sirius Black yelling at her door. She found herself listening to the most fantastic story that had been told over twenty minutes under an oath of magic. When Sirius finally successfully produced Lumos, she knew this was no damned joke. Andromeda, who began to put the pieces together, immediately gave her an oath to never utter a word about the events of tonight unless given specific permission, as she realised that Sirius was the only cousin that was like her – A Black who wasn't a pureblood fanatic. When they arrived at the location via a phoenix which was already a surprise, Andromeda observed that Sirius had total command of the Black House magic, and he had changed it to his desire. Sirius held Andromeda's hand as he introduced her to Lorna and Priya behind a privacy ward. They were quite surprised that he had brought someone.

"Not to worry she is under oath. Andromeda Tonks my cousin. Dromeda, Priya Singh and Lorna Findlay. Remus you already know. Harry and William are in going through the place for weapons. Hermione is at home, in the command centre."

"You have a command centre? What are you guys, James Bond?" asked Andromeda.

"In fact, I think we have better stuff? We are looking at approximately…." Sirius looked at Harry as he squinted his eyes.

"Seventy two dead jackasses," Harry replied, with the robotic vocoder distorting his voice.

"Yes. Seventy two dead morons. Put down by a squad of four." Sirius explained proudly and sadly. Andromeda nodded appreciatively. That was combat efficiency that was unheard of - even Aurors didn't have that kind of military power. She had been aware of the Storm-Bringer and the fiasco, but to hear that Harry Potter and his 'friend' were the 'Storm-Bringers' and they already carrying out military operations? And the boy's armour indicated one thing. Harry preferred to do things the 'muggle' way because the rifle that was stuck to his back, looked damned scary. And how exactly did a young man who was ten, look like he was already approaching fourteen? And not a small fourteen, but a huge, tall athletic fourteen year old. He looked like a quidditch superstar.

Harry and William left as they went through the next ten rooms.

They found full containers of AK-47s, FN P90s, crates of ammunition, grenades, RPGs and other assorted military gear. Most of it looked like old military surplus that was being traded around. The weapons looked old and rather scuffed up. After Harry checked through for enchantments and tracking charms, he found that it was all clean. All of it was apparated by the remaining elves that were not in the main room with the women. Harry also collected any documents that crossed his path. When Harry was sure that he had taken everything, he then returned to the main room with William.

"Well, we have enough weapons to outfit a platoon. This is grim business tonight but better we take the weapons. If my old squad members heard what I got up to, they would laugh at me for breaking all the rules. If you want to talk Harry, I will be here."

"I know. Thanks, Uncle William. Don't think my chest doesn't hurt. It does. I am just limping through the pain, just in the same manner that I usually do. This feels like when I saw him casting the Avada Kedavra at my mother. There is this awful shock I feel in my body. My chest feels…hollow."

"I know. We will get through it. But you were excellent tonight. No hesitation. No injuries to us either. A couple of bullets did not get through the shield, but it depleted the power. I was at forty per cent. Your rifle is absolutely solid. Felt nice, well balanced and easy to grip and handle. The semi-automatic mode is fantastic. No bullet drop. I had a look at the bodies. I think the plasma is so hot that it tears through anything. It even obliterated the ceramic body armour on many of them."

"FiendFyre is one of the most dangerous spells, ever. So naturally, it performs with the correct optimisation. Let us see what we can do for these ladies."

Harry turned the corner and saw Herald snaking his way around the house, as he continued to look for intruders. Each of his heads seemed to independently track different places, and Harry found the behaviour to be very efficient if not somewhat unearthly. Andromeda, who had appeared had decided to introduce herself to the two other people she had not spoken to, as yet.

"Hello Andromeda Tonks. Sirius' Cousin. Harry Potter, I presume? And Dr. Granger?"

Harry nodded, as he proceeded to shake Andromeda's hand. He then withdrew his hand before he touched her, as he realised, he was covered in blood. Little drops of blood were occasionally dripping from his armoured plates.

"Not to worry about the handshake. I think I am being brought into the fold. I was brought here because I can call the Aurors. I understand your phoenix can bypass the wards. But we will need to break the wards. I am not sure about that."

