A/N - Thanks to Potter Abducted by Penguins who let me know the first attempt did that unreadable gibberish thing. So I apologize for you getting multiple notifications this morning. I ended up having to pull down the chapter and upload again.
Thanks!
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Lucius was unsurprised to receive a note from Amelia Bones. After quickly giving Narcissa a kiss, he arrived at the Ministry. What surprised him was seeing Frank Longbottom leaning against the wall. "You will need to be escorted." Lucius nodded slowly but didn't say anything, too many ears. The pair made their way to the elevators and to an unexpected floor.
On exiting the elevator Frank began to speak, "The Minister is involved, Fudge now wants to know all the details. Amelia is, well let's say she is less pleased now than she was last year. The French seem to have upstaged her again. I also think that auror, Luc, enjoys it a bit too much." The other man held back a little smirk. "So you don't know anything about a map of Hogsmeade?" When Lucius responded with a quick shrug, Frank let a small smirk pass his lips. "Good, makes this much easier. I take it there is already a plan in place?" A slight nod of blond hair was the last thing Frank saw before the men reached the outer office of the Minster of Magic. "I'll be excluded from the DMLE plan, but let me know what I can do for your, probably better, plan."
"Of course."
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In the Minister's office, Lucius made all the appropriate noises and responses when the map was presented to him. He acted amazed at what was done and when he asked who in the Ministry thought up this wonder, he bit his tongue when Amelia, quite grudgingly, admitted it was Remus Lupin.
"He's quite intelligent. I'm glad he and Dora will be married soon." With that little reminder, Lucius confirmed the connection between Remus, the French Ministry and the Malfoy family. He told them all the extended family knew was Draco had been cursed, not which curse or that he was cured. Lucius admitted to having told the family his concerns over the students safety at the school. Especially on Hogsmeade weekends. Given how protective a wolf is of his pack, the story fit in very neatly with the man himself.
"May I ask what your plans are?" Fudge quickly raised his hand to silence Amelia.
"We are in the process of organizing the plan now. With the students safely tucked away, and how the village seems to be safe, we have a bit of time…" only the sudden roar of the floo interrupted the pompous lie about what the British would do.
"Minister Fudge, I apologize." The voice from the floo was not the head of the French auror corps, but the French Minister herself. "We have something of the upmost urgency to discuss." Waving his wand, Fudge allowed those on the other side to enter.
In addition to the French Minister, most were unsurprised to see Luc Beaumont step through. The other three individuals arriving with the French seemed to surprise the British Minister. "Ah, it seems we are interrupting, would it be possible, —" The French Minister waved her hand toward the others in the room.
Fudge wasn't listening to his counterpart, his focus remained on the three surprising others. They were the highest ranking officials from the International Confederation of Wizards and their presence was more worrisome than Lucius Malfoy.
Luc took the opportunity to shake his head at Lucius and the other wizard understood. "Minister, we can continue this discussion at a later date." Lucius turned to the newly arrived wizards and nodded in their direction before leaving the office. Amelia might have realized that seemed odd but she also was to confused with why they had these particular visitors.
"Minister, Amelia is head of our law enforcement, similar to Mssr Beaumont and Frank is deputy head of our department of mysteries. I suspect his presence will be needed. Please." Fudge waved the group to a large table where everyone took their place.
"I will not dally, we have identified the magical signature provided by your Ministry. We have also confirmed the accuracy of the identification. Prior to our arrival, we inspected Ode Ore and determined two of the residents escaped and are now missing. Based on the information Luc provided, we believe they have returned to Britain for some unknown reason. Possibly revenge."
Fudge only knew one man who would want vengeance against Britain. "Dumbledore?"
"Yes, based on what we've thus been able to determine, he and another convict, Gellert Grindelwald, fashioned a boat of some sort and escaped last year. We are unsure of what happened between that and the first identified imperious victim. Using what we now know, we've determined the path here and estimate they have been in the area since last spring. I believe this also matches the evidence you have with the young children at the school."
