Chapter 18

When Sirius arrived in The Safe Haven, he conjured a strong wooden picnic table and climbed on top of it. "Sonorus," he said. "May I have everyone's attention, please?"

Hermione raised her hand.

"Hermione, I'll have to explain the whole not being dead thing later, but right now, we have an emergency."

Hermione put her hand down.

"Voldemort is sending his Death Eaters out tonight to kill every member of the Defense Association and their families. We are in the process of bringing all of those people here for their protection. When they arrive, they are going to be very confused, so I will need your help. I'm going to send all the DA members to that big tent over there with the red flag. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Draco, Vince, and Greg, please wait in that tent, and as the DA arrive, write down their names and find out if they are missing any family members. If so, write down who the missing people are and where they might be. Then, please bring your lists to Harry so he can take it to the proper person. Are there any questions that can't wait until the emergency is over?"

Hermione put her hand down.

"Right then. Cissy, Hazel, and Margaret, while the DA members are being questioned, would you help their families pick out a tent so they'll have a place to stay for the night?"

The three ladies nodded.

"Queen Gwendolyn and Queen Angela, would you two take care of any of the younger children who transport in? They're probably going to be frightened, so I want you two to be in charge of making sure the little ones are calm, safe, and all in one area so their parents can find them easily. I'll have the parents take their children over to the play park where you two will be there waiting for them."

"Yes, Sir," they said and took off to wait at the playground for the children to arrive.

"I'm going to be right here the entire time. If you have any problems at all, come to me, and we'll take care of them."

By the time he finished his speech, Dumbledore had arrived with the list of addresses. Sirius made a copy, and then Dobby took the original list to the control room. He gave Dumbledore the list of names and addresses, and the headmaster went into the tent that had been provided for the Order of the Phoenix to wait for the Order members.

The transport keys for the Order were charmed to take them directly to the Order tent, so as the members began to arrive, Dumbledore gave each of them an address of one of the DA members. Dobby and Winky waited with Albus inside the tent. As the Order members returned, the house elves took the names to Charles so he could begin transporting people into the Safe Haven.

Sirius took out his wand and placed the words DEFENSE ASSOCIATION in bright letters across the sides of the DA tent. "That should help," he said to Harry who was sitting patiently on the picnic table waiting to run his errands.

"You know, Harry," Sirius said sitting down beside his godson. "I think you and I should switch jobs. Everyone knows you, and they trust you, and it'll calm people down if they see you standing here giving directions. People are going to be more confused because they think I'm dead, so why don't I run the lists up to Charley?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, and then agreed. He performed the sonorus charm so he would be ready. Sirius sat down to wait.

When people began to arrive, Harry stood on the table and started his announcements. "All DA members report to the DA tent in front me and have your names checked off a list before you return to your families. Parents, if you have small children, please take them over to the playground area behind me where there are sitters waiting to take care of your children. Families of DA members, please see one of the three ladies on my right who will take you to your lodgings."

As more people arrived, Harry repeated the announcement over and over until he was hoarse. He couldn't complain, though, because he knew that everyone was as busy, if not more so, than he was. He watched Sirius run back and forth from the DA tent to the control room. He looked exhausted. He knew that the Order members were transporting all over the British Isles, and he didn't even want to think about what his grandfather was going through. He just hoped that their efforts would save everyone.

By 7:00 that evening, every DA member had been accounted for. Dumbledore had sent for some of the Hogwarts house elves, and they had prepared food for all the people. The children were having a picnic in the play park. Tables had been set up around the lake, and friends and families were all eating together. Charles had even managed to find the missing family members and transport them to the Safe Haven. No one had been injured.

Harry sat down beside his exhausted grandfather and began to eat dinner. He had never been so proud of anyone in his life. His grandfather may not be the Chosen One, but he was definitely a hero in Harry's eyes. "Thanks, Granddad," he whispered.

His grandfather looked down at him in surprise. "For what, Harry?"

"For saving everyone," he said. "Most of these people would be dead if not for you."

Charles smiled. "I didn't do it alone, Harry. Every person here did their part."

"I know, Granddad, it's just that—I want you to know that I'm really proud to be your grandson."

Charles smiled at him. "That means a lot to me, Harry, and I'm proud to be your grandfather." He gave him a one armed hug. "Oh, by the way, I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and produced a chain with a gold P medallion, and then hung it around Harry's neck.

"Why do I need this?"

"When you went to retrieve the list, I realized that there would be times you would need to leave the trunk when you wouldn't be able to take it with you, so I thought I should make you one."

"But you didn't have one of my hairs."

