Ch 8: Plan
Bournemouth, Present Day (Day 4)
"Harry, is that you?"
"Wait, why are you holding female underwear?"
The ecstasy of meeting Ron and Hermione was swiftly replaced by embarrassment as Harry was reminded of the pink lace knickers in his hands. Feeling his face get dangerously hot, he dropped them. He was about to give an explanation but instead, was forced to dodge a hex fired from the wand of the vulture-like man standing next to Ron.
"Mr. Weasley, the man standing before you is a mass murderer. Please proceed accordingly."
He followed up with a rapid series of curses which Harry barely managed to deflect. It was obvious that the man had considerable skill in dueling. Hugh tried to aid Harry by shooting a spell at Harper but it was blocked by Hermione while Ron went on the offense.
"Sorry mate but Harper has a point. I don't believe you blew Gringotts up. But how do I know you are the real Harry and not an imposter?"
Harry felt like hitting himself for not having foreseen this. He could've proved his authenticity earlier in many ways but now; when he was barely able to stay abreast of the alarmingly fast barrage from Harper, his mind drew a complete blank. As Harper hurled another curse at him, Harry deflected it and dove to one side, firing a curse mid-dive, forcing Harper to deflect it at a close range. Harry fired another jinx just as he hit the ground and yelled;
"Hermione, remember McLaggen at the keeper tryouts?"
He didn't have time to see her reaction as Harper had already recovered by then. He could only hope that Hermione had understood him.
To Harry's side, Hugh was simultaneously battling both Ron and Hermione. He was doing remarkably well; some curses that were able to get through his defense bounced harmlessly off his body. Harry was reminded of Hagrid who was similarly immune to minor curses. But Harry could see the beads of perspiration on Hugh's brow. Against two of the best duelers in the country, he wouldn't last very long. There was no time to think now. Harry shot another curse at Harper and followed it up by launching some nearby surfboards at Harper. Harry shot a quick glance at Hermione. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed like she nodded at him. Meanwhile, Harper burst through the surfboards. Desperately hoping that his plan would work, Harry aimed directly at Harper; and screamed;
"Confundus!"
Although a little surprised, Harper managed to cast a shield just in time to deflect Harry's charm. Seeing Harry let his guard down, Harper sought to finish him by firing a last curse but to his surprise, it landed a long ways away from Harry. His face conveyed clear disbelief at having missed. However, before he could do anything else, he was hit by a red bolt from Ron's wand and landed on his stomach a few feet away, his head hitting the ground with a dull crack.
"I have wanted to do that for ages." Ron smiled as he approached Harry.
After the three friends had shared a warm hug, Harry looked at Hugh to find him staring wide-eyed at them. Catching Harry's glance he finally spoke;
"What just happened?"
Harry met Hermione's gaze who blushed and looked away. Harry couldn't help but laugh;
"Back in school, Hermione confounded a certain Cormac McLaggen so that Ron could become the keeper. I used the reference to ask her to non-verbally confound Harper at the same time as me. This way, Ron or Hermione cannot be accused of anything. Harper will think he accidentally hit himself."
After Harry was done speaking, Ron gripped his shoulder and said with mock seriousness;
"Harry, you're like a brother to me but you mention that git's name again and I will knock you out."
All of them burst out laughing except for Hugh, who was still having trouble figuring out what they were talking about. Meanwhile, Harry voiced what he had been meaning to ask for a while now;
How are Ginny and the kids?"
At this, Hermione looked crossly at him.
"She's worried sick about you. Under different circumstances, I would've dragged you home."
Harry managed to ignore his guilt as he spoke next;
"I'm sorry, but I can't go back. Not yet. First, we have to find the person behind these affairs. We have very limited time but I may have a plan."
He produced a flask from his coat. Swirling inside were blue misty forms.
"These are my memories from the day of the Gringotts explosion. I don't remember anything after leaving my home. But I hope you can find something in these Hermione."
He handed the flask over to her and continued;
"On that day, I heard a voice in my head. I can't remember what it said but I am certain it was Voldemort. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a delusion. So, I left home to go to Malfoy Manor. As a former Death Eater, Malfoy's Dark Mark should react if Voldemort is indeed back again. After that, I woke up in the back of Hugh's cart. I don't remember anything in between. "
He said, Introducing Hugh to them.
A hushed silence descended over the company for a moment until Hermione broke it;
"But there is no way; we made sure that we destroyed all his Hocruxes."
Harry nodded.
"That's where a little foreign intelligence comes in."
He glanced at Hugh. The latter had a blank expression for a moment but then, as if remembering something, spoke;
"I am an Auror for MAFUSA and we have an intelligence group dedicated to keeping an eye out for resurfacing magical artifacts. Two years ago, there was a rumor that someone was in possession of one of the fabled Deathly Hallows; the Resurrection Stone. That man was also a former student of Hogwarts by the name of Nathan Claymore. But the investigation didn't get much further."
Hermione interjected;
"But the Resurrection Stone doesn't actually resurrect people. Just summons shades of their being."
A look of realization spread on Ron's face;
"But there are forbidden rituals that bind souls to bodies. Harry himself has seen Voldemort gaining a new body during the Triwizard Tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if this Nathan is some deranged follower who decided it would be a good idea to have his lot running around again."
Harry smiled in agreement;
"Exactly my thoughts Ron. As I said, I have part of a plan. You two can go to Hogwarts and see if you find something in my memories using the Pensieve. I and Hugh here will try to find out as much as we can about this Nathan. I need to take Malfoy with me. I will drop him off at the Shrieking Shack four days from now. We will share what we found out then. At the Ministry, you can act like I got away and you rescued Malfoy. From there, we will work out the rest."
Ron and Hermione nodded. Ron took a look at the dragon, once again sleeping soundly on the beach;
"I will take the dragon to Charlie. Poor thing has suffered enough already."
"Good, maybe he will meet our old friend Norbert." Harry grinned.
"We don't have much time now. Do you have any questions?" Harry enquired finally.
"Yeah, why were you holding those knickers again?" Ron grinned, teasing his friend.
Harry glared up at Hugh;
"I have never been to Bournemouth before so I couldn't Apparate here. This oaf knows the place but he just wouldn't agree to Apparate. So, we decided to use a portkey and Hugh, being as smart as they come, managed to find the most inconvenient object imaginable."
Ron guffawed so loudly, he spooked a few seagulls sitting atop the Ironbelly;
"After all this is over, you're never hearing the end of this mate. Never." He patted Harry's shoulder.
Harry grinned. Then, saying goodbye to his friends, he helped Hugh get Malfoy up on his shoulders and all three of them Disapparated with a loud crack.