This day just kept getting worse for Fudge. "Agreed. As Luc has also informed you, we've identified the location of Sirius Black, who along with Maria Zabini, escaped from Azkaban with the assistance of Albus." Fudge didn't admit they only just identified Black's location, but he was sure Beaumont would have said something. "We were in the process of planning the apprehension of Black."
Luc Beaumont hated politics, he really did. In that regard he understood his British counterpart and after reviewing the transcripts of what happened two years prior, he remembered her dismissal and return to her role within the British Ministry. He also remembered how dismal the British aurors were, with the exception of Frank Longbottom. Luc would give the woman some credit, assuming she was trying to undo the slow creep of Albus Dumbledore.
"Given what we now know, this has become more than just a single escapee, we now have two individuals known to desire outright rule over the magical world. The ICW requires their inclusion in everything to do with this matter." Stefan Becker, the current Supreme Mugwump, stood and slammed his fist on the table. At this there wasn't anything Fudge could do, Becker was correct, it was now an international investigation.
"Of course, we will offer our staff and resources as you need." Fudge hated this, Amelia hated this, Frank, well Frank saw the advantage of this. He suspected a lot of new things were going to be used on this stake out and the British DMLE could really take advantage of the situation.
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Lucius, not knowing why the French Minister arrived, whistled happily as he entered the Manor. Narcissa, knowing her husband's moods also knew this level pleasure told her someone he didn't like would be in trouble or pain. She looked a bit closer and decided it was probably both. She then merely waved her hand in a manner telling the man to start talking.
"Not really sure, but the French Minister, Luc, and a few others appeared requesting an immediate private meeting with Fudge. I, being the understanding civilian I am, offered to depart and continue the discussion with our government leaders at a later time."
"So what did they want?" Jean, who like Narcissa, enjoyed a bit of political intrigue was curious, she assumed the inclusion of multiple Ministers made it something quite important. Something …
"Don't rightly know. Everyone seemed surprised and Luc made it apparent I needed to leave." Jean made a little gasp and quickly looked around the room. "Jean?"
"Black, whatever this is, it has to do with Black, but why would the French or whoever those others were, care about a British prison escapee? Even if they had not been informed of his escape." The others now saw the oddity of the situation.
It was Narcissa who made the first connection, as she slowly overcame her fear of what happened with Draco, she started to regain her normal self. "Whoever is placing those curses and helped the Azkaban breakout, the suspicion is they were also the person who cursed those poor souls on the continent. I wonder if that person is some sort of international villain." The same shudder ran through everyone as they nodded in agreement.
"Well, I still have that dossier on Black, let's see who would have a desire to help him".
The adults discussed what Lucius found all those years ago and could only come up with one person. "But you said Dumbledore was sent to that wizard prison in the North Sea." There was no answer.
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As Frank expected, he was excluded from the planning session and made his way to his office. A quick note to Lucius confirmed the wizard would be available in the evening and Frank settled to get some work done. After the discovery of what Draco needed to be saved from the curse, the unspeakables started to dissect the curse. In the last week there was a breakthrough of sorts and with it, a basic understanding of the curse itself.
"Very impressive Albus, too bad you underestimate everyone but yourself." Frank signed off on the report before trying to think what Dumbledore could want. Why would he return to Britain instead of going somewhere else? It had been mentioned how unusual it was for an individual to remain in country after escaping. No one could come up with a reason other than revenge. But that just couldn't be enough, or a strong enough reason to do it right away. Why not sit back and plot? Frank documented his main questions on the file.
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When the adults of Malfoy Manor and a few others gathered in the library for their discussion, they found themselves the focus of the one child in the home. Eventually the adults gave up keeping Draco in the dark. In agreement to sit in, Draco promised to not interrupt, to not tell the others, to not say a word about this until given permission.
It was an easy agreement, Draco found himself incredibly bored at home alone. Schoolwork only took so long and Severus refused to allow Draco to brew without supervision. Once Harry became an unofficial ward of the Malfoys while the boys were quite young, Draco rarely remembered a time, let alone this long, where he had no one his age. Plus he could probably help in the planning.
