Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
At dinner in the Great Hall later the same day, Dumbledore addressed Narcissa Black. "Narcissa, I ask you to consider joining the Order of the Phoenix and also convince Arthur to do so. Considering Voldemort's latest attacks, it is adamant to mobilize as many allies as possible." Turning to Severus, he enquired if he had any news. "Did he tell you anything about his recent attacks on muggles and what he is planning for the foreseeable future?"
Severus sighed. "No, sir. However, I don't believe that it was Lord Gaunt who conducted the attacks. My assumption is that it was Lucius Malfoy."
"Ah, nonsense, my boy. Lucius was always a good student and a prefect as well. I know about his political opinions, but I don't believe that he would lead such attacks if not under Voldemort's guidance."
'Wasn't Marvolo a prefect as well?' Harry thought, wondering if Dumbledore was slowly becoming senile.
"I agree with Severus." Narcissa's voice was firm, as she contradicted the headmaster. "These attacks exhibit the handwriting of my former husband. Concerning Arthur…" She let out a deep sigh. "He will not join your Order, as long as Molly is in it. I believe that he made that very clear, when he left."
"Ah, but he must remember that we're all on the same side." Dumbledore let his eyes wander around the table. "Messrs. Weasley," he then addressed the twins. "While you're too young to join the Order, I ask you to at least stop working together with Voldemort. He is not what he seems to be. He's a very dangerous man. By working together with him, you're endangering Harry and in extension all of us."
"Excuse me, sir." Harry cast Teddy a grateful look. "Why would it endanger Harry if the twins worked together with Marvolo? On the contrary, together with him, they managed to restore Harry's eyesight."
"That is something which I will explain to Harry, when he's older and able to understand the background."
Harry rolled his eyes and was just about to voice a heated response, when a warning look from his father made him keep quiet.
HP
During the following days, the attacks on what appeared to be random muggles continued.
"How do they know that it was wizards who attacked the muggles?" Harry cast his father a questioning look.
Severus let out a deep sigh. "Harry, do you remember the Dark Mark?"
"The one that was on your arm?"
Severus nodded. "When the former Death Eaters attacked a house and succeeded in killing the family living there, they cast the Dark Mark over the house."
"Look here." Regina pushed the Daily Prophet over to him.
"That green thing? It looks like a snake."
"That's the Dark Mark."
"Anyone can cast it though, right?"
"Anyone who can cast a spell."
HP
On Sunday morning, Team 13 was called to Head Unspeakable Croaker. Harry smirked upon noticing that his office was as untidy as when he had been there for the first time. They took the offered seats between piles of parchments and books and looked at Croaker in expectation.
"Serpent, please excuse me, but I must ask this. Just to confirm, you have nothing to do with the attacks on muggles?"
Marvolo nodded and pulled his wand. "I swear on my magic that I have nothing to do with the attacks nor do I condone them."
"Thank you." Croaker nodded with apparent satisfaction. "I'd like to ask Team 13 together with Team 5 to try to fight these attacks. Find out if there's a pattern, where they're likely to attack next, be prepared and, if possible, save lives and apprehend the attackers."
Everyone nodded their consent, except for Whisker.
"Croaker, as you know, I am working at Hogwarts. I'll only be able to participate after the beginning of curfew every evening."
Croaker nodded. "That's fine, Whisker. Almost all of the attacks have so far taken place around midnight or later."
"Whisker, considering that it's the middle of the holidays, I think you can as well take some time for this during the day. If anyone says something, send them to me."
"Thank you, Paws." Whisker smiled in apparent appreciation.
Looking at Harry, who was absentmindedly playing with Lucy's ears, Croaker added, "Paws, Mini Unspeakables are out this time. Neither you nor your friends of Team 5 may participate in this. I'd like to ask you to be ready, however, if any of our Unspeakables might need your healing expertise."
Harry nodded in confirmation. "Of course, sir. Any time."
'Is there anything else I could help?' he wondered. 'How will they be able to predict where Malfoy and his allies are going to attack?'
Knowing that he could not discuss the matter with his father, even if he was partly informed about the research topic of Team 13, he asked Marvolo later the same day.