"I have an idea about that. Give me twenty minutes. Tell the rest they can ping me on comms. Grace? Gringotts Lobby."

Harry then appeared in his full battle gear in the middle of the Gringotts under his invisibility, clearly stained and dripping blood, as the droplets whispered:

PAT. PAT. PAT

Harry could have cleaned himself with a scourgify, but he was too worried about the women. The floor in Gringotts was now stained, and Harry had not noticed. Truthfully, he was still shaken from what had occurred. The Goblins had noticed, but they were not offended. Rather, they were very curious to know if combat had occurred and how he managed to secure his victory. He walked up to Sharpsand, who was quite surprised to see him in full battle gear. He looked impressive and the few customers who were there looked at him apprehensively. Everyone took note of the armour, the metallic plates and the huge scary looking rifle he held in his hand. Now the three people who were in the bank, they knew. The Storm-Lord was not afraid to kill, and he had probably come from a bloodbath.

"Well met Master Goblin. I must apologise for the blood on your floor and I must forego the niceties. I recovered 80 plus women from a wizard run human trafficking operation. I need wards broken immediately so we can get Aurors in the compound. I will pay whatever coin you want. My apologies again for the unceremonious entry and the blood."

That was when the other people in the lobby began to whisper aloud. He had saved more than 80 women?

"Follow me Artificer. I commend you on your successful operation" Sharpsand said, genuinely impressed. As the door closed and Harry was safe within the bank's walls, Sharpsand looked upon him with great respect, as he removed his helmet.

"I get the feeling you obliterated all of them?" Sharpsand asked.

"Yes, I did. For tolerating my impoliteness and that nice piece of P.R.? You get dibs on the memories with Bloodaxe. Visit the Potter Pensieve for sure."

"I like the way you think. Always a good bargain. No, I am not offended. There is a time and place for everything – we have important things to do right now. If you protected the innocent tonight, you are a warrior.

Welcome fellow warrior to our halls."

"Thank you Master Sharpsand. I hope our blades stay sharp, as always."

Harry then stepped into the Potter's office, to find Bloodaxe and another Goblin present. Sharpsand then said something in Gobblydook and Bloodaxe and the other Goblin nodded.

"Welcome fellow warrior to our halls. This is Barchoke, the Black Accounts manager. We were plotting to make large amounts of profit after your recent successes. I however see unplanned things have happened."

"Well met Bloodaxe and Master Barchoke."

There was a pause as the pain became evident on the boy's face. He collected his thoughts and continued:

"I … I ….. my mother and Lorna were taken by a gang of men. I think they had planned for the minimum, rape both of them. We were alerted to the situation because of Hermione's chain from her inheritance. We were able to apparate in with a small team. Remus, Hermione's father and myself… we went in and we killed all of them. Hermione flew a device that helped with the reconnaissance, but she got some kills in also."

"I am sorry to hear of this. Is your family safe? How many were terminated?" Bloodaxe asked.

"Not a scratch on my end. A total of seventy two jackasses were killed. Everyone is safe."

"It is be expected. It is the first kill. A summary perhaps of the events?" asked Barchoke.

"Grace, my phoenix as usual saved the day by apparating both Mom and Lorna out before the fighting began. However, as we cleared them out, we discovered that the house was being used for human trafficking. About 80 plus witches and many were abused or sexually assaulted. We spared none of them. Every man is dead. We need a curse breaker to get the wards down so that Aurors can handle the situation."

"Gobblydook's mercy on them all. Griphook!" Bloodaxe yelled.

The door opened as Griphook entered.

"Get Bill Weasley from the Hall of Artifacts. Tell him Gringotts business. Wardbreaking Assignment." Bloodaxe commanded.

"The fee will be three hundred and fifty galleons. That includes standard Gringotts fees. No extra commission or fees on the service for me. Bill Weasley is our best, he will be here in ten minutes. Fresh out of Hogwarts and talented with wards. We want the memories of the entire event. Tell us about your armour and your weapons."

