Hi folks...
I know. it's been a long time. I'm doing my best. Well, no, actually, that's not true. I just wasn't in the right kind of mind to write further if you know what I mean. It took me ages just to finish this chapter. But we're making process, however slowly it may go.
XxX
Campside in the wilderness
I was stepping from one foot to the other and back again and looked around nervously.
"Calm down, Charles", Luna said soothingly. "Everything will be alright."
"Yeah?", I exclaimed, "how do you know that? I mean, how often did we have this conversation already?"
She sighed. "We only had it once."
I stiffed. "What happened?"
"Your plan had a tiny flaw. I already told you about it."
This morning when I came to collect Luna to take her to the Quidditch World Cup she had told me I should remember that sending a dragon patrol with the boats that were to transport the prisoners was a bad idea.
"Well, according to you the aurors tried to stop these boats first by freezing the water. The dragon meant to fry them all but when he landed the ice couldn't hold him and he ended up drowning."
I was silent for a moment. "Wait, that's it? I didn't die?"
"No. But the dragon's rider was Lupin and you wanted to keep him so you told me to reset."
"Oh." Considering how often Luna had to reset the game when we fought Dumbledore I supposed that meant I was getting better.
"Now let's stop worrying and enjoy the game, shall we?"
"Alright..."
Only when we could make out a group of redheads in the distance did I stop one last time. "That reminds me... the second part of our plan... Is it going to go smoothly too?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Yes it is! Just do everything the way you think is best. Now come on!"
"Charles!"
Harry had finally spotted me and came over, grinning and waving with his new omiculars.
"I was wondering if you would come at all", he said breathlessly.
"Draco would have my head if I missed the World Cup", I said with a small smile.
Harrys grin faltered a bit. "You didn't bring him though, did you?"
"Nah. Just Luna. Though I bet we'll meet him at the top box if that's really where we're going to sit."
Harry nodded eagerly. "Mr Weasley got the tickets for all of us."
"And he was okay with inviting me along?", I asked skeptically.
"Well... yeah. Mrs Weasley argued with him for some time until he gave in. Just to be sure though you probably shouldn't sit next to Ron."
"I wouldn't even if you payed me", I snorted.
"Are your parents here too?", Harry asked Luna.
The girl smiled mischievously. "No, they're not. I'll stay with you for the adult supervision."
"You're lucky you got a ticket, I heard they were gone pretty fast!"
"Yes, well, I was hunting Blibbering Humdingers in my back yard and found a ticket in one of its stomachs."
Harry shoot me a look that clearly asked: "Is she serious?"
For a moment I pondered if I should play along but in the end I just laughed heartily. Sure, Luna sounded crazy but I did know that monsters tended to drop items in PC games so I could totally picture her finding a ticket for the world cup in the stomach of a… whatever that was.
I followed Harry to the Weasleys tent where I was greeted most enthusiastically by the twins. Ron was sitting in a corner, glaring hatefully at me but not daring to try anything under his mothers watchful eyes.
On the way to the stadium we talked about Quidditch, Mr Weaselys work at the ministry, Quidditch, Krums awesome seeker skills, Quidditch and the summer camp. The twins and I would return there a day after the game. George concentrated on describing the dragons and Fred went into along story on how he had been chased by a Welsh Common and barely escaped it on his broom. The truth was that neither of the boys had seen much of the dragons. They were only a front for the battle simulations that we were holding, but the command was not to talk about that. We went into lengths about how Charlie would love to come over for a day or two and we all agreed it would be a great idea.
Harry was a little bit down that he couldn't see any of it. I smiled at him, patted his shoulder and said: "Only for Outtakes members."
Harry had thought more then once about joining the Outtakes again but then there was his Quidditch training and anyway he really liked spending his summer with the Weasleys. On the other hand the twins grades had dropped a lot in subjects like history, astronomy or divination (not that they had been very high to begin with). They made Oliver Wood furious by skipping the training more often. It wasn't that bad. Even without training they still worked together fabulously as a team but their spot on it was no longer guaranteed.
Fred and George begged me to give them a tip on how the game would end and since I was in a good mood I told them, however I also warned them not to make their bet with Bagman for he would try to cheat them. The game itself was pretty much the same as in the books. Before the Veela showed up (the gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking Veela!) I discretely put a sticking charm on my seat to prevent any embarrassment. Harry on the other hand, I let him almost jump down. Hey, it was funny.
