Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 5

Amelia had liked what she had seen of young Mr Potter…but right then she wanted to scream because of him. Oh, she knew it wasn't really his fault, but it was a little unfair that he had left the country, leaving her with a complete mess. Hogwarts was closed for the foreseeable future as Curse breakers and Ward experts crawled all over it. Dumbledore had been temporarily stood down from all of his positions, awaiting possible criminal proceedings, and all of the staff were under investigation, except Binns who had finally moved on. Fudge and the horrible toad… woman that was his Senior Undersecretary had tried to claim that everything had been done at their instigation, she had been forced to step in with the truth, that it was Harry Potter and his family who had raised the alarm and called for aide. Of course, she had done so in the middle of a press announcement which had the press baying for blood now. What sort of Minister tried to take the glory from their beloved young hero? She knew they would change their tune once it was discovered Harry had left Britain, but she just hoped they didn't learn that fact until Fudge was pushed out of office. It wouldn't be easy, there was no definite method to get rid of a sitting Minister and he was too deep in the pockets of those like Malfoy for them to want to see him go. A new Minister may not be so easy to control after all.

They weren't the only ones who had tried to claim what wasn't theirs. She had enjoyed the look of frustrated rage on Snape's face when he had tried to claim the basilisk corpse for potions ingredients and she had shot him down, the Minister actually backing her on that one. Right of conquest would go to Harry after all…. if the basilisk was dead which she would neither confirm or deny but simply allowed people to make assumptions. She then promptly arrested him for abusing his position. She did not want a Death Eater, reformed or not, around children but Dumbledore had always blocked any attempt to remove the man from the school. With Dumbledore gone she had been able to arrest him and he was awaiting trial. As he was potions Master he was being kept isolated and on a regime of flushing potions so that he could be tried with Veritaserum since as a half-blood he wasn't protected from it by law.

It was very tempting to follow the Tonks and Grangers over to America but if she left who knew who would be elevated in her place, she doubted it would be Kingsley, despite being her top choice. She had seen Harry's memories of first year and this last one and she knew Voldemort, or Riddle, was not yet gone for good. She had articles ready to go covering everything she had been able to quietly dig up on one Tom Marvolo Riddle, she wanted to cut off at least some of his support, just in case he did return. Perhaps she could sic Skeeter on it when the time came, the woman was great at digging up dirt and sensationalising it. Although it could backfire if she put too much emphasis on him being a half-blood killing purebloods.

Unfortunately, Harry's memory left her with a duty that she did not look forward to at all. The temporarily resurrected Riddle and said that young Ginny was responsible through writing in a diary. She had to find out where that diary had come from and the girl was beyond questioning. She had given them a few days to grieve and bury the child but now she had to question them. She knew Arthur, knew his family would never knowingly aide the Death Eaters or their leader so she had not called them in for questioning. She stood, shrunk her Pensieve and then left her office for the Burrow where the entire family was still gathered, the two eldest boys home for the funeral. Appearing down the path from the house she was struck by how silent it was, she had been here before and it was never quiet. She hated having to do this, but she would not risk the family falling under suspicion as others tried to appear blameless.

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They ran into their villa, soaked through and laughing. Dr Harding was heading for the dock since apparently most of the staff didn't live on the island, or at least not yet. Dr Sattler had gone into her and Dr Grants Villa as all three were going to shower and clean up before heading for the Control Room to watch the others return. The gas-powered Jeep had been able to take all the back routes and cut through paddocks, so they had made it back a lot quicker than the tour vehicles would. Nym didn't say anything when Harry emerged carrying his backpack, instead picking up her own, trusting his instincts for trouble while hoping he was wrong, her Mum would kill her if anything happened to him. A park like this, there was a lot that could go wrong and spectacularly at that. Maybe the storm would just cause their Villa to flood or something simple like that….yeah right, not with their luck.