'Harry, you know that there are many small rooms within the Department of Magical Mysteries, which the Unspeakables use. Among these is a room, where they can track people's magic. Considering that we know that we're looking for Lucius Malfoy's moves, we can check if he acts according to some pattern. If so, it might be possible to predict where he is going to attack next. Perhaps, he doesn't have a pattern but just attacks randomly. That we'll have to observe during the next few days.'
'All right. Thanks for explaining things to me.'
'You're very welcome. Just ask if you have any questions.'
'Thanks and good luck. I hope you'll be able to save lives and put him into Azkaban soon.'
'I hope so, too.'
HP
When Harry spoke to Whisker about the matter a few days later, however, the older wizard told him that Malfoy seemed to be very conscious trying to not move according to one or the other pattern.
"He knows, of course, that we can track his movements, and he is very careful. Right now, we are taking turns watching a screen within the Department of Magical Mysteries that shows us any movement of magical people within muggle areas and hope to see the correct movement at the right time."
HP
It was in the evening of July 31, Harry's unofficial birthday, that the Unspeakables caught Malfoy attacking the Dursleys, Harry's muggle relatives.
Unbeknownst to Harry, Felina, Whisker, Mento and Mento popped to Privet Drive, leaving Ra and Serpent to further watch the screen for a possible second attack which might occur at the same time or right afterwards.
The four Unspeakables immediately set to shield the Dursleys while at the same time being pulled into a fight against eight Death Eaters.
Marvolo was glad that he knew all about the Death Eaters' tactics and put up a shield charm in front of the muggle woman and her son as well as himself, while the other Unspeakables actively attacked the Death Eaters.
"Do you see this? This is called Daisy, the freak pacifier." Vernon Dursley shouted, as he produced a shotgun from under the sofa. He fired off two well aimed shots, hitting two of the Death Eaters into the head. From the corner of his eyes, Marvolo saw how one of the Death Eaters ran away in apparent fright.
'Was that Lucius?' he wondered. 'From the statue and his way of running, I suppose so.' Only seconds later, a green spell travelled from one of the masked men, and the fat muggle slumped onto the floor. "See? Your gun is useless against us!"
'Oh well, killing the Dursleys is long overdue, considering what they did to Harry,' Marvolo thought, when he realised in shock that two of the Unspeakables from Team 5 seemed to have been hit with some kind of spell as well.
HP
Harry was fast asleep with Lucy cuddled against his stomach, when all of a sudden, Marvolo's thought penetrated his mind.
'Killing the Dursleys is long overdue, considering what they did to Harry.'
'What?' All of a sudden, Harry was wide awake. 'Marvolo?'
'Ah, sorry, Harry, not now. I'm in the middle of a battle.'
'The Dursleys? No, I can't have them kill them.' He jumped out of bed, mumbled a hasty apology to Lucy and popped away, turning himself invisible on the way.
He popped himself right in front of the entrance door to the Dursleys' residence, however, it was closed. 'Was it all a dream?' he wondered, as he quietly crept around the garage into the garden.
'No, it wasn't,' he realised, as he took in the battlefield in front of his eyes.
Several people wearing Death Eater masks as well as a few Unspeakables were engrossed in a heavy spell fire. While two of the Unspeakables were lying on the ground, some others were standing in the garden. Most of the Death Eaters and one grey-robed figure were in the living room, pieces of glass from the garden door scattered about the terrasse.
'I'll look for the Dursleys first,' he decided and popped right into the living room. It was completely devastated, and Vernon Dursley was lying on the floor, unmoving. Dudley was hiding behind the sofa but seemed to be unharmed. Harry popped over right to his side, grabbed his arm and popped back home together with his struggling cousin.
"Dudley, calm down. You're safe here." He released his cousin, making himself visible at the same time.
"Ha… Ha… Harry?" Dudley shrieked, wide-eyed, causing Lucy to wake up and let out a small growl.
"Yeah, come, quickly." He pulled his cousin out of his room into the living room, where his parents were having tea together.
"Mum, Dad, this is my cousin Dudley. Please look after him. I'll have to see if I can save my aunt as well."
"Harry! No!" Regina all but shouted in apparent panic. "What happened?"
"Death Eaters attacked the Dursleys. Some Unspeakables are fighting them, but it's bad."
"I'll go."
"No, Dad. Mum and Felix need you." With that, Harry simply popped away again, leaving his parents to look after his distraught cousin.