What happened first shocked the boy. "They escaped?" Draco blinked when he learned about the escape of Black and Blaise's mother. "This is what has been bugging Blaise all year isn't it?" The adults nodded. "You should have let him tell us, he's been freaking out and nervous and couldn't talk to anyone. Have any of you talked to him since we returned to school?" Draco huffed, more ticked because of the effect it had on Blaise than him not knowing.
Narcissa sighed and shook her head. "Things keep happening but I have been writing letters to Blaise and he has mentioned his concern. There isn't much comfort I could give other than telling him again she would not get her hands on him." Draco shook his head.
"Well, he can talk to me now. Or, damnit I guess when they get home he can talk to me." He looked at Lucius, "Maybe let him talk to Hermione and Harry. I mean they are going to stay close to each other with me in a coma. That means Blaise will be alone in the dorm." Lucius agreed, he realized Blaise should have been given the outlet much earlier than now.
"Everyone should be arriving soon, so go settle yourself at the desk and remember your promise." Draco rolled his eyes at his father's comment, but did as requested. Just as he sat the floo roared to life and multiple people stepped into Malfoy Manor.
Draco got a hug off his aunt, uncle and cousin, the latter of whom hugged him tighter than he ever remembered. At his look, she shook her head and mouthed 'later' and wiped a tear from her eye. Remus, the now fiancé of his cousin, placed his and on Draco's shoulder and squeezed it gently.
His mischievous smirk told Draco how proud Remus was of him. For what, Draco wasn't totally sure, but he'd figure it out. When Neville's dad arrived Draco nodded, he wasn't expected, but the Longbottoms spent a lot of time with the family over the holidays. It was the tall Frenchman that Draco didn't recognize.
"Draco, before we start talking. I'm so glad you are ok. I only discovered what happened when Fudge told us. I think it was a test to see if your parents broke protocol. My response proved we were in the dark. What I didn't appreciate was the fact he withheld you were cured until much later." Remus started to rub Dora's neck until her bright red hair began to lighten. When it returned to her normal bubblegum pink, she turned back to Draco.
"Draco, this is Luc Beaumont. He is now the head of the French aurors, but he was my partner first." Dora, still a bit possessive of her boss, waved regally toward the man. Remus merely snorted, knowing Dora's possessiveness wasn't romantic but protective. She wasn't going to let just anyone near Luc, especially now that his most recent relationship ended.
The adults all sat and focused on Luc. "Dumbledore escaped." The gasps, shock and shouts were expected. Waving his hands, Luc got everyone's attention and settled them before he started speaking again, "Yes, when I returned to my office and ran the magical signature obtained from Draco and the other student, it immediately matched to what we had on file from his trial and incarceration."
Those sitting at the table were quite upset and worried. "It appears his companion, Grindelwald, had been squirreling away material since he arrived and the pair fashioned a boat from the material. We found the leftovers when the officials arrived at Ode Ore. What we don't know is why Dumbledore freed Black and Zabini."
After a discussion on potential reasons, none of which made sense, the topic was put the side. At this point, it didn't matter why, only how to get them all back in custody. "Luc, is our plan still viable or has the ICW taken over?" The tall wizard chuckled and looked to the other French auror.
"Well, I'll take that as my cue." With a shrug, Dora set her bag on the table and began to pull out a number of items, "Yes the ICW is now in charge, and Becker believes the French corps may be better placed to lead the investigation. I have enough polyjuice to ensure four people stay in character for six hours. The undecided part is who will be whom, but I will be part of the team. Remus has also offered his assistance, with his wolf attributes, he has better eye sight, hearing and the ability to pick up scents. He also knew Black rather well."
While the adults quickly understood what would happen, Draco seemed amused. Like the adults could act like a kid. "We've modified the charm to show a very packed village with students moving in and out of various stores. The noise was a bit difficult, but between what Remus remembers and villages of similar sizes near Beauxbatons, we are confident it will be enough to not arouse suspicion."
Dora nodded to Luc to allow him to breakdown everything else. "We will need to have the elves either allow our charm to play across the wards or get them to create what we need until the border. I don't care which, but I want it to be cohesive."