"Deal. Do you want Azkaban memories too? I do appreciate the help. Willing to haggle in your favour, as a thank you?"

"You see Barchoke, he understands us. Go ahead put the memories in." Bloodaxe replied as he smiled.

Five minutes later, he had put all the memories in the Potter Pensieve– from the time he had started to fly towards Azkaban until he apparated home. He followed those recollections by his flying being interrupted by the chain of events this evening and included everything until his apparition at Gringotts.

"All done. Ask away about the armour and the gun."

Bloodaxe jumped off the stool and tapped the Armor as he examined the steel, the straps, the intakes and the Rune work that Hermione did. Harry also demonstrated the cameras on his shoulder, his helmet, and the lockup for the high-speed flying. He took them through the features of the gun, the scope and the different firing modes. He also demonstrated the forcefield and the cloak.

"By the way, I am currently dead in the mundane world as of yesterday afternoon. Faked my death. Dumbledore will find out by the morning. The boy who lived, dead from a muggle heart condition. I will then proceed to announce myself as perfectly alive when everyone least expects it. I have a tombstone and everything. Heh."

It was at this point that Bloodaxe and Barchoke began to howl with laughter.

"You see Barchoke, he has guile in him. Oh boy, I can't wait for this fiasco to unfold. The paper is going to be fantastic for the rest of this week!" Bloodaxe laughed.

Harry then spoke to Barchoke, as he looked at the boy appraisingly.

"By the way Master Barchoke, Sirius is onsite and assisting with blankets and food. He has Herald, the new Black House magic patrolling the house. Orders are to kill morons on sight. We also captured a fair number of weapons tonight. We are for our services rendered tonight, taking all of it."

"HA! Yes! that is what Arcturus would do. Both of you remind both of us of your grandparents. Yes, I look forward to working with you. I do want to see those memories."

"Enjoy. Let Sharpsand and Griphook in on it too. Sharpsand is my favourite at the desk in front. I always feel like he understands when I am in a hurry. I will get Hermione to provide her memories too. She was great tonight, shot 13 of them with the drone we have."

"Drone?" Bloodaxe asked.

"Oh, right sorry. We have a magical flying device that can be deployed with a gun. We used it to capture reconnaissance, and even soften up targets. Invisible and shielded. Just watch the memory you will get a full appreciation for it. We can even drop off packages with it. Anything small and up to thirty pounds."

Bloodaxe nodded. Rune-Priestess Hermione Granger was also deserving of being called a warrior. As the door opened, Bloodaxe introduced Bill Weasley.

"Goodnight Mr Weasley. This is Lord Peverell. Tonight, Lord Peverell and his associates had the pleasure of killing some rapists and other scum. There are at least 80 women blocked off from Auror access. You may ask any questions to wish. You are under oath."

"Excellent. Well, shall we?" said William casually.

"Hold my hand. Grace?"

Grace then appeared with a flash of lightning. Bill was very surprised as Harry barked…

"Back to the building."

ZAP!

Harry then found himself back at Cassius manor as Bill began to take in the surroundings. He asked,

"So, what kind of bird is this? I take it we are inside the building already? Your bird can transport you?"

"Correct. Lightning phoenix. She can get past wards just like Dumbledore's Fawkes. Hadrian Peverell at your service."

"Bloody hell, that is wicked!"

"By the way. I met your mum and Fred and George. I know you are related to them, I can feel the magic. I will be dropping by to explain how airplanes work. Yeah, that casual person is also me. We aim to entertain. The Storm-Lord and the Rune-Priestess at your abode, telling you about muggle things we learnt in muggle school."

"William 'Bill' Weasley at your service then. My father has been asking incessantly about you for almost a year now. Mom told him that you were handling business with immigration and family affairs. She is thankful that you still write to her."

"I know, I was busy getting this all fixed up. We have my sister, Jean Von Nuemman assisting us from home. When we meet, later on, you can ask any questions you want. Let me introduce you."

"Everybody, this is Mr Weasley. Gringotts Cursebreaker. He is taking down the wards. Not to worry he is under oath."