HP
By the time Harry was back in the mostly destroyed living room of the Dursleys, the Unspeakables had apparently managed to stun each of the Death Eaters. Two of them as well as Vernon Dursley were dead, and Petunia and one of the Mento brothers seemed to be badly injured.
Seeing that the other Mento was leaned over his brother, apparently trying to help him, while the other Unspeakables dealt with their prisoners, Harry made a beeline towards his aunt.
"Harry, I'm sorry. I cast a shield charm over her and her son, but it failed, when her son suddenly vanished from the spot. I have no idea what happened to him."
Harry smiled upon recognising Marvolo's voice. "Thanks, Marvolo, for trying to help them. I came and took Dudley to Hogwarts, before I came back for Aunt Petunia. Let me try if I can help her."
"She's bad off."
Harry nodded in understanding, before he crouched on the floor next to his aunt, placing both hands onto her chest. He concentrated on her injuries and slowly let his healing magic flow into his aunt's body. He did not know how much time passed and what the others around him were doing. He was only aware that his colleagues were all sitting on the floor around him waiting for him, and for that, he felt very grateful.
Finally, Petunia opened her eyes and seeing him crouched over her let out a loud scream.
"Hello to you, too, Aunt Petunia." With that, Harry removed his hands and rose from the floor, while Whisker explained what had happened and that Harry had healed her.
Only then did Harry realise that the place was swamped with Aurors, and that someone seemed to have taken away the Death Eaters and Vernon. Some of the Unspeakables were missing as well.
"Where's Dudley? And Vernon?"
"Aunt Petunia, I've taken Dudley to safety at Hogwarts. My adoptive parents are looking after him. I suggest that I take you with me as well, until the house is repaired."
"To where all the freaks are? Never."
All of a sudden, Mrs. Figg appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Mrs. Dursley, I suggest that you accept Harry's gentle offer. He saved your life after all, and all the wizards still remaining are only here, because they wanted to save you from the attackers. Not all magical people are bad."
"Mrs. Figg? You know about m… magic?" Petunia's eyes widened in shock.
"Yes, I know about magic, and I love it. Would you come if I accompanied you to Hogwarts?"
Petunia nodded, seemingly tired of the crowd of Aurors bustling around them.
"Well, then hold on to my hand." Harry reached out for Petunia's hand, offering his other hand to Mrs. Figg, quirking an eyebrow in silent question. As soon as he felt the two women hold on to his hands, he popped back right into his bedroom.
HP
While his parents and Rebecca in her Mrs. Figg form cared for Petunia, Harry motioned for Dudley to take the second bed in his bedroom and try to sleep. He telepathically called Misty, who gently transfigured Dudley's clothes into soft pyjamas and unobtrusively cast a light sleeping spell at the still distraught boy.
"Good night, Harry. Tomorrow, I want to hear the whole story, but I believe that you did something very generous tonight," she said, smiling, as she pointed her head in the direction of Dudley.
"It was the natural thing to do," Harry replied, before he closed his eyes and was just about to drift off to sleep, when Rebecca entered his room.
"Harry, please don't sleep yet. Mento needs your help." She seemed distraught enough for Harry to wake up once more.
Harry groggily pushed Lucy aside and got up. "Mento?" He quirked an eyebrow in silent question.
"Harry, I know that you're not too fond of them…" Harry let out a small scoff. "… but he's going to die if you don't help him."
"I don't even know if I can help him. And I will only try under one condition."
"I can imagine what it is." Rebecca let out a deep sigh. "Let's at least go and talk to the other Mento."
Harry nodded. Quickly pulling his Unspeakable robes over his pyjamas. Knowing that he had already used quite a lot of healing magic that night, he summoned one of his enhanced fresh-and-go potions, gulped down the content and popped right into their team room. Only when he found himself alone in the room did he realise that he had forgotten to ask where Mento was. To his relief, Felina arrived an instant later.
"Come. They're in the infirmary."
Harry quietly followed his colleague and adoptive aunt though the deserted and sparsely lit corridors of the Unspeakables' office.
When they reached the infirmary, Mento and Whisker were waiting for them at the entrance. At least Harry believed that they were Mento and Whisker, considering that he could not be exactly sure due to the Unspeakable robes.
"Will you please help him?" Mento's voice was soft and pleading.