As it should be there was the little house elf guarding the not-so-empty seat. I made sure that my wand was safe but I took care to notice when Harrys suddenly disappeared from his back pocket.
Ireland won but Krum caught the snitch. Fred and George were celebrating loudly until almost 3am. Then in the early hours of the night when everyone was finally asleep, screams became loud outside.
I was up in an instant and everyone was in a panic. The Death Eaters were attacking.
Of course they weren't real Death Eaters but Malfoy (Sr) with his buddies Crabbe and Goyle and a bunch of Durmstrang students form the camp. They were playing around with the muggles but everyone was so horrified of their white masks that they were running away instead of helping.
Following the plan I was staying close to Harry and Ron as we made our way to the forest. Somewhere along the way we picked up Luna who had deliberately separated herself from Ginny and Molly from the female tent. Then we had a great staged accident where Luna fell and 'broke' her ankle and I stayed behind to help her while Harry and Ron hurried to the forest. As soon as they were gone Luna was up and ready again, grinning at me.
"Okay", I said, "now where do we find Crouch Jr?"
Luna checked her minimap and we hurried after Harry and Ron but changed our route slightly so that we would come up in their back. I called Notch for the cloak and made us invisible. Then we just had to wait for the Death Eater to appear.
We didn't have to wait long. It was only faint but soon I could make out the footsteps of the invisible man. Lunas directions helped greatly. I counted from ten downwards and right on time the Dark Mark was cast. A moment later stunners flew everywhere. Since I wore my basilisk armor under my cloak (mainly in preparation for the upcoming breakout) I was able to shield Luna and myself. When the spells stopped it was my cue.
Luna directed me into the direction I had to go. Quickly I had found the unconscious Winky with Harrys wand in her hand and felt for the invisible body next to her. Together with it I notched into my vault. There I opened a chest that I had prepared yesterday and dumped the body of an unconscious muggle on the ground. A small vial of polyjuice and some hair from Jr turned the muggle into a death eater. Then I took a solid looking golden candleholder and smashed it on the back of the muggles head until he was dead. I had around half a minute left.
"Get over yourself", I sneered towards Notch, who was standing next to me, wringing his hands in fright. "It's just a dead muggle."
"Why did Master have to...?"
"I need a fresh corpse who looks like he smashed his head against a tree when falling from being hit with a stunner."
Quickly I covered the fake Jr corpse in the invisibility cloak again and notched back to the forest where I laid it down and stepped back just in time for the father coming to search for it.
Certainly there where better ways to fake a death but Crouch would be so glad to be rid of his son he would dispose of any evidence for me.
"Did everything go well?", Luna asked when I returned to her.
"Yes, let's go back to the Weasleys", I whispered. My future self should be attacking Azkaban right about now. I still had a long night before me. I had to reassure the Weasleys that I was alright, get another five hours of sleep, go back these five hours, wake up Jr and tell him where to find the original Voldemort so the timeline that was messed up with Pettigrews death would stay intact, tell him about the tournament, sent him on his way, go back yet another three hours, meet with my army and break into Azkaban. Yes, indeed, a long night.
"What do you think, Luna?", I mused aloud, "which identity should I take on when I talk to Jr?"
"Voldemort knows you as Charles only", she answered thoughtfully, "but thinks you're his horcrux who took over your body. If you want to keep him in the dark about the army a little longer that will do. If you want him to get in contact soon, it would have to be either the Raven or Lestat. Or", she giggled, "of course you could make up a new one too."
"Even I would lose count with too many alias", I admitted. "Although... I could call myself 'the Knight of Walpurgis' and pretend to be another Voldemort-spirit who came out of Charles Potter, having taken physical form to lead a secret army from the shadows..."
"Then you'd have Charles, the oblivious kid, Lestat, the ambitious genius and frontline Dark Lord, Raven, the eccentric and powerful but harmless crazy eremite and the Knight of Walpurgis, the secret mastermind."
"Originally Lestat should be the mastermind but you're right, since he's leading the army together with Tom he's been way too bolt lately."
"And isn't that strange, talking about yourself in third person?"