Bill then took out his wand and he began to take all the wards down as he muttered long complex incantations. He also made arithmancy calculations as he considered the situation.

"There is a recent ward. Another anti-apparition ward. Did someone in here put one up?"

"That would be me, Bill. Finite!" answered Remus, with his vocoder turned off.

"Remus that you?" Bill laughed.

"It certainly is. Don't ask, it is complicated. At a later date, over some food."

As Bill worked out the calculations, Remus found it was strange that he was already working.

"You left Hogwarts last year, correct? Isn't Charlie in year six now?" Remus asked.

"Correct. I was sent because I am the only person available. However, I have a natural talent for cracking wards. I will manage, even though this job is normally done by a far more experienced person. In fact….there."

A loud cracking was heard as the wards came down.

"Damn that was fast. As you can see, this was a bloody night. We are purely responsible for the carnage here. We had no choice." explained Remus.

"This is difficult to see. I feel sorry for the women, but not for the dead men. This is how the Aurors should have handed the Death Eaters in the last war. Uncle Fabian and Gideon would have been alive. Mom has never really forgotten that fateful night."

"Correct Bill. Our participation in the Order of the Phoenix changed little. We can catch up soon. I will send an owl."

"Lord Peverell. Wonderful to meet you. I hope we will see each other again soon. The papers are going to be entertaining."

"Thanks. Let me get you back to Gringotts Bill. Grace! Zap us back."

Grace returned Bill to the Gringott's entrance under cloak. Bill then walked into Gringotts, as he realised that fucking with 'those guys' was not advisable. Harry apparated back and found Sirius and Andromeda talking. He walked up to both of them and Andromeda gave her comments about the entire set of shenanigans:

"Well Harry, I heard you are dead. Nice meeting a dead man. We will keep in touch. I guess you can get better at pranks when you have a brain running the operation. And that could never be my cousin!" she commented as Sirius laughed. Harry looked around and took control of the situation.

"Alright let us all pack it up. Hermione monitor with the drone. Everybody let us go home. I will stay cloaked, and I will leave when the Aurors arrive." yelled Harry.

Priya, Lorna, William, Remus and Sirius all stood in a circle outside of the building, as Grace zapped them back to Peverell Manor. The elves then took all the serving trays back and then apparated independently. Harry then walked away to another room and cloaked. He then entered the room and stood silently in a corner. The women had not seen anything that would tip Harry and his group of people off to the authorities. There were glamoured people who had appeared, sorted the issue out and disappeared without a trace.

The women were clearly nervous. Some of them wondered if they had been abandoned. Ten minutes later, Mad-Eye Moody appeared with Andromeda. Mad-eye Moody then visualised the details of the place clearly, and apparated back and brought Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley then apparated back and brought Dedalus Diggle. Diggle apparated back and brought Sturgis Podmore. Kingsley then apparated again and brought the most unexpected person:

Cornelius Oswald Fudge.

Harry established that staged side-along Apparition could be useful to move large groups to unknown locations. Cornelius Fudge then began:

"Mrs. Tonks I understand that you came across this find. Can you explain how you happened upon this?"

Harry listened she mentioned that she was under oath, and she could only reveal only the information that she had been given explicit permission to disseminate.

"Upon my magic, I promise you that I am only speaking the truth, Minister. The new Lord Black is someone who had decided to take house Black in a new direction. As the new leader of the house, he made it his business to participate in the raid tonight as a genuine show of righteousness. He explained to me under magical oath, that House Black will seek its own interests, but it has no problem going after Death Eaters, Dark Wizards and Criminals. If you are scum, you will die. They are done with Pureblood Extremism."

Everyone was shocked. Andromeda continued:

"As to how he got involved, he was given a tip-off by the Storm Lord. Somebody attempted to rape his mother and as you can see, there are bodies scattered everywhere. Once he ascertained the location, they began their operation. All the criminals were killed with utter impunity. We are talking about a squad of four demolishing at least seventy people in less than half an hour. And these individuals were armed with muggle guns and wands.