Thankfully there was a covered walkway back to the Visitors Centre, so they managed to stay mostly dry as they ran for it, finding Ellie just reaching the main doors. She pulled them open and they headed upstairs for the control room. Ellie opened the currently unlocked door and the three of them walked in on a mostly empty room.

"Visitor vehicles are on their way back to the garage," Ray Arnold announced as Nym let the door shut behind her, the man not even turning to glance at them as he worked.

"So how much for our first tour. Two no-shows and one sick triceratops," John sighed, disappointed.

"It could have been worse, John. It could have been a lot worse," Ray assured him and then finally looked up at the three newcomers.

"I thought the triceratops was neat," Nym offered as she ran a hand through her still damp, pink hair.

"Me too," Harry grinned as he looked around, he'd never seen so many computers!

"Count me in too," Ellie laughed, and John relaxed.

Attention turned to Dennis Nedry as he stood up. "Anybody want a Coke? Anybody want something from the machines? Or a soda or something? I thought I'd get something sweet," he babbled as everyone stared at him. Hammond, Ellie and Arnold shook their heads. Nedry started to leave, then turned back with an afterthought that was so rehearsed it was almost obvious. Nym frowned, something was very off with his reactions. She may not have started Auror training, but her Dad was a Barrister, she had learnt at a young age to watch body language and his screamed fear and a strange determination. "Oh, I finished de-bugging the phones, but the system's compiling for eighteen minutes, or twenty. So, some minor systems may go on and off for a while. There's nothing to worry about. Simple thing..." he trailed off and then turned to do something at his computer before leaving.

"Okay…. was that weird or is it just me?" Nym asked as he walked past the glass windows.

"He seemed very nervous," Ellie agreed.

"That's Nedry," John answered as he went back to watching the jeeps and the others joined him, Ellie asking Ray questions on the park setup while Harry talked with Hammond about what he had seen so far.

Ray frowned and went to his monitor as it beeped, staring at his terminal, puzzled. On the screen, glowing red and blue lines were blinking off, in succession. "What?" Muldoon entered the room and nodded to them as he walked over to Ray as Harry and Ellie leaned in.

"What?" John asked, looking away from the monitor of the cars.

"The door security systems are shutting down," Ray answered.

"Well, Nedry said a few systems would go off-line, didn't he?" John waved it off and Harry looked to Nym who frowned.

"I think I need a drink," she smiled at Harry and he saw her wand slip from its holster as she left the Control Room to find Nedry.

Ray swore and stared at his terminal, aghast, as row upon row of coloured lights crawled off. on his screen. "Woah, woah, woah, what the hell, what the hell?" he began typing furiously as Ellie leaned over his shoulder, she knew a little about computer systems but most of what was going by went over her head.

"What now?" John turned from the screen to walk over, leaning on his walking stick.

"Fences are failing, all over the park! A few minor systems, he said!" Ray snarled even as Nym ran back inside.

"Nedry's gone." She had followed the point me spell until it led outside, she was not risking the storm or the possible dangers out there when Harry was relying on her.

"Find Nedry!" John ordered Muldoon, angry and the Game Warden nodded, running out to try and find him. He paused when he reached Nym.

"How far did you look?" Robert asked.

"He's not in this building," she answered, and he nodded before opening the door.

"The monitors are failing," Ray warned as all the video monitors in the control room went out with a faint electronic zip. They all froze, looking at each other and Ellie joined Nym near Harry who rolled his eyes. He had faced Voldemort twice, technically three times, a power outage was nowhere near being scary. He was beginning to wish he'd brought Slinky with him though.

"Use Nedry's terminal. Get it all back on. He can de-bug later," John ordered, and Ray rolled over to Nedry's master terminal in his chair. With one stroke of his arm, he brushed all the loose junk off Nedry's station - junk food, soda cans, torn out magazine pages - and tried to work. Robert walked back into the room, soaked, but he shook his head.

"A gas-powered jeep is gone."

"God, look at this workstation," Ray grumbled as Robert stepped forward, alarmed.