"Oh shut up", I laughed and ruffled her hair affectionately. "We don't really need a mastermind... yet. Let Voldemort think that's his job. Maybe it will prevent him from bringing out the giants and breaking the Statue of Secrecy."
"The Knight of Walpurgis... I like that one!"
"Maybe another time, dear."
XxX
9 hours later... or rather, 10 minutes ago.
Nekrys couldn't remember exactly how he had come to be in this position. He was a necromancer at heart, almost cliché in that he always stayed in the shadows, far away from action and unwanted attention. The aurors would have gotten him long time ago were any different. And now here he was taking part in an assault that could only be described as a declaration of war.
"If you don't mind", he said in a small voice, watching as the Raven leaped on the back of the big, if sickly-looking dragon, "I'd rather skip that mission, thank you."
"Don't be such a coward", the man sneered. At a hissed command the great, very much dead dragon lifted its head and slowly rose to tower over the poor necromancer.
"Get in already."
"You have no idea what will happen if we get caught riding that... that thing. Let alone if we let it attack anything, much less a well-guarded prison", he tried to reason.
"Which is why I need you to keep an eye on the disillusion ward. Now come on or the others will leave without us."
Nekry very much doubted that the army would leave without its general but one look at the Raven's impatient face shut him up. Sighing deeply he stepped closer. The undead dragon lowered its head and opened its mouth wide. Nekrys shuddered at the sight of the two rows of sharp teeth before he called on all his courage and stepped over them.
He had to crawl a few short steps through the throat before he reached the belly. It was dark now but a lumos later he could see the reflections of the hundreds of tiny runes carved into the bones. There was no flesh around him anymore, not a single drop of blood. The dragon was but a skeleton. Raw skin was the only thing holding it together but it was a dragons skin and as such tougher then stone.
Nekrys found a few leather straps already in place next to some smooth bones that had been enchanted with cushioning charms. He bound his legs with the straps so he would be safe during flight. Then he looked ahead. Where the neck of the dragon would have to be a single piece of glass was stuck to the bones by magic. It was the remnants of a two-way-mirror and its counterpart was located somewhere on the outer side, showing the Raven's face.
"Ready?", he asked.
Nekrys didn't think he'd ever be ready for this but he nodded nonetheless.
Another hissing command and the ground under him shook. The necromancer felt his stomach sink as the dragon soured through the sky. He aimed with his wand carefully and activated a set of runes that would disillusion the dragon. Shortly after he felt a surge of magic and knew that they had passed the portal. It was a mix of flooing and the magic connecting two vanishing cabinets that was at work here to create a stable portal that could transport something as big as a dragon as long as they didn't have to pass through major wards.
Even inside the skeleton Nekrys could feel the coldness of the sea as they were getting closer to the fortress. The dementors awaited them.
XxX
Bellatrix Lestrange was sitting in her cell, humming to herself and counting the bricks of the wall in front of her. Not that she didn't already know exactly how many there were. She knew every stain, every crack and every line her nails had carved into the stone.
The soul-eaters were strangely absent today. Without the constant screaming in her head it was almost... boring. It had been like this ever since her cousin had left. She had no one to taunt anymore across the corridor.
Suddenly there was a booming sound and the ground shook under her. Bellatrix stumbled to her feet. She hurried to the cell door. Was the prison under attack? Had her Lord finally come to safe her? Oh, she had waited for him this long. Of course she'd known he'd come, she'd always known. She was his favorite after all.
Another loud crash and Bellatrix was thrown against the bars as a something like a giant club with spikes of some sort seemed to pound on the stone wall. It gave away as if it was paper and when the witch hurried to look through her new window she couldn't help but cackle madly when she saw the dragon that dug its claws into the tower and did its best to deal as much damage as possible. On its back she could make out the tiny outline of a rider.
Azkaban was under attack. Her master had come to free her.
There was the sound of explosions. Her door war ripped from its frame and she was met with the sight of a cloaked figure. She couldn't see his face for he wore a black mask, concealing everything but his eyes. It wasn't the uniform of the Death Eaters but then again it was close enough and it had been over ten years. Hadn't it?
"Bellatrix Lestrange?", the foreign voice asked.
"You bet I am", she replied grinning.