"That shouldn't be a problem, the elves are still upset about the attack on two of the children. One of which occurred while at Hogwarts and when they discover it was Dumbledore, we may be lucky to find his parts. Once he lost the Headmaster role, the elves discussed how poorly they were treated and how they would like a chance for some vengeance. At the time, they passed since he was sentenced."
"Good, the elves will be more useful … Given they know his magic, maybe better than most, could they locate him? It seems he isn't near Hogwarts, at least not around Hogsmeade as the map has yet to display his presence."
That was the other issue, if they captured Black what would that mean for the rest of the convicts. "So once the charm is placed Dora, Remus and whoever else will walk to Hogsmeade and act as if they are enjoying their first visit to the village. Remember, the visit in the fall ended up being cancelled."
The adults spent a bit more time talking about what they needed to do before Dora turned to her cousin. "Draco, tell me what you planned to do on your first visit."
The boy, glad to be asked, detailed his plans. "Well, we were going to be some of the first out the door, you know, spend the whole day. Once we got there, we would probably split up, I would have gone with Hermione to the book store and spent a good portion of the morning there. At some point we'd meet up with the others for lunch and then the afternoon would be quidditch and sweet shops, Hermione mentioned going to the dress shop with Pavarti. Everyone needed quills and whatnot so a stop at that shop was needed. The final place would have been Zonko's joke shop. One because it's a joke shop and two because the Weasley twins asked us to stake out their competition."
"So with Draco unable to go, what do we think Hermione would do?" The adults shook their heads because they knew exactly what would happen.
"She'd send the boys away and spend all morning, alone in that bookshop. When she is in any bookstore, she just losses herself and can be completely unaware of her surroundings. Damnit." Jean was getting more and more pleased her daughter wouldn't be going to that village anytime soon.
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There was a bit of a fight over who would play Hermione. Remus and Dora both wanted it, neither wanted the other to be alone. The battle raged until Draco released a bored sigh, "You do know what the answer is don't you?"
The adults all turned and looked at the boy. "Hermione planned to spend time with Pavarti Patel and that would more than likely mean Daphne would also be there. One of you be Hermione and the other Daphne. With me being in a coma, it makes sense Daphne would stick close. Our families are close and she's probably the closest friend Hermione has outside of us."
Lucius gave his son an appraising look, "I'm going to have to keep a better eye on you now." Draco smirked at his father and it made his mother both infuriated and calm. "But, that is something for the future, I need to let Severus know whose hairs we need."
The adults decided the most obvious group was Harry, Blaise, Hermione, and Daphne but were unsure on the rest. "Neville, I'll be him and can move in and out of the main group. They are all friendly, but I know he has a few close friends in Hufflepuff. So we just have to decide the final student." Draco didn't have any great insights on this one, but had a thought.
"Would it be an idea to have someone that would be overlooked?" It peaked Remus's interest and he waved the boy on, "Cedric is still on crutches. Apparently his leg got shattered when we crashed, but with him not fully functional, if someone was him, wouldn't he be overlooked because of the crutches? Who would worry about that kid?" Lucius's thoughts on his son only increased as did his pride. But it was Luc who responded.
"Yes, that is a good idea. I will be this Cedric." The tall Frenchman clapped Draco's shoulder. "It seems the best ideas come from the children. Not that I think you should be away from school and hopefully we never have to have a discussion like this again, but Dora remember to include the young ones in the future." Draco sat a little taller and couldn't wait until he could tell his friends. Harry would be super jealous.
While Draco thought on how to accurately describe his importance in the planning, Lucius called Severus and informed him which children would be part of the act. When Severus heard Cedric and why, he too worried about having to keep a closer eye on the Malfoy Manor children in coming years. After promising a quick turn around, Severus left to get what was needed before curfew made his presence very obvious.
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While the adults continued their discussion and planning, Draco got bored as there was nothing he could add. Most of the plans Draco heard were more battle like and who would do what and when. With only two and a half years of Defense, Draco didn't know enough to really understand more than few of the maneuvers and a lot of the spells were ones he'd yet to learn. He did take notes and planned to research them in the coming days.
