Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story; they all belong to JK Rowlings. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended.

– CHAPTER FOURTEEN –

Training

The next few weeks passed in a blur for Harry. They had told Mr and Mrs. Weasley that they were going to return to Hogwarts, much to Mrs. Weasley's relief; although Harry had had to come up with a rather convincing explanation for why he'd bought the flat. Eventually, he decided to tell her that he hadn't initially intended to return to Hogwarts, but Dumbledore had implored him to in his letter. It wasn't the truth, but it was a half-truth, and Harry knew that he couldn't tell her about the Horcruxes; for her own safety.

Harry travelled back and forth between his flat and the Burrow throughout the rest of the summer, and showed it to Ron, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Remus and Tonks. He was trying not to stay in the same place for too long in case there were still Death Eaters searching for him. Voldemort had almost certainly found out that Pettigrew had been captured, as his trial was held a few days later; however, the capture had been accredited to the Weasleys to prevent a leak of Harry's location.

This had resulted in a number of things; namely the clearing of Sirius' name. Harry was happy that it had finally been achieved, but thought it was a case of too little too late. Additionally, a few Aurors had to be dispatched to protect the Burrow in case of retaliation from Voldemort, but there were no attacks there, although attacks on Muggleborns and Half-Bloods increased dramatically after Pettigrew's trial.

Harry also made sure he was spotted a few times in Diagon Alley and in various other places around London to make it difficult for anyone to guess where he'd be next. He returned to Gringotts a number of times with Ron, Hermione and Ginny to visit the other vaults and show them his parents' vault. They were all astounded at Harry's wealth, and found a number of unusual and rare objects in his ancestors' vault. Hermione also uncovered a collection of very rare books, which ranged in content from potion making, to defensive and offensive spells, to ancient runes and to Hermione's delight, spell creation. Ron was ecstatic when they found a small notebook filled with signatures of ancient Quidditch players, while Harry collected a number of dragon skin body armour parts, along with more wand holsters.

Ginny, found a few books on Healing Charms, and much to everyone's bemusement, became fascinated with the trunk full of Muggle weapons, and insisted that they take some with them. Her only explanation being that swords could kill Death Eaters just as effectively as wands; so they took a few swords and axes to practice with too, although Hermione eyed them warily and refused to touch them.

In fact, the only place Harry hadn't visited yet was Godric's Hollow. He was still unable to bring himself to visit his parents' graves, even though he'd told everyone that he would. He was planning on visiting them this summer, but after reading their letter, couldn't do it. To keep his mind off them, he kept himself busy by training hard.

He picked up the books he'd received for his birthday, and after reading them, had spent a lot of time practicing the defensive spells and Wandless magic with Hermione and Ron. They also read through the books from his vault, and practiced some defensive and offensive transfiguration, charms, hexes and spells. Ginny, being unable to practise, had watched in fascination, and was determined to learn it all as soon as they returned to Hogwarts. She read all his books too, and although she hadn't been able to cast anything, she had tried to memorise anything she found interesting or useful.

She also got Ron and Harry to practise sword and axe fighting with her, although they added heavy Cushioning Charms to the blades to prevent severe injuries. Even then, the Charms didn't stop them getting bruised, and after each training session, Harry and Ron would come back in, bruised and often limping. They were reticent to hit Ginny, and Ginny took full advantage of their weakness, attacking them mercilessly with her favourite weapon, a short handled battle-axe.

In between these vicious training sessions, Harry and Hermione had become quite adept with the Wandless magic, Hermione had managed 'Lumos' after only a few tries, and now they could cast a whole host of Wandless spells, including shield and disarming charms. However, Wandless spells were considerably weaker than wand-cast spells, and they weren't able to cast anything powerful, their shields breaking under anything more powerful than a Jelly-Legs Jinx. Ron on the other hand, had become very adept with some of the older curses that they found in one of Harry's rare books, his favourites being 'Occaeco', which temporarily blinded you, and 'Deliquesco', which was similar to the Banishing Charm, except the object or person was banished to a place of your choosing.

The latter had greatly amused Ron, who on his first try tried to banish Hermione to his lap. Unfortunately, he wasn't concentrating hard enough on the actual spell, and she had landed on his head, which sent Harry and Ginny into hysterics. They didn't let him forget that for a long time, but it only spurred him on, and he practised incessantly; and for a few days, anyone who crossed Ron's path would suddenly end up somewhere else. Eventually, everyone got so fed up of it that they all decided to gang up and prank him.