It is expected that the Ministry will try to piece the information together – this was anticipated, and it matters not. Tonight, these actions were carried out primarily as a family matter, since such actions by the aggressors court blood war, as his line is just as old as the founders.

The strike team were responsible for bypassing the wards, killing everyone, making the women comfortable, providing blankets and giving them something to eat. They also acquired the services of Gringotts to break all the wards. They collectively saved all these women tonight. It is expected that you will review the memories of the women for information on how the combat was carried out.

The Storm-Lord is hoping you will appreciate…his methods.

That is all I can reveal. Any more and I die. I am being brought back into House Black. Any attempt to pressure me will incur the wrath of Lord Peverell, Lord Black and two other houses that have not revealed themselves yet.

He says to remind you that if you or anybody fucks with me or by extension him, he will convert them into chunks of red bloody meat. The leader of the operation has been left on the chair in the corner, as a warning to you.

Lumos!"

"This – this is nonsense! Lord Peverell is responsible for breaking Sirius Black out of Azkaban. I want the new Lord Black to answer to me! And who is this Lord Peverell who does as he pleases? Attacking upstanding members of our society on a whim? No, he will be jailed! Who is the new Lord Black?"

"I can't say, I have been sworn to silence. As for Lord Peverell, you will have to find them. I can give you an oath that my involvement started tonight because they wanted someone to get the Aurors on site. I can give oaths that I know nothing about their locations. They considered all these possibilities. They work efficiently."

Andromeda let that statement hang in the air, as she left it to be implied that the Ministry was slack and inefficient. The Aurors who were present were now praying to Lady Hecate that they would not be deployed to look for this man. Kingsley Shacklebolt took note of everything and decided he would inform Albus Dumbledore.

They could die, if they made the wrong step.

Fudge considered that her husband was an excellent retainer. No, he would have to let it pass regardless of how badly he wanted the information. They could not afford a court case. There was not much money for the Wizarding budget and if money was paid to facilitate the court case, that would eventually mean less for him, particularly as his perks came from unused funds.

"I will let this go. Next time he arrives, we will catch him" Fudge replied, too sure of himself.

"Minister, did you see the Pensieve footage from Azkaban? I am aware that you know about the breakout but did you see his…methods?" asked Kingsley.

"No. Surely it is not of any consequence. He probably used a broom. Why do I employ you? Not for you to take care of those things?" muttered Cornelius impatiently.

"Minister, the Storm-Lord smashed into the Azkaban wall with his body. He broke the concrete and proceeded to pull down the entire wall wandlessly. He can bypass wards, and he has weapons that can cast spells at a range of six hundred feet. He can also fly and has powerful artefacts that shield him from spell damage. He seems to be trained in muggle hand to hand combat and he can do rapid short distance apparition while he fights."

"Preposterous!" Cornelius barked. "Where is all this tossing rubbish coming from? Have your brains been addled by too much Firewhiskey?"

Kingsley just sighed. Cornelius was a man who liked stability, and he was often not willing to look upon anything that would disturb the peace. Little did he know that by tomorrow morning, he would have another fiasco on his hands. Harry observed the man, as he realised that the man had taken up the job because nobody else would do it. He was spineless and would be quite easy to manage. And if an Imperius or an Obliviate was necessary down the road, it would be no issue. His skull looked mostly empty, anyway. Harry apparated home to find everyone waiting for him with a pizza, his favourite thing to eat when he was stressed.

After Harry had removed the blood and the armour, he freshened up. Ved and Amba hugged Harry.

"Thank you for protecting our two daughters." both of them whispered in his ears.

"You protected me, didn't you? Just returning the favour. I am so sorry all this happened. It is all my fault." said Harry.

"No Harry. You saved us. I know his face. It was him who chased us into Hogsmeade many years ago! Imagine if he had come, and I didn't know you. There would have been no rescue and Mom and Dad would never have found out anything. And what about those women you saved tonight? Their families will get them back! The only regret that I have, is that you my precious boy had to kill."

Priya's face was now sad. She had been crying for her son, as she sobbed, "And you were right once again and I hate all of this. My objections to your actions….mean nothing now."