"The raptor fences aren't out, are they?"

Ray quickly typed in a few commands and then relaxed. "No, they're still on." Everyone relaxed at that, Raptors on the loose was the last thing they needed.

"Why the hell would he turn the others off?!" John asked, and Harry frowned.

"Because he was or is doing something he didn't want us to see…can you get off the island through any of the paddocks?" he asked, it would be like trying to get through the Forbidden Forrest but if transport was waiting and ready to go…but what could he have taken?

"The East Dock," Robert answered, the road wasn't easy, and it was dangerous since it went through the Dilophosaurus enclosure and while they weren't overly big they were still deadly.

"Where did the Jeeps stop and where's the nearest fence that's off?" Nym demanded, suddenly pale with worry for the others and Robert swore even as Ray began typing. Ellie gripped the back of his chair tightly, worried for Alan and the kids. If anyone could keep the others safe out there it was Alan, right?

Ray paled as the information came up. "The Tyrannosaur paddock….and the fence is down."

Ellie gasped, and Robert moved closer, in case she fainted or something. Harry looked to Nym who chewed her lip, was this an excusable reason to use magic in front of muggles? She doubted the Statute covered dinosaurs, dragons yes, prehistoric animals no.

John hovered over Ray's shoulder while he worked at Nedry's terminal, Ray muttering to himself as he tried various command. "- - access main program grid - -" He punched a button, but a buzzer sounded and a little cartoon image of Nedry appeared on the screen and waved its little finger disapprovingly.

"You didn't say the magic word!"

"Please, God damn it! I hate this hacker crap!" Ray snarled, pushing away from the computer.

"Call Nedry's people in Cambridge!" John ordered, they better know what the man was up to.

Ray whisked across the floor in his chair and snatched up the nearest phone. He punched for an outside line and then slammed it down. "Phones are out too."

Harry slipped out and walked the same way Nedry had, internal security had gone down first so he'd been after something in the building… this was just like solving mysteries at Hogwarts except he had to do it without Hermione. She was going to kill him when he got home. He walked deeper into the building, seeing the lab where they had watched the Raptor hatch, but it was dark and empty, no eggs around anymore. They had to have been there for their tour and were being kept somewhere safer with the staff gone. There were storage rooms, labs…. "EMBRYONIC COLD STORAGE," and the door had a sticky hand print on it. He peered into the foggy room and saw storage containers. This had to have been what he wanted. How much would they be worth to other companies? He turned and ran back to the control room. "Embryos!"

"Harry?" Ellie asked the boy, she hadn't even noticed him leave the room.

"I walked the way he did and there's a room marked embryonic cold storage, the door has a sticky handprint on it. Guessing foods not normally allowed near there."

"It's not," Ray agreed.

"Damn it!" John hissed. "We need to contact the mainland to stop whatever ship he's meeting."

"That's if he made his rendezvous. A smart captain would have left, that dock isn't sheltered," Robert offered.

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"Did you feel that?" Tim suddenly asked, moving from the back where he'd been playing with the night vision goggles, but Lex didn't answer, ignoring him while fanning herself in the heat and humidity. Tim leaned over to the front passenger seat and looked at the two plastic cups of water that sat in the recessed holes on the dashboard. As he watched, the water in the glasses vibrated, making concentric circles - then it stopped- and then it vibrated again, rhythmically, like from footsteps. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"What is that? M-Maybe it's the power trying to come back on." Donald looked around, spooked.

Tim jumped into the back seat and put the goggles on again.

"What is that?" Lex whispered, scared.

Tim turned and looked out the side window. He could see the area where the goat was tethered. Or was tethered. The chain was still there, but the goat was gone.

"Where's the goat?" Lex looked at him and then they all jumped, Lex screaming as something went BANG! They looked up at the Plexiglas sunroof of the Explorer, where a bloody, severed goat leg lay.