Charles chuckled. "You're a Potter, Harry. Potters don't require a hair to make the medallion. This trunk, and everything in it, is already charmed to you. It produces anything you need."

Harry grinned. "I really love this trunk, Granddad."

Charles chuckled. "So do I, Harry."

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Fifty Death Eaters stood in the throne room of Riddle Manor awaiting their instructions. Voldemort sat on his throne, waiting for the clock to strike midnight. He was practically chuckling with glee at the thought of Dumbledore's expression when he found out that 25 of his precious students were dead.

Twelve bells echoed through the room, and when the chimes had ended, Voldemort stood in front of his throne. "My loyal servants," he said. "I have here a list of 25 names. They are students at Hogwarts who, last year, formed what is known as Dumbledore's Army. I want you to go in groups of two, and each group take one name. Go to the address of the student, and do not leave a single creature alive. Destroy the house and everything in it. I want this night to go down in history as the worst massacre the Wizarding world has ever seen. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lord," said fifty voices in unison.

"If it weren't for the fact that they'd destroy the houses," Charles said, watching the scene. "I would be tempted to let them all report back to Voldemort that they had failed."

"Will you be able to capture them all?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm certainly going to try," he said, moving the trunk outside the door of Riddle Manor. "I just have to get them before they leave the disapparition wards." He moved the trunk higher to have a better view of those leaving the house.

"How many have come out of the house, Harry?" he asked.

"Forty-eight. No, fifty. Here come the other two."

Charles pushed a button and a wave of red light stunned 50 Death Eaters. "Let's clear them out before Bella sees them," he said, pressing another button and watching the Death Eaters disappear.

"Did you duplicate the dungeon?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, and we now have enough cells for 80 prisoners. That leaves 6 empty cells."

"Save a room for Bellatrix," Harry said. "I can't wait to see her behind bars."

"From the way things are going at the manor, she'll probably thank us for taking her away from Voldemort," Remus said.

They all laughed, agreeing with Remus's assessment of Bella's situation.

"I spoke with Robert Parsons from the DMLE yesterday," Dumbledore said. "He wanted to know if we would take the rest of the inner circle. He's afraid that Voldemort is going to break into Azkaban to rescue them."

"Oh, after tonight I'm sure he will," Charles said, grinning. "At least, he'll try." He shut off the monitor and stood up. "Well, let's get down there and incarcerate some prisoners, gentlemen."

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Voldemort waited until 5:00 am for his Death Eaters to return and report their activities. When none returned, he called for Bella.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Find Fenrir Greyback. I want to see him as soon as possible."

"Yes, Master," she said, and left the room.

Remus Lupin, who had taken the early morning shift, called for Dobby. The little elf popped in the room wearing a red and white striped nightshirt and matching hat. "Dobby, I'm sorry to wake you, but would please wake Charles and ask him to come in right away? We have an urgent situation."

"Yes, Master Remus," he said, and popped out.

A few minutes later, Charles came into the control dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, his hair messier than the usual Potter mess, and his feet were bare. "What is it, Remus?"

"I think we have a problem," Remus said. "Voldemort has sent for Fenrir Greyback."

Charles sat down, frowning. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Fenrir Greyback is a feral werewolf who leads a pack of other ferals. He's also a wizard. He's the one who bit me when I was a child. His modus operandi is biting children while they're very young, and then taking them to rear as feral werewolves. His goal is to turn as many as he can. He's probably the second most dangerous creature in the Wizarding world."

Charles sighed. "I'm not sure we could safely detain him here," he said. "And even if we could, I'm not sure I want to." He shook his head. "I believe we have an ethical dilemma."

"How so?"

"It would be very easy to kill him when he leaves Voldemort. However, to sit in this trunk and cast the Avada Kedavra curse is cold-blooded murder. As badly as I think this Greyback fellow needs to be eliminated, I don't think I can do it, Remus."

Remus nodded thoughtfully. "What are our options?"

"We let him go; we detain him; or we kill him," Charles said. "Those are our options."

"Letting him go is as unethical as killing him," Remus said. "Greyback is a brutal murderer."

"Then our only option is to detain him, at least until we can figure out something else. Since werewolves have a high tolerance to magic, I suppose we could put him in some sort of stasis and line the walls of his cell with silver. He couldn't leave the cell, though. We would have to eliminate the charm that would transport him into the exercise area."

"Maybe Albus can talk with Parsons at the DMLE and come up with a better solution."

"I hope so because this is only a temporary solution," he said. "In the mean time, I need to recharm the cell. When is he supposed to arrive?"

"Voldemort said 'as soon as possible.'"

Charley sighed. "Then I'd better get started."