"That is the real cost of living in the magical world. British wizards do not see themselves as the Queen's subjects, and they have no appreciation for the flag of this country. And that is why these things happen. No good Englishman or Englishwoman would allow evil to thrive. Time to take the vermin out." Harry replied.

"It might be time to move to France and take up that Job. I don't feel safe at my workplace. I am leaving." Priya replied, as she cried.

"I understand mum. I understand." Harry replied as he hugged her. Ved and Amba nodded in agreement.

"Hey you! Mione. You were brilliant. Invictus you too, great flying." Harry commented.

Hermione and Harry hugged each other as they cried. They had taken lives and felt remorse, even though the individuals had been deserving.

"Look who is talking. Harry conjured wandless lightning tonight. You called the battle magic in its entirety, didn't you?" asked Invictus.

"I did and the magic found my body sufficiently strong I think?"

"Sufficiently Strong? No Harry, no Peverell has conjured lightning. You are the strongest in the line. There is no risk of using the magic, because if your body could not handle it as you would have died like a rat in a trap. You might as well get familiar with it. Don't think we didn't notice that the titanium held up to the Avada Kedavra. Not even death could touch you tonight because of your work. You have tested this before, didn't you?"

"Yes. It was not nice. I attempted to kill a centipede in a titanium box. I did cast the spell, and it made me uncomfortable. However, I had just managed to boil off the titanium. I was happy for myself, and the centipede. That was why I implemented it on the armour, and I did go extra thick. I have craters in the chest plate."

"Excellent Grandson! Of course, I understand the gravity of what you had to do tonight. We will all be here as we help both of you get through this horrendous affair." Invictus commented.

"It truly is saddening that my little girl had to take so many lives, but both of you did the right thing. I hardly think that normal policemen could have done anything with how fast things proceeded. I think it is commendable that the preparation that you guys have been doing for so many months was tested in an impromptu manner, and you came out on top. Your hard work and your discipline, the valour in your hearts saved many tonight.

He who dares wins." William commented, with his face saddened. Living in the Magical World had its cost, for those who were close to Harry Potter. However, what would have been the cost if Harry had not acted?

"Let us not forget to thank Remus and William tonight….also special thanks to Sirius who came in and put order to the situation. Having them eat and drink something helped to calm down. Many of them didn't speak English. They seemed to be from all over the world. The blankets were very welcome. I guess we do indeed have the best Lord Black in history."

Only Remus noticed it, but Sirius' cheeks had gone pink. Remus then decided to diffuse the situation quickly, so nobody would notice the reddening on his cheeks.

"Well, we might as well scatter, as the young people say. Ms Singh, spend the night here, with your parents. Don't go back home until we can figure out if you are in danger. Lorna, you too."

"I think I will stay with Harry, please. Mom and Dad, you can go home, I am safe here. I want to stay with Harry."

William nodded as the elves carried them back home. Priya nodded to her mother, as Amba understood that some hot food and tea would do Harry and Hermione well. Amba headed off to the kitchen with Ved.

As Priya sat down with Lorna, much later into the night they began to converse.

"Lorna, sometimes I hate you. But you were right. If they are the types we have to deal with, we cannot hesitate. We were rescued by a literal army. You and I know that local Aurors could not operate that quickly and effectively. All those impossible things saved us from disappearing and being a statistic. What about the people who are not fortunate like us?"

"They usually disappear, like those women we ran into tonight. Many of them were our age. I am glad you were able to fix a lot of them. If you think about it….Harry and everyone else tonight operated like mercenaries. And the feel of everything tonight was almost like a P.M.C."

"P.M.C?" Priya asked.

"Private Military Company. Contracted bounty hunters. Whatever you want to call it. We survived because Harry had force, and force to spare. And it was bloody. This is a good lesson for you. You will notice that I did not object to his plans last Christmas? I was responsible for sourcing a lot of his materials."

"I hate you right now, but thanks. Can't ask for a better bestie."