For a couple of days, Harry, Hermione and Ginny searched tirelessly through all the books for spells with amusing results. Eventually, they found one, 'Rectractum', which once cast on a wizard or witch's wand, would always turn the spell on its caster. Harry had chosen it because it had reminded him strongly of their second year, and he remembered with nostalgia how Ron's wand had backfired on him while he'd tried to stand up to Draco.

So, one dinner, Hermione slipped Ron's wand out of his pocket and using a trip to the bathroom as an excuse, cast the spell on it. The result of this was that for most of the week preceding their return to Hogwarts, every time Ron tried to banish someone, he'd send himself. He got so frustrated with it that he asked Harry if he'd tampered with his wand. Trying to keep a straight face, Harry replied negatively, angering Ron further, who went and asked everyone else if they'd done something. No one owned up to anything, so when the twins came over for dinner that evening, he pleaded with them to remove it, which they obviously didn't. He was positive that it was them, and when they started teasing him about it he lost control. He threw a string of hexes and curses that he'd recently learnt at them, but of course, they all hit him.

Everyone collapsed on the floor, laughing so hard they were crying; even Mrs. Weasley laughed. She'd been at the receiving end of the old banishing charm a number of times, and had lost her patience with her youngest son. Eventually, they stopped laughing, and got up to look at Ron, who'd turned himself into what looked like a giant pile of mush, with mushrooms growing all over him, and this amused Harry immensely, slugs pouring out of what now passed as his mouth. Hermione eventually took pity on him and undid all the hexes, and removed the spell reverser from his wand, explaining what it was.

Ron was livid that Hermione had cast the spell on his wand, but quickly calmed down, and was very impressed with it, even talking Harry into letting him try it out on his wand. After Hermione had undone Ron's spell, they all retreated to the lounge for a relaxed evening of Exploding Snap, Wizards' Chess, and chatting. However, the next day Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to their training with determination.

With only a few days left of the holidays, Harry started thinking about visiting Godric's Hollow. He knew he should go, but wasn't sure that he wanted to, knowing that it could do nothing but hurt him, and remind him of everyone he had lost. Eventually, it was taken out of his hands, when one morning he was woken up by Ron, Hermione and Ginny crashing into his room, yelling loudly.

'Harry, get up!' They shouted simultaneously. Alarmed Harry reached for his glasses and wand, and jumped out of bed, thinking there was an attack on the Burrow.

'What's going on? Is there an attack?' He asked, panicking slightly. Ron looked curiously at him, but before he could reply, Hermione cut in.

'Calm down Harry, nothing's wrong. It's just you need to hurry up and get dressed, we're going out, and we're being picked up in 20 minutes.' Harry looked confused and asked her where they were going. 'Godric's Hollow, we contacted the Ministry to ask where it was, but they told us that they couldn't let you go without an escort.' She looked down at her feet before continuing, 'So we had to agree.' Harry was about to roar in anger, but she wasn't finished. 'Harry, we know you didn't want to have anything to do with the Ministry, you're right, Scrimgeour will use this as a means to talk to you. But we thought it was worth it, for you to get a chance to see your parents' -' She sobbed quietly, 'graves. Harry, you don't have to tell him anything, and this way you can visit your home. It was the only way, and maybe, after today he might finally realise he can't get anything out of you and leave you alone. I'm sorry Harry.' She tears ran down her face, and Harry, knowing that she had only meant to help, pulled her into a fierce embrace, and whispered in her ear.

'It's ok 'Mione, it's ok.' She nodded, but her eyes were red and the cheeks were streaked with tears. 'Guys,' he said, turning to Ron and Ginny, 'Didn't you say that we need to leave in about 15 minutes, could I have some privacy so I can get dressed please?' Ron blushed and hurried out the room, leading Hermione gently by the hand, but Ginny grinned cheekily, and took her time leaving. Harry tried hard not to laugh as he pushed her not so gently from the room, and closing the door, undressed and pointed his wand at himself, muttering, 'Scourgify'. He knew that it would never replace a shower, but he didn't have enough time. Dressing quickly, he hurried downstairs, and belted down some food that Mrs. Weasley had left out for him.

A few minutes later, four Aurors knocked on the back door, and after being let in, introduced themselves. Harry didn't recognise any of them from the Order, and wondered if their selection had been based on that. He shook off his sense of unease, and asked how they were getting there. The eldest Auror replied,

'We'll be apparating Mr. Potter, as none of you,' he looked at Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, 'know where to go, so we'll side-along apparate all of you. There has been a Fidelius Charm placed on the area surrounding your old home Mr. Potter, to prevent, ah -' he hesitated, looking at Harry intensely, 'unwelcome guests.' Harry nodded, realising he meant Death Eaters.