Once the plotting was complete, Narcissa left to ask the elves to get some food for everyone and Remus made his way to Draco. "I was quite impressed with your ideas today. You really helped this and I think you probably will be the reason we are successful." Draco preened a bit more at the compliments. "You know, you remind me of my time at Hogwarts. I know it ended badly and in the end I didn't have many true friends, but I do have some fond memories."
Remus sort of gazed off into the past and Draco did a quick glance around the room to determine no one was paying the pair any attention. "I do have a question Remus." The man, with a slight smile, returned his attention to the boy, "We, that is Harry, Hermione, Blaise and I talked about ways to communicate over a distance and I know I can't do anything like that right now, but I have loads of time and thought I could start working on some of them."
Remus was quite intrigued at what thoughts the children had. "Tell me about your ideas." The smile on Draco's face told Remus that was the hoped for response. After a ten minute explanation Draco finished with asking which of the methods did Remus think would work best. "Those are some lofty ideas and all are good for their own purposes." Draco seemed upset that none were the best idea. "So let's talk about each."
Pulling the notebook from Draco and the pen from the table, Remus flipped to a clean page after taking a quick look at the notes. He smirked at the comments the young wizard noted on the various points of the plan. He'd talk about that later.
"Let's start with what is arguably the most difficult to master, the patronus charm. This is one that has multiple purposes, it is both a defensive spell and also a way to communicate over long distances. The problem isn't intricate wand movements or incantation, it's the memory you chose to use. It has to be a happy memory, a memory so cherished, beloved and special it brings you to a special place."
Draco nodded remembering what the Weasley twins told him, "And as those ingenious twins told you, there is also a bit of magical power required. Most adult witches or wizards have enough but it's an unknown when a child's core has expanded enough. Since your parents are ridiculously proud of you and the others, I'm fairly confident all four of you would have the necessary core stability to perform the charm. So in the end, it's up to the memory you pick"
It seemed to Draco this would be one they needed to work on as a group and when they had a long stretch of time. "Ok, that one probably won't work for right now, I think it's something we should do together and right now that isn't possible. What is your next thought?"
"The protean charm is quite difficult to perform, but no special power requirements, or materials. Anything can be charmed to send and receive messages. I believe a variation is actually used by the Weasley Twins for their infinite distance communication books. I took a look at them when Dora and I went to Diagon a couple months ago. Very good work. So this is one I think would work, but if you are going to communicate with any of them while you are here, it needs to have some strong protection spells so no one else can read it."
Draco knew most of these ideas wouldn't work until he could be miraculously cured, but it still annoyed him. "Yeah I know, I can't actually send letters nor can I have Mum add anything to her letters for that same reason. But if this is something I can do for us to use in the future, it might kill my boredom." Remus chuckled at the disgruntled look.
"Yes, it must be strange to be alone after all these years with the others. But to not think on that, let's talk about your last idea, mirrors. I was surprised when you said Harry mentioned them. There were a set we had in school. Sirius gave them out as presents for Yule one year. We each had one and could talk whenever we wanted. That said, neither Peter nor I used them frequently. In fact I could probably count the number of times on one hand. The downside to them is again no privacy but also they are very fragile."
"Why not add an unbreakable charm?"
"It messes with the ability to send clear communications, so I don't think that would work very well. Sorry."
"No worries really Remus, thank you for the information. I think I will research the two you said would be better and have a game plan for the summer." Draco, thinking the conversation was over, looked surprised when Remus didn't immediately leave.
"I spoke with your Mum and Dad. And after seeing the comments you wrote about the planning session, I agree with them. You and others need a stronger grounding in defense." In addition to the concerns of the Malfoy parents, Remus knew how poorly the defense course was taught. "You see, I wasn't half bad at the course and offered to spend a bit of time with you all over the various holidays to strengthen what you already know. This will just be in addition to what you are learning, you'll not jump to the next year or anything. The more practice the better. What do you think?"
Draco's excited agreement made Remus smile. Now they just had to catch some felons.
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Of course Cedric was going to agree. When he asked why someone needed some of his hair, his potions professor remained stoic. As the boy thought he wasn't going to get an answer the wizard sighed. "There is an effort to apprehend an individual believed to be part of the attack at Hogwarts." Cedric needed no other information and plucked more hair than needed. He placed the hairs in the vial and handed it over.