"It is real now Pri. We will have to train and fight. We better start getting up to speed. I don't want to ever feel like that this evening. My heart is still racing. As I said, this is our reality. I want you to imagine we decided to take a different direction. Let us say you babied him. He was the erudite, agreeable mummy's boy with the perfect grade card. No sense of revenge. No ability to manipulate when necessary. Would Harry be capable of doing what he was tonight?"

"No. I can't believe this. It isn't fair. He had to kill. And worse, he was good at it. When I look at my face in the mirror tomorrow, no comments I can make will ever justify my own existence!"

"Sadly that is what allowed us to get by tonight. When he told me about his plasma rifle, I said nothing to you. No, you would have complained! Now imagine they made it into your home and they hurt your parents!"

"I guess I am lucky to have a Slytherin like you in my corner. We are all lucky to have you."

"Correct. The Wizarding World has never seen a fighting force like that. As Harry often says, welcome to the 21st century."

"From tomorrow we can get started. Nobody after tonight messes with these bitches sitting here on this couch Lorna. Nobody fucks with us one bit from now on. This is war."

"Good. You are learning to be less nice. Now to train, so you might actually get

some teeth now."

While this conversation carried into the night, Albus Dumbledore stood with his head bowed into his hands on his desk, as he scratched his beard. Harry Potter had died today and was already buried. Albus Dumbledore continued to watch the memories that had been taken from all the Dursleys, forcefully by Severus. Albus observed the funeral and realised that his primary school teacher Ms Singh and his friend Hermione Granger were the only two people who had been close to him. Albus and Severus were so distraught that both failed to observe any of the minor inconsistencies in the memories. After all, they had been accustomed to detecting wanded magic in the interference of memories, not wandless compulsion. Of course, the pity was not genuine. Severus was confused, as he saw the last part of Lilly was now dead. Albus wondered who would fight the Dark Lord.

Severus had checked through the boy's things for himself and he had been pleasantly surprised to see that he was brilliant. He also seemed to be tall and very healthy. He had acquired the medical files which stated that apart from his chest pains, there were splitting headaches that had been caused by his scar. There were many episodes where he would suffer memory loss. Albus had immediately checked the trinket and upon closely examining it, concluded that the charmed object had broken when the boy died. Between the memories and the medical documentation, Albus Dumbledore had no reason to suspect anything. Even Petunia had cried her eyes out, surprisingly. In his ignorance, he had concluded that Petunia had changed. Even the boy, Dudley seemed distraught too. Vernon seemed to be angry, confused and happy and Albus was not surprised.

He considered how this would affect the wizarding world. Now he had to find a replacement for Harry Potter. He was curious about how the boy had lived his life, so he decided that he would visit both Ms. Singh and Hermione Granger tomorrow evening. Then, he would look into Neville Longbottom, the other child that could technically satisfy the conditions of Sybill Trelawney's prophecy.

Severus felt guilty for indirectly killing the child. He had led the Dark Lord to Lilly and Voldemort had taken all three lives in totality. He was stony-faced and silent and even felt confused. He wondered if the death of James Potter was something to be celebrated or mourned. He had no reason to dig any deeper.

Harry had banked on the sudden emotions displayed by both men, to off-balance their objectivity.

Albus would host an emergency staff meeting and relay the news in the morning. Then he would take the news to the Wizengamot session on Saturday. It looked like Sirius Black and Remus Lupin would eventually have to deal with this knowledge, on their own terms.

Little did he know that the Ministry of Magic was undergoing a total fiasco after pulling memories from the women who were now in St. Mungo's. In other cases, Veritaserum had been used on the younger ladies. The ministry's best Obliviators worked to draw out the memories. That was when the rape and the other forms of creative abuse came forth, and many of them vomited from the recollection of the memories.

Fudge looked upon the type of combat he had seen and came to conclude that he would rewatch all the memories that had been acquired about the Storm-Lord. He realised that these individuals were highly trained and could easily mow through entire Auror squads. Seventy two men had been killed tonight, and it had not even cost the other side any injuries. And armor that could block the Avada Kedavra? How was that even possible?

Harry and Hermione slept peacefully after a hearty meal, while Remus and Sirius discussed how future plans would play out.