They all walked outside, and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione all paired up with an Auror, and grasped their arms, Harry pairing up with the one who had talked. 'Right then, on the count of three. One … two … three.'

The Auror twisted away from Harry, and he re-doubled his grip on the Auror's arm as everything went black. He felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed from all sides by what felt like iron bands, but as he began to think that his eyes would be squashed to a pulp if the pressure went on much longer; it stopped.

Harry breathed heavily for a few seconds, but quickly caught his breath. Looking around, he noticed that they were at the edge of a small forest, which bordered on a Muggle village. He saw an old man walking his dog, a child chasing a kite in the breeze, and a young woman hanging out the laundry in her garden. 'I lived here,' he thought, 'this is where I last lived with my parents. It looks so peaceful now; I wonder where my parents' home was.' His heart ached, and he had to steady himself against a tree trunk to avoid falling over.

'Easy does it Mr. Potter, I know this is a bit of a shock for you. We can leave if you prefer.' The old Auror said gently. Harry shook his head, but his face looked ashen.

'I'm okay; I just need a few minutes.' The Auror nodded and looked away in respect. The others ambled over to them, a quizzical look on their faces.

'What's going on, Harry mate, are you alright?' Ron asked, seeing Harry's pale face.

'Ye, I'm fine Ron, just give me a sec.' He breathed in heavily as few times, straightened up, and shook his head vigorously. 'Right, I'm ok. Let's go.' The old Auror nodded to one of the younger Aurors, who pulled a worn piece of parchment out of his pocket, and handed it to Harry. 'Here's the address.' He said gently. Harry read the note, and thinking about it, looked up.

A small cottage that was in ruins materialised out of nowhere in front of him, and his smiled sadly, seeing two headstones just being the building. He passed the note to Ron, who read it and passed it to Ginny and Hermione. They all confirmed that they could see the cottage, and the young Auror took the parchment, pocketing it.

Harry cocked his eyebrow at this strange behaviour.

'Shouldn't you destroy that piece of parchment Sir?' He inquired, looking at the young Auror, the others turning to see what Harry was talking about. The Auror shrugged, and carelessly replied that he'd had it ever since the Charm had been placed and hadn't lost it yet. Harry and the others looked shocked, and the eldest Auror growled.

'I think you should destroy it right now sonny. What do you think will happen if a Death Eater got hold of it?' The young Auror paled at the thought, and pulling out the parchment, muttered nervously, 'Incendio', but the damage was done. Harry felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as his hair stuck up. Scanning the tree line, he whispered to the others, 'Wands'. They all pulled out their wands, and Harry was about to edge towards the cottage, when out of the corner of his eye, caught a flash of movement.

He turned towards the movement, and crept forward quietly, the others following him silently. As he reached the place where he thought he'd seen something, a young boy rushed out of the bushes, chasing after a small cat.

'Cuffy!' He hissed, 'Come back, mum will kill me!' He stopped in mid-step when he looked up and saw Harry and the others, who were all hastily trying to hide their wands and look normal. Cuffy the cat also stopped suddenly, surprised by the sudden appearance of eight more humans. The boy's eyes narrowed in suspicion, 'Who are you?' He demanded, 'I've never seen you around here before,' catching a blushing Ron trying to keep his wand from sticking out of his pocket, he asked, 'and what's that you just put in you pocket?' He pointed at Ron, who only blushed redder.

Harry was about to blurt out a hastily lie, when Hermione strode forward, and crouching down next to the boy, smiled. 'Hello, my name's Hermione, what's your name?' He boy looked at her intensely, trying to detect any signs of hostility in her posture. Finally satisfied, he replied.

'I'm Jonathan, who are they?' He asked, pointing over Hermione's back. She smiled and explained that those were her friends, and that they had been strolling around the forest, and had got lost. Jonathan looked surprised.

'You're walking around in the forest?' He asked with awe. 'Aren't you afraid of those strange men?' Something about the way he said "strange men" struck Harry as odd, and he leaned forward to ask him what he meant by strange. Jonathan swallowed, and replied that for the last few weeks; hooded men in dark robes and masks had been seen walking around the forest. If anyone went in the forest now, either they weren't seen again, or they were found looking as if they'd aged ten years suddenly, had vacant eyes and never spoke again. Harry seethed with anger, he understood exactly what was going on, but before he could ask if the dark robed figures had been seen recently, Ginny asked Jonathan why he'd ventured into the forest. He looked at his feet, and mumbled,

'Cuffy escaped and ran out the garden; we live on the edge of the forest, and she ran in here. I didn't want her to disappear so I came in after her.' They all looked at each other, worried. Harry quickly picked up the cat before she escaped again, and told Jonathan that they'd take him back to his house and not to worry, he wouldn't get in trouble. Jonathan smiled weakly, and led them towards his home, behind his back, Harry signalled everyone to pull out their wands.