Harry had to restrain himself from immediately agreeing. "Under one condition," he forced himself to reply.
"Whatever it is, you'll get it."
Harry felt really sorry for the man, but pulled through with his decision. "You must tell the twins the truth."
Mento nodded in apparent understanding. "We'll do that. We'll have to do it sooner or later anyway, considering that we wish to make them our heirs. But, we won't tell any other Weasley."
"Ginny knows, but she promised that she won't tell anyone. All right then, where is he?"
"Come."
One hour later, Harry was still feverishly trying to save the older wizard's life. The Unspeakables' healers made a fuss about Mento constantly casting diagnostic spells or whatever; however, Harry could not care less. He completely ignored his surroundings and concentrated solely on the older wizard who had become injured trying to save his muggle relatives.
It felt like an infinite time to him, before he realised that Mento's injuries were healed enough for the Unspeakable to recover. He slowly released the man's arm, only to be pulled into a bear's hug by the other Mento.
"Thank you so very much, Paws. We'll never forget what you did for us tonight. We owe you a life debt."
"It's fine," Harry replied, feeling very uncomfortable at the hug and the praise. "You owe me nothing. I'm glad I could help your brother."
Mento nodded. "As soon as the healers release him, we're going to call our younger counterparts over and tell them."
"Please do so. They'll be over the moon with joy." Harry smiled, before he turned to Felina and Whisker, who had been watching everything from the other side of the room.
"Will you please excuse me for tomorrow? I should stay at home and see what I can do for my aunt and cousin. I can't leave everything to my parents. They're not even related to them."
"Of course, Paws." Felina nodded. "I'll come over to help with Petunia as well. Have you noticed something, by the way?"
Harry's eyes narrowed. "No. What?"
"Very eloquent. Considering that Petunia and Dudley both could see your rooms at Hogwarts, they must be Squibs and not muggles. Not that it changes anything."
"Ah, all right."
"I really mean that it won't change anything. I will see to it that no one will give them magic considering what they did to you."
"Thanks, Felina." Harry smiled.
"Paws, just take the rest of the week off. It's fine, and if we need you, we know where to find you," Whisker added in a soft voice.
"Thank you both." Harry let out a deep sigh. "Good night for now." He quickly left the infirmary and popped home, right back into his bedroom. Not noticing that it was already becoming light outside, he lay down and drifted off to sleep.
HP
Harry had the impression as if he had barely fallen asleep, when his father's voice penetrated his ears.
"Harry, Dudley, are you going to grace us with your presence for breakfast?"
"Good morning, Dad. Yes, we're coming. Are we going to take Aunt Petunia and Dudley to the Great Hall?"
"No, your mother and I believe that Petunia and Dudley might feel more comfortable in our own rooms for the time being. Rebecca is already here to assist as well."
Harry nodded. "All right, Dad. We'll get up now."
HP
During the following days, Harry and his friends spent much time with Dudley, while the adults cared for Petunia. To Harry's surprise, Dudley never said anything about the fact that they were all magical, cast the occasional spell, and he even sat in the stands and observed them play Quidditch one evening. 'He must still be disturbed by what happened,' he thought in understanding.
Only when the cousins returned to Harry's bedroom later that evening, Dudley suddenly spoke up. "It must be totally cool to be able to do magic."
Harry's thoughts went haywire, wondering if someone from his family would be willing to give his cousin magic. 'I can't, because we're related,' he thought, regretting the fact. "Would you want to be able to do magic?"
Dudley sighed. "It would be cool, but it's not possible."
"No, it's not," Harry agreed, resolving to discuss the matter with his parents first thing in the morning.
HP
"Harry, are you sure about that? While Regina wouldn't be able to give him magic, considering that she shares your blood and is therefore related to him, I could. However, I am not sure if we should do such a thing, considering what your relatives did to you."
Harry let out a deep sigh. "I know. But still, he only was a child, and he didn't know better than what his parents told him."
Severus nodded in apparent understanding. "Harry, do you wish to discuss the matter with your friends first?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I wanted to speak with you."
Severus slowly let a hand run through his silky hair. "Very well, we shall discuss this with Regina, Petunia and Dudley right after breakfast."
"Thanks, Dad." Harry smiled, feeling very happy to have such an understanding father.