"Please catch whoever it is. I can't stand to have another friend be in the same situation and see the agony Hannah and Draco's families and friends are dealing with." Cedric stood and pulled his crutches into place. "Please let me know if I can do anything else. I know me being on crutches limits my ability, but I'm willing to do whatever. I just wish I could have blocked the curse on Draco. It's not fair he has to deal with this." Cedric left the office and Severus admitted to himself the boy would be a perfect representative for Hogwarts.
He labelled and placed the final vial in the box. Of the four other vials already in the box, three were easy to obtain as the boys were all aware of the situation. Luckily Daphne was as willing as Cedric when learning the purpose.
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Early Saturday morning found the Hogwarts elves, after finding out Dumbledore escaped, swearing to assist the tall Frenchman in whatever capacity they could. One elf, a small elf with large blue eyes looked at the man, "You took his power that night. Keep it safe." The little elf then left with the rest of the elves.
"What did that mean?" Dora, who stood next to Luc during the discussion with the elves, seemed confused at the comment. Luc, confused as well, shrugged.
"It's something we can think about later, we have a felon or four to capture." Dora smiled with a dark little smile, one Sirius Black would immediately recognize.
"Or to put one down. Doesn't matter much to me." Luc snorted and waved Dora toward the apparition point they placed in order to meet with the elves.
The pair arrived in the back alley of Three Broomsticks and entered the business through a back door and met with the rest of the stakeout team. As it was early and Madam Rosemerta hadn't opened the doors, Lucius rented a portion of the main room for a morning meeting. Rosemerta allowed for a privacy spell to be placed over the area.
"The elves have allowed our vision to cross the boundaries so if anyone is near the school the transition between the warded and unwarded areas will be smooth."
Severus, the only individual present who would not be participating in the stakeout handed the box of vials to Luc. "I had a thought over the evening, did you think to include professors in your vision? There would be at least one the street at any time. For the most part only two or three remain at the school and the rest chaperone the students." Hearing Dora hiss a curse or ten, Severus nodded. "I suspected as much. If you are willing, I am available and I know Minerva would agree without a second thought. We both have reasons to want a swift conclusion to this."
Luc leaned his head against the wall and thought about the options. On one hand, more people involved could give away their hand, but if all the felons suddenly appeared, having more help would be useful. Luc pulled two of his best aurors to play the parts of Harry and Blaise, so at the moment the only individual not an auror was Remus. Luc had no concerns with Remus, the man was a werewolf and they are known for protecting their pack.
"I think Severus I would agree with you. I would prefer only to have one more non-auror on this mission, but I feel having someone represent Minerva would be a good thing. Do you think you could get some of her hair quickly?" Severus, pleased at his inclusion, left and returned a short while later.
"She wasn't happy to be excluded and made me vow the next time something like this happened, if I participated so would she." Frank chuckled imagining the scene Severus described.
"Well let's just hope we don't have to do anything like this again."
Dora returned from Rosemerta's private floo with another portion of polyjuice and an auror to portray the deputy headmistress. One of the aurors, looked at his watch and walked to the door of the pub. Standing in the doorway, he pulled out a vial and his wand. With a couple quick flicks, the charm started to alter the street. Suddenly it appeared as if there students started to enter the village.
"Bottoms up!" Dora, not having to drink the potion, shifted into Hermione and took a drink of her butterbeer. The rest shuddered as the foul potion hit their tongues. Within five minutes the group of adults turned into six students. Severus checked the map and noted Black inside the shack.
"I think if the charm is ready, you have time to get into the street and act as if you arrived with the rest of the students. Black seems to be inside the shack at the moment." In a staggered manner, the students slipped out the front and back door giving the impression they weren't all together moments before.
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Sirius, hearing the increase in noise, didn't realize how late in the morning it was. He planned to be on the road and track the ones he wanted from the school boundary. He cursed himself for falling asleep and morphed into his other persona.
Severus remained in the pub for fifteen minutes watching the map and Sirius's movements. When the dog began to make his way toward the village, Sirius placed the map in the disillusioned box belonging to Dora and exited the pub.