They were almost at the edge of the forest when a hooded figured appeared from behind a tree, blocking their path. Jonathan screamed, and ran behind Harry, who'd dropped Cuffy in surprised. He wasn't as surprised as the Death Eater – for that was what the hooded figure was – who had spotted the little boy run into the forest and had waited for his return, looking forward to a bit of Muggle baiting. Before he could open his mouth, Harry had suspended him in the air, Hermione had silenced him, and Ron had blinded him.

The four Aurors looked at the Harry, Ron and Hermione in surprise, evidently impressed. Harry replied to the unasked question. 'We've been practising.' The old Auror nodded in understanding, and asked what Ron had hit the Death Eater with; he hadn't recognised the spell. Ron grinned smugly, and explained how he'd found it in an old book at school – Harry had asked them not to tell anyone about the contents of his vaults.

The Aurors approached the Death Eater cautiously, checking for any others in the vicinity, but they were alone. He picked up his wand, and snapped it in two, before whispering to him that they were going to cancel the Silencing Charm on him, and he'd answer their questions. If he tried to shout, they'd cut off his fingers; the Death Eater nodded hurriedly in understanding, a panicked look on his face. The eldest Auror turned to Hermione and nodded; she was reticent to remove the Charm him, but obliged.

They began asking him questions about what they had been doing in the forest, how many Death Eaters were there, and what was the reason for their presence. He answered quickly; he was young, and clearly terrified. He said that the Dark Lord (Harry scowled at this) had sent them here to check if Harry Potter came to visit his parents' graves, and to capture him if he did come. They had been ordered to kill anyone with him, but to try and take him alive, and preferably not too injured. There were only five Death Eaters in the forest at the moment, they had been here for four weeks, and growing bored, had been killing and torturing any Muggle that they came across.

Harry listened to this, his temper rising as the Death Eater described what they'd done to the Muggles. Ginny saw him clenching his fists and quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Harry immediately relaxed, and turning to her, smiled sadly. Jonathan was still hiding behind Harry, but was now watching the scene, wide-eyed. Tapping Harry on the shoulder, he asked,

'Do you do magic, are those wands you're all holding?' Harry turned to him, and squatting down, replied.

'Yes, we're wizards (he pointed to himself, the Aurors and Ron), and they are witches (pointing at Hermione and Ginny). We can do magic, using a wand.' He showed him his wand, and waved it to produce sparks, reaffirming his point. Jonathan was speechless for a few moments, then turned and pointed at the Death Eater.

'And him?' Harry sighed,

'Yes, he's a wizard too, but a bad one. They are waging a war with us at the moment.' Hermione looked at him uncertainly.

'Harry, you shouldn't be telling him all this, and you're not supposed to do magic in front of Muggles.' Harry looked at her confused.

'Hermione, we've just bound and captured a Death Eater right in front of him, he's already seen us doing magic. What's the harm in explaining it to him?' Hermione bit her lip, but didn't reply. 'Why don't we take him back home, while they (he nodded at the Aurors) take care of the Death Eater?'

Ron and Ginny readily approved of this plan; they were uncomfortable standing around when there were at least four more Death Eaters somewhere in the forest. Hurrying over to the Aurors, Harry quickly explained their plan, and the Aurors nodded in understanding, but insisted that one of the Aurors go with them. Harry agreed, and picking Cuffy up again, led the small group out of the forest.

As they reached Jonathan's back garden, the Auror turned to him and muttered 'Obliviate'. Jonathan looked dazed for a moment, but they steered him into the garden and knocked on the back door. A middle aged woman answered the door, and looked puzzled and a bit apprehensive when she saw the strangers. Hermione quickly explained that they'd been walking along the edge of the forest when they'd run into Jonathan, who was chasing after Cuffy. They helped Jonathan catch him, and then thought it best to drop him off to make sure he was alright.

The woman smiled and thanked them, asking them in for tea, but they declined and pushing Jonathan towards her, made to turn back to the forest. She gripped Jonathan gently by the arm, and called after them,

'Watch out for yourselves. There are weird and terrible things happening in there at the moment. Be careful, and if you need anything, just knock.' Harry turned and thanked her, then turned back to the forest. As they neared the spot where they'd left the other Aurors, they heard yells and screams, and broke into sprints.

As they reached the top of the rise, they stopped in shock. Pandemonium had broken out in their absence.