"Today is the beginning of the Great Liberation. Go and search for a dragon to ride on."
"Where is my master?", she wanted to know.
"You will meet him soon enough."
Bellatrix had barely time enough to wonder where the guards where. She hurried out of her cell, grabbed Rabastan and Rudolphus and began searching for a dragon.
"Bella, what's going on!?"
"This is the day!", she rejoiced. "The Lord came to safe us!"
She noticed another few cloaked figures who seemed to be organizing the evacuation. Most of the prisoners were sent to the lower levels and to the shore where a few boats were apparently waiting for them. Undoubtedly she was receiving special treatment by riding a dragon. A dragon! Her Lord was truly marvelous.
Suddenly the three of them stopped in a corridor. There was one of the cloaked ones, ordering people around and coordinating a group of cloaks fighting with prisoners who where either out of their mind or stupid enough to reject the help of the Death Eaters. This leader however made her stop. He had shoved his mask to the top of his head and she could see his face – it was Sirius.
"You!?", she screeched, pointing at the disgrace of the House of Black. Of course she knew what he'd done but she had never been convinced that he was actually on their side. If anything, his treason had lead to her Lord losing his body.
"Bella", Sirius said with a hatefulglare.
"What are you-"
"No time for this." He growled but waved them away. "Over there up the stairs and then the next one right. Get out of here already."
For a second she couldn't believe her ears. How many years had she listened to him whining about being innocent? About being different from her? How much he hated and despised her and her Lord? If he had ever been a servant, she thought he must have lost all of his dignity in the cold prison by cursing his name. And now he was helping her? It didn't make any sense.
Her husband muttered something in her ear she didn't understand and pulled her further. Lethargically she followed him up to the tower. On her way they passed a few wizards who were busy stabilizing the broken ceiling but didn't pay them any mind. Just how large was her Lords army already?
Just as they entered the platform of the tower, a green dragon took flight. Over twenty people were sitting on its back, hanging from his legs and lying in a net that was hovering under the beast's belly.
A roar caught their attention and a second later another dragon, this one pale and bony with around a dozen passengers landed on the roof, which shook from the impact. There was a raven haired man sitting right in the curve of the neck who now spoke with a magically amplified voice:
"How many are there left in this part?"
"Five prisoners", one of the wizards who was making sure the building didn't collapse too early shouted back. "There are seven of us, the rest has been sent to other posts."
"I'll take you with me. Hurry and get them assembled!"
The passengers wanted to help Bella into the net but she refused and insisted on sitting on the back, right behind the person who was obviously the leader of this unit.
"Did my Lord sent you here?", Bella wanted to know eagerly. "How is he?"
"Alive and kicking", the man replied flippantly. "Though I don't know why you would be so eager to meet him."
"Of course I do! And don't you dare speaking about him in such a way!"
The insufferable guy merely chuckled. "Bella, dear, you got yourself imprisoned questioning a family with a baby who was in hiding and thus wouldn't know who was minister let alone if their order abducted your Lord. How do you think he took that?"
Bella blanched. "But – But I was thinking -"
"I don't care what you thought and neither will he. You failed. You will have to start from the very bottom again if you ever want to come close enough to lick his shoes again."
Her cousin Sirius was stepping onto the roof in that moment, slightly out of breath.
"The aurors have arrived on the first level", he reported. "We have one minute."
"Then we better not waste it." He turned to Bella. "Get moving." She looked at him indignantly but he just shoved her to the side.
Sirius pulled himself up and took Bellas place behind the leader with a smug look.
"I am Bellatrix Lestrange! I am the Dark Lord right hand! You can't treat me like that!", she screeched angrily. If she had a wand she would've killed her traitorous cousin right here and now.
"He managed to live without his right hand. Or his left. Or his legs and head and torso. Face it girl, you're replaceable", the dirty dog answered grinning.
"Shut up, children", the leader scolded them. Bella noticed that he sported a remarking resemblance to the dead James Potter, Sirius' best friend. But there was no way those two would go and break all the prisoners out of prison. Not even for a trap.
The the poor, confused Bella got the shock of her life when the Potter-guy hissed an order in parseltongue to get the dragon to take off. It couldn't be... was he her Lord? No. Nonononono. That was too horrible a thought even for her.