Tim whipped around to look out the side window again. His mouth popped open, but no sound came out. Through the goggles, he saw an animal claw, a huge one, gripping the cables of the "electrified" fence. Tim whipped the goggles off and pressed forward, against the window. He looked up, up, then craned his head back further, to look out the sunroof. Past the goat's leg, he could see Tyrannosaurus Rex. It stood maybe twenty-five feet high, forty feet long from nose to tail, with an enormous, boxlike head that must be five feet long by itself. The remains of the goat hung out of the rex's mouth. It tilted its head back and swallowed the animal in one big gulp.

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"I will kill Nedry. I will kill him," John muttered as he paced, not only had the man stolen from him but he had endangered everyone but especially his grandchildren!

Ray's cigarette was practically burning his lips, down to almost nothing in his mouth. He hovered over Nedry's computer terminal, which was a mass of incomprehensible commands that scrolled by quickly as he futilely examined each one of them.

"Are we getting anywhere with these procedures of yours? What's stopping you?" Ellie finally asked, glancing over at the rooms youngest occupants who had taken a seat leaning against the glass windows into the hallway, talking softly.

"I ran a key check on every stroke Nedry entered today. It's all pretty standard stuff, until this one -"

"What one?" She asked as she moved closer.

He pointed to his computer screen, to a specific series of commands. The others crowded over his shoulder and stared at the screen. "'Keycheck /space -o keycheck off safety -o.' He's turning the safety systems off. He doesn't want anybody to see what he's about to do. Now look at this next entry, it's the kicker. ' .obj.' White Rabbit Object. Whatever it did, it did it all. But with Keycheck off, the computer didn't file the keystrokes. Only way to find them now is to search the computer's lines of code one by one."

"How many lines of code are there?" Harry asked, he didn't think he would like the answer.

"Uh - about two million," Ray answered, and Harry sighed.

"Two million - Oh good, that'll take no time," Ellie snapped.

"Robert, I wonder if perhaps you would be good enough to take a gas jeep and bring back my grandchildren," John looked to his Game Warden who nodded.

"Sure."

"I'm going with him," Nym spoke up just before Ellie could. She pulled Harry aside. "Anything happens, anything at all, protect them. There's no trace on your wand right now so shield spells are your best friend, got it?" She asked, and he nodded. "If you can't hold then you use the emergency portkey and get them out. Dad can deal with the mess after."

"Don't die," Harry whispered, giving a rare hug and she smiled, tussling his hair.

"I won't." she followed Muldoon out and to the garage, watching as he grabbed a large rifle, fingering her wand.

John turned, staring out the windows at the front of the control room. He'd gone pale, and he was sweating, wrapped up in million thoughts. Behind him, Ray Arnold's voice called to him, but he didn't hear it.

"John…John," Ray called.

John lent on his cane, and for the first time he looked like he was actually using it.

Ellie moved to sit with Harry who smiled shakily at her. "They'll be okay, right?"

"Of course, no one knows more about dinosaurs than Alan and Mr. Muldoon has been a Game Warden for a long time," She tried to reassure both of them. She had wanted to go after the others but Nym had beaten her too it. Why had the young woman wanted to go so much? What could she do that Ellie couldn't?

"Right…I think maybe the park needs a lot more backup systems to keep this from ever happening again," Harry offered, there had to be a way to use magic to help, wards or something on the paddock fences maybe?

"Agreed," she smiled at the boy, he was rather grown up for his age, then again, he was older than he looked, illness or something more sinister? He had mentioned new guardians when they met. "Maybe more than one person in charge of the computer systems too," she offered, and he nodded. Maybe another person would have caught whatever Nedry had done.

"John," Ray called again.

John turned, finally hearing him.

"I can't get Jurassic Park back on line without Dennis Nedry," Ray told him. Harry dug his emergency portkey out of his backpack and slipped the chain around his neck, just to be ready. Without building security none of the doors locked but no dinosaur could open a door, right?

TBC…