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"I'm going to stop in the book store, I'll meet you all at Three Broomsticks for lunch." Hermione stepped from her group of friends to the pleasure of the dog watching from an alley. When the boys started to walk toward the quidditch shop, the dog licked his lips in anticipation. He only balked when the other girl stepped next to the witch.
"I'll go with you and then we can go to Gladrags before lunch." When Hermione rolled her eyes, Daphne pouted. "You promised Hermione. PLEASE." With a sigh of resignation, Hermione nodded and the two witches walked into the shop. The dog almost growled when a moment later Snivellus walked to the shop as well.
Black, not able to hear anything through the walls debated what to do. He opted to wait until the wizard left. While the large dog paced the alleyway, Severus stationed himself in the aisle next to where Dora and Remus stood. "He's in the back alley. I'm setting a potion on the shelf. After I've left, come around and break it when you sense Black has entered the shop. It will mask your scent long enough for you to have the upper hand."
"Brilliant idea Severus. Thank you. Unless you see the rest coming this way, stand clear." Severus snorted.
"Good luck."
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Frank Longbottom separated from the French aurors and walked toward the small apothecary at the end of the street. He mentioned his need for some supplies and how he heard the shop sold some of the finest specimens this side of Diagon. The man, who still participated in the auror training sessions, tried to replicate the loping movements of his son.
He sensed someone watching him, but didn't want to let on. Flicking his hand, in an unassuming manner, Frank signaled the other aurors to be prepared. As he reached for the door he heard the same ominous laugh as from Hogwarts. Without pausing or giving an indication of recognition, Frank walked into the shop and immediately placed his shield.
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After seeing Frank's movement and having Severus inform him of Black's location, Luc initiated the emergency protocols and sent Harry and Blaise back to the bookstore. He continued the overdramatic hobble on the pair of crutches toward the apothecary.
When Luc entered the shop, he immediately felt aggressive magic at play. He slowed his movements, more to continue the impression of his weakened state. He leaned against the wall and released a breath while bringing his arm up to wipe at the non-existent sweat on his brow. In reality he activated a very strong tracking spell he placed on each of the individuals participating in the stake out.
Luc felt the same aggressive magic as Frank, it was obvious there were more individuals than Frank in the shop. As Luc wondered who else was present, he noticed Dumbledore shimmer and could be seen. In that same moment, the now visible wizard grabbed Frank.
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As the aurors positioned themselves for whatever, Severus returned to the pub. As part of his agreement, he would remain in the pub until and unless his skill was needed. Severus watched the map and noted the arrival of the 'boys' at the book shop. Black must have entered the store through the back door and now seemed to be standing at the back of an aisle. Hermione and Daphne remained close and in the same aisle as Severus had been earlier.
Since there were now three aurors and a werewolf against Black, Severus allowed his eyes to move to the other three polyjuiced individuals. The auror impersonating Minerva headed toward the apothecary while Luc just entered it. Before Severus looked into the shop, he heard the first offensive spell of the morning. He jumped from his seat and ran to the door. Minerva appeared to be in a battle with someone cloaked or disillusioned. Severus quickly determined the auror was losing the battle and Severus stepped in.
Without leaving the safety of the Three Broomsticks, Severus cast a revelio charm over the street and apothecary. Once cast, he noted a wizard ready to cast a spell at the back of the auror. With a surprisingly quick reflex, Severus bound the mysterious wizard. As the auror approached, the bound man disappeared. Looking around the auror broke into a run toward the apothecary just as the front window blasted out. When Severus looked to the map, he saw the unbelievable truth. Dumbledore seemed to have Frank, at least the closeness of the dots gave that appearance.
Only a moment later, a large black dog ran from the book store and up the hill toward the shack at the top of the hill. In all the chaos, Severus didn't notice the appearance of another wizard. It was in fact the same wizard who disappeared a few minutes prior. The wizard stood for a few moments trying to decide what to do as he saw the black dog running up the hill. In the end he opted to check on the man who could help in attaining his goal. Gellert, not realizing he could be seen with the lingering effects of the revelio, stepped into the apothecary.
He found all hell breaking loose.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
